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 Grand Hotel

The latest addition to the downtown area is the Grand Hotel situated on the north end. It adds some height to the layout.

 It is the first of two high rise buildings I plan to add to that section of town.

Indoor Layout Enhancements

Front Street has become the new Fast Food Drive the addition of a donut shop and a Kentucky fried chicken add to the 7 Eleven that I added earlier. My wife Sandy also added a footpath that leads from the McDonalds to the light rail platform and a seating area behind the McCafe.

We also added a "First Bank" branch next to the movie theater on First street.

 As the holiday progresses I am sure that there will be a lot more added to this layout.

Hanukkah Is Almost Here - My Wish List

I have been working on my Pere Marquette passenger train for well over a year and the only outstanding items are 2 Pere Marquette EMD E7A locomotives I have set aside for me at Mountain Town Hobbies in Mt Pleasant Michigan. Road numbers #103 and #105.

I will be running an AA configuration with the locomotives back to back.

In the past Hanukkah Harry has been very kind to me so I hope this year is no exception. 

New Residential Area

Just south of Grand Central Station I am putting in a new residential area. To get the ball rolling I built a Mobile Station complete with the flying red horse. I still need to blacktop the ground and add landscaping. Now when the residents move in the can fuel up for the days driving.

Every Town Has At Least One McDonald's

Every town has at least one McDonald's. Now my layout is no exception. It comes complete with the McCafe. Its a great addition to the fast-food row in the downtown area of the layout. Just think I can stop in for my Bigmac and Diet Coke fix as I go through the day.

The Posts Are Slow In Coming For Now

I am getting ready for surgery so I may not be posting as often, at least for the time being. There are a lot of buildings on order for the indoor layout. I will post as soon as I can to let you know how the layout is progressing along.

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

Work Starts On New Residential Area

As I stated before, I intend to put a residential area to the south of Grand Central Station. The work has begun with the addition of a federal style home as the beginning of this effort. This first house is a product by Woodland Scenics called "Home Sweet Home" stock number BR5036. it is one of their Built & Ready line. The house comes with furniture already on the front porch, a trap door to the cellar, a push lawnmower, a broom, and a propane pig for the yard along with other incredible details.

 
Additional houses and street systems will be added in the future.

A Couple New Additions

September was a slow month for the indoor layout, but there are a couple of additions to report. The first is a fruit and veggie stand located on the road that runs in front of farmer Smiths house. A car has stopped in front of the house and the occupants have gotten out to check out the produce.

The second is a birthday party for Johnathan held in the backyard. The party is in full swing complete with balloons and party goers. We all wish John a Happy Birthday.

I have plans and buildings on order to enhance the median across from Grand Central Station with a gazebo and people enjoying the view. Also I will be putting a federal style house near the station to spike the job of a second residential area just south of the station. A trucking company will be added to the area near the lumber yard. so there is a lot on the horizon.

And Now I Have A Bus Station

I searched for a while because Walthers didn't have this item in stock anymore and couldn't say if or when they would be getting anymore. I found one at Junction Valley Railroad in Bridgeport Michigan. It was just what I needed to go with my layout. I still need to define the road a bit better. I placed it in front of and to one side of Grand Central Station.The plan is to add a residential street behind the Bus Station.

Walthers announces New Named Train

My September flyer came from Walthers and the cover announced new named trains for 2014. They are the Great Northern Railway's Empire Builder and the Big Sky Blue. There will be 10 different passenger cars for each train. the following is their offering:

Omaha Orange &
Pullman Green Scheme

85' ACF Baggage-Mail—Standard


85' ACF Baggage-Dorm—Standard
85' ACF Baggage-Dorm—Lighted


85' ACF 60-Seat Coach—Standard
85' ACF 60-Seat Coach—Lighted


85' Pullman-Standard "River" Series 7-4-3-1 Sleeper—Standard
85' Pullman-Standard "River" Series 7-4-3-1 Sleeper—Lighted


85' ACF Ranch Series Coffee Shop Lounge—Standard
85' ACF Ranch Series Coffee Shop Lounge—Lighted


85' Pullman-Standard "Pass" Series 6-5-2 Sleeper—Standard
85' Pullman-Standard "Pass" Series 6-5-2 Sleeper—Lighted


85' ACF 36-Seat "Lake" Series Diner—Standard
85' ACF 36-Seat "Lake" Series Diner—Lighted


85' Budd 46-Seat Vista-Dome Coach—Standard
85' Budd 46-Seat Vista-Dome Coach—Lighted


85' Budd "View" Series Great Dome Lounge—Standard
85' Budd "View" Series Great Dome Lounge—Lighted


85' Pullman-Standard "Coulee" Series 6-4-1 Observation—Standard
85' Pullman-Standard "Coulee" Series 6-4-1 Observation—Lighted

 

Big Sky Blue
Scheme

85' ACF Baggage-Mail—Standard


85' ACF Baggage-Dorm—Standard
85' ACF Baggage-Dorm—Lighted


85' ACF 60-Seat Coach—Standard
85' ACF 60-Seat Coach—Lighted


85' Pullman-Standard "River" Series 7-4-3-1 Sleeper—Standard
85' Pullman-Standard "River" Series 7-4-3-1 Sleeper—Lighted


85' ACF Ranch "Lake…" Series Coffee Shop Lounge—Standard
85' ACF Ranch "Lake…" Series Coffee Shop Lounge—Lighted


85' Pullman-Standard "Pass" Series 6-5-2 Sleeper—Standard
85' Pullman-Standard "Pass" Series 6-5-2 Sleeper—Lighted


85' ACF 36-Seat "…Lake" Series Diner—Standard
85' ACF 36-Seat "…Lake" Series Diner—Lighted


85' Budd 46-Seat Vista-Dome Coach—Standard
85' Budd 46-Seat Vista-Dome Coach—Lighted


85' Budd "View" Series Great Dome Lounge—Standard
85' Budd "View" Series Great Dome Lounge—Lighted


85' Pullman-Standard "Coulee" Series 6-4-1 Observation—Standard
85' Pullman-Standard "Coulee" Series 6-4-1 Observation—Lighted

The locomotives offered are:

 

WalthersProto®
EMD F7 Diesels
Power Your Empire Builder Train
with these EMD F7s!
Available in Two Paint Schemes
Equipped with GN-Specific Details:

• GN-Specific Snowplow Pilot
• Carbody Filter Vent
• GN-Specific Style Cut Skirts
• Square-Cornered Winterization Hatch
• Roof-Mounted Cooling Coil
• Scheme-Specific Horn Placement

EMPIRE BUILDER SCHEME

A-B Sets
With Tsunami® Sound for DCC & DC
A-B Set #364A & 364B
A-B Set #368C & 372B

A Units
With Tsunami® Sound for DCC & DC
A Unit #364C
A Unit #367C

A-B Sets
Standard DC
A-B Set #364A & 364B
A-B Set #368C & 372B

A Units
Standard DC
A Unit #364C
A Unit #367C


SIMPLIFIED SCHEME

A-B Sets
With Tsunami® Sound for DCC & DC
A-B Set #363A & 365B
A-B Set #364A & 364B

A Units
With Tsunami® Sound for DCC & DC Layouts
A Unit #363C
A Unit #364C

A-B Sets
Standard DC
A-B Set #368C & 371B
A-B Set #370A & 372B

A Units
Standard DC
A Unit #365C
A Unit #367C

I am excited about the new release but I don't know how I can come up with the money for this one.

The Landscaping on Grand Central Has Begun

I started by putting in a few one way streets to form the entrance to Grand Central Station. I am now in the process of lining the streets with trees. As you can see I still have one side of the street to complete. I added bushes to the front of the terminal. I also added some people at the entrance to Grand Central. Then I added some park benches. I might try adding some flower beds and sidewalks along the boulevard.

 The grand plan is to add houses and a residential street to the left side of the terminal.

The EMD GP38 is back from repair

I must admit Brasseur Electric Trains in Saginaw Michigan did a great job of repairing my Ann Arbor EMD GP38 locomotive road number #7791. I had run it into the ground and the can motor needed to be replaced. It runs great now and my Ann Arbor freight train is back in business.

The model was made by Atlas and was part of a run of three GP38's from the Ann Arbor Railroad roster.

This is a artists drawing used by Atlas when the locomotives were released they were road numbers #7771, #7791, #7802. I just need #7771 to complete the set.

