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SP SD40M-2 8691 Joins the FleetToday's package at the front door contained a gorgeous model from Athearn Genesis in the form of Southern Pacific SD40M-2 8691. The SP had purchased 133 used six-axle locomotives that were all rebuilt by Morrison-Knudsen to "SD40M-2" mechanical specifications. The host locomotives were primarily SD40s and SD45s, however a few were rebuilt from unique SDP45s. The SDP45 was the passenger adaptation of EMD's 20-cylinder, 3,600 horsepower SD45. 52 of these locomotives were built between 1967 and 1970. Distinguished from the freight SD45 by a longer frame, bigger fuel tank, and a distinctive square end to the long-hood behind the flaired radiators for steam generator equipment, the SDP45 is easy to spot. Only 18 SDP45 (10 Southern Pacific and 8 Great Northern) locomotives were built to serve as passenger locomotives. The Erie Lackawana purchased 34 of these locomotives with concrete ballast in the rear section instead of steam generator equipment to utilize the larger fuel tanks to reduce the need for fueling events en-route. Of the 133 SP SD40M-2s numbered 8574-8706, the 8691 was one of the few rebuilt from an SDP45. The SP 8691 was built as EL 3654 in June of 1970. I was actively railfanning the SP when the SD40M-2s were delivered as new, so I could not pass up the opportunity to purchase one. And a beautiful model it is! The above image of EL 3654 shared by Fred Stuckman (Credited to Sturges & Folsom) on rrpicturearchives.net is linked to the posting on that site. The below image is of the same locomotive rebuilt as SP SD40M-2 8691 as shared by Jeffrey Streiff on rrpicturearchives.net. This image is linked as well. In keeping with the SP theme of this order, also included in this equipment delivery were two InterMountain FMC 5283 Cuft Double Door boxcars. The models purchased were SP 244617 and SSW 67483. Both of these cars are welcome additions to the fleet. The SP 8691 is the third "EsPee" locomotive I have purchased, enough to make a respectable consist. Pictured below is the consist: SSW SD45T-2 9383, SP SD40R 7372, and SP SD40M-2 8691. A fine looking trio! Chris
Vicksburg Terminal - 1st FootprintInitial progress on building my first Vicksburg Terminal model railroad is slow at best - baby steps... A large part of the delay is conceptualizing in my head how I want it to come together. Over the last several weekends I have spent some time with my father making taking the first steps. This will be a ceiling railroad with the main level barely clearing the tops of the two doors in the room. I needed a clear picture of where the studs were in the wall to finalize the location of the major structural components. So we put the new stud finder to work and mapped the walls. The Precision Sensors Profinder 5000 stud finder that I grabbed at Costco is extremely easy to use. For quick marking, we used sticky note sheets to mark the studs, angling them to mark the center with the bottom corner. Two walls of the man-cave are external house walls and the studs are spaced 16 inches apart. The other two walls have studs 24 inches apart. Hmmm...... I made several design templates on graph paper of the room and made a number of copies to aid the design process. We marked the stud locations in orange on one of these sheets to paint the picture of what we had to work with. This was very helpful to me. Today, 2-27-2016, was an important day - the first pieces of wood were cut and installed on the north wall. These pieces define the bottom edge of the main level which will rest on top of this support. Additional segments of 1x4 were cut in 7-inch lengths to aid the mounting of Everbilt 12 inch white Magnum Shelf Brackets that will also support the railroad. Chris
