MBTA commuter train crosses the Rockwall Canyon viaduct, stops at the final station, reverses direction, crosses over to the inbound track and heads back to the city.
Notes about video quality…you may need to adjust to a higher quality (720) for best viewing. Color temperature is a bit off, so the stripes look a little more blue than normal.
That is a great looking train. I like your terrain and bench work that makes the train look so good.
It certainly is good looking. I assume those are dummy RDC units operating as coaches? (Maybe a platform at the end of the line would help the commuters go home? (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif))
Good looking train Jeff 
Thanks guys!
Yes, the RDCs were converted into coaches (the MBTA actually did this with the old B&M RDCs). I used Aristo’ s old-style AAR diesel sideframes instead of the Budd frames. The old style trucks accomodate 35mm Piko wheels in the sprung bushings which gives the cars working suspension and it allows me to lower the cars a bit, by mounting them higher on the A-frames.
And yes, there are definitely plans for a platform in the future. Yesterday was the first day of operations across the new bridge and over the new crossover. There will be one more stop further down the line some day in the future.
I am so jealous of the space you have to make a nice big layout, had to watch other videos on youtube. Nice job
Nice.
But I was hoping to see the engine to decouple, do a run-around, recouple on the other end of the train, and pull it back to town. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Todd Brody said:
Nice.
But I was hoping to see the engine to decouple, do a run-around, recouple on the other end of the train, and pull it back to town. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Maybe they do that in California, but here they use the MU cabs to run with the power at either end. Or perhaps you’re thinking of steam engines, which are difficult (but not impossible) to operate from the other end of the train.
Actually, I’m thinking of the Verde Canyon Railroad where they do this with a diesel.
https://www.viator.com/Arizona-attractions/Verde-Canyon-Railroad/d271-a2081?pref=02
This is the “end of the line” for the passenger excursions where they do the run-around. Been there/done that several times.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.90128,-112.1927313,363m/data=!3m1!1e3
Todd Brody said:
Nice.
But I was hoping to see the engine to decouple, do a run-around, recouple on the other end of the train, and pull it back to town. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Accurate representation for MBTA operations that is being modeled. Besides, automatic reversing kind of rules out a run-around.
Don’t they run push-pull in the commuter operations in the big CA cities? Saves a ton of switching and extra track work at each terminus.
Daktah John said:
Todd Brody said:
Nice.
But I was hoping to see the engine to decouple, do a run-around, recouple on the other end of the train, and pull it back to town. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Besides, automatic reversing kind of rules out a run-around.
Don’t they run push-pull in the commuter operations in the big CA cities? Saves a ton of switching and extra track work at each terminus.
It could be done and that’s what would make it way cool. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Yes, they do it all the time. But there has been controversy as to not having the “protection” of the engine at the front when they inevidably hit something or derail.
The current end of the track (pictured in video), is planned to receive a second crossover of the opposite hand. While this will allow run-arounds, the intention is to transition the mainline down to two different paths, a freight yard and a continuation of mainline in single track.
Jeff,
Great looking train. I like how the lights switch on the last RDC from markers to headlight.
Is that done via track polarity?
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the compliment! The train and lighting are battery powered from the locomotive. Basically, I use the RailBoss4’s directional lighting outputs to drive a relay which flips the polarity of a 14.4vdc line from the battery. I chose to work it this way because the factory lighting in the RDCs are polarity driven…plus, I only need a 2-conductor line and connectors between the cars. On the other hand, the headlamps and markers in the locomotive are driven directly by the provided LED lighting outputs.
Jeff
That came out really nice!
After a year long break from largescale, I’ve decided to get back to work, pretty much where I left off. I had some serious tree and ground work done last summer that required lifting up the tracks. I even considered moving up to a larger scale at that time.
Anyways, before all that happened, I was rather enjoying my commuter train project. I now have several trains worth of converted RDC commuter coaches and needed to come up with some new commuter power. Since I have some surplus FA1s and more than a few spare motor blocks for them from the RDCs…the FA1 was the way to go. I now present RCTA 4271.
Glad to see your back.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif) Unit looks great.
Thanks Todd. I’m definitely glad I stayed with largescale. I ended up retaining almost everything I had planned to sell. The idea of the larger scales was intriguing but building a track seemed impractical and I’m really not into the idea of the clubs.
Looking forward to getting rid of this snow so I can make some videos up of 3 commuter trains making the rounds.
-Jeff
The kids are getting bigger now … hopefully they want to help…
