2023/24 Winter Running - Post your pictures here

[Matt_Hutson]

Hi guys,
It’s now snowed a couple of time up here in the Rockies and I thought I’d post some pics. The first was taken three days before Halloween. I had run these boxcars a few days earlier but left them on a siding, thinking I would send a locomotive to drag them in later. I was too late:

On Thursday this week we got about 6" of new snow. Too much to plow, but by yesterday morning it had melted and settled. I sent a plow train out to clear the new mainline for the first time:

It later went…poorly. Sometimes model railroading is a lot like real railroading:

By afternoon the mainline was open, the sun was shining and a short freight was making laps. I sat in a lawn chair with a good cigar and a beer, and the train rumbled by about every ten minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSJ2cu6Md04

Cheers,
Matt

[Matt_Hutson]

Hi all,
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We hosted the family here this year, and naturally we ran trains. Here’s a shot from a very long freight on Wednesday:

The weather took a turn for the worse overnight. These were our conditions on Thanksgiving morning:

We managed to get the line open just before the turkey got carved:

Cheers,
Matt

[PeterT]

Not quite running, but the Elves are out cleaning my B&O 0-4-0.

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

Found this out in the yard after a couple hrs with the leaf blower…

[Matt_Hutson]

Hmmm…I need some elves!

[Matt_Hutson]

Good start, Sean, but I don’t see any trains out there.

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

They are hiding in the tunnel …

[Matt_Hutson]

It hasn’t snowed for real in the past six days, but it’s supposed to blow like hell this weekend with winds up to 45 MPH. Winds of those speeds are more than enough to topple the freight cars remaining out on the line from the Thanksgiving operations. This morning I took the GP7 out to retrieve those cars:

Here the GP7 passes the water tank. Unbeknownst to me, an authentic icicle had formed on the water tank over the past week:

Isn’t anyone else crazy enough to run trains outside in the winter?

Cheers,
Matt

[ctown2 (Craig Townsend)]

Matt,
How long on average do you leave rolling stock out? And have you noticed anything significant happening to them?

I’m curious as I’ve been thinking similar things to leave a few pieces of rolling stock out between informal ops. Say a day or 2.

[Matt_Hutson]

Craig,
The cars I drug in this morning had been out there for about a month. Fifteen years ago I would leave stuff outside for months, but faded paint cured me of that habit. Other than when wind blows them over from time to time, I can’t report any real damage from leaving cars outside for extended periods.

Cheers,
Matt

[ctown2 (Craig Townsend)]

As I responded with my question, I got thinking about my staging yard that sits in my garage. Every single time the door opens the cars get exposed to UV, so over time one side of the cars will be faded and the other side not so much. I guess I’ll have to implement a twice yearly car turnaround in the staging yard/storage area.

As I said, I’d like to keep cars out for a few days at a time just so I can do quick 20-30 minute ops. Obviously I’d take the locomotive inside. But I think if I left nothing out, I wouldn’t be as motivated to do some quick operations when the opportunity arises.

[Rooster]

@Matt_Hutson

Isn’t anyone else crazy enough to run trains outside in the winter?

Cheers,
Matt

Yes,

However this was back in the day in the hood. You plow the outer loop first then switch tracks and plow the inner loop. Mind you that this is just for guys whom enjoy doing roundy round operations .

Plowing outer loop .wmv

Plowing inner loop 09.wmv

Nothing but model trains were used to clear snow

No snow shovels were harmed only models trains .

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

I wouldn’t call it winter here today, more like a nice spring day with temps in the high 50’s. With all my winter prep complete, I decided it was time to run some trains. With 3 trains out on the line at once, it got a bit congested at Indian Hill Junction.

Here M-10 holds on a siding with a short train while the passenger train waits on the wye for clearance to return to the main…

Rio Grande #345 struggles to bring a train up the grade as it passes the two waiting trains…

After #354 got tuned on the wye, the passenger train being handled by C.V.S.Ry. #s 8 and 4 backs up the main for a group photo…

It’s such a nice day I even fired up the grill to cook lunch

[mickey (Mickey Kelley)]

Seems like clearing one lane dumps on the other loop. Need 2 plows running to together.

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

No snow just falling branches

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

OUCH! We got lucky here, nothing even that big came down in our yard.

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

Youngest Grandson requested this train on Christmas… 55’ …

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

Officially it’s still winter, but you couldn’t tell by looking around. We’ve had lots of rain / wind but very little snow and only one week of really cold temps. Saturday was the first day with sunshine in nearly two weeks, so I was motivated to clean up the storm debris and have a fire. Today (Sunday) I ran a few trains to enjoy the sun.

First, M-10 shoved an inspection train around the layout. Seen here stopped at the large washout making sure the roadbed was still safe to run trains across…

Once the line was deemed passable, a double headed passenger train was called. I rarely shoot this angle because of all the background mess, but the sun was just too nice…

Passing the Ken Brunt Memorial Planter where many of the plants were salvaged from Ken’s railroad…

And across the washout…

And running through Indian Hill Junction…

A quick water stop at Pine Tank…

After running around the wye, the train is seen headed down-grade at Indian Hill Junction…

Approaching Coal Dump Curve…

And past the planter down-grade…

And finally crossing West Es-cop-e` Bridge abut to enter the indoor division…

[Rick_Marty]

Great pictures Jon, but what’s with all the light? Did you set up flood lights?
We have only seen the sun here about twice in the last month and a half.

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

Thanks Rick! It’s been gloomy here too for most of the winter. When the sun came out Saturday I knew I had to take advantage of it