Tolga's Railroad Repository

It's not uncommon for a quality Trainz route to take years to produce. Without a doubt, my South Florida Mega Route falls under that category. I have actually had the route going for four years, but only got a few key locations on the Florida East Coast (FEC) mainline mapped thus far. With the time considered, it is convenient to follow the new Brightline/All Aboard Florida track charts... and that is what I've done. The documents are available for public viewing as part as the federally governed Environmental Impact Study that was done. While they may change as track construction progresses, they have been pretty accurate thus far. Note: signal will likely be redesigned soon. Also done is the scenery for NE 2nd Ave, which is at the point where the port lead branches off from the mainline. The line to the left goes off towards Jacksonville, and the line to the right wyes down to the Port Lead. The manifest yard job nicknamed  the "Downtown Job" als...

So, FEC offers an interesting curveball by way of their use of the Norfolk Southern Geometry Train consist. When they need that research done on their main lines, they usually borrow the stock research equipment that NS has to offer, plus usually one engine, which in the past has been a 4-axle NS motor, namely GP38-2 #5647 in most cases. Except, this time, which happened just this week, the NS power that came down to Miami was two 6-axle EMD motors, SD70M-2 #2663 and SD40-2 #3279. Whereas I normally skip the Geometry Train, this one was a must have.

Holy cow, has it really been a year and a half since I last touched this blog? Time flies! I am happy to announce my triumphant return to the blogosphere. I feel this that this has always been the perfect forum to communicate my thoughts and the state of the railfanning and model railroading hobby, as I see fit. And lots more is to come as I continue to rebuild my network here and on my YouTube channel. I have done a lot of experimenting on Blogger over the years - separate Trainz and Model Train blogs, LEGO blogs, etc... but it is only appropriate that I return with a keen focus on ONE blog, and rightfully, I will choose the blog that is URLed to my online screen name, brickbuilder711. Personally, I've experienced a few changes since my last blog entry here, December 2014: New camcorder, new railroading interests, and a return to HO scale model railroading. I am back on the Trainz Simulator grind producing a renewed South Florida route and will be sharing lots of progress ...