Two February Equipment DeliveriesThe trip to chase the City of Grenada has kept me busy editing many photographs. I have also edited a video from the trip and am working on another video taken on the IC Beaumont District in 1995. These things have got me behind on my blog postings, including a previous freight car delivery update. Today, 2-17-2016, a wonderful box arrived with my first Athearn RTR locomotive equipped with the new Tsunami "Econami" decoder installed. This unit is a model of SP SD40R 7372 and is very nice indeed! I looked through my photographs and discovered that I have managed to photograph quite a few of these SP 7300-Series beasts! And the cost including the sound decoder: $139 on-line! I am going to have to set up a test-run session on the Michigan Interstate to review. I am hopeful that the Nathan P-3 horn is improved over previou Tsunami P-3 horn sound files. I believe I may have to get my hands on more of these! Also included in today's delivery was a single freight car--an Athearn RTC 20K General Service Tank Car decorated as DOWX 3880. I am a big fan of the generic chemical cars and this one conveys that image nicely. The model of DOWX 3880 is placarded "1993" and stencilled "Potassium Chloride Solution". On 2-5-2016 a shipment of five ExactRail PS2-CD 4427 Cuft Covered Hopper Cars arrived. These cars were ATSF 302703, TLDX 3015, TLDX 3018, TLDX 5425, and TLDX 5469. These cars were the ExactRail January special. There were way too many to choose from, but I managed to select these five. The Santa Fe car sports the small Santa Fe logo and simple lettering. The video I edited and uploaded documenting a trip in 1992 to ride the AL&M has some footage in Vicksburg. Santa Fe covered hoppers, including the PS2-CD 4427s, were visible in the yard at the time. The ExactRail Santa Fe cars have a support brace across the top of the sides which is a nice feature. This car will compliment nicely the Santa Fe hopper cars already in the Meridian Speedway fleet: The TLDX 3015 and TLDX 3018 cars are decorated for the Bungee Corporation. Bunge has a grain elevator on the Mississippi River right next to the Vicksburg Freight Yard. There is a scene in the above mentioned video of MSRC GP10 1031 pulling five ATSF open hoppers off the Bunge lead in Vicksburg. Though I am not sure if these exact cars visited this elevator, I thought adding them to the fleet would be appropriate to create the Vicksburg feel for the railroad: And finally there are TLDX 5425 and TLDX 5469. These cars are decorated for the Louis Dreyfus Corporation in a striking blue-and-black paint scheme. I do have memories of these cars in Illinois Central grain trains which, of course, have a place in my operating scheme. I had to pick up a couple of them! Chris
Good Morning America, How Are You?Fellow Train Dispatcher and Photographer Blair Kooistra asked me if I would be interested in accompanying him on a trip to photograph the "City of Grenada" photo special. This trip was sponsored by the Memphis NRHS Chapter and would sport two E8A locomotives and 10 passenger cars wearing the famous Illinois Central "Chocolate-and-Orange" color scheme. I had not considered it before, but a road trip along the Meridian Speedway to photograph this train...I was in! Along the we we shot a few KCS trains between Doyline and Monroe. We were also treated to some action on the LNW at Gibsland: Y&MV Freight Car Box Labels AddedIt has been a long time since I made custom box labels for my rolling stock. While running errands today at Costco I noticed that they had their own brand of Professional Glossy Inkjet Photo Paper. I forget the exact price, but a box of 150 sheets was under $20.00. I decided to grab a box and experiment with this paper to see if it would be suitable for box labels. Particularly annoying to me is how small the reporting marks and numbers are on the ends of rolling stock boxes as produced by nearly every manufacturer. For me there is no bit of information more useful than that. To have to put my nose up to a shelf of boxes and read the tiny print should be unnecessary, but necessary it is.
My master PowerPoint file has separate pages with basic label templates sized to fit most of the different sized boxes in production. It is easy to size these labels for different boxes as needed. The current need for me to create some labels is the cars I am custom painting now that the paint booth is in production mode. The Y&MV Thrall All-Door boxcars being the current project on the workbench put them at the front of the line for new labels. The image above emphasizes the issue of font size that has steered me to design the labels as I have. Visible are stock boxes from Intermountain, PWRS, Athearn, Athearn Genesis, Walthers Proto, Walthers Platinum Line, and BLMA. From this distance you really cannot read the individual car identification on ANY of them. For contrast, some boxes that I have made labels for are mixed in. If you are holding NTO 880890 in your hand, you waste no time finding the right box to put it in if its layout time has come to an end.
One last addition to the label format is the manufacturer's stock number in very small font centered at the bottom of the label. One thing I noticed while cataloging my freight cars is that many manufacturers do not keep a history of car numbers/stock numbers out of production on line. I keep the stock number as part of my database. I spent considerable time researching the stock numbers for several cars that I had previously made labels for, obscuring that information. It is easy to just add that info to the label so I will make that a standard practice going forward. The labels printed on the Kirkland photo paper just fine. I used a metal straight edge and an X-Acto Knife to cut the printed sheet into properly sized labels. In the past I have had adhesive labels fall off after the passage of some time. I have experimented with different glues since then and have settled on one that is perhaps a bit overkill, but it works and will likely last forever! My adhesive of choice is Liquid Nails. I always have a 4 FL OZ tube of this stuff around the house so squeezing a bead of this product on the end of a freight car box is easy. Then I use my finger to smear the Liquid Nails evenly over the area that will be covered by the label. Next I gently press the label onto the adhesive and it is done! Any excess Liquid Nails that is pushed out by the label can easily be wiped away before it dries. Chris
Welcome GM&O 85035 & Peco Switches - Y&MV DecalsToday was a busy day. An important shipment arrived and some decaling was completed. The first two pieces of track ordered specifically for my Vicksburg Terminal layout are now in the Man Cave! These are both switches which I primarily ordered to use as templates for the planning process. One is a Peco Insulfrog #7 right hand curved turnout and the other is a Peco Electrofrog #8 right hand turnout. Both are beautiful pieces of track! In addition, a singe Tangent Scale Models 4180 Airslide covered hopper was also included. This car is my first GM&O purchase and I am glad to have it! GM&O 85035 is one of four GM&O offerings in their first release of the 4180 Airslide. This car has printed instructions on the side that state: "WHEN EMPTY RETURN VIA REVERSE ROUTE TO MP RR ATCHISON KS FLOUR LOADING ONLY". Very cool! I have also decaled one side of the two All-Door Boxcars I painted earlier this week. Y&MV 2020 and Y&MV 2025 now have a face! The Y&MV 2025 is marked for shipment to Hank Stephens in appreciation for the time and skill he devoted to designing the artwork for these cars. The two previously painted cars Y&MV 2028 and Y&MV 2035, were on-hand to serve as guides for the decaling process. The fleet is growing! Chris
Two More Y&MV All-Door BoxcarsLast Friday Greg McComas came over to deliver several of my locomotives. He also gave me a surplus Walthers Thrall All-Door boxcar that he did not need. I now had a second car to paint with my model of BENX 107 since I have decided to keep my model of RSP 20277 as is...thanks Greg! I prefer to paint these cars in pairs since a mixed bottle of paint covers two cars nicely. The car he gave me was USLX 50508, decorated green and white for the Chandler Corporation. Today I prepped the cars and gave them their first coat of Y&MV brown paint which doubles as the primer coat. The USLX 50508 is from an older run and did not have the vertical grab iron at the left end of the car or the end walkway grab iron. I fabricated these grab irons from piano wire and installed them first thing. I applied the shop trucks to the cars during the paint prep process. I noticed that one of the truck on the BENX 107 angled inward towards the center of the car. A closer look revealed that the bolster was sitting at an off angle. So I dismantled this car - separating the floor, underframe, weight and center sill components. At first I though that a piece of flash at one end of the underframe was the culprit. I removed this excess plastic, however, it was not the cause of the problem. A little more hacking and experimenting ensued. I finally decided that the underframe bolster screw mounts were just a tad closer than the same mounts on the floor. This was made evident by putting the pieces together and pressing down on the side that was a bit wonky. This caused the other end of the floor to lift up off the table. I decided to make a little reduction to the inner bolster screw sprue on the floor panel and then Crazy Glue the bolster ares of the floor and underframe together. This ensured that the bolsters would be parallel. Once dried this component was screwed to the metal weight and the bolsters lined up just fine. The car probably would have run just fine without this exercise, however, it just did not meet my standards. Next I decided to spend some time on the car roofs. Walthers kindly left three roof panels with irregularities where the body molding was separated from three sprues. I masked the roof details around these panes and then used two grades of fine sandpaper to smooth the panels. The masking tape lattice easily came off the first car so I was able to quickly apply the same masking to the second car and file the excess plastic off of that car. Next was the reassembly of the cars. Down to the kitchen for the next step. A bin was filled with warm water and a couple of drops of dish soap. The two cars were submerged for a few minutes to remove any oils and other debris. Under cold water the cars were scrubbed with an old tooth brush and then rinsed off. A dish towel was used to gently blot the water on the cars and then they were set aside for some time to completely dry off. The shop trucks were removed to aid in the drying process. Finally it was off to the paint booth to apply my fresh mix of Scalecote IC Orange and Tuscan Red. The paint booth worked just fine though the airbrush was being a bit finicky. I think it may be time to get a new one... Chris
