Last edited on Wed Oct 20th, 2010 04:24 pm by Broadoak

Thanks Clif, the locomotive lifting hoist is an OO scale kit by Ratio no 545 about £18 over here. The photo shows it a bit better to give an idea of its size. I’m sure you could use it for ON30. These things vary in size in real life don’t they.

Incidentally I use it on the layout for repairing bad order cars. It’s a good excuse to have a variety of freight cars.

An I&W GP7 with a low nose resting between assignments. The model is a blue box Athearn that I’ve chopped the nose on and although the dynamic brakes are not needed on our road they might be useful if the loco is hired out to another road.

In the background is an impulse buy, she is a little modern really. A Cotton Belt GP60. Another Athearn with added details. The Cotton Belt (St Louis South Western ) really did run through Arkansas, the area I’m modelling.

An I&W SW1 at rest one lunch time in the shade of the Farmer’s Co-op elevator at Colonel‘s Crossing. The small pick up truck belongs to a local farmer who is collecting some bags of feed for his cattle. The covered hoppers being loaded at The Western Grain Co’s elevator will be made into a train after lunch then taken to the I&W- SP interchange by the SW1.

A close of a UP hopper taken one evening on the Arkansas Feed’s track waiting to be picked up the next morning for the early road job.

Another atmospheric picture of a covered hopper spotted at the Continental Grain elevator, taken on a summer‘s evening. The Fordson tractor is a Matchbox Toy and almost as old as me, but probably in better condition. Much of the grain shipped from here is destined for export via the Gulf ports.

The background is a pen and wash drawing I did on cartridge paper and pasted onto the back scene.

A busy place always is the Bantex Box Companies factory, using locally produced lumber they ship out bespoke wooden boxes all over the states. Next to them is R E Lee Farm Supplies and next to that the Farmers Co-op. This siding is also a head shunt for the Continental Grain Co so when loads arrive for them it creates many switching moves, which is what the layout is all about. It all helps to make this a very interesting layout to operate, which as I‘ve grown older I enjoy more than ever.

A couple of pictures of AD&N CF7 No 1513 arriving then switching cars at CC, it is an Athearn model. When I took it out of the box the front truck retaining clip fell out complete with the wheels and gears. I put everything back and securely clipped the cover back and it has been fine ever since if a little noisy.

The Santa Fe rebuilt 233 CF7s at their Cleburne, Texas shops between 1970 and 1978 then in the early 80s started to phase them out. They have since proved very popular with many short lines. They are a tad shorter than a GP7 so ideal for a small layout.

In the clean condition the model is in now I assume it is working for The Ashley Drew and Northern who had two, on a run collecting pulp wood or board to take back to their own road at Crosset, Arkansas. The road is closed now and the CF7s sold off, they were in rather run down condition at the end I think.