Friday Fun - NERx Layout Tour (March 19, 2026)

Yup - still catching up on posting %^)

This time, for your viewing pleasure and for this edition of "Friday Fun," here's a video taken by my friend Dennis Collucci (NscaleTrainBoy on YouTube) for the NERx virtual model railroad convention last March.

The entire day is worthwhile viewing - as are the rest of the videos & presentations given throughout that week - but if you want to get right to the Valley Local content, fast forward to 2:17:00.

Enjoy & have a great weekend!

Throwback Thursday - More 44 tonners (& specifically, DEY-4 #0806)

As I try to bring the Valley Local blog up to speed, I'm realizing that I dropped a few balls along the way.  Case in point - the DEY-4 (GE 44 tonner) #0802 I weathered for Randy and which ended up being the subject of my latest article in Railroad Model Craftsman. In addition to yesterday's Wordless Wednesday, you can find some additional pics of it on Randy's layout here.

My last actual post on it was from October of last year(!) There I'd only just started the process. And there, for all intents and purposes for the blog at least, it sat. Thankfully, even though I failed/forgot to log my process on the 0802, it's distilled and recorded in the June 2026 issue of RMC :)

One of the reasons I keep the blog going is not so much for the feedback (since, disappointingly, there aren't many comments left here - not like on the Valley Local Facebook group), but to document what I've done in the past so I can refer back to it. In that sense, it's a true "web(-based) log" (e.g. "'b'log") of my builds, processes, etc.

To that end, here's yet another DEY-4 - this one for my layout!

Although I'd weathered (and "crewed") my own #0802 a while back (click here for pics), I really wanted a DEY-4 in the New Haven's original Pullman Green delivery scheme. Unfortunately, that wasn't one of the decorated units Rapido offered, so - thanks to Bill - I got an undec . . .

 and tried out my newly developed airbrushing skills . . .

Modelers Decals & Paint (MDP)

3 Pullman Greens: Tru-Color, Badger, MDP

I recall there being some debate about which brand of "Pullman Green" to use. I'd used Tru-Color before (on DEY-5 #0604), but it looked too yellow/olive to me (I salvaged it with weathering), and I used Badger on DEY-3 #0967, but didn't really like it. Unfortunately, Randy got the MDP paint to me a bit too late - but I look forward to trying it in the future. It behaves MUCH better than the Badger (more like Tamiya, which is my fave), but I ended up using Badger again for this model.

For the lettering, I used Highball Graphics decals, sealed with a gloss coat of Tamiya.

The Rapido model runs beautifully and the body is gorgeous, so it doesn't really need anything to create an accurate model. Nevertheless, I decided to use Cal-Scale door handles instead of the brass bits Rapido supplies, and I replaced the stock headlights with MV lenses. I also moved the front airhose to the engineer's side and added fuel caps on both walkways just in front of the cab.

That's where the fuel spills come from :^)

As you may notice, if you compare this model to my #0802, not only will you notice there's no crew - but I also removed the beautiful Rapido cab interior(?!), opting to replace it with a Scale Sound Systems cab-filling speaker. Let me tell you - it makes a HUGE difference in the sound quality!

That being said, given the later runs of Rapido 44-tonners which have better (or at least better mounted) speakers, I think I'd actually keep the interior if I had this all to do over again. Check out this comparison of the early vs. later run of speakers (spoiler alert: while the SSS cab filling speaker beats all, the SSS drop-in replacement speaker isn't noticeably better than the later-run Rapido stock speaker).

Since by my 1948 era, this engine would have been working pretty much nonstop for about 7 years (mostly during busy wartime), I applied moderately heavy weathering - certainly heavier than I've ever done before on a loco.

It's certainly no rust bucket - it's just supposed to look a bit worn, certainly used, but cared-for.

Although I finished the 0806 in May of last year, I hope you've enjoyed my taking some time to catch y'all up on it - especially if you missed it on FB. If nothing else, at least I have some documentation of it on my own(ed) content, unlike FB which can be a bit ephemeral.

Stay tuned as I bring back some more "blasts from the past" on the next "Throwback Thursday!"

Wordless Wednesday #524 - Another #0802

 

This is different than this #0802 . . .