GACX 47354 Added to FleetToday I went to the Plano Train Show with my uncle, Joe Scorsone. It was good to see some friends there as well as the many layouts and vendors. Of course the temptation was there to drop some serious coin, however, I was able to practice restraint and just purchased one car: Tangent 4180 Airslide GACX 47354. As expected this latest release from Tangent is moving quickly. Strangely enough, Tangent only saw fit to release two road numbers of this very popular and easily recognizable paint scheme. Thank you Spring Creek Model Trains for traveling from Deshler, Nebraska to Texas making this car readily accessible. My regular on-line supplier is already sold out! The Spring Creek Model Trains banner above is linked to their website. Be sure to check them out if you are not already familiar with them. One vendor in particular got my interest - a 3D printing company called Paper-to-Parts. They had a number of 3D printed items on hand, some of which were quite impresive. I see this technology as being the next "big thing" in our hobby with amazing potential. In short order I see the need for some IC/Y&MV specific structures and buildings on the horizon and 3D printing might just be the way to go. I have linked their logo in this post to the Paper-to-Parts website so I can easily find it when I am ready. Another vendor of interest was Jane's Tools. This display belonging to a local Mesquite, TX company had many, many bins full of tools, all of which seemed like things I should have in my toolbox! Of course, when faced with that kind of overwhelming supply and no specific need, the best think to do is just back away! The Jane's Tools logo here is linked to their website for ease of reference when the time is right! Chris
KCS, IC, MSRC, SP, Amtrak - Action Around Jackson!My latest video upload to YouTube is a treasure-trove of footage from a time and location relevant to the Proto-Freelanced railroad this site is devoted to. On August 14, 1996 I made a trip to Jackson, MS with Bill Lang. I do not recall what the motivation was for the trip, however, the footage is excellent and I am pleased to have found this video after so many years! The video starts of with a meet of two KCS locals on the Meridian Subdivision at Brandon, MS. Both engineers put on quite a show with their horn technique!
Next we see some IC action in Jackson, MS with train MOJA and then the Hazlehurst Turn arriving. The Hazlehurst Turn meets southbound Daniels Electric Generating Plant (DEGX) coal train with three SP AC4400CW's running elephant style. We chase this train southward on the IC Beaumont District for several excellent run-bys in the Mississippi forest. Back to the KCS, we see train No. 30 arriving at High Oak Yard with six geeps. We observe the crew yard this train with many lumber related cars characteristic of the region. Next we watch a couple of trains on the IC depart Southward from North Jackson Yard. The crew on the leading IC train realize that they are not next through the Switchtender Shack and the crew plugs the train as a KCS transfer with three MidSouth GP10s trundles past. The action continues with Amtrak Train No. 58, the Northbound City of New Orleans followed by scenes of several more trains passing by the IC Switchtender Shack. Enjoy this travel back in time to location and era that was fascinating to me! Chris Man Cave Progress - MP Hoppers Arrive TodayWelcome to 2016! Hopefully your holiday season has been a blessed time for you and your families. 2016 should be an exciting year for the Meridian Speedway and I look forward to sharing it with you. The concept of my new home office/model railroad/man cave are coming together. When I was in my apartment in Lincoln, NE I had purchased some furniture from IKEA for my new second home. I was particularly fond of the "Expedit" line of bookshelves and desks which occupied my apartment office. Since I moved back to my home in Texas this furniture has been in use for my wife's home office space. I decided that I wanted more of the same in my new room. IKEA's Expedit line has been replaced by the Kallax line which is very similar but with a thinner frame. It was interesting to see on-line that there is quite a passionate following for the Expedit line. There is even a German FaceBook page with over 20,000 followers dedicated to the topic! Anyway, I have a new Kallax shelf unit with 25 compartments as well as a new desk assembled and now in service in the man cave so I am officially moved in! This is the first blog posting authored from my new workstation in this room.... Also added to the room are two bookshelves that I purchased when I moved to Fresno, CA in 2000 and have lugged across the country as I have moved around over the years. These were in the loft, but I have reclaimed them and they are positioned at the door creating an artificial "hallway" entrance into the man cave. Soon there will be another Kallax unit purchased for placement on the opposing wall to the one the current unit is on. The design of the ceiling shelf railroad is still in the rough-draft concept phase. More on that to come in future blog posts. The other