SP B30-7 7788 is the third Speed Lettering Southern Pacific B-Boat to join the Meridian Speedway fleet.  The model of SP 7788 received is factory equipped with LokSound.  This consist sure brings back memories for me!  Trios of these were very common in Louisiana and Texas in 1996.  They were so common that they were taken for granted and often overlooked.

These models look great on the display case!  This brings my roster of EsPee locomotives up to 10 which nicely fills out two shelves.

SP 7788, SP 7823, and SP 7850 will be sent off soon to have LED ditch lights and LED headlight upgrades done.  I am looking forward to operating these units when completed.

I ordered this locomotive from Toy Train Heaven as this model was not available from either MB Klein/ModelTrainStuff or TrainWorld.  I ordered two boxcars as well, the third number of the three KCS Atlas HO 50' Berwick boxcars (I was only able to get two from ModelTrainStuff) as well a Mississippi Delta version as MSDR 195224.  One drawback of doing business with Toy Train Heaven is that it takes a while for them to process orders so you never know when your card will be charged.  In this case it was almost two weeks after the order as placed.  In the interim I guess they sold out of the KCS car, so it was not included in the shipment which is too bad.  The MSDR car is quite nice however and I am glad to have it.

The prototype SP 7788 I have photographed several times.  The image below is one example where I photographed her as the middle unit on SP train 1-HOCXM-18 at Patterson, LA on August 19, 1995.  

This unit has air conditioner and antenna equipment on the roof which Atlas did not incorporate into the model.  This is interesting because Atlas puts those details on their SP and SSW GP40-2 models as per the prototype.  This is a little disappointing but not a big deal as these details are not difficult to add.  It is just a bit odd as we have come to expect better from Atlas.

Chris

The theme of the railroad I am building in the man cave has changed from Vicksburg to Gibsland. With some persuasion from Greg McComas and Dan Munson there well be more emphasis on backdrops and scenery so I decided to simplify the operating concept for this layout.

Gibsland offers that simplicity while containing enough detail to keep it interesting.  One landmark in the Gibsland railroad scene is the derelict former Illinois Central Freight House across from the Louisiana and North West diesel shop.

A trip was made to Gibsland last Monday, 3-13-2017, to take some detail shots and gather ideas for the layout.  This post will focus on the freight house.

The below Google satellite image illustrates how the freight house is positioned in relation to the various tracks and the Louisiana and North West diesel shop in Gibsland.

Measurements and photos were taken to compliment images taken on earlier trips to capture enough information to model the structure.  Below we will go around the structure.  The drawings were made from measurements taken on this last trip.  The drawings are not exactly to scale as they were done in PowerPoint, however they are very close.

Below are some more images taken of details and different angles to assist with modeling this structure.

Chris

With the pain booth being back in business I decided it was time to try out the wheel masks offered by American Model Builders.

A new essay has been added to the Meridian Speedway Library.  Noted photographer J. Parker Lamb has written a narrative that outlines the evolving importance of Shreveport in the U.S. railroad network. This essay is illustrated with a number of Mr. Lamb's photographs.  

This the second article that Parker has penned for the Meridian Speedway Library.

Chris

The new air hose and Iwata airbrush come post locomotive display case, so I made a few modifications to facilitate painting.  Swapping the hose with the Badger fitting for the hose with the Iwata fitting was easy enough.  A few turns with a wrench and the job was done.

The air tank is positioned where the air line comes through the floor from the garage below.  I decided to place three brass hook under the display case to hold the air hose as it extends from the air tank to the paint booth.  This keeps it out of view and always handy.  I also place a couple of hooks on the side of the pain booth that fit around the moisture trap on the hose and feed it into the paint booth. 

Looking forward to doing some painting soon.

Chris

The Meridian Speedway paint shop has been inactive for some time now.  A couple of packages arrived in the mail today that will change that!

I was quite displeased with the spray consistence of the last cars I painted with my once trusty Badger airbrush.  These cars were the four Y&MV Thrall all-door boxcars.  At the recommendation of Matt Sugerman, I decided to make the switch to Iwata.  My comfort zone lies with single action, so I elected to get the same brush Mr. Sugerman has, the single action Iwata Revolution.

