The ROCK Management is in full liquidation mode now. There's no turning back. :-) I was happy to see many of the DPM city structures go to the neighboring Charleston, Roanoke & Eastern (CR&E) layout. Those structures were acquired from my friend Larry's Peconic layout. It's nice to see them kept in the family so to speak.
I've been working at gathering equipment and such to store temporarily while I dismantle the layout. Major destruction will begin in July.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
NEWSFLASH: Changes at the ROCK
.gif)
- NewsFlash –
May 31st, 2013
May 31st, 2013
On Friday, May 31st, the Rock Island Railroad:
Illinois Division officially shut down.
The notion to build the Rock Island Railroad: Illinois
Division was conceived in April 2010. By
May 28th, 2010 construction had begun. In six short months, the layout was
operational. For the next two and a half
years, the railroad operated eleven times, by eight different operators moving
a total of 166 freight and passenger trains.
In late January this year, the CEO of the Rock Island
Railroad began exploring ideas of building a new model railroad. As research was gathered, it became evident
that change was eminent.
The Board of Directors met behind closed doors debating
for some time the viability of a new layout, quickly nicknamed 2.0. It was not an easy decision to make as it met
great opposition. In the end, it was
decided it was best to focus on modeling the Rock Island prototypically verses
having a larger layout that exhibited no real identification of the ROCK.
- Newsflash –
June 1st, 2013
Effective, June 1st, the Rock Island: Ottawa
Sands (2.0) has been created. Steven
Johnson, CEO of the Rock Island: Illinois Division has been nominated as CEO of
the Rock Island: Ottawa Sands. Steven
will oversee the transition to the new layout.
The railroad expects to be offline for approximately one year during
this transition period.
There will be a liquidation of quite a few assets from
the Rock Island: Illinois Division as they will not be required on the new
layout.
The CEO reports the following surplus equipment will be
for sale. Please contact the CEO if you
would like more information:
·
Various DPM city/town structures
·
Other various industrial building kits (mostly
assembled)
·
Union Pacific & Southern Pacific Wheels of
Time passenger cars
·
Various Rock Island locomotives
·
Various vehicles and tractor trailers
·
(61) Various freight cars mostly from the late
70s era
·
Tunnel Portals
·
Kato Bridges
·
(22) Micro-Mark Car Card Boxes
Destruction of the Rock Island: Illinois Division will
commence in early July. The CEO projects
that benchwork on the Rock Island: Ottawa Sands layout will begin sometime in
August.
- News Update -
June 3rd, 2013
The blog is in the process of being updated to represent the new Rock Island: Ottawa Sands entity. Some pages have already been updated as well as the overall appearance of the blog.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
The ROCK's 3 Year Anniversary!
The ROCK's 3 year anniversary is today! Three years ago this weekend, the initial benchwork was started. Friends Marcus Neubacher and Larry Keller came over on Monday. By the end of the weekend, we had the basic benchwork up for about 80% of the layout!
It's amazing what was accomplished in such a short amount of time.
It's amazing what was accomplished in such a short amount of time.
Friday, May 24, 2013
The Rock Island v2.0 - The Rule Book
I've processed through four virtual operating sessions now. I've come to the conclusion we need some rules for crews to adhere to while operating. Here is what I have come up with so far.
ROCK 2.0 Rules
Rule #1 – All trains entering or crossing the mainline
must obtain permission from the Rock Island dispatcher.
Rule #2 - If your train requires to work on the mainline,
you must contact the dispatcher to receive a work order via the rules of Time
Table and Train Order.
Rule #2b – Upon receiving the
work order, the crew must place flags and appropriate fusees in either
direction to protect the train and crew.
Rule #3 – At no time may a locomotive enter or
pass-through a building. Crews must use
spacer cars when such a situation arises.
Rule #4 – At no time may a car loaded with explosives be
spotted or pass-through any structure.
Rule #5 – A caboose will be required on all trains on all
freight and local trains.
I've been thinking too. To add interest to the crew operating the #118 LaSalle Turn, passenger operations would be in affect. I have found that when operating this train, you often have to leave a portion of your train out on the mainline. This would limit the location and time you could store your train on the mainline.
Friday, May 17, 2013
The No Progress Report 05.17.13
I was thinking this morning, it has been a while since I have worked on the layout. I have performed some freight car and locomotive maintenance but actual work on the layout .... nothing. I went back in the blog archives to find it has been nearly 2 1/2 months since I last worked on it.
I continue to debate tearing it down to build the ROCK 2.0. I think I have only found one person that is for the project. Everyone else is against it. While they find the 2.0 plan viable, they have a hard time tearing down the old. I never knew there was such an interest in the ROCK until I began talks about 2.0. As for me, I don't care about all the work I put into the old layout. I consider it all part of the learning process. I built it once, I can build it again.
I really would like to build a layout representing the prototype. The ROCK's sand operations are so interesting! Decisions....decisions....
I continue to debate tearing it down to build the ROCK 2.0. I think I have only found one person that is for the project. Everyone else is against it. While they find the 2.0 plan viable, they have a hard time tearing down the old. I never knew there was such an interest in the ROCK until I began talks about 2.0. As for me, I don't care about all the work I put into the old layout. I consider it all part of the learning process. I built it once, I can build it again.
I really would like to build a layout representing the prototype. The ROCK's sand operations are so interesting! Decisions....decisions....
Monday, May 13, 2013
The ROCK: Illinois Division Published (Privately)
Shortly after I began construction on my layout, my good friend Larry Keller was tearing his beloved Peconic Railroad down. He moved to a new house and quickly started construction on a much larger Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad. Larry had the Peconic layout for years. It was decided by myself and my friend Marcus to pay tribute to his layout for all the work and dedication he had provided to us over the years. We thought the best way would be a photo book tribute. During his last two operating sessions, we snapped over 400 photos of the layout. We never clued Larry in on our project, but simply told him we wanted to preserve history by photographing the layout.
Marcus composed the text and I arranged the photos and book layout. I created the project in iPhoto on the Mac. The results were phenomenal! We were both astonished by the quality of the book. Larry was taken back by our gift that was presented to him at the ROCK's first operating session. I stated to Larry, one day I will have a book on the ROCK. Well, the day is coming. I've started work on my own memory book of the Rock Island: Illinois Division.
Marcus composed the text and I arranged the photos and book layout. I created the project in iPhoto on the Mac. The results were phenomenal! We were both astonished by the quality of the book. Larry was taken back by our gift that was presented to him at the ROCK's first operating session. I stated to Larry, one day I will have a book on the ROCK. Well, the day is coming. I've started work on my own memory book of the Rock Island: Illinois Division.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)