Progress On My Sun Porch HO Layout

Years in the making, I am nearing completion of my HO layout on my sun porch. I just completed putting together my New York Central passenger train. It is 14 cars long pulled by PA-PB-PA locomotives.

I have also completed my Ann Arbor freight train. I only have to take one of my GP38's in for repair of the railings on the locomotive. There are 3 GP38's pulling the freight train followed by 23 assorted freight cars and a caboose.

And Finally I am working on completing my C&O Pere Marquette passenger train. I have yet to obtain a E7A locomotive to complete this effort. it is on hold at Mountain Town Hobbies waiting for me to pay for it and take it home to add to the consists of this train. When complete there will be 2 E7A locomotives pulling 14 passenger cars.

the landscaping still needs to be completed but there is not that much more to do 90% is already done. Also I have a Tuscola and Saginaw Bay freight train on the layout that is complete. However it is not powered, but is operational.

My HO Layout NYC Passenger Train and AA Freight Train

My New York Central Passenger Train

My Ann Arbor Freight Train

My Ann Arbor HO Scale Freight Train

I decided to model a modern Ann Arbor freight train on the sun porch to go along with the New York Central Passenger train and the Pere Marquette passenger train. The freight train is pulled by 3 GP38's road numbers 7771, 7791, and 7802.

Then followed by 4 box cars

then followed by 2 tank cars

then comes 2 3 bay covered hoppers followed by 2 centerflow hoppers

then comes 4 2 bay covered hoppers

then 4 coal cars

and lastly a caboose

My HO Layout In The 3 Season Sun Room

The weather is finally nice enough for me to run my HO layout in the 3 season sun room. I model a New York Central Heavy Weight Passenger Train and a modern Ann Arbor Freight Train and a Pere Marquette Passenger Train set in a representation of the city of Shepherd Michigan.

The New York Central Passenger Train is pulled by Alco PA-PB units the configuration is PA-PB-PA Followed by an RPO (Railway Post Office), an Express Mail Car, a Baggage Car, 2 Paired Window Coach Cars, A Lounge Car, a Dinning Car, a Lounge Observation Car, 2 Sleeper Cars, and an Observation Car. The Passenger cars were manufactured by Walthers.

The Ann Arbor Freight Train is pulled by 3 EMD GP38's followed by 4 Box Cars, 2 Tank Cars, 2 Three Bay Covered Hoppers, 2 Three bay Centerflow Covered Hoppers, 4 Two Bay Covered Hoppers, 4 Coal Cars, a Gondola, and a Caboose.

The Pere Marquette Passenger Train is pulled by 2 EMD E7's, followed by an RPO (Railway Post Office), a Express Mail Car, 3 Coach Cars, A Coach Dinning Car, a Lunch Counter Lounge Car, and 3 10-6 Sleeper Cars. This train was the 2013 Walthers Name Train.

A New Ann Arbor 70 Ton 2 Bay Covered Hopper

I visited my son Johnathan and his wife Kelsey and they found a new hobby store for me to shop at in their neighborhood I think the name of the store is 
Side Track Hobbies

2939 Wilson Ave SW #107, Grandville, MI 49418 (616) 249-9504 I found a 70 Ton 2 bay Covered hopper with Ann Arbor markings road number #3833 that I bought and put on my HO scale layout. My Ann Arbor freight train is getting very long.

Sunday With The HO Layout

After a great Valentines day with my wife Sandy, We spent Sunday Feb 15th cleaning house and just hanging out. I began cleaning the sun porch where my HO scale layout is located. I fired up the New York Central passenger train and discovered that my express mail car would uncouple at random as the train traveled around the track. After playing with it for a few hours, I decided I didn't need that car anyway. So I took it off the track. Now the train runs just fine with no random uncoupling. I also fired up the Ann Arbor freight train and I had no problems with it. All in all, I had a blast playing with the layout.
I thank god Sandy is so supportive of my obsession with the hobby. She has even lent a hand with the landscaping around the structures on the layout. Sandy your the best.