At first glance, this feels like a finely machined instrument!  The weight and motion of the pieces are impressive.  The kit comes with some needle lube, a wrench, and a bottle.  I also got a badger hose with a moisture trap and the Iwata fitting.  I was quite pleased with the Badger hose I was using before.

I look forward to great things from this airbrush!

​Chris

I must admit I seem to have a case of B-Boat fever!  The fourth new 4-axle GE to join the Meridian Speedway stable this year arrived today in the form of Atlas B30-7 SP 7850.  LokSound equipped, this unit looks great with sister B30-7 SP 7823!

The SP 7823 and SP 7850 are the only two sound-equipped SP B30-7s available from Trainworld.  It looks like I will have to find another source to supply me with the remaining two numbers, SP 7777 and SP 7788.  Yes I have B-Boat fever and there is no cure!

As usual a couple of freight cars were part of the order.  I came across SOU 50127 and NAHX 90401 while looking at the specials on the Trainworld website.  My intermodal fleet is woefully small and the Southern car was impossible to pass up.  As for the NAHX hopper car, well there is no such thing as too many "data only" hoppers and tank cars in the era I am modeling.

Must find more GE's!!!

​Chris

The latest release of Atlas B30-7s include four in the SP "Speed Lettering" scheme.  I could not be happier about this release as these locomotives were very common in 1996 and they all looked good! My normal supplier ModelTrainStuff/MB Klein did not have these in stock with sound so I had to reach out to another source.  Trainworld has a couple in stock, so I decided to grab this model of SP 7823.

It just happens that a roll of film I recently scanned had a few images of the SP 7823 leading train 1-AVSRQK1-19 on the SP Lafayette Subdivision.  I could not be more pleased to have found a home for this locomotive on my display case!  I am certain that some of its siblings will be joining the fleet in the near future.

A couple of freight cars got my interest while perusing Trainworld's inventory, so they were added to this order.  My freight car fleet is woefully lacking CSX cars, so I picked up Athearn 50' PS-5277 box car CSXT 142841.  I think this is my first 50' CSX box car.  Hmmm....  Need MOAR!

I also picked up the second number of the Athearn black-and-white UTLX Hydrochloric Acid tank cars, UTLX 802752.  I had picked up the first number at Discount Model Trains several months earlier.  Both cars will be right at home on the Meridian Speedway! 

Chris

A new Atlas LokSound equipped GP40-2 arrived today.  The prototype SP 7941 was equipped as a slug mother, but I am sure by 1996 it could be found on the high-iron in any consist.  I think it looks great with the SSW Athearn Genesis GP40-2's already on the property. 

A pair of Athearn Genesis 50' PC&F box cars with a combination of a 6' plug door and an 8' plug door arrived today.  Decorated for Southern Pacific, each car displays a different scheme.  SP 694928 represents the last SP scheme complete with "Speed Lettering.  SP 698436 has the classic Southern Pacific block lettering used for many years.

Chris

Chris

The button below will take you to the Yard Job Symbol Page:

Chris

A second CSX locomotive joined the Meridian Speedway fleet today in the form of Atlas B23-7 3100. This locomotive is factory equipped with a LokSound decoder and goes nicely with the CSX 3103 received last month.  These units display different variations of early CSX paint schemes.  

As I continue to scan images that I took in 1996, I am reminded of how common these schemes were in the era that I have chosen to model.  CSX power of all types fit into the T&GN/NT&O operating scheme on trains 5-IRNOM, 5-NOIRM, 5-MBIRM, 5-IRMBM, 5-BHIRM, 5-IRBHM, 6-NVFSX, 6-FSNVX, 6-WXFSX and 6-FSWXX.  So I am a little behind the curve on CSX motive power acquisitions.  That being said, I am please to have started with these two little GE's.  They are beautiful models!

A pair of the new Athearn Genesis PC&F 50' Box Cars decorated for Golden West Services completed this order.  GVSR 746030 and GVSR 746053 are beautiful models and are representative of my era.  

In keeping with the theme of the 4-axle CSX GE's, the below image is the last one I posted from an album of images from 1996 that I am currently scanning.  CSX Gentilly yard job Y-105-26 operates combined CSX trains R-145-25 and R-101-25 westward from Gentilly Yard to deliver to the SP.  Power is CSX B36-7 5908. CSX B36-7 5875, SP GP60 9726, SP B30-7 7837, and CSX B40-8 5946.  For me these were the "Good-Old-Days"!

