Progress Report 12.21.10

Progress has been rather slow as I have had other things to occupy my time.

Tonight, I worked on the very troublesome crossover and turnout for track 3/4 in West Davenport staging.  Upon a detailed inspection, the trucks would pick the turnouts.  Filed down the points and bent the guide rail for better clearance on the straight route.  Later tests saw a significant improvement in performance.  Hopefully this will resolve the issues.  I hate when things don't work properly.

Made up car cards for the new cars recently acquired.  I need to work on waybills too, but haven't had much free time to work on those.

The first Atlas coalveyors arrived today.  Awesome equipment.  Looking forward to running my first unit coal train on the layout!

My visions of a Limestone plant in Stockdale (inside the ovalix) are developing.  I have performed much of my field research.  Now it is time to locate some steals n deals on the building kit and rolling stock.

I hope to work on constructing some building kits while on Christmas break. 

From the crew on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, wishing all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Coal is King on the ROCK!

You have often heard that coal is king!  Well any upstanding layout would not be complete without at least one coal train.  With the recent inflow of cash from the sale of the 40' steel reefers, the CRI&P Acquisition Team has been on a mission. 

The CRI&P has ordered 12 Atlas ACF Coalveyor coal hoppers.  The Coalveyor was manufactured by ACF Industries in 1978.  Production continued until 1982.  Commonly referred to as a bathtub gon, the ACF design was intended to lower car weight, lower initial and maintenance costs and provide a longer car life.  The car provides a 4,240 Cu Ft capacity. 

With the train originating in Wyoming, crews on the CRI&P will board it in West Davenport.  The train will travel to Joliet passing the CB&Q interlocking, back onto the CB&Q tracks and crossover the CRI&P.  The empties will return via the same route.  Typical power will be 3 to 4 GP7s.

Industry Update 12.12.10

CRI&P Management has been notified this morning that a new machine shop will be constructed in Stockdale, IL.  Billy J. Hucks Machine & Welding (more commonly known as Huck's Machine Shop) will go online in January.  They will receive steel by truck and ship out machined parts and steel girders via rail.  Proprietor Bill Hucks is a seasoned craftsman who takes great pride in his work.  The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad looks forward to many years serving the Huck's Machine Shop. 

Progress Report 12.08.10

Progress has been slow lately.  I ran a solo op session to test out equipment, learn all the jobs, etc.  It was quite informative and of course fun.  We'll mark that up as field research.

I still have a few problem areas that bother me.  The yard ladder at Davenport and the crossover at West Davenport are the worst offenders.  I'm considering replacing with handlaid turnouts in these areas.  It would be an investment, but considering the traffic volume, I think it would be well worth it.  I could possibly use the turnouts for the Davenport engine shop area.

Majority of the remaining turnouts operate well.  Only a few need minor tweaking. 

Tonight, I wired up the Davenport Industrial Park.  I had dropped feeders here, but failed to connect them to the bus.  David realized this when switching for the first time.

I loaded buckshot into the coal hoppers, two Atlas 2-Bay covered hoppers and the woodchip hoppers.  The other BLMA and Exactrail covered hoppers are pretty close to the proper weight.  I checked a few of the 50' box cars, but they too are pretty close to the proper weight.  The 40' cars feel too light though.  I will need to get some stick on weights for those.  It will be interesting to see how the weight affects future train performance.  Specifically, I'm curious as to how it could affect power requirements eastbound on the ovalix.

Industry Update 12.05.10

Industry update:
The golden era of moving produce across the rails has come to an end.  After numerous complaints of rotten/damaged produce due to excessive delays and derailments, the "melon" industry has dried up.  CRI&P crews did an excellent job moving the freight to the best of their ability, but deferred maintenance and questionable dispatching tactics by management was too much for the Melon Express.  Foreclosure notices were posted by local authorities at Kohr's Cold Storage in Davenport, Johnson Grain & Produce in Rock Island, and the large Markham Produce facility in Stockdale.  Grocery store chains were so disgusted by the poor quality of produce delivered to Chicago Wholesale Foods many canceled their contracts.  Foreclosure proceedings were filed this morning in Chicago.

CRI&P management reports that it will be auctioning off the fleet of 40' reefers as soon as possible.  Buyer commitments have ten of the cars already spoken for.

In more uplifting news, CRI&P management has already received interest in the aforementioned foreclosed properties. 

Johnson Milling Co. - new owners plan to open a bulk flour facility in the former Johnson Grain & Produce facility.  They will receive grain utilizing a shared storage track at Sunrise Feed Mill.  They will ship enriched bulk flour in pressureaide covered hoppers.

General Mills has expressed interest in the former Markham Produce facility in Stockdale.  A grain elevator/flour production building will be constructed at the former Markham Produce site.  A second track will be added for receiving of grain.  Bulk flour will be shipped via pressureaide covered hoppers.  General Mills will also open a Cereal production plant nearby that will ship boxed cereal to grocers via 50' box cars.

Also in Stockdale, new construction of a small fabrication shop and small factory are in the works.

Proctor & Gamble Co has expressed interest in the Chicago Wholesale Foods warehouse.  The facility will be expanded for the manufacturing of various household products.  Dry kaolin and vegetable starch will be received via covered hopper.  Household items for distribution at stores will be shipped via box car.

Iowa Ready Mix Co. has expressed interest in the former Kohr's Cold Storage facility.  They will receive sand and gravel via barge on the Mississippi river and ship cement via rail using ACF 2970 2-Bay Covered Hoppers.

