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Plant City Florida Potato Spur


fulton
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23 hours ago, fulton said:

There is room in the "head shunt" for a loco plus 4 cars, in my playing trains the layout seems to work well with 4-5 cars spotted at the industries, the train arrives with 4-5 cars plus shoving platform, switches then departs with 4-5 cars pushing the train back. My staging has room for three trains, I find my layouts work better, more fluid, with less rather than more cars.

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I will say the same. With less cars you are tripping over your own feet less. More cars might be more taxing to figure out the switching moves, but there's a fine line before you cross into over complication, which I doubt the real railroads like to do.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you, not a lot of progress at the moment as I am in Dusseldorf Germany, not sure when I will be back in the UK, as I need to be here at short notice and fear France will close its borders again, do not really want to fly direct.

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  • 1 month later...

Been back in the UK for a few weeks, away again next week, busy on utility poles, 18 on the layout 16 different designs! have used brass tube for strength, beads for insulators, transformers from Shapeways and drop breakers from Showcase Minitures, brass wire to give a representation of cables, street light heads from Viessmann.

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Lights came with LEDs which I will resist down so as to be not too bright. Also working on freight cars, adding graffiti, was a bit torn about adding this but it is a feature of the current scene, looking at videos it is universal.

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Freight cars all now updated with reflector strips, added Exact Rail bulkhead flats very detailed models a bit fragile, need very careful handling, replaced the couplings with No 5s, two of there centre beams on order.

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Collected from the Post Office today, as tax to pay, two ExactRail centrebeam flat cars, this completes my freight car roster, very nice models, gave a quick light weathering spray, painted the wheel sets, fitted Kadee #5 couplings, came with #58s which work just as well but I prefer to keep everything the same. Have been making up some removable timber loads so that the cars arrive loaded, then leave empty, using the Scale Model Scenery 00 packs, I like that they are solid and they seem to stay in place, chunky enough to get hold of, a set four packs long and two high will fit all my flat car, bulkhead flats and centrebeam flats. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Back in the UK now, an overview photo for me to get back into the project, have some half finished timber loads on the work bench, the layout has been in one piece now for sometime now, needs to be taken apart so I can tidy up the base board joints, sort the servo linkages to the gates and wire in the lights, the days of working under a layout have gone what with knees and varifocals!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Have had the layout apart, tided up the baseboard joints and edges, sorted the linkages to the pairs of gates and wired up the street lights. Have used BLOCKSIGNALLING servos for the gates powered by their 12v supply unit feed from the dcc. Also fitted the recently introduced Train-Tech RL1 relay unit to turn the lights on and off, and to turn the servo units on and off. This morning re erected the layout, but this time the other way round with the viewing side against the wall so that I can concentrate on how things look from the operating side.

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I'm not sure your original identification was incorrect. According to bullsheet.com CSX got rid of its last GP35 in 1993 and I know it put the GP40-2 locos it inherited from Conrail in 1999 into the 44xx series reusing the numbers. There are only a few pictures on rrpicturearchives of 44xx series GP35 after 1993 but imho those pictures all look as much like, if not more like GP40-2, rrpa also suggests that 4420(GP35) became a road slug in 1991

 

On 02/08/2020 at 13:06, DanielB said:

Here's #4420 (incorrectly stated to be a GP40-2 - my bad!) and the shoving platform heading across the diamond by the depot (now museum), hope it helps.

 

 

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6 hours ago, ChrisH-UK said:

I'm not sure your original identification was incorrect. According to bullsheet.com CSX got rid of its last GP35 in 1993 and I know it put the GP40-2 locos it inherited from Conrail in 1999 into the 44xx series reusing the numbers. There are only a few pictures on rrpicturearchives of 44xx series GP35 after 1993 but imho those pictures all look as much like, if not more like GP40-2, rrpa also suggests that 4420(GP35) became a road slug in 1991

 

Agreed. My 2005 and 2010 editions of the Locomotive Rosters both show CSX 4420 as an ex-Conrail GP40-2.

The loco in the video looks more like a GP40 than a GP35 - 3 full size fans.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Been away for awhile, diverted into model aircraft, as they say a change is as good as a rest, just weathered this Exactrail box car, we were due to travel to Germany the day the French closed the border, so frantic covid test my wife's results came on the 24th at 9am mine at 2pm a quick change of Eurotunnel booking, to the 6,20pm shuttle, all a bit stressful, not helped by the M20 being closed for operation stack and the Police at the checkin saying it was up to the French if they excepted our documents or not, but all was well arrived back in Dusseldorf at 1am Christmas day. 

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Just completed two kits from Showcase Miniatures, ordered direct, came in five days lucky I did not get done for tax, both went together well, kits are a mixture of resin, white metal, etched brass and etched stainless steel, particularly liked the etched stainless steel, which I left mainly unpainted.

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Dear Fulton,

 

Apologies if I missed it along the way, but how are you handling the "non-track side" of those white "FP&O" industry buildings, between the track and the viewer aisle?
IE are the viewers looking at a "blank wall", a "theatre black flat", or other?
Will the viewer be forced to look around (either L or R) of the building,
or will the layout be displayed soo low that a "drone shot" look over the top will be the default viewer experience?

 

Intrigued, but very very impressed!

 

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

 

PS do CSX use the RCP platforms in Florida?
4446.1404209456.jpg

 

 

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Yes the public side will see a gray ply back to FP&O, with a Digitrax outlet in it for when I want to operate from the front, the control panel is on a long lead to allow this, was not sure how to deal with this otherwise as I really like the operator view of FP&O which the public will not have. Cannot get a photo of the public side at the moment as the layout is set up against a wall. Do not know if RCP platforms are still in use.

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Seen at Plant City today, Hyster lumber straddle carrier, this is a 1950s machine must be owned by an enthusiast judging by its condition. 3D printed from shapeways, canvas tilt, screen and wiper added.

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Edited by fulton
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