1st attempt adding scenic details

I started building my layout about 6 years ago.  Progress has been very slow but steady.  One aspect of building the layout that I was always looking forward to doing was adding all the scenic details.  While I have been trying to be logical in completing the layout tasks in the correct order I just couldn't wait any longer to try my hand at some scenic details.  After seeing the amazing scenic work of  Ralph on his King's Port Division and John on his NYCTL I had to jump in the water and give it a try.  I picked a small area running parallel to a mainline adding an old narrow country gravel road.

This is my first attempt of doing any scenic work but I think it came out well. Still want to add a few more items along the right of way, but I am happy with the outcome.

PC Coal Hoppers Finished

Finished up the repaint and letter of 4 Western Maryland coal hoppers into PC livery.  I picked up all 4 hoppers at our LHS.  Three of them were new old stock and the 4th was mint condition. All 4 were in the bargain bin for $13 ea. which is very cheap for a good 0-scale car.  This the same bargain bin where I found that nice PRR boxcar a couple of weeks ago.  I think these cars were in the bin because the road name not being all that popular.

Here they are stripped and primed.

Here they are painted and decaled.  This is my first attempt at weathering and I have to say it was great fun.  Being a toy train guy the thought of weathering anything was never a thought for me.  However, I became a fan after seeing John and Ralph's beautiful weathering jobs.  I can see where this could become addicting.

 

Some other projects underway is the wiring of the Transfer Table as well as a number of operating accessories in the new Industrial Complex. Also try my hand at some scenic details.  Should be able to post some photos of that  in a few days. Progress is slow but moving ahead.

Swap Meet Treasures

Last Saturday, Sir John and I headed over to the local hobby shop with pockets heavy with cash in hopes of finding some great deals and unexpected finds.  Neither of us were disappointed.

Fortunately I was quickly relieved of a portion of my heavy cash load.   Being the eagle eyed investigator that he is Sir John quickly spotted a beautiful cow and calf set of Union Pacific NW-2's.  With the huge expansion of the East Hoschton Industrial Complex it was clear to upper management  that the railroad would be woefully short of adequate switcher  power to service the complex. 

Great find (by Sir John) which will help fill in a huge gap in switcher power. Has very little run time and exterior is in mint condition. Direction control is sketchy.  I don't yet know if this has an e-unit or circuit board for direction.  Either way it is an easy fix. Additionally, this is about the fastest locomotive I have ever owned.  It has dual motors wired in parallel.  Think I will rewire them in series to slow it down. Should result in slower startup speed.

 

 Put to work immediately moving out a couple of Morton Salt Hoppers.  It is anticipated that there will be a TREMENDOUS increase in demand for Morton Salt, as evidenced by the almost certain construction of not 1 but 2  Morton Salt facilities at A.P.P.R. northern and southern facilities.

Also found a mint condition used PRR Boxcar in the bargain bin. Not sure how it made its way to the bargain bin but it now has a home.

As always it was a terrific day meeting up with John and hunting for some treasures.

Small Project on the HRC

Due to the recent expansion of the HRC Industrial Complex a number of businesses have been shuttered and abandoned in order to make way for new industries.  These old buildings have been relocated to a surplus area where it is hoped they will again find a useful purpose.

East Hoschton Industrial - Structure placement

Trackwork and industry placement has been completed on the new East Hoschton Industrial Park project.   There will be a total of 10 industries located within the park boundaries.  The West Hoschton Industrial Part will contain 3 to be determined business. All. business will be serviced by rail.

Yet to be completed is the wiring for track power, power districts, turnout and building lighting for both parks.

As a result of newly available advanced technology, senior management at HRC has authorized a new project which will incorporate the latest technologies which will completely computerize HRC operations.  This project will be done in concert with the industrial expansions. All switch operation and power district management devices will be removed from the control panel. These functions will now be accomplished via state of the art railroad operations software via an Android,  IOS tablet or phone.  In addition, this new technology will provide a host of new functionality enabling the HRC to reduce overall employee costs.

This is an overhead view of the East Hoschton Industrial Park.



One of the most important industries that relocated to Hoschton is the yet to be named Coal Transfer Station.  While HRC has been in the coal transportation business for almost 150 years, business declined rapidly after the NAFTA trade agreement was signed.  The subsequent loss of the textile industry in Northern Georgia also  wiped out the need for coal used to fuel those plants. The original coal plant was shuttered and fell into disrepair over the ensuing years.

However in April 2017, the HRC was contacted by the CEO of the NYCTL (a railroad of some distinguish)  to make a proposal to the HRC's CEO Engineer for Life Ed.  The proposal was for HRC to  partner with the NYCTL and 2 other railroads the A.P.P.R(another RR of some repute  distinguish) and world respected  King's Port Division for the purpose of delivering large amounts of coal to the Northern and Mid-Western regions on a regular basis.  After round the clock intense negotiations  HRC has signed a Letter of Intent to join this partnership.

This is a photo of the 2 partially completed structures that will comprise the Coaling operations. Work is proceeding on this plant at near dizzying speed.
 

The next plant located in the park is the brand new Morton Salt Processing  and Distribution Plant.  This plant and its entire output is dedicated solely to the North Georgia BBQ industry, an industry which requires huge amounts of salt daily in the production of their finest pulled BBQ.

In anticipation of a substantial tax relief package being bantered about in D.C. the yet to be named Culvert plant has decided to re-locate its facilities to East Hoschton from their current location in the ever diminishing  Gwinnett County industrial egion just to the south of Hoschton. Relocation was also made possible because of the many incentives offered by the Mayor to the Culvert Company. These incentives include, but are not limited to financial, daytime and evening entertainment. The evening entertainment is provided soley by the Ladies of the Evening chapter of the Greater Hoschton Benevolence Society.  Culvert Company executives have been overheard heard saying that Hoschton is indeed a very loving town.