Chris

Almost five months after my locomotive display case project was conceived and begun, I am able to declare the project completed.  Much work has been done since the last update on 11-25-2016.  I figured I would go through a number of steps in this final post rather than have a bunch of incremental updates.

The image above shows the completed display case as of today.  The top eight shelves demonstrate that it is easy to get five locomotives on each shelf.  At full capacity this display case will be able to hold 80 locomotives!

As of the last update the main structure was completed, all 16 shelves had been installed.  This was a major milestone.  Several weeks were spent painting the structure white.  I first painted it with a gloss white, but I decided that that would reflect too much light during photography.  The final cote of paint was Behr Premium Plus Ultra Interior Eggshell Enamel - Ultra Pure White 2750.  I found this finish to be quite satisfactory.

During the painting process I would rotate the shelf every few days and just paint the horizontal surfaces.  This minimized any paint running and made for a smooth finish.  Of course there was much filling and sanding.  

The last of the painting was completed around the New Year and by January 2nd, 2017 it was brought into the Man Cave and mounted to the wall.  Using cork roadbed and my stud finder, I made a template of the the stud position and pre-drilled nine holes in the back of the display case to assist with mounting.

Once lifted into position, it was very easy to drill the holes and fasten to the wall using bolts and washers.  These shelves are not going anywhere!

A little white paint camouflaged the bolts and washers nicely.  I really like the clean lines of this structure.

Next I focused attention on the tracks.  I have a supply of Atlas Code 100 Flex Track so I chose to go with this.  The tracks come in three-foot lengths, so I would have to do some cutting and make 16 four-foot tracks.

I decided to paint the track using Rust-Oleum aerosol cans of Satin Dark Brown Smooth Protective Enamel.  I had some trouble keeping the tracks together during painting.  Since these tracks are for display only and will not be hooked up to electricity I just used some Krazy-Glue at the joints and that did the trick nicely!

Each track received two cotes of paint, the second cote being applied a couple of days after the first cote.  This paint covered the track quite nicely.

Next I cut and filed 32 crossties to fill the gaps under the rail joiners where the tracks were put together to make the four foot lengths look seamless.  Using a strip of double-sided tape, I lined the ties up on a Home Depot paint stirrer stick to facilitate painting.  A quick pass of the trusty Rust-Oleum made easy work of this step.

A little Krazy Glue fastened the ties in position on each track.  Now it was time to tackle the final step: gluing the tracks to the shelves.

I made the mistake of using a bead of Liquid Nails adhesive from a caulking gun for the first track. Though I thought I had spread the glue rather thin, it did push up between the ties too much.  To salvage this track I thought I would mask around the track and paint a solid strip of brown.  

Though I kind of liked the appearance of the track in a solid brown strip, I decided that this masking and spraying in the house was a bit more work than I really wanted to do.  I experimented on a few more adhesives and finally chose a tube of Loctite Pro Line Marine Adhesive Sealant.  This material was conducive to being applied to the bottoms of each tie.

I did not apply this adhesive to about 7 or 8 ties on each four-foot track segment.  These ties spread evenly across the track segment got a bead of Loctite superglue gel to help quickly lock each track into place while the Marin Adhesive cured.

Wood spacers made easy work of positioning the tracks on each shelf.  After positioned properly, I would clamp a piece of wood on top of each track to press them firmly into place while the adhesive cured.

And so today the last four tracks were installed!  I am quite pleased with the way this project came together.  This is a great addition to the Man Cave and it is something that I can easily take with me when I move!

Chris

 I have been cleaning up the train symbol pages on the Meridian Speedway website and have added this page for the Locals and Roadswitchers. Though there are several more pages to be added, this is an important one. The best way to learn how a railroad works is to study its local trains!

Chris

The UPS truck delivered a special package today.  I purchased my first CSX locomotive in the form of Atlas B23-7 number 3103.  There are a number of applications for CSX power on the Meridian Speedway and I am way behind in constructing appropriate CSX consists.  Alas there are just too many amazing models available to purchase all of the locomotives on the wish list!  

The CSXT 3103 is in good company on the display case!  This locomotive is equipped with a LokSound DCC decoder.  Kudos to Atlas for not putting the inferior Tsunami decoders in their locomotives.  The model comes equipped with EMD Blomberg trucks as per the prototype. Sunshades are included but not installed.  I may wait a bit to put them on.