The HO Layout On The Sun Porch

I spent some time today with the HO layout on the sun porch It's a bit cold out there but it is a 3 season room after all. I was able to run the New York Central passenger train and the Ann Arbor freight train. They were both a bit sluggish but they both ran, so I was able to enjoy watching them for some time. The New York Central passenger train has a PA PB PA locomotive configuration. and followed by an RPO, an express mail car, a baggage car, 2 coach cars, a lounge/observation car, a dinning car, a lounge car, an observation car, and 2 sleeper cars.

The Ann Arbor freight train has 3 EMD GP38's, 4 box cars, 2 tank cars, 4 centerflow covered hoppers, 4 two bay covered hoppers, 4 coal cars, a gondola, and a caboose

Coffee Table Train At A Standstill

The other day my N scale Ann Arbor EMD GP35 Road Number #385 stopped running. The lights come on but the motor is not spinning. This brings my coffee table layout to a standstill. I don't have another locomotive to use so until I get this one fixed I can't run my train. I guess I will have to trust Brasseurs Electric Trains in Saginaw Michigan one more time. My guess is that I will need to replace the motor.

My Inventory Is Growing

I have been using the program called "Yard Office" to log my inventory of Locomotives and rolling stock that I have collected to support my hobby of model railroading. I have managed to log in all the stock into this program which allows me to print off a wide variety of reports. I can also create custom reports. so my every need is met with information on my stock at my fingertips. I have concentrated primarily on HO scale and supplemented my inventory with G scale to occupy my summers. There is a large G scale track out in my backyard.

Lately however, I have become interested in N scale. I began by creating a coffee table layout featuring an Ann Arbor freight train. The layout is progressing along and will provide me with a lot more hours of enjoyment as I complete the landscaping.

I have planned a new much larger N scale layout that is still in the planning stages. My plan is to have two tracks powered by separate transformers allowing each track to run a train independently. The first track I have already decided will be a Canadian National freight train I have already began to accumulate the rolling stock and the track to support this effort.

The second track I have not yet began to plan out so far I was thinking a passenger train would be nice.
I began pricing the passenger cars in N scale and discovered the cost is a bit prohibitive. so I am still wide open as to what the second track would run.

Lastly I began putting together an HO layout for my grand kids. Its a BNSF freight train. So far I have been working on creating a model of their house and barn.

 

My Grandchildren's Layout

This weekend, my grandchildren came over for a visit. I had their BNSF HO layout all set up for them to play with. I had purchased two cars before they came over one was a BNSF 50 foot gondola with it's own scrap metal load and the other was a BNSF 50 foot boxcar. My grand kids, Billy and Emma had fun playing with the throttle controlling the speed and stops the train was making. They also had fun placing people on the layout.

When we are playing with the train we talk all about the train and where it goes across the United States. They are learning Geography and all about railroad operations and they don't even mind. I even discussed my plan to create an N scale Canadian National layout. This caught their interest because they have relatives in Canada.

My grand kids are not strangers to model railroading, they have watched me create a large HO scale layout featuring a New York Central Passenger train and an Ann Arbor freight train.

The Finished Ann Arbor Caboose 2831

I finally finished the caboose I have been working on for my Ann Arbor freight train. It took me a while to get the decals but it's finally done and made up to look like the real caboose road number 2831. The HO caboose I used is an old Tyco caboose painted with Santa Fe markings. I like how it turned out.

I decided to model it after the caboose road number #2831

Making A Modern Ann Arbor Caboose

I just painted up a caboose and I need to add the decals to make it an Ann Arbor caboose that was used just before the use of cabooses was discontinued altogether. The color is just right. It will go great with my Ann Arbor freight train.

It will be decal-ed to match the following picture of an actual Ann Arbor caboose.

The decals are already on hold at Mountain Town Hobbies in Mt Pleasant Michigan.

The N Scale Coffee Table Layout Is Progressing Just Fine

My N Scale coffee table layout is coming along, the bulk of the work is complete. I need to work on the edges of the table on the outside of the tracks and put down some more grass. at the bottom of the picture is roughly where the forest will go. I will most likely add another house on the edge of the forest. I still need to make the trees I will be using to create the forest. I am hoping I can enlist the help of my wife Sandy to do the landscaping around the houses. She did such a great job on my indoor HO scale layout. The layout is not modeled after anything in existence. I have called the small town "Salt Creek" after the original name for the village of Shepherd Michigan. There is a small farm, a church, a general store, a school, a hotel, a train station, and three houses. as you can tell there is still a bit more I need to add. The train I am running is an Ann Arbor freight train consisting of 3 box cars, a tank car, 2 covered hoppers, a coal hopper, a gondola, and a caboose. any more and my train will be to big for the limited space afforded by the coffee table.