Another large industry to locate to East Hoschton is a yet to be named lumber company.The company is comprised of multiple buildings along with a sister company Morrison's Door  Production facility.

 Another major industry  joining the Hoschton family is the Industrial Metals Recycling Center. This plant's main customer is the HRC's Road Maintenance Division.   The plants takes in large quantities of old rail and a variety of iron products used in the maintenance of the HRC's vast rail network.

The last 2 businesses  to call East Hoschton home are the Ice House and the Log loading Facility.  The logging facility will be the receiving point for the the logs culled from the vast forests of Northern Georgia.  Naturally, Southern Yellow Pine is the tree of choice demanded by customers.  The ice house's main customer is O'Grady's Pig and Whistle tavern which is a 7x24 tavern serving the unending thirst requirements of the majority of HRC employees. 

It is an exciting time of expansion for the HRC.  A special thanks to the CEO's of NYCTL, A.P.P.R and King's Port for their influence and great examples of operating railroads.   

Even though the HRC was extremely happy as a passenger railroad, I trust that converting over to an operating railroad requiring huge amounts of money, sweat, hard work, employee retraining, stock acquisition, track realignments, new and revised wiring, additional employees, structures and support facilities will be as much as rewarding and fulfilling as the very old and happy HRC passenger lines were.

Major redevelopment for East Hoschton area

As part of the ongoing expansion of HRC's industrial business, the Greater Hoschton Redevelopment Corporation(GHRC) has announced the start of work on what will be called the East Hoschton Industrial Complex.  This complex will contain a variety of new industrial plants and businesses, all of which will be serviced by the HRC with an anticipated completion date of early summer 2017.

Note - The HRC has been operating without interruption since around the same time that little disagreement between the North and South took place.  The sole  mission of the HRC was to provide passenger service to the North Georgia territory, with excursion trains up thru the Blue Ridge Mts.  They have been quite successful adhering to that mission.

However, in early 2015, HRC was under intense competitive pressure from 3 unnamed  railroads to diversify business into freight operations in order to survive.  Begrudgingly the Supreme Engineer for Life of RHC authorized immediate design and construction of new rail service extending into a large industrial complex being developed in East Hoschton.

This is what the new industrial  area looked liked before the start of construction. As you can see East Hoschton was a thriving bustling center of activity frequented by many happy Hoschtonites prior to redevelopment. 

This just released photo shows East Hoschton completely demolished and now shovel ready for the new Industrial Complex.

CEO Supreme Engineer for Life Ed, CFO Mrs Ed along with their children Spikey and Ashly as they view the recently cleared East Hoschton Complex.

HRC and Hoschton planners are currently finalizing a plan for the location of each industry in the complex.  Actual placement of the industries will begin in the next few days

Complex Industries

Morton Salt Plant.

Coaling Station and loader (unnamed)

Logging Transfer Station (unnamed)

Lumber Yard under construction (unnamed)

Culvert Load/Unloading Facility

Morrison's Door Factory

Ice Plant

Millwork Shop

The Hoschton Railway Company (HRC) is pleased to announce a major expansion to it's New York Central fleet.    These acquisitions were recently acquired at a local train show on Saturday 8/27.  Although the HRC prides itself on being inclusive of many road names, focus has primarily been focused on the PRR.  A change in long range plans by the HRC's CEO, focus has been redirected to the acquisition of additional NYC rolling stock.

First up for review is a set of Williams NYC Sharknose ABA set.  Although each unit requires some TLC, the crack HRC maintenance team will have these locos returned to operational status in a short timeframe.   The B unit is a mismatch and no decision has yet been made regarding it's future status.  The 1st thing that needs to be done is to give all 3 of these a shot of dullcoat to eliminate the super shiny finish on them.

Next up are 1 of  the 3  NYC Two-Bay Hoppers. All 3 are "new" old stock. 

A great find were some Mattel Hot Wheels cars that fit perfectly into my auto carriers.  First shipment are all American muscle cars.

Admittedly the next acquisition was more of a "cool to have" purchase than a practical one.  It is a new Lionel LIRR Jordon Spreader. It is quite comforting to know that should a major blizzard ever hit the HRC's northern Georgia territory, we will be prepared.






























                                          

Much of the HRC's rails run through much of  North Georgia's Mountainous Region.  Unfortunately accidents are a reality.  for which we are always looking for ways to increase our response capabilities to restore service as quickly as possible. The purchase of an  NYC American Crane Car will substantially add to the HRC's rapid response capabilities. This addition will also greatly reduce our exorbitant  rental expenses for emergency equipment from a certain railroad located just south of the HRC.

HRC has received notice from a yet to be named major International Conglomerate that they will be constructing a state of the art oil and chemical facility.  The plant will be located in HRC's north western corridor.  The company is hoping to begin construction in late spring 2017 and will take a minimum of 10 months to complete.    Permitting by the federal and state EPA's has been put on hold because of delays in completing no less than19 required environmental impact studies.   Current HRC planning calls for a 50% increase in single and double dome tanker to handle the new business.   This is the first car purchased as part of that expansion plan.  Built by the K-Line Corporation this car represents one of their top of the line offerings.

Also purchased were 5 bargain basement flatcars. All of these cars will be restored and relettered in the HRC colors.

Although this show was great it was not as great as it could have been.  John and I have teamed up for a couple of the last few shows but he was unable to attend this one.  The only thing better than spending money on trains is watching someone else spending money on trains.

Thanks,
EE