A Day of Surprises, Part 2: A PERFECT CSX Meet, the Last “Legal” Pan Am SD40-2, and More!

After the lunch and the appointment, we headed over to the CSX Selkirk Subdivision at Burdeck Street in Schenectady. As we pulled up I noticed a CSX MOW truck on track 2, not a good sign. I sat in the car until dispatch contacted the MOW crew and informed them that Q205 and Q003 were […]

A Day of Surprises, Part 1: CP, NS, and Amtrak Action around Albany!

Yesterday (January 29th), I had the opportunity to spend some time railfanning around the Capitol Region. We hit the road at 7:20 AM, outside temperature -1F. The drive to Albany, was, well, your typical two-hour drive down the Northway. I heard CP 252 and 931 meeting in Rockland on the scanner, but we didn’t have […]

Amtrak Re-Qualification Runs, 931 by the Lake, and More: A Day of Railfanning Around Plattsburgh

Last Thursday we had to do several errands around Plattsburgh, which also meant we could catch a few trains. I heard 252 working Bluff on the scanner but by the time we got out to South Junction they had left, although the rails were still hot. We headed up to Aubuchon and then headed over […]

Amtrak Re-Qualification Run! Plus Railfanning Posts Coming Soon

A detailed post (or two) will come soon, but for now, here’s a photo of Amtrak 835 blasting through South Junction Road today. We also caught NS 931, D11, and Amtrak 834 today, but I’m too busy getting ready for another bunch of railfanning right now… Stay tuned. -Harrison

Layout Video Update #1: 3D Printed Canoe, Demolishion Progress, Walthers Boxcar Review, and More!

Notice: This is a trial run, and things will get worked out as we go. Please let me know what you thought of this video in the comments, it helps me know how I can make things better for my followers/readers. -Harrison with a little help from Gideon Welcome to my very first layout video […]

News Flash: Amtrak Qualification Runs on the CP!

Saratoga-Rouses Point, NY- Amtrak has begun running engineer and conductor qualifications on the CP Canadian Division. The first train, consisting of two Amfleet cars sandwiched by a pair of P42DC’s ran today, with more rumored to be happening soon. I tried to catch it today, but this is all I got… The Canadian Division has […]

I’ve Been Working on the Rail… I Mean, 3D Printer

So the title says it, while I should be working on the railroad (or the absence of), I’ve been furiously working on assembling a 3D printer upgrade kit from Prusa 3D. A quick note: this printer isn’t mine. The robotics team I (and Gideon) are on received a grant for a new 3D printer, and […]

Layout Video Updates? Plus Video Camera Coming Soon…!?

As you know, I write about progress (or the absence of) of my layout. Now that I have a growing YouTube channel, should I begin to make layout update videos as well as the written ones? Let me know on the poll or in the comments. Another quick update, I am planning on buying a […]

Random Recap #65

An eastbound CSX Q-train consisting primarily of Reefers rolls into Buffalo Depew Station as passengers wait for their Amtrak Empire Service. Gideon captured this from the far end of the platform using a zoom lens on a trip to Buffalo. If you want to see more of Gideon’s adventures in Buffalo, let him know in […]

More Work in the Basement: Organizing, Virtual Work Sessions, and (gulp) Starting to Tear Things Down

I’ve found some time in the past couple of days to do some more work in the basement. Besides just general cleaning and organizing, I organized all my set-track. Seriously, if anyone needs 18 inch radius curves, let me know. I still have to take all the track off my layout. All the turnouts and […]

More Track Planning and Benchwork Considerations

I have been doing a lot of consideration on finalizing my track plan and what to use for benchwork and subroadbed. Below is a more accurate track plan for Plattsburgh yard. I used Three Peco curved turnouts to ease the yard ladder a bit and make it more prototypical. Thanks to some experts on the […]

(Video) Three Trains in a Half Hour: A Meet, a Chase, and More

On the January 14th I got the news that CP 252 was still in Rouses Point at 8 am. Since this train usually runs through during the night, I decided now was the time to catch it. We headed out to South Junction Road to catch CP/NS 931 coming north into Bluff Point, but after […]

My HO Scale Roster: Hoppers, Covered Hoppers, and a Couple Loners

Previously we looked at the boxcars, cabooses, gons, and flatcars of my layout. Next, we will look at the rest of the roster. I have plenty of hoppers, and while most of these won’t see regular service on my layout, some are interesting, such as the silver NJ hopper and the three identical D&H hoppers […]

Three Train in a Half Hour Video Goes Live at 7:30 PM Tonight!

I’m premiering my latest railfanning adventure tonight at 7:30! I’d love to chat with you or just drop in to be one of the first to watch.

My HO Scale Rolling Stock Roster: Boxcars and Cabooses + Gons and TOFC

Since I am putting all of my rolling stock in boxes for my upcoming layout rebuild, I thought now was the time to go over my rolling stock roster. My locomotive roster currently consists of an RS-11 from Atlas, a GP38-2 from Life-Like, and a CN GP9M from Walthers. So let’s dive into the roster, […]