Caboose Junction JUL 2015: August 2015

FEC109 Jul 31, 2015

810,820 with empty hoppers, freight and tankers.
EoT past MP236 at 8:51am.

FEC109 Jul 31, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/WDl9UEfF1Eg

FEC920 Jul 31, 2015

433 with all 22 loads meeting FEC109 at Gifford and then to work at MP188.
EoT past MP236 at 7:50am.

FEC920 Jul 31, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/wzPAXQsSfn4

FEC210 Jul 31, 2015

813,811 with all IM meeting FEC109 at Micco and FEC920 just minutes behind.
EoT past MP236 at 7:37am.

FEC210 Jul 31, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/bGvcRTlwmW0

101 by mp236 at 7:37 with 813 & 811. Tony and Tommy waving away to my sparklers. All IM, with a bill board that we have not seen in a long time (Our Most Valuable Resource Sits Here & pointing directly at Tommy), two short shirt tanks in two wells(TriFleet sp?), Interstates, UPS and Raven's.
Anita and Caboose

FEC101 Jul 30, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/14Ow7Rh6ydM

FEC202 Jul 30, 2015

ECH and Jim with 809,821 on the afternoon train in a downpour. Shot from the cover of my front door.
EoT past MP236 at 4:39PM.

FEC202 Jul 30, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/OIsokwdom0I

FEC920 Jul 30, 2015

435 with a three man crew leads 7 empties toward Gifford after working south to Port Sewell. EoT past MP236 at 11:27am.

FEC920 Jul 30, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/B0Q9PhXoMxM

FEC210 Jul 30, 2015

814,819 with IM and 26 racks. EoT past MP236 at 8:07am.

FEC210 Jul 30, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/VJFYpTsdN2I

FEC222 Jul 29, 2015

FEC107 Jul 29, 2015

FEC212 Jul 29, 2015

823 with those four dumpers, sugar and WalMarts past MP236 at 8:42PM. Tim's FEC222 will have to pick up the Trops if there are any going out.
cabooseMikey.

FEC101 Jul 29, 2015

ECH and Jim on 814,819 with pigs, stacks and double stacks. EoT past MP236 at 6:42PM.

FEC101 Jul 29, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/KNgg6OR1sZk

FEC202 Jul 29, 2015

804,818 with rock, IM, 1 rack, 10 freight cars. EoT past MP236 at 4:28PM.

FEC202 Jul 29, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/z2xnruuXAOc

FEC920 Jul 29, 2015

432 with 4 ballast dumpers and 41 loads. EoT past MP236 at 8:03am.

FEC920 Jul 29, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/FA7k1radUWg

FEC101 Jul 28, 2015

101 by mp236 at 6:57 with 803 & 802 and Tommy and Tony. Racks up front led by P & W for Noel, a very long string of IM, with a C.R. England, Xines, Werner IM refrigeration, 3 Tiger Cool Express in wells, UPS, couple of Interstate and one hidden Crowley.
Anita and Caboose

FEC101 Jul 28, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/3sy_x-JL0uI

FEC202 Jul 28, 2015

202 by mp236 at 4:46 with 814 & 819. By Jove, we almost missed our train! I heard the faint horn from the south, yelled to Caboose and we just made it off the porch but not down the hill. I did an ECH impersonation flapping my arms skyward and we were given a quiet toot and wave from ECH and Billy M. Thanks fellas. A very long string of rock, small amount of IM, looong string of racks with the newbie Ferromex and miss mash of freight. Hope we do better for Tony and Tommy on 101.
Anita and Caboose

FEC202 Jul 28, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/lyqgNj4UVho

FEC920 Jul 28, 2015

920 by mp236 at 1:39 with 433, a dumper, couple of tanks and short string of rock heading north to Gifford. Hope I got it correct as they snuck up on us while working in the kitchen.
Anita caboose

FEC210 Jul 28, 2015

820,810 with the IM. EoT past mp236 at 7:49am.

FEC210 Jul 28, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/Nqx0lvj_mxA

FEC212 Jul 27, 2015

813,432LHF with the FO stuff, 15 Trops and the WalMarts. EoT past mp236 at 8:51PM.

FEC202 Jul 27, 2015

803,802 with the FO pick-up and some racks. EoT past mp236 at 7:21PM.

FEC202 Jul 27, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/qSB-rMyE3ss

FEC101 Jul 27, 2015

820,810 with the hot train. EoT past mp236 at 6:36PM.

FEC101 Jul 27, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/qLu5WprjhsY

FEC920 Jul 27, 2015

432LHF with one material gon for the Sebastian Team and 26 loads. EoT past mp236 at 8:56am.

FEC920 Jul 27, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/pPG01yUoqyc

FEC101 Jul 26, 2015

EoT past MP236 at 8:45PM

FEC101 Jul 26, 2015
http://youtu.be/WPByJS1Kse8

FEC212 Jul 26, 2015

EoT past MP236 at 7:21PM.

FEC212 Jul 26, 2015
http://youtu.be/Y4QbUCIsJZA

TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS 2015

TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS 2015 PART 5
The fecNtrak set up is completed and those nifty little trains are running! The finishing details are being done for tomorrow's TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS event and we'll be ready.

TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS 2015 PART 5 vid link:
http://youtu.be/4B_RJvfKqDE

TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS 2015 PART 4
fecNtrak set-up late on Friday morning.

TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS 2015 PART 4 vid link:
http://youtu.be/pet0jN3JAqM

TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS 2015 PART 3
More of fecNtrak set-up.
TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS 2015 PART 3 vid link:
http://youtu.be/DFeINdAY1gY

TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS 2015 PART 2
fecNtrak set-up continues.
TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS 2015 PART 2 vid link:
http://youtu.be/qQKHqEnNJwc

TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS 2015 PART 1
The fecNtrak gang has been busy already this morning as you can see in this vid. The modules are unpacked and being set up. The railroad will be ready soon.
Another vid in a few minutes.

TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS 2015 PART 1 vid link:
http://youtu.be/OOi6xoYWq00

FEC101 Jul 24, 2015

101 by mp236 at 8:04 with 803 & 802. Mark waving to us on this very humid, rain filled evening and all IM with some racks and the newbie Ferromex.
Anita and Caboose

FEC101 Jul 24, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/R953mC7bos8

FEC109 Jul 24, 2015

109 by mp236 at 10:25. I heard the rumbling, then the horn blowing, but by the time I got to dining room window the engines were a flash meaning no numbers. By all accounts this was a tank train. Think there was a few racks. Caboose in Cocoa library setting up for Trains, Trains event tomorrow.
Anita caboose

FEC101 Jul 23, 2015

101 by mp236 at 7:49 with 810 & 820. BeBops to my sparklers on this damp, warm and rainy evening. All IM with a brand new Werner IM, a Tiger Cool Express and UPS.
Anita and Caboose

FEC101 Jul 23, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/6TWPKmZyNZ8

FEC202 Jul 23, 2015

Waving from the train in the rain on 803,802 with rock, IM, 15 racks, freight. EoT past MP236 at 4:59PM.

FEC202 Jul 23, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/fnfgGeay6GU

FEC210 Jul 23, 2015

210 by mp236 at 9:02 with 809 & 813. An Ashley and Interstate paired again, triple double stacks of Tiger Cool Express and two dozen racks on the bottom with the newbie Ferromex.
Anita and Caboose

FEC101 Jul 22, 2015

101 by mp236 at 7:24 with 809 & 813. Jim toots and ECH waving white from the tread to my sparklers. All IM with one Evergreen and two Ashley's sandwiched between two Interstate's. Rain let up here to catch them but not looking good south.
Anita and Caboose

FEC101 Jul 22, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/mIcD18AODgY

FEC109 Jul 22, 2015

808,427 with a few empty hoppers and a mile of tanks. EoT past MP236 at 10:28am.

FEC109 Jul 22, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/n-VvO77p0JU

FEC210 Jul 22, 2015

Late running FEC210 with 823,818 and IM , 10 racks. EoT past MP236 at 9:53am.

FEC210 Jul 22, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/bRYVMTiEKxw

FEC920 Jul 22, 2015

429LHF taking 44 loads to work. EoT past MP236 at 7:53am.