Two Pyrofax Bottled Gas Tank Cars

Now I have 2 Pyrofax Bottled Gas tank cars road numbers 1366 and 1367 they really dress up the look of the Ann Arbor freight train. All I need to do now is to pick up the GP38 locomotive that I have in for repair at Brasseur's Electric Trains in Saginaw Michigan. Then the Ann Arbor freight train will be considered complete. it consists of 3 GP38 locomotives 4 boxcars 2 tank cars 2 3 bay covered hoppers 2 center flow covered hoppers 4 2 bay covered hoppers 4 coal cars 1 flat car with ends and a gondola. That's a lot of train.

New 11,000 Gallon Tank Car

After 2 weeks of camping I had accumulated enough pop cans to purchase an 11,000 gallon tank car at Mountain Town Hobbies in Mt. Pleasant Michigan. It is a Pyrofax Bottled Gas tank car road number #1366 that I am adding to my Ann Arbor freight train. I also put aside a matching car road number #1367. that I will pay for after we go camping again in three weeks. This will enhance the Ann Arbor freight train greatly and I will consider the freight train complete. I believe that Pyrofax Bottled Gas is part of Union Carbide.

My HO Layout Is Enhanced

Now that I have all three GP38's from the Ann Arbor Locomotive roster, I have completed my Ann Arbor freight train that I have been putting together for around five years. I was finally able to find the GP38 locomotive road number #7771 from a private owner I met on the internet. We arrived at a fair price and he mailed it to me. The locomotive is now on my layout and is pulling the freight cars. The last piece of unfinished business is that the GP38 locomotive road number #7802 is currently being repaired at Brasseur's Electric Trains in Saginaw Michigan. Once the repair is complete, I will have all three GP38's, road numbers, #7771, #7791 and #7802, on the layout pulling my freight train.

The N Scale Coffee Table Is Progressing

The N scale coffee table layout is coming along well. I've added a river and lake some buildings and started adding grass and trees. the process is going slow but it is starting to take shape. The train is modeled after the Ann Arbor Railroad under Detroit Toledo & Ironton Railroad control during the 1960's. 2 boxcars still display the Ann Arbor logo from when it was owned by the Wabash railroad. I am currently making trees to display a wooded area at the base of the mountain near the tunnel portal and the lake. As you can see there is still a lot more work that needs to be done to make the layout presentable.

The Landscaping Begins On The N Scale Layout

I began laying turf on the N scale layout today, and I was able to place a few buildings as well. The layout is starting to show some character. I still need to plan where the roads are going to be placed. I also have a small problem with how I am going to design a tunnel considering I will need to gain access to the inside of the tunnel in case there are any derailments. My problem is that the layout is exposed all around 360 degrees, so an opening would be visible. I haven't figured out what to do to make it pleasant to look at and still have access to the inside of the tunnel. If any readers have suggestions I would greatly appreciate comments with your suggestions. Please feel free to post your comments at any time on this site.

The Repair Is Finished

The Ann Arbor GP38 that broke down has been repaired and will soon be back in service. This time the repair did not cost as much as the last GP38 that broke down. I am encouraged by the cost this time and I will most certainly bring future repairs to Brasseur Electric Trains in downtown Saginaw Michigan.

The Second Ann Arbor GP38 is Down and Needs Repair

It was bound to happen. The GP38 locomotive manufactured by Atlas has stopped working. The last time this happened it was the can motor that just wore out. This looks like the same problem it was running fine one day and the next day it just stopped running. The last time I took it to Brasseur Electric Trains in Saginaw Michigan for repair. It was a bit pricey but the work made up for it. They replaced the motor and it is now running just fine. The need for repair is no surprise to me as I run my trains every day for long periods of time. I hope this time the repair will not take as long as last time.

The Model

The actual locomotive