The ROCK 3.0: The Peoria Rocket & Westclox Update

In the past, I had purchased the Walthers RI passenger cars.  Those things were awful!  They would derail on straight track.  Numerous friends of mine took a look at them but nobody could figure out how to make them run better.  On v1.0 of the layout, I simply used Wheels of Time cars with other road names for my passenger trains.  They ran well so I was pleased.

Years later, I was talking to Allen in Nebraska.  I decided to try the Kato silver side passenger cars from a CB&Q set to see how well they would work.  They performed flawlessly.  I had the thought that I could replace the decals with RI road and car names.  Luckily enough, Microscale offered just that. 

Today, I finally got around to removing the CB&Q reporting marks and name and replaced with the Rock Island.

Here is how I did it.

I believe I used Micro Sol in the past, but the Micro Set worked just as well.

Purchased the Microscale 60-85 Rock Island Streamliner Passenger Car Decals for N Scale.

The Kato Burlington Passenger Car before...

I dipped a pencil eraser in the Micro Set, let it soak on the car for a minute or so and then scrubbed off with the pencil eraser.  It takes about 15 seconds of scrubbing and BAM!

The Burlington is erased from existence!

I applied the new decals by cutting them out, dipping them in water and sliding into place.

The new passenger cars added to the fleet:

Not an exact match to the prototype, but a very good representation.  Most importantly, they operate well.  I'm pleased with the results.

This evening, I worked on installing the windows and doors in the Westclox structure.  I need to figure out how I will do the section of walls that extends out over the roof.  For now, I will leave the structure as is until I have more time to work on it.  I have other projects I need to tackle.

Placed the Westclox structure back on the layout.  I found myself railfanning my layout at that point.  Here are some of the photos I took.

Local rumbling past Mill Street in Utica, IL.

Westclox in the background.

Westclox truck loading area.

I love the look of the structure since adding the window pieces.

The local running past the signal at LaSalle.

The local in front of the Westclox plant.

The local passing behind Peru Power at Putnam Street.

The local's caboose passing by Mill Street in Utica.

The local's caboose by Westclox.

Putnam Street's crossing signals must be using some futuristic LED lights which are incredibly bright (and that is with a resistor added!).

Afterward, I worked on taking account of the cars at the industries and yards to prepare to re-stage the layout.  I plan on re-staging the layout assuming I get Bureau Junction up and running before the September 12th operating session.