news is a new freight car order received today, 1-5-2015. Nine ExactRail Bethlehem 3737 open hoppers in various Missouri Pacific schemes make up this order. These cars compliment one sister car, MP 582184, received on 5/4/2015 and will be mixed with the dozen Tangent Scale Models Union Pacific 3600 CuFt Quad Hoppers already in the Meridian Speedway Fleet to make up a unique coal train scripted into the Meridian Speedway Playbook. I have now added the Tangent Cars to the data base. This coal train is an "exploder" which is loaded by the Union Pacific and handed off to my Natchez Trace and Orient at Monroe, LA. The NT&O operates this train to the joint Yazoo & Mississippi Valley/Mississippi Central yard in Vicksburg, MS. Here the train is cut up for forwarding to customers on both railroads. Cycle time is about a week for the empty cars to return to Vicksburg where the empty unit train is reassembled for movement back to the Union Pacific at Monroe. Inspiration of the mix of older UP/MP equipment comes from the trains that pass through Fort Worth destined for Box, TX. Inspiration for the exploder coal train concept comes form the BNSF "Sugar Train" on the Powder River Division. The C-ATMNPG1-A1 trains are loaded at South Antelope mine with three blocks of coal that serve coal-powered sugar beet facilities at Laurel, Montana; Scottsbluff, Nebraska; and Fort Morgan, Colorado. Here is a closer look at some of the MP family cars received today: 1 x Bethlehem 3737 Hopper - CEI 1973 "As Delivered" CEI 587834 4 x As Delivered Series 582000-582499 - 5/79 and 6/79 MP 582012, MP 582143, MP 582214, and MP 582252 1 x C&EI Style Buzzsaw MP Re-Stencil MP 588663 2 x "As Delivered" 588710-589709 Series MP 588749 and MP 588800 1 x Bethlehem 3737 Hopper - TP 1974 "As Delivered" TP 588132 (With "Rambler" Moniker) Below are some images of the Tangent Scale Models 3600 quad hoppers already on-hand the the new MP cars will be mixed with: I look forward to seeing this unique coal train ply the rails of the Meridian Speedway in the future!
Chris How I Made the MoPac/Virginian Locomotive ConsistTwo years ago today an extraordinary Heritage Locomotive consist departed Lincoln, NE on train H-LINKCK1-29. I updated the photo essay in the Meridian Speedway Library with a slideshow complete with some images from this day not previously released. To celebrate this special occasion I have shared this updated photo essay on Social Media. I do not think a two-railroad heritage consist has appeared in regular freight service since! The image above is linked to the updated Photo Essay.
Chris NS Mechanical Specifications for GP60s 7101-7143I have added the Norfolk Southern diesel stat pages for GP60s 7101-7143 to the NS 7107 page: Chris
New Page with Slide Show - NS 7107I have indexed a new page under "Models" for my new Fox Valley Models NS 7107. This page includes a slideshow with a number of different angles of this beautiful model! Click on the image below to view this page. Chris
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year - New AdditionsThe last few days have passed in a flurry! We hosted the family Christmas dinner at the house and a good time was had by all. Hopefully your Holidays were filled with peace and joy as well! Yes, it was another successful Christmas - Saint Nick did not disappoint. Jacob got his paintball gun and Kate got her guitar...among other things. I was fortunate enough to receive gifts as well - two of them ready to add to the Meridian Speedway roster! My parents added 3800 horsepower to the Meridian Speedway stable in the form of Fox Valley Models GP60 NS 7107. This unit comes with a factory installed LokSound decoder so it is ready to go! Rumor has it there may be a few more of these in the pipeline! This locomotive is extremely well done and brings back some fond memories.
My uncle was kind enough to wrap up a pair of Athearn Genesis TankTrain end units - GATX 28239 and GATX 28250. These cars are also highly detailed, impressive models. Though I was under the impression that these cars were only used on the Southern Pacific's legendary "Oil Can" in California, I am learning that smaller sets of these cars could be found all over the country. In fact, there are records of them being loaded at refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast and travelling via New Orleans to eastern destinations. Boy, I sure don't ever remember seeing them passing through New Orleans though. Negotiations are underway among the Y&MV, NT&O, NS, and MCIS (Michigan Interstate) for TankTrain through service between Baton Rouge, LA and Michigan destinations. I look forward to an exciting agreement moving forward! Once again, Happy Holidays to you from the Meridian Speedway! Chris New Video Uploaded to YouTubeThe latest of my Meridian Speedway Productions videos to be uploaded to YouTube is a 24-minute trip down Memory Lane from 1992. This video was taken on a 3-day road trip from New Orleans, LA to Monroe, LA via Vicksburg, MS to ride an NRHS excursion train on the former Arkansas and Louisiana Missouri Railroad from Monroe, LA to Crossett, AR and back. The Arkansas and Louisiana Missouri (A&LM) railroad was taken over by Georgia Pacific in September 1991. Georgia Pacific renamed the railroad the Arkansas Louisiana and Mississippi (A&LM). This change occurred prior to the shooting of this video, however, both the NW2 locomotive and the caboose retained their original A&LM markings at the time of the video so they are referred to as A&LM in the video captions.
