CraigZ

i'd hazard a guess (and this is from a drivers point of view) that if the wrong direction aspects were to change with the passage of trains in the right direction it could be distracting for drivers going the other way, certainly the last thing i'd like to see is any signal go red in front of me!!

 

i've always thought they would be a good idea if there was some mechinism to have them unlit until they are actually needed, its surprising how many wrong direction bi-di signals you see before your own on a lot of lines, especially crewe to manchester

 

another reason could be they cannot disply a red at that signal

Unlit till needed exists over here in the states...been used for years, for example, on ex Atlantic Coast Line routes and recently installed locally here (much to my regret).

Anyway, any further updates on the 70012's fate? Curious and all that...

Some more info on 70012 from 31 January:

http://www.cargolaw.com/2011nightmare_GE.Class70.html including photos and a link to a Youtube video of the loading operations at Port Erie. They were shipped from GE on heavy duty flats....

A quick way of telling is that the old wheels appear a brassy dull brown/black colour where as the new wheels are nickel silver in appearance with bright faces. The older wheels tarnish very quickly although having said that some of my very early loco's that hadn't been on the layout ran perfectly straight from the box. I expect though that once the protective coating has worn off then the tarnish sets in if not run daily.

In a nutshell anything that preceeded Falcon and the class 58 in 2008 had the old type wheels.

Hope this helps.

So in other words Westerns definitely...how about a Kestrel? Can't remember when it came along...

Tony, looks like a pretty sure thing at least for Saturday...Friday a firm maybe. Depends on if I can get away from the office here.

We went to Florida in 2003. As we came in to land at Miami, there was a loco, still in Chessie livery, shunting in one of the Lance Mindheim type industrial leads.

 

By then a Chessie unit must have been a rare beast?

A very rare beast...when I shot that one in 1999 it was one of a dozen left. I chased it that day over to Durham, NC as it ran the Durham & Southern local out of Apex.

Thanks Craig.

 

Can't say I've spotted any writing anywhere near the battery slots on the CSX paint jobs.

 

Jon

Ooops...I left out one small detail - that was on a Chessie motor ...the year predated CSX liveries by a couple of years. Seaboard System paint was beginning to show in some numbers.

Here's a few of my photos only vaguely related to the topic at hand...the first is from 1987, that transitional era from Chessie/Seaboard System into CSX. It's Train Q470 (Hamlet NC to Rocky Mount NC) northbound on the old Atlantic Coast Line at Selma, NC with a typical doggie breakfast of power - a Chessie GP40-2, a Family Lines/SCL GP16, a Seaboard System U18B, another Family Lines GP16, and what looks to be a Western Rwy of Alabama GP40.

The second is from 1999 and is of one of a handful of Chessie-painted motors left on CSX coupled to an ex Chessie GP40-2. I like this one because of the old reporting marks coming through...at that point CSX was running the GP40s until they broke something expensive, at which point they'd retire the unit. For some reason many of the older GP40s never got the mail slots.

And this 1999 photo is of an ex RF&P GP40-2 - easy to pick out with no dynamic brakes.

And the original CSX paint scheme from August 1986 - applied to only 11 engines from May thru August 1986...frankly I rather liked it. Photo by Warren Calloway, my collection.

And then, my favorite transition era photo. In March 1987 a friend and I blundered into this rock train south of Apex, NC...grabbed a shot, turned around and drove at somewhat illegal speeds to the Haw River bridge at Moncure, NC...old US highway 1 parallels the railroad bridge nicely, yielding this photo. I had to speed as this was on the old Seaboard Air Line main line which was still rated for 60 mph for freights. I recall the train being a rattletrap collection of old coal hoppers loaded with ballast, banging and rattling and squeaking and leaving a trail of granite dust as it roared by. Darn nice train!

Thanks Craig,

 

Silly question - were the slots on both sides of the locos?

 

Jon

Sorry for the late reply - have been down in Florida most of the week. But yes, they're on both sides.

Somewhere around here I have a detail photo I took of one of these battery boxes...sometime around 1983 or 1984. It's stenciled with something about don't service the batteries as they're some sort of trial battery. Lord only knows where that photo is now....

And the work on the GP38-2 captures it nicely...

Jon, the 'M' stands for Modified. I doubt very much that you can detect any external differences. If you go further and turn your GP30 into a Road Slug, then there are a good number of external differences. I have a whole bunch of detail photos of CSX Road Slugs if you wanted to go that far.

 

Cheers, Tony

There is one difference between the model and the prototype - the distinctive Chessie mail slot battery box doors. Look at late Chessie and CSX ex-Chessie locomotives...nearly all of them have the mail slot and the 4229 indeed had them. Heck, the D&RGW SD50s were tagged on to a Chessie order and they have the mail slots. Cannon makes that part but I think it would be easier to modify the existing shell to make the slot rather than trying to remove the door from the shell.

I spoke to the guys from Hattons and Heljan last saturday and they said it WAS having wrap rounds, so this is quite curious indeed....

http://www.ehattons.com/StockDetail.aspx?SID=33375 - makes it pretty clear.

Now to decide...cancel order or not?

I just dug out my Heljan class 14 for another look at the poor slow running. I loosened the screws on the bottom keep plate, as has been suggested by several sources, and miraculously it started to run ok.

I dug mine out last night to chip it. It ran well out of the box but had a click which proved to be a stray bit of plastic on the back of one of the wheels making the wheel wiper jump. I am unimpressed by the circuit board with its lack of headroom for the chip plug and disturbed by the excessive wire under the hood. And the thermonuclear headcode lighting, oh my! Mine now has black tape over the LEDs. Now to fit Kadee couplers and see how it pulls...

The Man Who Sold The World - David Bowie

Easy Hearts - Whiskeytown

Here's a car done with them - evidently he started with a welded car and decaled all the rivets. I've seen some photos of other cars done with them and I've been amazed by the quality.

Now The Night Is Here - Paul Weller

The Only One I Know - The Charlatans

Chelsea Girls - Velvet Underground

In Every Dream Home A Heartache - Roxy Music

My Woman From Tokyo - Deep Purple

Under Your Breath - Whiskeytown

That's Good - Devo

Long Cool Woman - The Hollies

Guest Room - The National

First Of The Gang To Die - Morrisey

Come Calling (His Song) - Cowboy Junkies

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd