Tolga's Railroad Repository

  CSX Y22022 took an unusual tour down the CSX Downtown Spur, which is usually reserved for red eye yard jobs such as Y322 or Y350. Ever since I started aggressively chasing trains on the CSX Downtown Spur at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been good not to see the line, a barometer for the for-better-or-for-worse evolution of the rail industry, to lose any business, much like its sister lead, CSX's East Rail.  Unfortunately Cliff Berry has been inactive at best, with three tankers on site collecting rust on the wheels and the usual litter on the lead growing to the point that heavy equipment may need to clear that if and when they get a switch. There are four very active customers still comfortably receiving freight cars, FP&T, Miami Iron and Metal, Family and Son, and Sun Gas. Two of those customers would be getting loads on the early evening of Sunday May 22, 2022.  My flight to Norfolk had been delayed nearly two hours, so I kept having an ear out for y...

Just like the old days, a heavy duty CSX rock train with big six axle power comes off the Homestead Sub, passing the Hialeah Market Tri-Rail Station. After documenting mostly YN3(b) power lately, it was nice to find a YN2-painted original CW44AC on the point. Take away the sliver of Metrorail extension, and the YN3s, and this would be little different than a vantage from the new millennium, the heart of the Anything and Everything era. This is the mainline portion of the inspiration for Lance Mindheim's layouts, and I can never get enough of documenting trains in the Hialeah area despite it being my backyard for all intents and purposes. I have a couple treats for the area coming soon so as 99 Jamz would say, "Keep it locked!" CSX O92109 w/ 19, 5305, 476 hustles by Tri-Rail's Hialeah Market station northward to Hialeah Yard.

 A lot of excitement came when Atlas announced Trinity 3230 covered hoppers, which appear often in trains in Florida hauling cement. Titan America has a fleet of these with cars at various ages- whether built 2 or 20 years ago, you'll find it here. The latest ones that FEC received within the past 18 months became insanely easy to model, using stickered reporting marks and little more than standard railcar fonts.  As such, the more recent run was the focus with the Atlas 3230s. Part of this is easiness, the rest is longevity. These will likely last longer with the railroad making the cars more usable in present day model railroading. The process of decaling was tedious, but achieved with various sheets sold by Smokebox Graphics and one sheet by Switchline. The Futura condensed bold is extremely limited in black text, so be careful choosing cars to do with those graphics. The Atlas cars come with painted on safety stripes, but I decided to up it one level with the reflective st...

Here's a retroactive show report; a small one but with remarkable implications. That's what the Takeaways series is all about. The Greater Florida LEGO Users Group was at the Plant City Train Show on October 16, 2021. Organized as part of the NMRA Sunshine Region Convention, it was a nice way of easing in back to public train displays amid the already passed exhibits at Tampa Bay Comic Con and Orlando MegaCon. The layout received contributions from David G, Chuck I, Todd T, and myself. Here are my takeaways from displaying: We were the only layout at the show! The entire show floor was dominated by vendors selling trains. The market reach in the morning was members of the NMRA Sunshine Region, including folks from the local South Florida Railway Museum, and enthusiasts among the general public. David and I were able to make this happen partly on this basis having worked with folks at the SSR. We got a nice centralized spot near the stage of the Trinkle Center and offered the ...

 The Greater Florida LEGO Users Group had a train show display at Bradenton, FL. While the club members did a multifaceted display at both MegaCon and Tampa Bay Comic Con, it has been a while since the club displayed a full train display at a two day event, perhaps before the COVID-19 pandemic for a display this size or larger. We did the one day Plant City NMRA SSR show, and I will cover takeaways from that soon, but RealRail is among the larger shows and this one did not disappoint. Without further ado, here's Tolga's Takeaways: Three's a Crowd -- logistics of transporting high rises Since May 2018 I made the decision to build Midtown Miami highrises in LEGO bricks to model an attainable Florida scene, as the buildings look cool and line the FEC/Brightline mainline (the Port Lead). Unlike the downtown skyline the buildings are at about 350-400 feet in height in Midtown and are easy to model and transport in this hobby. 2 Midtown and Hyde Midtown were finished in 2019, and...

It's been four years since I used this platform. The rails are rusty on my blogosphere, but I feel that it is time to put some shine and share my perspectives in the model railroading, railfanning, aviation, and LEGO hobbies.  A lot has changed. I have taken up model railroading more seriously than in the past. My railfanning has expanded greatly. The recent pandemic has encouraged me to go out and document local railroading with a vengeance, like never before. With that, there are certain aspects picked up that will be reflected through an in-progress model train layout and shared on this outlet. Sit back and enjoy. There is certainly more to come.

I have decided in recent years to go with a layout of the FEC in South Florida. A fun railroad, FEC is probably, at the moment the most challenging too. For starters, accurate rock equipment is ridiculously hard to come by. You can't find correct 'penguins' anywhere except for a skilfully done set of hoppers by a modeler from South Carolina.  Nobody has as of yet made correct FEC containers, but I am about to try to help the suppliers with that and save them the trouble of doing field research. There are also a shortage of the 45' flatbed CYPZ trailers, but I think someone made something similar that all it takes is a kitbash.  There is a craving for UPS containers being answered by Athearn, so one past hurdle will be resolved soon. But someone needs to step in and mass produce UMAX containers - I only have one set (correct and with placards, from Athearn) and those are quite abundant IRL. But there are elements of the FEC that come across surprisingly e...