The Pere Marquette Locomotives Are Finally Here

I received a call from Mountain Town Hobbies in Mt. Pleasant Michigan and they informed me that my order of 2 EMD E7A Pere Marquette Locomotives have finally come in. They were originally scheduled to come in in March of 2013. This will complete the Pere Marquette passenger train I have been putting together for over a year. I now have all of the passenger cars and once I pay for the locomotives it will be complete. I will be running an EMD E7A-A configuration.

The cars consist of an RPO (Railway Post Office), baggage car, 3 coach cars, dinning coach car, lunch counter lounge car, 3 10-6 sleeper cars.

Grand Central Station Is Now On My Layout

My birthday is coming up and I got an early gift. Sandy let me order a kit from Walthers and I built Grand Central Station. I can use it for my New York Central passenger train and for my Pere Marquette passenger train. It all depends on the city I am claiming the station is in. New York City for the New York Central train and Chicago for the Pere Marquette train.

As you can see I have a lot of landscaping to do. I need to paint in the streets and put in people and cars but afterall I just built the building.

Chicago's Grand Central Station

Grand Central Station Chicago

A little research and I was able to learn that the Pere Marquette passenger trains used Grand Central Station in Chicago for it's terminal not Chicago's Union Station.  I found the following on the net From Wikipedia:

"Grand Central Station was a passenger railroad terminal in downtown Chicago, Illinois, from 1890 to 1969. It was located at 201 W. Harrison Street in the south-western part of the Chicago Loop, the block bounded by Harrison Street, Wells Street, Polk Street and the Chicago River. Grand Central Station was designed by architect Solon Spencer Beman for the Wisconsin Central Railroad, and was completed by the Chicago and Northern Pacific Railroad.

Grand Central Station was eventually purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which used the station as the Chicago terminus for its passenger rail service, including its glamorous Capitol Limited to Washington, D.C. Major tenant railroads included the Soo Line Railroad, successor to the Wisconsin Central, the Chicago Great Western Railway, and the Pere Marquette Railway. The station opened December 8, 1890, closed on November 8, 1969, and torn down in 1971."

July 28th has come and gone

Still no word from Walthers about the Pere Marquette EMD E7A Units I ordered. I checked the Walthers web site and aside from raising the prices on the passenger cars. the changed the due date from Expected 28-July-2013 to Just Expected. I don't know what to think now. My gut tells me they will be in soon but if past history is any indication it's anyones guess. I hope I see something soon it's been a long wait with one delay after another.

When they do come in I will be running an E7A-E7A configuration. 

I will have to build another layout table for the Pere Marquette passenger train. It is currently in the design phase of development. My hope is to display multiple Passenger trains designed around Chicago's Union Station. I chose Chicago because it has always been a major hub of train traffic.

Constant use Requires Periodic Repair

I run my layout just about every day. This results in a lot of wear and tear on my locomotives. My Ann Arbor GP38 road number 7791 stopped running so I took it into Brasseur Electric Trains in Saginaw Michigan for repair.

The picture above shows the Locomotive manufactured by Atlas where a different road number is shown it is the same as you see pictured here.

At first it was thought that there were carpet fibres caught in the works so it would require a cleaning and then would be just fine. After taking it apart and beginning the cleaning it was discovered that the motor was just about worn out and may need to be replaced. The technician working on the locomotive left for vacation during the 4th of July and would not be able to complete the job for a few weeks. Once the job is completed I will be running 2 Ann Arbor EMD GP38s  Numbers 7791 and 7802 to pull my freight train on the layout. I will let you know my satisfaction level of the repair service as soon as the work is complete.

Above is a photo of the actual EMD GP38 #7791

EMD GP38 #7802 Photo of model

Above is a photo of the actual EMD GP38 #7802

Another Delay

On a whim I checked the Walthers site to see if there were any changes in the many times revised delivery date for the EMD E7A locomotives for the Pere Marquette passenger train. I was expecting to have the two I ordered at the end of last month. Once again the expected date had been revised. The date is now shown to be 28-July-2013.

There is nothing I can do about this delay except sit by and wait. Walthers has had one delay after another on this name train. I must admit I am not disappointed with the passenger cars I have received so far. One more month is a small price to pay in order to own such a nicely crafted passenger train.