This video contains footage along the route of my Proto-Freelanced Meridian Speedway and contains some scenes taken in Vicksburg, MS which is going to be the setting of the Model Railroad I will be building soon. I am very excited to have found this footage and now have it available on-line for viewing! Chris Meridian Speedway Productions Introduction Clip - 8 SecondsI put some effort into creating a decent introduction to every Meridian Speedway Productions YouTube video post. Using the few features of Adobe Premiere Elements 11 that I have taught myself, I think it packs a punch! After making the Meridian Speedway Productions introduction. I was disappointed to discover that the .prel files used by Adobe Premier Elements cannot be brought directly into future .prel projects. This means that the saved .mpeg of the intro has to be introduced to future Adobe Premier Elements projects as the .mpeg which, once saved as part of the next project, loses considerable quality. Shame on you Adobe! This post is intended to serve as a reference for myself to quickly rebuild the intro for future video projects. Perhaps some of you may find it to be of interest a well. Below is an .mpeg of the basic intro: The intro contains eight main elements, seven video and one audio, to blend what is basically two frames. The first frame is the image that I used for the Channel Art on my YouTube channel. The second image is the Black-and-White brushed image which I had previously used for the simple introduction on my past YouTube uploads. The below image shows how the layout for the above intro looks in Adobe Premiere Elements. For the below reference guide, I will start at the bottom of the above image with the "Audio 1" line and work my way up through "Video 1" through "Video 4". Audio 1The Audio for this introduction is from the video I posted in my last New Orleans Trains video upload of Amtrak F40PH 207 on train No. 58 at Central Avenue. This was recorded on August 3, 1991. I believe I will be able to import this adjusted sound file from the above .mpeg without any noticeable loss in sound quality. The audio file will serve as the foundation for rebuilding the introduction with each video. In subequend videos I plan to substitute this file with a sound bite from each respective video. There is only one audio file which extends for the entire duration of the intro from 00;00 to 08;04. If needed the audio keys are as follows:
Video 1The "Video 1" layer consists of two elements. First is the 2560x1440 full Channel Art .jpg file. The second element is the .jpg black-and-white image I had been using for my video intro. The Channel Art image begins at 00;00 and ends at 02;02 with no key frame edits. The second image begins at 02;02 and ends at 08;04, also with no key frame edits. Video 2The "Video 2" layer also consists of two elements. First is a T&GN logo .png file. Second is the narrow Channel Art file. Both of these items will be animated across the screen. The T&GN logo, like the Channel Art image in the Video 1 layer, begins at 00;00 and ends at 02;02. This logo provides animation at the very beginning of the each video, immediately alterting the viewer that the video is playing. The animation is a straight line movement from left to right across the top of the introduction Channel Art image. As the logo moves across the screen it also increases in size, symbolizing an approaching locomotive headlight. This effect fits nicely with a locomotive horn in the accompanying audio track. There are two key frames for the T&GN logo element:
The Narrow Channel Art file serves to blend the two elements of the Video 1 layer. As those two elements transition, the narrow channel art file maintains the location of the same graphics in the first element and then quickly becomes animated in a "Check-Mark" pattern, getting smaller and more translucent as it moves toward disappearing from the top of the screen. This element extends from 02;02 to 04;06. There are nine key frames for the Narrow Channel Art image:
Video 3"Video 3" contains two elements. Both are text elements. The first one is not animated, the second one is. The first element in the Video 3 layer is the video classification. This will either read "Prototype Railroad Video" or "Model Railroad Video" and will remain constant from 00;00 to 02;02. Additional categories may be added going forward. In addition the following definitions apply: Position: 960.0/540.0 Size: 80.0 Font: Myriad Pro Style: Myriad Water 30 Red: 245 Green: 245 Blue: 45 The second element in the Video 3 layer is the text "MERIDIAN SPEEDWAY PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS:" which has an animated arrival coinciding with the departure of the Narrow Channel Art on the Video 2 layer. This element runs from 03;04 to 08;04. Size: 99.0 Font: Myriad Pro Style: Myriad Water 30 Red: 245 Green: 245 Blue: 45 There are also eight key frames in this text element:
Video 4The "Video 4" layer only contains one element - an animated text component: This element compliments the above text box, but has a different position coordinate and font size. The position of this element is fixed. This feature runs from 03;13 to 08;04 Position: 960.0/540.0 Size: 69.0 Font: Myriad Pro Style: Myriad Water 30 Red: 245 Green: 245 Blue: 45
Yes, all of this goes into the first eight seconds of each Meridian Speedway Productions video! It does seem tedious, however, with these notes and some level of proficiency with Adobe Premiere Elements the process does go very quickly...