Three freight cars were also included in today's equipment delivery.  Three Atlas 50' Berwick boxcars rounded out the order: KCS 749281, KCS 749316, and RBOX 40434.  The KCS cars were released in three numbers however at the time of purchase one number was already sold out.  I also had my eyes on three numbers of MSDR (Mississippi Delta) cars in this release, however they were also sold out. Looks like I may have to reach out to a secondary supplier.  The KCS cars look sharp and are a welcome addition to the fleet.

I remember seeing the CSX B23-7s quite a bit in New Orleans, especially on the M-720 "Bay Turn" trains.  This model brings back many great memories of a great era in railroading.  Now to focus on the next CSX acquisition...

Chris

Though my current scanning project is to whittle away at a large 1996 album, I came across this roll of film and decided I really wanted it on-line.  The major attention-getter for me is the opening sequence of images along the now-abandoned Southern Pacific branch along the Harvey Canal.  This is on the "West Bank" of the Mississippi River across from New Orleans, between Avondale and Algiers.  The sign identifying the industry at Milepost 3 reads "Bredero Price 2900 Peters Road."

On June 27, 1995 I managed to stumble upon SP "Job 604" easing up to Milepost 3 on the branch. Power was lone SP MP15AC 2728.  Here the crew would go to lunch. Following are some notes from retired SP employee Roger Ohlsson regarding the meal periods here:

The fourth image shows SP engineer Roger Burrows on his way to the lunch room.  The crew was very friendly, allowing me to take a few photos from the cab ob the 2728 while they were at "beans". Looking at Google Maps, there are very few signs of this railroad in the Post Hurricane Katrina era. The image below is linked to the Google Maps street view if you wish to explore the location as it appears today.

Just about the only recognizable landmark at this location today is the large building just south of Milepost 3 with a pattern of double narrow windows.  Today this building belongs to Chet Morrison Contractors.  The address is 3434 Peters Road, Harvey  LA, 70058.  The concrete flood wall today appears to be about where the tracks were in 1995.

Though the UP acquisition of the CNW was a blight on the railroading landscape in America, for a brief period of time it did spice things up for us photographers.  This was especially true for those of us who did not live anywhere near the CNW.  In 1995 and 1995, UP consists were littered with CNW locomotives across the system.  South Louisiana was no exception.  My notes (shared at the bottom of this post) indicate that I saw four CNW SD40-2's on June 27, 1995: CNW 6848, CNW 6863, CNW 6922, and CNW 6931.  They were in four separate locomotive consists.  I was able to shoot three of them.  The CNW 6848 was not photographed.

CNW 6922 was the first of three I shot on this day.  Here we see it in the locomotive servicing tracks at the UP Avondale Yard paired with UP SD40-2 3330.  This locomotive has a long career with the Union Pacific ahead of it.  It will eventually be rebuilt into UP SD40N 1919.

The next image on this roll of film is the second CNW SD40-2 of the day: CNW 6931.  This was the trailing locomotive of a four-unit consist on a train in Avondale Yard.  Leading this unit was UP SD40-2 3839, UP GP38 1989, and UP B30-7A 247.

Interestingly I would photograph this locomotive again over 10 years later close to my new home in Texas.  On April 8, 2006 a visit to the Dallas Garland and Northeastern in Denison, Texas found this locomotive in the CIT lease fleet identified as CEFX 6931.  The below images are from this visit to Denison:

Westbound Southern Pacific intermodal train 1-CXCIT-27 was the subject of the next four images on this roll of film.  The CXCIT trains originated at the CSX Gentilly Yard on the east side of New Orleans. The final destination is City of Industry, California in the Los Angeles basin.  Departing Avondale at 1:58 PM these images show just how miserable it is to shoot during the middle of the day in the summer in Louisiana.  Knowing that in the future all things SP would be gone, I got the shots anyway.

