I have always liked the silver side passenger cars and wanted to run them, but the ones manufactured by Walthers are horrible. They derail going straight! I decided to go with a Kato Chicago, Burlington & Quincy set and re-letter for the Rock Island. The cars arrived yesterday and they perform quite well!
The Peoria Rocket will be led by a custom paint Kato E8 unit in the red/yellow Billboard Logo paint scheme. It will pull two coaches #306 Ottawa, #300 LaSalle plus the #450 Peoria dome car. It will be exciting to see passengers headed to and from Chicago again. I'm sure the crews will start complaining about those darn passenger trains again. :-)
On the original version of my layout, I had a pair of Life-Like GP38-2s. They were demon possessed and didn't work well. They sat parked more than they ever ran. I used them to stage some photos in the Day on the Rock photo series a long time ago. I got rid of them a while back because they were so troublesome.
I'm happy to report that the locomotives have returned to the layout. Life-Like version again? Heck no! Atlas GP38-2s! Now, one of my own and one lease unit from a friend. I will replace the lease unit with a Bankruptcy ("Boom Time") Blue GP40 when Atlas releases them later this year (hoping Atlas stays on schedule). I really like the paint scheme and am happy for their return. I got the decoders installed Friday and tested. Here are some photos.
The "Boom Time" Blue locomotives pulling a cut of loaded hoppers from Ottawa Silica.
The RI #4304 Leased to the Rock: Illinois Division.
The locomotives pulling across Ottawa Ave.
Is that a red bug I see?
My new #4303 GP38-2 crossing Mill Street in Utica.
A favorite car of mine - the GM&O 40' Box Car custom weathered by Allen Heimsoth.
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