Micro Trains N Weathered 60 Foot Boxcars

One of my favorite pieces of N rolling stock in the Micro Trains 60 foot boxcar, especially the weathered version. I decided to see if I could find prototype versions of these cars, and surprisingly, I discovered I could. In fact, I think the factory weathered versions of these cars are currently go,od bargains, considering weathered models can go at a premium. Hewre is my photo of Conrail 216718:

There is a 2005 photo by Joe Rogers of the same prototype car at rrpicturearchives.net, but it won't let me copy or link to it. However, here is a photo of a car from the same BE60A class by Grant Lowry at the Conrail Photo Archive.

Here is my photo of Penn Central 278708

Again, there's a Ken Roble photo of the same prototype cwr at rrpicturearchives.net, but it won't let me copy or link to it. The Conrail Cyclopedia says the prototype cars were built by Berwick for Penn Central as class X77 in series PC 278045-278174 and used for auto parts. Here is an Angelo Toresani photo of PC 278128:

Checking the models against the prototype photos at rrpicturearchives.net, the prototype lettering, weathering patterns, and even graffiti are very close.

More Scenery

I was able to make more scenery progress on \the small N layuout. I used Woodland Scenics Ready Rock and their 1" white foam cut into small blocks to build up the side of a blasted area inside the curve.

I don't have any particular prototype in mind, but there are formations like this on the CSX Berkshire Sub, on the former Clinchfield, and in various parts of the western US. Because there aren't enough suitable shapes available in the faceted Ready Rocks package I used, I'll switch to a package of shelf type Ready Rocxks I have on hand to finish the other side of the curve. I don't think the difference between metamorphic and sedimentary types will be too visible, they'll form separate scenes visible from different sides of the layout.

I'm holding thingd together with Elmer's glue. I'll use ground foam soked in Elmer's to fill in gaps in the rock face and add other vegetation. When the rock face is finished around the curve, I'll fill the new surface in with a sheet ot 1" foam.

Progress On The Small N Layout

Things haven't moved as fast as I had hoped, but I finished tracklaying and basic electrical wiring, and everything's been debugged and is working properly. At the same time, although I didn't originally plan to run passenger trains on it, I began to think about running short passenger trains, with a small shelter and plaform on one part of the layout. This led me to study short Amtrak trains, inclulding the Boston sections of the Lake Shore, Trains 448-449. Here is an example I set up to test how that train would fit on the layout:

As you can see, I've even added some scenery to one corner. As far as small shelters are concerned, I've found a few in my area (both photos mine). Here is Goleta, north of Santa Barbara on the Surfliner route:

Here are smaller shelters on the Glendale platform:

An eBay seller called Model Railway Gadgets offers a somewhat similar shelter in both N and HO scale (photo from eBay site).

It's based on the Mertolink shelter in El Monte, CA.

Very Short Amtrak Train

I was researching short Amtrak trains -- some of the midwest service trains, the Heartland Flyer, and the Borealis qualify, as well as the Portland-Seattle sections of the Empire Builder, and the Boston section of the Lake Shore -- when I ran into this video of a not-quite 448, the Boston section of the Lake Shore, leaving Rensselaer.

The narrator doesn't explain what's happening very well, and I had to poke around to try to get some idea of what's going on here. We know that 448-449, the Boston Sections of the Lake Shore, were discontinued in July due to a sinkhole east of Rensselaer on Amtrak's Post Road Branch, which connects Albsny-Rensselaer with the CSX Berkshire Sub at Schodack to continue to Boston. The trains have been replaced by buses. I've read that in the past, Amtrak has detoured over trhe CSX Castleton Cutoff, but not this time. However, it looks like something needs to run between Rensselaer and Boston to ferry eauipment for the Downeaster, Vermonter, Springfield trains, etc, even if passengers aren't carried on 448-449.

I read via Wikipedia that CSX also uses the Amtrak Post Road Branch via trackage rights. I asked Chrome AI mode about this, and it replied,

CSX has rerouted its freight trains traveling between Albany and the east via its Hudson Subdivision and Berkshire Subdivision. The freight would travel south from Albany to Castleton-on-Hudson on the Hudson Subdivision and then reverse direction to continue east on the Berkshire Subdivision.