The power for this train was typical of the EsPee we grew to love and hate during this era.  Two particularly ratty and filthy tunnel motors lead a nice looking Cotton Belt GP60.  The consist: SP SD40T-2 8241, SP SD45T-2 9257, and SSW GP60 9703.  These photographs were taken by the "School Crossing" just west of Avondale Yard:

Heading towards home I cross to the East Bank of the Mississippi River.  Of course this route requires one take Central Avenue which crosses many tracks at East Bridge.  As luck would have it there would be a most excellent locomotive consist attached to some cars in the New Orleans Public Belt (NOPB) East Bridge Yard, including the fourth CNW SD40-2 of the day.  

​CNW SD40-2 6863 and UP C36-7 9018 were idling away waiting for a crew to show up...and for me to photograph them.  The CNW 6863 was looking particularly sharp in what seemed like a recent coat of paint.  What stark contrast to the nasty SP tunnel motors I had just photographed across the river.  It got a bit cloudy which was fine with me as the clouds diffused the light of the high summer sun:

The final four photographs on this roll of film were taken the next day, Wednesday 28 June 1995. These images were taken at New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal (NOUPT) at the very beginning of my first trip to Mexico.  I would ride Amtrak train No. 1, the Sunset Limited, to Lake Charles where I would meet Lowell McManus who lived in nearby Leesville, LA.  Our journey would have two objectives: 1 - to ride a train through the Copper Canyon and 2 - to photograph the former ATSF/D&H Alco PA's that resided in the shops at Empalme, Sonora.  Both objectives were accomplished!  I would not return home until Sunday 9 July 1995.  It was a most epic adventure!

Back to the final images on this roll of film, my ride to Lake Charles would be Amtrak No. 1. out of New Orleans.  This was during the period when the Sunset Limited was a "transcontinental" run, originating on the CSX in Florida.  The inbound consist was: P40-8 809, F40PH 321, 1208, 39914, 32073 California, 32039, 38015, 33025, 34057, 39954, and 31033 (9 cars).

For mechanical reasons the first sleeping car on the train, the 32073 California, had to be set out.  It was replaced with Superliner sleeper 32105 Oregon which was on-hand in what was likely a City of New Orleans consist in Track 3.  

Before boarding the train I walked the tracks at NOUPT and made notes of everything that was there. That data is on the note page below.  The current Amtrak Superliner paint scheme was a novelty at the time as most of the pre-existing equipment had not been redecorated yet.  New Superliner Lounge car 33041 on Track 3 was of interest to me as it was in the new scheme so I photographed it.  The next three images are of the Sunset Limited switching out the California and adding the Oregon.  The power was also swapped out.  I would ride behind P40-8 828 and F40PH 284 from New Orleans to Lake Charles.

For reference I have scanned and pasted below my note page that includes all of the trains photographed on this roll of film.  For four years, 1993-1996, I have very detailed notes in this format. It would seem that in 1997 when I began working for Amtrak my interest in this detail disappeared and I have virtually no notes from then on.

The display case is progressing nicely and an update blog will be forthcoming soon!  This is the first new freight car shipment to be displayed on the new shelves which have now been mounted to a wall in the Man Cave.

The last freight car order placed in 2016 was the first freight car delivery in 2017!  Shipment took a few extra days due to winter weather.  Last month's ExactRail special was for Bethlehem open hoppers. This is similar to the last order placced in 2015 as Meridian Speedway took delivery of nine of these Bethlehem cars almost exactly a year ago!  The budget allowed for another nine with this order

All of the cars received today are new paint scheme variations for the Meridian Speedway.  

A single CNW car was included for variety - CNW 63545.  

Two Rio Grande hoppers in the "As Delivered" scheme - DRGW 12546 and DRGW 12597.

Two MP 1991 repaints with the UP shield logo - MP 588145 and MP 588400.

Four MP 1984 small eagle repaints - MP 582187 - MP 582436 - MP 589343 - MP 589452.

The CNW and MP cars represent Bethlehem 3737 hoppers while the DRGW cars represent the slightly smaller Bethlehem 3483 hoppers.  I cannot say enough good things about these cars!  They are spectacular models of cars that I have seen often in Louisiana.  This fleet is expected to grow over the years!

To revisit the earlier variations in the fleet, the button below will take you to the blog post published on January 5, 2016:

Chris

Today I went to my parent's house to help them with some furniture they were moving.  Onn a bookshelf was an old AHM 4-6-2 Heavy Pacific steam locomotive decorated in a light-green Southern Railway Crescent Limited paint scheme.  This locomotive was given to me over thirty years ago for Christmas (not sure which year) and has survived Hurricane Katrina.  My parents suggested it was time for me to take it home.  This model was manufactured for AHM (Associated Hobby Manufacturers, Inc.) in Italy by Rivarossi.  There may just be a spot for this steam locomotive on my new display case!

My parents also decided to release another locomotive to the Meridian Speedway stable.  There were a few of them "stocked up" in queue for future gifts.  I had a choice and decided it was time to add the Fox Valley Models NS GP60 7140.  This is the one decorated for Operation Lifesaver.  Lok-Sound equipped, this locomotive will look and sound awesome hustling trains across the Speedway!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

​Chris

The Mid- American Issue Number 21 arrived today.  This is the quarterly publication of the Illinois Central Railroad Heritage Association (ICRHA).  Of interest to me, this magazine contains a couple of my photographs in Kirk Reynolds' article "Riding on the City of Grenada"  This article is also illustrated with a number of great images by Terry Redeker.

Then beginning on page 20 is an article written by my father, Michael Palmieri.  "The Illinois Central in Northern Louisiana" is essentially the "The Meridian Speedway in Louisiana" article which was written for the Library on this website.  The ICRHA did a wonderful job printing this article and accompanied it with some excellent photographs by a number of noted photographers. 

Besides my personal bias towards these two articles there is also an excellent article by Paul Jaenicke that takes the reader to the glory days of passenger railroading in St. Louis.  Nikki Burgess also pens a column titled Heritage Lineup.  If you need a fix of Chocolate-and-Orange, this magazine will definitely take care of you!

If you have an interest in the Illinois Central Railroad you might consider checing out the ICRHA website using the button below:

If you are not already a member, you can find instructions on how to join using the membership tab on the ICRHA website. Annual dues for regular membership is $34.  This includes four issues of The Mid-American.  Select back issues are available for sale as well.  

The article about the City of Grenada references the passenger train operated by Iowa Pacific in January of this year.  Blair Kooistra and myself made a trip to photograph this great looking train.  I have uploaded many of the photographs as well as some video clips from this trip to YouTube.  The show is set to the musical accompaniment of Arlo Guthrie's hit song "The City of New Orleans".  The link to this video is below:

Also, the button below will take you to my father's article "The Meridian Speedway in Louisiana" as posted in the library on this website:

Chris

Having been in the works for many years, Russell Tedder's book Forest Rails - Georgia-Pacific's Railroads is now published!  My autographed copy arrived today.

The discipline and persistence exercised by Mr. Tedder to ensure that the project was done properly paid off big time.  The quality of this book is exceptional!

Russell Tedder was a career railroad man, beginning with a job as station agent and dispatcher with the Live Oak Perry and Gulf Railroad in 1951.  He would move on to a number of challenging and rewarding jobs including Vice President and General Manager of the Sabine River and Northern Railroad.  Eventualy his remarkable railroad career earned him the titles Director of Corporate Rail Services and Railroad Center of Excellence, and President of Shortline Railroads at Georgia Pacific Corp.  

​Without doubt Russell Tedder (right) is the authority on all things related to Georgia Pacific's railroad operations.  This first-hand expertise combined with the countless hours of research that he invested in this book make it a valuable resource.  If you have an interest in shortline railroads, forest railroading, Georgia Pacific, or railroad history then this book is a must-have for your library.

The photographs in this book are top-notch!  Russell reached out to a number of noted photographers and selected many excepional examples to illustrate Forest Rails.  A partial list of photographers inclues Louis A. Marre, C W Witbeck, Peter J. Smykla Jr., Steve Glischinski, J. Parker Lamb, Louis R. Saillard, and Lee J. Estes, among many others.   There are even one or two photographs taken by myself.  It is an honor to see my name in such great comapny!

The text delves into the historical and operational details of each of the Georgia Pacific railroad properties.  The research is quite thorough and detail oriented.  The placement of the photogrphs throught the book are well thought out and add greatly to the stories being told.

Particularly pleasing are the quality of the maps as well as the separate section for locomotive rosters. The page layout is tasteful throughout the book...all 464 pages in fact.  White River Publications did a wonderful job with this book.

I am thrilled to have this book in my personal collection!  MSRP is $79.95.  It is quality that is well worth the price.

​Chris