FEC920 Jul 22, 2015 vid link:
http://youtu.be/89S7LJJZNRU

Trains,Trains,Trains 2015

For the 9th consecutive year on the fourth Saturday of July, Florida East Coast Railway Society’s FECNTRAK group displayed their modeling prowess and train operation skills by setting up their operating model of the Florida East Coast Railway at the Brevard County Regional Library in Cocoa, FL.
The layout faithfully reproduces in modular form many segments of the real-life 351-mile long FEC Railway in 150 linear feet of N-gauge track. Locations such as Hialeah Yard, Medley, a working drawbridge at Jupiter, the industrial area at Bonaventure, the rock yard at City Point, and many others along the line are easily recognized by those familiar with real-life FEC territory.
Friday July 24th was spent hauling in all the modules and setting up the layout. The Trains,Trains,Trains event itself occurred on Saturday the 25th from 10AM to 3:30PM, open to the public for a really good price (FREE!). A narrated morning operating session realistically reproduced many actual FEC Railway train movements. During the noon break, in an adjacent room, collector and model train expert Jerry Groothouse presented a well-attended talk on steam trains. He and Richard Benjamin also had a lot of FEC and other railroad memorabilia on display. Jeff and Jacob Smith were right there to help with those beautiful display cases. Gerald Capen assisted and donned a FEC conductor uniform to help entertain the crowd. Congrats to our newest conductor, Gerald.
Representatives Ali Soule and Trent from All Aboard Florida enjoyed running the trains and earning Jr Engineer Cards. They were on hand in the layout room with souvenirs and to discuss All Aboard’s plans and progress for the Miami-Orlando high speed passenger rail system. All Aboard is targeting April 2017 as the startup date for service over the Miami-West Palm Beach segment.
Dave and Ruth Kolodgie joined us and Dave demonstrated a working telegraph sounder for our audience. Tom and Mary Facey representing TRF Hobbies deomstrated the latest N scale electronic products.
Conductor Caboose Mikey Starck provided running commentary over the PA system for the crowd about FEC train operations during the morning operating session. Never at a loss for words, during the afternoon session, he and Conductor Del Kittendorf also coordinated the junior engineers by calling out signup numbers and assigning them to their FECNTRAK engineer instructors, who showed them the controls and then supervised their train running session over the layout. Throughout the entire event Caboose roamed the layout with wireless microphone in hand describing train operations and coordinating junior engineers for everyone to hear over the room PA system. Maybe we should change his nickname from Caboose Mikey to Wireless Mikey.
This year’s Trains,Trains,Trains event was the best-attended ever. A line waiting for the layout to re-open after the lunch hour at 1pm snaked all the way from the layout room to the library checkout desk. Junior engineers earning their train running cards totaled 127 this year, the most engineers in the history of the event!
It is gratifying to kind of stand to one side and watch the reactions of the little ones to the trains and the layout. There seems to be three kinds of junior engineers: the eager ones, who can’t wait to run, the shy ones, who aren’t really sure what to do, but they just want to run the train, and the wide-eyed ones, seemingly mesmerized by it all. Some of them could care less if Mom or Dad stays around, but there are always a few who don’t want Mom or Dad too far away either. Some junior engineers come back for more. After their operating session, they go back to stand in line, with varying degrees of patience, to sign up for another one.
One Dad mentioned that his 8 year old son didn’t want to come, even asked Dad to get a babysitter so he could stay home. But Dad forced the issue. His son came anyway, and he ran a train. Guess what! He was one of the kids who went back to stand in line for another operating session.
Just for kids you might say. Oh not at all. The adults enjoy the trains just as much as the little ones. After all what are adults, but just grown up kids. Trains appeal to all ages, and we might add, both genders. Quite a few young ladies became Junior Engineers. One hope of the FECRS is that a goodly number of the little ones will catch the train “fever” and become railfans. And maybe, just maybe, as a result, some of them while growing up, will spend less time on videogames and more time building models or watching trains.
Congratulations and a big thank you to Tom Chaffee, Gregg Stoll, Tom Loshe, Bob Arceneaux, Austin Strenecky, Joe Strenecky, Caboose Mikey and Mrs. Caboose, Del Kittendorf, Cece and Keegan Ford, Richard Clemons, President Jim Kovalsky, Bob Lowry and everyone else who once again worked so hard to make Trains Train Trains a successful event. Always a pleasure to see FECRS members Bob Scidmore, Bill Ritter, Richard Burns, Richard and Dorothy Hansen and Dave Didas.
The FECRS wishes to thank the Central Brevard Regional Library and Reference Center and Head Librarian Jan Erickson for once again hosting TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS and making the Society welcome. Wow! Nine years now.
And the ladies at the gift shop auctioned a beautiful signed/numbered print of Southern Locomotive 1401 for us train fans right at closing time.
And come on Tom Loshe, when are you going to leverage your great work on the Jupiter drawbridge into a working model of the Strauss Trunnion bascule drawbridge across the St. Johns River in Jacksonville? Now there is a modeler’s challenge.
By Bob Lowry with cabooseMikey.

TRAINS,TRAINS,TRAINS2015