Chris Mississippi Railway & Transportation Museum Excursion - 1989The twelfth Meridian Speedway Production video has been uploaded to YouTube today. This video I took when I was 13! Perhaps the experience in my youth played a role in my fascination with railroading among southern pine trees! Enjoy a ride on a Mississippi Railway and Transportation Museum excursion train north out of Columbia, MS on long-abandoned Columbia and Sliver Creek rails. This train consists of MRTM Alco S-2 No. 7, IC Baggage/RPO 1879, Southern coach 1002, and L&N Coach/Observation 1880 (originally L&N 42345).
The MRTM equipment arrived in Columbia, MS on 6-4-1989 with the 2-8-0 and the Alco each pulling separate trains of MRTM equipment. It is believed this was the only time the 2-8-0 steamed in Columbia because the flue time expired a few days after arrival. The Alco pulled excursions that summer until the membership "voted" to sell the equipment to the Waccamaw Coast Line Railroad at a meeting held in one of the coaches at Columbia on 4-28-90. It was also announced that the steamer had already been sold "to pay debts." The equipment was indeed sold to Waccama except the Southern coach 1002 which is now displayed in disrepair at the museum next to the old L&A depot at Winnfield, LA. MRTM's first activity was a publicity excursion on the Port Bienville RR behind the PBRR 45-ton GE held on 4-28-84. This was reportedly the first passenger train on the PBRR, ever. The steamer arrived (purchased from Birmingham Rail) and was dedicated on 6-16-84. A special guest was Tom Moore, retired president of the Clinchfield RR, who had promoted the restoration of the little 4-6-0 used for excursions on that road in the early 1970s. The 2-8-0 #203 powered the excursion trains until the organization decided to move to Meridian where greater things were hoped for. The 2-8-0 left Port Bienville on 6-3-1989 with all equipment and a loaned Mississippi Export RR caboose. The trip was slow because of the heavy train and poor coal. The train spent the night in Mobile and (with better coal) proceeded up the Gulf & Mississippi to Meridian, where it arrived in the middle of the night 6-4-89. Most of the equipment was left at the old GM&O Whistler shops, just north of Mobile, and the train consisted of the steamer and two or so coaches on the G&M. The equipment went into storage in downtown Meridian and some work was done on the cars. The hoped-for new home (and track to run on) fell through and a new home was located in Columbia. The equipment went via MidSouth and ICGRR to the CLSL connection at Silver Creek, as mentioned above. The rods were taken off the 2-8-0 for the trip, then re-installed at Silver Creek so the train could be pulled into Columbia with a live engine. This was about the only time that the steamer was hot in Columbia. The north end of the Columbia & Silver Creek was Silver Creek. The CLSL connected with the Mississippi Central. The track (at the time of this excursion) continued east from Silver Creek into Hattiesburg. Some or all of this is now a hiking trail. The track still exists to the west, to the papermill at Ferguson, Miss. and ultimately to the CN main line at Brookhaven. The MSC track still exists from Brookhaven to Natchez, now the Natchez Railway. I believe all of the CLSL track is gone. Chris Busy Week - UpdateSince my last posting on Friday much has happened. Determined to get some NTO gondolas created I managed to push the painting process for four more Gunderson 2420 gondolas into the routine. Friday night while watching A Christmas Story with the family I multi-tasked, using the Solvaset and Scotch-Tape method to remove the logos and numbers from four gondolas: 1 MP, 1 CNW, and 2 SSW cars. The process worked very well. Then on Saturday, after work and before attending an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party at a co-worker's house I prepared the cars for painting, applying shop trucks and couplers to all four. Additionally I have decided to go with brown for the truck color on the rock gon fleet, so I removed the trucks from the two cars already painted, TGN 403056 and TGN 403222. The wheelsets were removed from all of the truck frames and the inner parts were masked. I had recently purchased a Bluecell Alligator Clip Stick set off Amazon for painting small parts. I used these for the first time, mounting them in a block of Styrofoam from an old Walthers kit to hold the truck frames for painting. The clips were very cheap, about $5.00 for 25. The wooden sticks are pointed at one end and can double as uncoupling sticks for Kadee couplers as well! I also nailed one more snap-track panel to a scrap MDF strip for car handling in the paint booth. This brings the number of these done to four. They are very convenient for placing and removing rolling stock on the turntable in the paint booth. After work on Sunday the cars got painted. A bottle of 50/50 mix of