Various & Sundry

In our last episode the test train stalled on The Slide. There were only two units at the business end and it just wasn't enough. Despite that, the Baldwins seemed to have no trouble with the 2% grade on the rest of The Hill. But it was time to get a third shark out of the shop and back on the road. That train was still stalled. Took a bit of doin' but I used the parts from two to make one servicable B unit. The three sharks were able to pull the train the rest of the way to Gallitzin...

Shark Trio Makes Gallitzin

Once the train was back in Juniata I decided to try the L1s on the point. I don't think I've ever run this particular engine with a long train. Thirty four cars is bit more than any of the locomotives on the roster will have to handle in typical operations. A train that long won't fit on the yard tracks. Still, it would be nice to know what each engines capability might be. Short story; the 2-8-2 picked up the train and ran with it. It pulled past SLOPE and got to McGarvey's Curve before it started spinning it's drivers. It crawled a little further and then stopped with the rods a blur. I'm pretty sure two of these can easily handle a typical 15 - 20 car train all the way to Gallitzin.

Most of the time spent in the last few days has been reorganizing the garage and adding shelves under layout for more storage. I included a few for all the stuff that the workbench was buried under...

Space For Everything

 Yes, that is a Badger air brush and compressor. I have one, but I prefer hand painting my models.

All this mucking about freed up the "shops" so they could actually do what they're supposed to do, model railroading...

Juniata Shops

Juniata Shops Under The Lights

Of course this meant that now I could take stock, as it were, of all the stuff on the RIP track and the "auxiliary" RIP track at the west end of the yard...

RIP Track

Auxiliary RIP Track

It's not as bad as it looks. Most of the work is missing wheels or trucks. Those bolster pins drop out and Voila! off to the RIP track. Most of the time was spent organizing all the goodies I've been keeping in boxes for God knows how long. You would not believe the number of low profile metal wheel sets I have. Same with knuckle couplers, most of them MT products. I was able to make repairs and clear a lot of space...

Gettin'er Done.

I've also been going over the trackwork prior to mocking up the scenery. I'm trying to make any necessary adjustments before I move onto the that project (for once). For some of the adjustments I had to make yet another tool, Thing XX...

Level Track?

Thing XX Says "NO"

The tool lets me see what track needs to be leveled. This will be especially handy.. on curves where tracks are superelevated.

More to come...Oh yeah, I forgot...

Regards
Frank Musick
Shop Superintendent

Allegheny Eastern Railroad