Train Line-up Changes
Blue Island Local
A new local was created which will be assigned solely to Blue Island.  Call time is 8:30am

Stockdale Local
The Stockdale local will now work Joliet and Stockdale, IL only.  The local will be adding four new industries to its switchlist.  New call time is 11:30am

Peoria Local
The Peoria local will pick up one new industry in West Davenport.  Call time will be pushed back an hour to 10am to ease some of the congestion caused by the Grain and Peoria locals working in close proximity.

Grain Local
The Grain Local will pick up two new industries in Rock Island and Stockdale.  Call time remains the same at 8am.

The Melon Express has been annulled.  First class and through freight trains remain the same.

Progress Report 11.30.10

Progress has been slow on the layout since the inaugural operation session.  CRI&P crews were sent down to Indian Land, SC this past weekend to assist in the construction of the Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad.

I have worked on a few turnout linkages that we posing some issues.  I removed all the slide switch linkages on the ladder in Davenport Yard and one on the crossover at West Davenport.  All but one have been re-installed paying close attention to the quality of the throw for each turnout.  I tested thoroughly with long strings of various equipment type with improved success.  Everything seems to work much better now.  Although, I continue to experience issues with my Intermountain cars.  For such a high quality car, I'm surprised by the numerous issues.

I have a few short terms goals that I hope to complete before Christmas.

#1) add weight to the individual freight cars to meet National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) specs. 

#2) solder feeder wires in Davenport Industrial Park

#3) solder the slide switch feeder wires

I have created some expansion plans for Stockdale, but I have learned there is a national shortage on #5 Right Hand turnouts.  Go figure. 

This evening I implemented solo op sessions.  I will operate the layout in sequence a little each evening until I work through each job.  This will provide a better understanding on the jobs on the railroad plus give me a chance to observe traffic flow on this second session.

The ROCK is ALIVE!

After six months of construction, the ROCK came alive Saturday! 

The inagural operating session was a great success!  Operators from three neighboring layouts were in attendance: Larry Keller of the Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad, Marcus Neubacher of the Charleston, Roanoke & Eastern Railroad and David Ward of the Denver, Boulder and Western Railroad.

A Recap of Saturday's Session:

A total of 16 trains were operated. 

The session kicked off with Larry taking XtrFE out of West Davenport Yard.  Larry dropped off some cars at Davenport Yard and headed east crossing the Mississippi River. 

Marcus departed next on the XtrFW out of Burr Oak Yard in Chicago.  He had clear boards until Stockdale where the first three-way meet occurred.  Marcus took the siding.  Steven pulled out on the main with the #12 Peoria Rocket as Larry inched up behind him with the XtrFE. 

Steven pulled ahead with the #12 and Larry followed on restricted signals. Marcus continued to wait for the #6 Quad Cities Rocket engineered by David. Once #6 past, Marcus was able to continue on to Davenport to setoff some cars for the Grain and Peoria locals.

Steven tied up the #12 Peoria Rocket in Chicago on-time followed shortly by Dave on the #6 Quad Cities Rocket as it overtook Larry at Joliet.  All the morning passenger trains successfully completed their initial schedules on time.

Larry began his work in Davenport on the Grain Local.  An hour later, David was assigned to the Peoria Local out of Davenport while Marcus took on the monster Stockdale Local out of Chicago.  All three were busy for quite a while. 

Steven departed Chicago with the midday #13 Peoria Rocket passenger/mail train to Stockdale.  He past Marcus as he began his work on the Stockdale Local in Blue Island.  For the next few hours the locals were busy at work with no interference from first class trains.

At 2:30pm, Steven engineered the #14 Peoria Rocket passenger/mail train back to Chicago passing Marcus who was now working in Joliet.  Larry on the Melon Express followed the Peoria Rocket into Joliet.  There, Larry was held for Marcus departing Joliet to return to Chicago, David on the XtrFW2, Steven on the long XtrFE2, David hot out of Chicago on the #5 Quad Cities Rocket and Marcus on a late departured Peoria Rocket.  The Melon Express quickly earned the name "The Rotten Fruit Express" by crews due to the delays.  Finally, Larry was able to gain access into Chicago to complete his final work and tie up in Burr Oak Yard. Seasoned engineer Marcus was able to make up time on the road shuffling passengers into the train quickly arriving in Stockdale only a minute or two behind schedule. 

Marcus ran the CB&Q local followed by Larry ending the session with the CNW local.

Everyone on the crew ran four trains each of various types.  We did encounter a few problems with a mystery short caused by one older throttle.  The short was so powerful that it caused another radio throttles batteries to explode.  There were some issues with the yard ladder in Davenport, but otherwise everything went well.  I would chock up the event as a success due to the layout only being six months old. 

Most rolling stock and locos ran ok.  Some locos were mismatched (fast locos mixed with slow locos) and a small number of rolling stock issues except for the reefers.  The jury isn't out yet on the reefers.  I wasn't pleased with their operation.  I later discovered that majority of them are out of gauge even though they are equipped with Micro-Trains trucks.  What a disappointment.  Management is deliberating on how to resolve the issue.

So, now that the first operating session is under our belt, where do we go from here?  Progress is expected to continue (most likely not as quick).  I plan on repairing reported track issues from the first session.  Next on my agenda is to install the backdrops and fascia.  Construction of Phase II: Peoria Branch and Phase III: Meredosia Branch have been placed on hold indefinitely.  I want to continue working on Phase I & IV's scenery.  I would like to continue to build up the fleet of cars and locomotives including installing the remaining decoders required.  I would like to acquire the remaining building kits needed and construct them all.  I plan to analyze the data taken from today's operating session to determine future train and operator growth.  Most of all I look forward to a bright future for the ROCK.

Steven Johnson
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific CEO