Modelling the Peoria Local - Motive Power

Here is a look at the second part of the Prototype Modeler magazine article on modeling the Peoria Local train.  This is from the September/October 1988 issue and details how to build and detail two of the most common locomotives then seen on the Bloomington line.

The article covers two different locomotives, a high nose Southern GP38-2 and a low nose N&W GP30, the older geep being unusual as a low nose unit because most of these locomotives were high hood units on the Norfolk & Western and Southern routes.

The article goes into a lot of detail on how to improve and detail the old Front Range (Bachmann) GP30 and create a detailed and accurate model of these unique locomotives.
A great project and two very nice looking locomotives, although these days there are off the shelf options for both of these prototypes, including the Life Like Proto 2000 GP30 (in both high and low nose versions) and the new Athearn Genesis GP38-2 as a high nose Southern prototype.

The Athearn Genesis GP38-2 in Southern Livery 

The Proto 2000 GP30 High Nose in Norfolk and Western Livery 

I will definitely be picking up one of the new Athearn GP38-2's when they are released at the end of the year, but getting a Proto 2000 high nose GP30 will be a lot harder, they really seem to be like gold dust, even the low nose versions are thin on the ground.  I will be keeping an eye on ebay just in case one becomes available.

You can read the entire article on this link here:  Link

Protoype Modeler Magazine Lot

Having found a lot of useful information in the issues of Prototype Modeler I bought back in January, I decided to try and collect a few more, and when a job lot of two years worth showed up on ebay I picked them up.

The magazine was a bimonthly release, so there were twelve issues in the lot, covering all of 1987 and 1988.  I already had a couple of the issues here, but it was worth picking up the whole set anyway.  If anyone is interested in taking the doubles then drop me a line.

With the September/October 1988 issue I now have the second part of the Peoria Local article I posted previously, this is the section that covers how to model some suitable motive power for the Bloomington - Normal trains, although as the article is over a quarter of a century old it's a little out of date.  In fact both of the locomotives covered in the article are now available as Genesis or P2K versions!

These magazines are a bit of a mixed bag, with some articles being really fascinating, and others being a bit dry on useful content, but it's certainly a contrast with the Model Railroader issues of the same time period, this magazine is very slim and lightweight, with a real focus on real-life reference and accurate modelling.

I will follow up with some more detail on the Peoria motive power article soon.

Track plan for Peoria V2.0

I've spent some time working up a second version of the track plan for my planned Peoria layout.  This one features more track for extra operating options, and I have moved the Mackinaw River bridge to the corner area. 

In real life the bridge is not curved, but I'm expecting that with some careful terrain occlusion the scene will not be so different from eye-level.

Picture by Jon J Roma on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonroma/

I'm pleased with how the plan has developed for this version, and it definitely feels like it is heading in the right direction, this version also features larger main curves with 18" radius, although ideally I would get up to at least 20" to allow for the 89ft flat cars and autoracks.

 Picture by Jon J Roma on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonroma/

This plan is still a closed loop, I intend to try and add some kind of fiddle yard under the layout, so my next design will include a first attempt at adding the lead tracks that access the staging area.

 Photo by Steve Smedley on Railpictures http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=320444&showexif=1

Twin Genesis Units

My latest purchases arrived this week, a pair of brand new Athearn Genesis SD70M-2 locomotives in Norfolk Southern livery.

These engines are the very latest released by Athearn and I've been waiting for almost a year since pre-ordering them.  I opted to buy one with sound and one without, as I expect to be running them as a pair so having two sound units in the same consist seems like overdoing it.

 As usual with Athearn, the detail on these models is outstanding, with every imagineable detail factory fitted.  There is a small bag containing the truck sideframe cables, but otherwise these units are good to go straight out of the box.

Truly fantastic models and I'm really looking forward to getting them onto the test track to get them run in.

I will try to do an in-depth review of these new models shortly.

First track plan for Peoria

After fiddling in Xtrack Cad for a while, I've come up with my first draft trackplan for the new layout.  This one features the two key visual elements I wanted to capture from the article - the Mackinaw Bridge and the outskirts of Bloomington.