Ops Paperwork - Car Routing

As I've mentioned before, I'm doing my best to make operating the Valley Line as prototypical as possible. To that end, you'll get the following at the start of a run:

• Conductor's Notes (info about your train) & Engineer's Notes (info on your engine)
• 
  
• Wheel Report - tells you what cars are in your train, including road name, car number, and destination.
• Waybills and Empty Car Bills - one for each car in your train - tells you the consignee (industry destination) for each car (waybill) or how to get the car back to its home road (empty car bill). 

Most of you are probably familiar with train movement paperwork (Forms "A" and "19"), so the focus of this post will be car movement paperwork - and that starts with something called the "Conductor's Freight Train Wheel Report" - or "Wheel Report" for short.

Wheel Reports

The wheel report lists all the cars in your train as you leave the originating terminal and tells you the destination of each car.

• If a car is destined for a consignee on your route, the wheel report will tell you which town and consignee (and the specific spotting location, if any).
• If a car is destined for a consignee not on your route - or (more commonly) is an empty being routed to its home road - the wheel report will tell you where, and to what train, to hand off the car for further movement to its final destination (in the example above, note all the cars to be handed off to HDX-7 in Middletown).

Waybills

Like many others, my "waybills" are actually a combination of two parts:

1) the waybill form itself, which tells you where the car is destined (other than its home road) . . .

and 2) an "Empty Car Bill" (you may refer to it as a "car card") that has the car information as well as home route information for the car when empty.

In addition to the "bills" (waybills/empty car bills) you receive at the start of your run, you'll get others at each town along the way. So let's get going and see how it all works together . . .

From left to right: beverage/tool cup holder & throttle plug, throttle holder, bill box, bill sorting rack/slot, track diagram, clipboard hook.

As you enter each town along your run, the first thing you'll do is check the bill box, handily labeled as "BILLS" and located on the freight house wall fascia.

• The bills will tell you which cars are ready to go and where they're headed. If there is no bill for a car, it's a "Hold" - it can be moved if needed, but must be returned to its original spot before you leave town (be sure to check for any blue flags before moving such cars in case they're being actively loaded/unloaded).
• Take only cars headed where you’re going or that need to be transferred to another local with which you interchange.
• Consult the gateways map and route/interchange information on the back of your clipboard. (See "Interchanging/'Swapping' Cars" below).
• Spot cars destined for consignees in town as directed by the bills.

In addition to the bills, the local agent may also leave a switchlist with special instructions - e.g. to respot an offspot car, etc. There may also be additional switching instructions/tips included in the bill box (see below):

For more about these cool NHRR-specific bill boxes, click here.

ProTip: Many local freights are "turns" - which means they start at point A, go do their work, and then return back to point A. In those cases, instead of picking up cars destined for point A (or headed in that direction) on your outbound run, you may want to leave those cars for pickup on your way back (inbound run). This tip often helps you stay within tonnage (and most importantly, run-around capacity) limits.

Interchanging/"Swapping" Cars

One of the most distinctive features of operating on the Valley Line (or, frankly, just about any New Haven RR line during this era) is that cars often have to be interchanged - or swapped - from one local freight to another to get to their final destination. This intensive and significant amount of car handling was the main reason why the NHRR was often referred to as just "one giant terminal railroad." Incidentally, it's also what made the railroad especially vulnerable to truck transport - and ultimately contributed to its downfall.

My layout follows the prototype in this way as well. The "Home Routes & Gateways" map above (and spelled out in more detail in the "Local Routes & Interchange Points" section) shows:

1. How cars get routed off the layout, and
2. Where cars can be swapped from one train to another to get to where they need to go.  This information is on the back of your operator's clipboard.

For example:

Say you're the crew on HDX-7, southbound from Hartford to Middletown and you've entered the town of Rocky Hill which is located along the way. According to the bills, you have two empties and one load to pick up:

• One empty is routed to its home road via Cedar Hill
• One empty is routed to its home road via New London
• The load is destined for a location off-railroad, but routed through Hartford.

Using the "pro tip" above, you leave the load - for now - for later pickup on your northbound run back to Harford and you pick up the two empties.

• You see from the map that Cedar Hill is served by PDX-1, PDX-2, and HDX-12. You interchange with HDX-12 in Middletown. So, the empty routed for Cedar Hill is left at Middletown for later pickup by HDX-12.
• You see from the map that New London is served by PDX-1 and PDX-2. You interchange with PDX-2 in East Haddam. So, the empty routed for New London is left in East Haddam for later pickup by PDX-2.

Heh - unfortunately, HDX-7 only serves East Haddam on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (you know this from consulting your "Conductor's Notes"). So if it's a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, you'll leave the car in Middletown for you to pick up and take to East Haddam "tomorrow."

This may seem a bit overwhelming & complicated at first - and that's not surprising. Even real railroaders didn't qualify on their jobs until they did them under supervision a number of times - and you shouldn't expect anything less. Fortunately, you can't really mess up - nobody's gonna complain if you spot a car incorrectly, or send it to the wrong destination (heck, even that's prototypical!).

The main goal of all this effort is twofold: 1) to learn about how the New Haven Railroad moved the freight in the Connecticut Valley during the late 1940s, and 2) have FUN simulating those operations.

If I meet that goal, the op session is a success - no matter where the cars end up! :^)

Operator's Helps - Bill Boxes

How things used to look - notice the switchlist and the "car transfer form"

Long time readers may recall that my operating systems have varied over the years - from switchlists, to a hybrid using "car transfer forms" to, now, waybills. 

While I - and many of my operators - prefer switchlists, I never could figure out a good way to deal with cars that have to be handed off from one local freight to another during a session (hence the contrived "car transfer form" above). And as fun as the "pre-ops ops session" was (honestly!) - it would also take me just about as long to set up the session as the session itself.

Switchlists are certainly a great - and usually the fastest - way to get ops going on your model railroad, but I think I've finally settled on a version of waybills to move cars on my railroad.

Of course, that means I need bill boxes. Enter Josh from Cohn's Custom.

Josh had seen me mention on the Valley Local Facebook group what I had been using for waybills (wooden box below, with pencil/pick tube), and what I was going to start using (cheap cellphone holders above). He offered to help, but needed a design.

I started the design process like I do everything on this railroad - by consulting the prototype. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I couldn't find out what a New Haven Railroad bill box looked like. So I improvised by finding the closest match I could to a font on some NHRR paperwork, and basically made up the rest . . .

And here's what we came up with:

During the course of developing these boxes, I decided on a car card/waybill form factor based on a 3x5 index card. So these boxes will accommodate those, as well as include a tube on the side for a pencil and an uncoupling pick.

The "N.Y.N.H.&H." is as close as I could come to the font the NHRR used on its paperwork at the time - "FetteEgyptienne" - and the word "BILLS" is just a regular sans serif font that looked right to me. I guesstimated the sizing as well.

But I think you'll agree that they look "right" - especially with some prototype-looking NHRR bills in them. And they look even better installed on the layout.

Now that I've installed them, the only thing I'd change on these is the mounting holes. I planned to mount them with regular #6x1-1/4" drywall screws . . .

But the tapered head didn't allow the screw to fit flush . . .

Josh graciously agreed to do a little redesign and the final product is perfect, allowing the screwhead to sit nice and flush like you see on the left screw in the pic below (I'd reamed out the test print to get the effect):

Unfortunately, when I mounted the boxes to my 1/8" masonite fascia, I discovered that the screw - now that it sits so nice and recessed - no longer had but one or two threads biting into the fascia(!) It's really easy to overtighten slightly and strip the hole in the masonite, preventing the box from being mounted as tightly & securely as you might like. If I had it to do all over, I'd probably just live with the un-countersunk screw heads - or choose screws with a different head (or screws with threads all the way up to the head).

But none of that diminishes by one iota how FANTASTIC these boxes are and I can't thank Josh enough not only for reaching out with his offer to help, but for all his patience through the design process and for creating a product which truly sets my layout apart from many others. There's certainly nothing wrong with the MicroMark boxes, but I think you'll admit these are a step WAY above (and when was the last time you could even get the MicroMark boxes?? They've been out of stock forEVer!).

Now, you may have noticed a few more "helps" mounted on my fascia in addition to the cool bill boxes. Waybills need a place to be sorted, clip boards need a place to hang, and - if you're so inclined - beverages need a place to sit. As you might have guessed, I've been all-in lately on creating "operator's areas" on my fascia in time for my next op session, so stay tuned for a couple posts on the things I've built and installed to help my operators. . .

In the meantime, be sure to check out Josh's website to see what wonderful products he has to offer!

Wordless Wednesday #523 - What’s new?