LLPX 6002: A 99 Cent Special

I keep an eye on eBay - sometimes things show up for 99 cent opening bids. I will place a bid for 99 cents, and once in a while no one else bids! This GE U36B was a 99 cent win. But since my railroad standardizes on EMD power, what to do with it? So I turned it into a leaser unit, which is a plausible cover story. It has been repainted, decalled as LLPX 6002, and outfitted with directional LED lighting.

Ghost story - the phantom GP20

A DC ghost story - and this has happened SEVERAL times. I have a Tyco GP20 #912 assigned to MOW service. The motor is absolutely silent - you cannot hear anything even with your ear up close. Now the layout is conventional DC block control. 912 will be resting somewhere unnoticed. I will be working switching cars somewhere, and lo and behold, here comes a headlight and 912 creeps into the block. Unsettling! Guess I have to watch those block switches a little more closely.

"Opening" the hoods

Optical illusion: How to "open" the hoods on cars - paint the hood flat black, cut a new hood from styrene and paint to match, and prop/glue them in place on top of the SALE signs. Fools the eye to the casual view! These cars are 1:100 scale architectural models, close enough for HO scale.

EEE Feeds

EEE Feeds is located at the edge of Marias Industrial Park. Due to the unusual arrangement of the track being end-on instead of parallel to the dock, they share a dock with Chronicle Printing (around the corner) whose dock is parallel to the siding. 

Bolton Memorial Maintenance Facility

The John Bolton Memorial Maintenance Facility ("Bolton Shops") is named in memory of real-life Amtrak conductor Johnny Bolton, who never failed to learn the names of his regular passengers and call them by name as they boarded the Downeaster. This shop is made from mat board. The roof is removable (the antenna mast is the handle) so the inside can be seen while switching cars in and out.

GP20-B 807

GP-20B 807 is made from two Tyco GP-20 shells combined back-to-back. The Tyco GP20 has no separate chassis, just two truck assemblies snapped into the shell. 

Sermon Interruptus

Sometimes church services at Grace United Methodist are interrupted by a diesel horn as a passenger train approaches Cape Ann station. Cape Ann's newest passenger loco, FP45 #400, is on the point this fine Sunday morning.