Scalecoat II Bocxar Red and Boxcar Red #2 was made. One small bottle was more than enough to paint all four cars with a little left over. First I painted all four cars upside-down with the shop trucks removed. Once all four cars were painted this way I reapplied the shop trucks and painted the cars right-side up. This allows for even coverage of all of the detailed surfaces of the cars. By the time Monday evening rolled around, the paint had cured enough to apply decals. On Monday cars NTO 403305, NTO 403472, TGN 403110, and TGN 403129 had identities and were added to the equipment database! Now sporting matching brown trucks, the two cars done earlier also posed for new builders' photos: So six down...18 to go! Then I should have the start of a respectable unit rock train. Also on Monday a small package arrived from Internet Trains. I had ordered some paint to keep the paint shop in business. While looking though their website I was a bit disappointed to see that some of the colors I was looking for were out of stock. There seems to be a consensus that MinuteMan Scale Models will be a reliable steward of the Scalecoat line of paint which it purchased from Weaver Models which went out of business this summer. Therefore I am not too concerned about the out of stock colors. Paint can also be ordered directly from MinuteMan Scale Models. The button below will take you to their site: The order received from Internet Trains on Monday 12-7-2014 included 4 bottles of Scalecoat II Paint: 1 x S2002 Oxide Red, 2 x S2027 IC Orange, and 1 x S2087 Boxcar Red #2. Since IC Orange makes up 75% of my Y&MV freight car mix I ordered the two bottles to keep my bottle of Tuscan Red going. I see many more Y&MV freight cars in the future! The Oxide Red is a new color for me to experiment with. And the Boxcar Red #2 is of course part of the TGN/NTO brown formula. The Boxcar Red that goes with it was out of stock. I also made my first Tru-Color Paint purchase - 1 x TCP-017 flat and 1 x TCP-018 gloss. This is part of my effort to find a replacement for the "Floquil Weathering Trinity" discussed in an earlier blog post. Give the endorsement of Tru-Color Paint by new model manufacturer ScaleTrains I figured it is time to become familiar with their products. On 9-17-2015 I received two of the three numbers of the Atlas DOWX 23500 gallon tank cars--DOWX 40033 and DOWX 40040. I had noticed that the third number, DOWX 40037, was available at Internet Trains so I did add that single car to this order. I really like the appearance of these cars. Well I guess this is enough for a week in review!
Chris ABOX 51052 and More Gunderson 2420 Gondolas ArriveTo compliment the ten ExactRail Gunderson 2420 Cuft gondolas received on 11-16-2015, 14 more were ordered and received today--12-4-2015. This order was placed at the end of November, taking advantage of the $12.95 price. This brings the fleet up to an even two-dozen--a respectable start to a unit rock train. In addition, I did spring for a model of an FMC 5277 Combination Door boxcar decorated as ABOX 51052. This car is one from the latest ExactRail release. I never did get one of these Combo Door boxcars from the first release and regretted it. They went fast and did not pop up on eBay very often. So now I have one! This model of ABOX 51052 is just a beautiful car all around! I am very glad to have it in the fleet. Back to the rock cars, as discussed in the earlier blog with the first batch delivered, I intended to split the fleet up 50/50 between NT&O and T&GN cars. I purchased five-each of the ExactRail MP and CNW cars with similar plate design for this split. As it turned out the small NT&O logos I have on-hand are just a smidge too long to fit on the plate placed over one of the corrugated panels for logo placement. The solution: I decided that all of the MP and CNW versions would be used to model T&GN cars and I decided to introduce the ExactRail Cotton Belt (SSW) version to the fleet for the NT&O cars. These cars have a larger smooth plate placed over the center two corrugated panels. This arrangement will easily accommodate the NT&O logo. ExactRail offerd the SSW cars in three numbers, but the first number SSW 72557 was sold out. I decided that I wanted to start my first Meridian Speedway rock train consist with a dozen NT&O cars and a dozen T&GN cars. So I split the NT&O cars among the remaining SSW offerings, ordering six copies of SSW 72591 and six copies of SSW 72634. I would have preferred the panel placement on the ExactRail CSX version, however all of those were sold out. To bring my T&GN fleet up to a dozen I ordered one more CNW 89152 and one more MP 640203. Below are a couple of close-up images of the SSW cars: And for comparison, here is an earlier image of the CNW/MP cars: Now aired up, the paint booth in the man cave is up to the challenge of painting this fleet of gondolas!
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