Anti-clockwise from the top.  The bridge is represented by the long rectangle along the top line, then comes the grain elevator at Goodfield, then the purple box represents the Midwest Fibre recycling plant on the outskirts of Bloomington, and the lower straight is Bloomington itself with the former freight depot.

I've arranged the layout in two sides, with the idea that I could reconfigure it as an end-to-end for exhibition use.

This first version is already working fairly well, but I am trying to get a little more track into the grain elevator, and especially a small runaround loop on that corner.

The curves are tight, but as I only have a 4ft width there won't be much I can do about that.  One of the key types of freight for the trains is 89ft flatcars loaded with containers and dry van trailers, as well as the occasional Autorack from the Diamond Star motors plant.

So, still a lot of work to do, but the concept of a continuous run does feel like it will fit with the space I have available.  There is a lot more design and planning yet to do - especially in terms of fiddle yard/storage for the layout.  I have an idea that it might be possible to shoehorn an under-the-layout fiddle yard by installing a gradient at the right hand end, but until I do some mock-ups and testing, I don't know how practical that will be.

Over the next week or two I hope to be able to hone this trackplan into one that is truly ready to build.

Modelling the Peoria local

As my collection of locomotives and rolling stock continues to grow, I've been planning to build a home layout.

With that in mind, I've been hunting for a suitable prototype railroad to use as inspiration, and I had considered modelling the Detroit Connecting Railroad as a switching layout, but the lack of large engines was a drawback (the DCR only uses GE 44 Ton centercab engines).

I recently picked up a job lot of old modelling magazines, including several issues of Prototype Modeler Magazine.  One of these featured an in-depth article on the Gibson - Peoria local line through Goodfield and Bloomington in the late eighties.

I was intrigued by the cover photograph which shows a high nose GP9 leading a train across the Mackinaw river.

The line is still in use today and some views have not changed much as this recent photograph by Flickr user McKayak shows:

Photograph by McKayak on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/22800108@N06/

The line served several different industries, including the Caterpillar plant at Morton and various lumber mills, grain elevators and also the Nissan car plant at Diamond Star motors.



This recent shot of the Midwest Paper plant shows the opportunities for small industrial switching, the plant hasn't changed much if at all since the eighties.

Passing through Bloomington the line has a great 'downtown' feel, and I will definitely be aiming to capture the feel of the above photograph.

The line also featured a diverse range of motive power during the late eighties, including Delaware & Hudson engines, Southern GE engines and the regular Norfolk & Western and Norfolk Southern power.

So this line is a really great source of inspiration for a layout, and the time period of the late eighties is of interest not only for the variety of motive power, but also the fact that it fits my own personal modelling history as it was the same time that I first became interested in modelling US railroads.

You can read the article I was inspired by on this link, its from the July/August 1988 issue of Prototype Modeler magazine which covered the route in detail.  Read the article here.

Room for a layout?

Without a garage or large spare room, I've been trying to develop a layout plan that will fit into the small third bedroom of our house, a room that is designated as 'the office' and already filled with filing cabinets, shelving and a cabin bed.

With a distinct lack of space, I had been working to try and develop an end-to-end switching layout like this link.

However, I would much prefer a continuous run, so the design work has been on hold while I concentrated on building my freemo module for the club layout.

Recently my wife suggested the idea of building a layout in the outbuilding, a small brick shed that extends to the rear of the house.  While not massive, it does have a useable floor area of 4x9 and is prewired with fluorescent lighting and electrical sockets.   Of course it is also full of junk, acting as a dumping ground for all the stuff that should really be taken to the tip, so the first task would be to empty the space and paint it.

At first I didn't think the space would work, but after spending some time with Xtrak cad and working out the sizes, I've started to formulate a trackplan that would allow for continuous running over a small branchline and if I build the boards in a modular fashion then I might also have come up with a trackplan that will allow for reconfiguration as an exhibition layout.

Next step is to work up the trackplan.  More on that soon.