So my surmise is this is an Amtrak extra movement that replaces 448-449 to ferry equipment back and forth to Boston for the Downeaster and other New England trains, but so far, I haven't been able to confirm this. But if it is, it must be following a similar route to the CSX freight detour. Normally 448-449 seem to run with as many as four diesel units, plus cabbages on occasion, to perform this function. Whatever it is, it's a prototype for a very short Amtrak train.

Small N Layout

For the past several weeks, I've been working on a small N layout. I rescued a strange piece of what seems to be mahogany plywood from my late dad's garage some years ago, and I always thought it could be used for a small N layout. Eventually I got a couple of Kato N Unitrack sets to play around with, and I started to lay out ideas, but nothing quite jelled. Here is what I was trying to do in 2016:

The dimensions are something like 47" x 27". I set it aside in vertical storage for almost ten years until a better inspiration hit. At this stage, I'm doing final electrical and mechanical testing of the basic oval. Currently there are two Kato Unitrack 20-032 Micro Trains uncoupling magnets installed at either end of the siding track. I'm trying to install them so that contemporary freight cars in the 50-70 feet range can be uncoupled mechanically on a straight section long enough to keep the couplers aligned.

The outside radius curves are 315 mm, which is the equivalent of 24-25" in HO, so I can run contemporary six-axle diesels with the long freight cars. But this will severely limit the number, length, and purpose of the spurs, and I'm still working out exactly where more 20-032 uncoupler magnets and other track sections will go.

Given my age and stage, I've declared myself retired from going underneath any more baseboards. As a result, terminal strips and switch machine decoders are mounted on top of the layout, along the edges as needed. As it happens, there are strange rabbets along the bottom edges of the plywood as it came to me, and they can be used to run all wiring underneath. I'll find a way to mask the terminal strips and so forth with scenery but keep them accessible.

I weathered the single-track, wood-tie Unitrack to conceal the shiny Unitrack look. I've left the double-track concrete-tie sections alone for now.

What Happened To CSX's AC6000s?

In their recent run of N scale AC6000s, Broadway Limited painted the CSX units in the YN3 "dark future" scheme that dates from 2002. Checking photos on the web, I've found that the unit unbers BLI ran with this scheme actually had them on the prototype. (BLI photo)

After last week's post on UP's AC6000, I learned that a spotting feature that distinguished "full" AC6000s like CSX's from "convertible" or "rebuilt" units on UP was the exhaust stacks. An "original" or "full" AC6000 has twin exhaust stacks like the CSX unit in the model photo above. "Convertible" or "rebuilt" units have a single exhuast stack similar to an AC4400 or ES44. This also applied to CSX units that had their engines modifed or replaced.

Unlike the UP units, the CSX units had their AC6000s with AC-radial trucks. BLI reflects this difference on its models.

It's a little harder to track down concrete information on the fate of CSX's AC6000s. The Wikipedia entry I linked last week says that CSX received three pre-production units numbered 600-602 in December 1995. Due to problems with these units, full production was delayed until 1998. GE then delivered "full" units 603-699 and 5000-516 between October 1908 and April 2000.

As with UP, CSX had continuing problems with the "full" units. Per the link,

603-699, 5000-5016's original prime movers replaced with 4,600 hp (3,400 kW) 16 cyl. GEVO prime movers and new computer equipment essentially making them ES46ACs. CSX classifies these units as CW46AHs. 5015 and 5016 were both classified as a CW60AH.

According to another link,

Since 2008, many CSX units have since been equipped with GEVO electronics essentially dubbing them as "ES60AC's", while other units are reported to be equipped or retrofitted with GEVO-16 prime-movers (though nearly all of them simply have modified engine blocks or are retrofitted with 7FDL-16 engines).

So far, I haven't been able to find concrete information on which specific CSX units received which specific modifications.

In the YouTube short below, you can see a CSX AC6000, but if you look at the roof of the long hood, you can see that the as-built twin exhaust stacks like those on rhe BLI model have been replaced with a single, wider exhaust stack like on an ES44.

I will be on the lookout for N scale parts that might be used to modify the BLI model.

According to the last link above, CSX 603-665, 667-699, and 5000-5016 weere sold to Progress Rail in 2018. 600-602 remained on CSX property but out of service. CSX 601 is the "Spirit of Waycross" unit, while 602 is the "Spirit of Maryland". 666 at some point was renumbered to 656 due to the number's Biblical connotations.

In 2019, Progress Rail leased 10 units (two for parts only) to the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad, which numbered them 6000-6007. The YouTube video below shows the WNY&P units in servicxe late in their career:

The description of the video reads,

In 2019 the Western New York and Pennsylvania railroad entered into a lease agreement with Progress Rail or PRLX to rebuild/ lease 8 former CSX AC6000’s to replace the WNYP’s aging fleet of 6 MLW M636’s. Slowly the AC6000’s began to phase out the M636’s between 2019-2020. The WNYP’s AC6000’s numbered 6000-6007 became the main powerhouse of the railroad making runs up keating summit with only 2 locomotives instead of 3-4. However over the next few years the WNYP’s traffic was steadily decreasing and due to this only 3 out of 8 AC6000’s would see regular service. In 2024 the railroad lost one of its largest customers who moved fracking sand out of Emporium PA eliminating runs up the Keating Summit, also in 2024 70 miles of track between Sagertown and Jamestown would be taken out of service further more limiting the traffic of the WNYP and with this cut in traffic saw the nail in the coffin for the AC6000’s. On May 28th AC6000’s 6000, 6003, 6006, and 6007 were moved to Meadville PA where Norfolk Southern would take them to an unknown fate.

All were off the WNY&P late in 2024. According to the link above, Aberdeen, Carolina and Western Railway rebuilt former CSX AC6000CW #666/PRLX 656 into a bar under the name "Engine Room ‘87" in 2024.

What Happened To UP's AC6000s?

Not long ago, I noticed that Broadway Limited did a second run of N scale GE AC6000s. Most notably, I noticed that the UP units were in the post-2023 "small flag" scheme, like this photo of 6937 (BLI photo):

This came as a surprise, because I thought UP's AC6000s were out of service. But this was only partly correct. I began searching for prototype photos, and sure enough, I found some prototypes in the 6900 series in the "small flags" scheme. However, no UP AC6000s currently exist with the original 16-7HDL 6000 horsepower engines. According to Wikipedia, "beginning in 2018, Union Pacific had begun sending its AC6000CWs to GE for rebuilding. The rebuilt units are classified as C44ACMs. By 2023, all of the units have been rebuilt."

As far as I can tell, all AC6000s, original, convertible, or rebuilt have two main spotting features. First, the right side running board jogs upward between the equipment box behind the cab and the rear truck. Second, the radiator extends out over the rear running board.

So let's recap UP's main groups of AC6000s. The Wikipedia link is the best source I've found. The original 6000 horsepower units were numbered 7500-7579, delivered between November 1995 and January 2001. As noted above, these were returned to GE for rebuilding with 4400 horsepowwer engines, but with no outward changes, starting in 2018. Going through my own photos, it looks like I never caught any in the original 7500 series -- for whatever reason, they must not have operated in Southern California.

Units 7300-7405 were "convertible", delivered with the older 4400 horsepower 7FDL engine, with the idea of upgrading them to the 6000 horsepower engine, but this never happened. These units were renumbered to 7010-7079 to make room for ES44ACs, but are not in the same order. They were classified as C4460AC and rebuilt to C44ACM later on in 2018. It looks like I never caught many of these before they were renumbered, but several afterward. But based on the dates of the photos, it's not clear when this renumbering took place. (all photos below are by me):

UP 7342 West Colton November 27, 2013

UP 7010 Cajon 1999

UP 7028 West Colton December 24, 2014

UP 7052 West Colton September 26, 2012

All the original 6000 horsepower units were returned to GE and rebuilt with 4400 horsepower GEVO engines between 2018 and 2023. They were renumbered 6888-6968. Again, based, on the dates of the photos from the metadata in the image, I'm not sure if the dates in the Wikipedia entry are entirely correct.

UP 6898 West Colton February 28, 2018

UP 6911 West Colton January 13, 2016

UP 6961 West Colton April 29, 2014

So the 2024 BLI units numbered in the 6900s with the "small flag" scheme are, strictly speaking, 4400 horsepower C44ACM locomotives, not AC6000s, but they are correctly painted, correctly numbered, and are currently in service.