[Gregg Laiben]

Thanks for all your hard work on these Bill – nice to have another accurate MoPac model in O scale. I have the E6 A&B units reserved and look forward to receiving them. I’ll pick up replacement P:48 wheelsets from Jay Criswell at the upcoming O Scale West show later this month.

..gregg

[Gregg Laiben]

That’s very cool looking, and in great shape. Can’t wait to see the published book!

..gregg

[Gregg Laiben]

Looking great – and a speedy build!

[Gregg Laiben]

Thanks for the recap – wish I could have made it, but we’re in the midst of moving and I’m tearing out the layout – maybe next year. Am REALLY looking forward to the M-I book!

[Gregg Laiben]

Just watched all your videos (and subscribed to the YT channel). Good composition and perspective with he camera – the low camera angle makes it feel very prototypical. Please keep ’em coming!

Any chance we could see a track plan of the layout? You’ve captured the feeling of Missouri very well with the tree covered bluffs.

Thanks …gregg

[Gregg Laiben]

Joe, how did your layout operations work wth an HO version of the LRL engine shop and ferry?

I’m seriously thinking of trying to model it in O scale, but will have to compress and take artistic liberty – a wye for turning even a short O scale train (using a self-imposed 60″ minimum radius) takes an enormous amount of space that I will not have. I may substitute a turntable if that wye was primarily used to turn an engine. I really want to do a shelf switching layout in a 19′ x 22′ room.

From an ops perspective, I can start to see primary moves:
Ferry moves coal, general freight and occasional psgr train from the Sparta sub in IL
Crushed limestone & general freight move from MO to IL
Since this ferry handled up to 200 cars per day, the boat had to use a lot of coal itself; but how was coal loaded into the boat’s coal bunkers – dumped on deck from hoppers to bunker(s) below deck??

Were M-I engines prepped here for head end power at a more southern yard?
After cars were pulled from the ferry, were they moved to Middle Yard or Sainte Gen, or were the trains made up here? Just doesn’t look to be enough trackage to make/break trains. I could envision moving them from LRL to a staging area.

…gregg

[Gregg Laiben]

Many thanks to Joe Pauley who supplied an excellent track diagram and image of idler car M-I #1600.

In my search for information on the car ferry at Little Rock Landing/Thomure/Ste Genevieve, I found a motherlode of images of the early (1903-1918) and later (1922-1961) car ferry boats (Set Genevieve 1 and 2) at https://dp.la/search?q=ste%20genevieve&page=1

…gregg

[Gregg Laiben]

Beautiful work and craftsmanship – congrats!

[Gregg Laiben]

What a pleasant surprise – just got back from a short vacation and your GP12 is all done. Looks great!

…gregg

[Gregg Laiben]

Looking good!

…gregg

[Gregg Laiben]

If Scott decides to do the E3’s, I’ll take an A&B set – I will drop him a note. Bill, any luck getting him to think about #7100 for the Delta Eagle?

..gregg

[Gregg Laiben]

I’m going to follow your build with interest. I have an O scale brass Key RS2 which I am converting to M-I #960.

…gregg

[Gregg Laiben]

Scott did a nice job on these – Bill, thank you for working with SSM to get the details right. Looking forward to the E6’s and E7’s.

…gregg

[Gregg Laiben]

Please make that two if there are any available. I purchased one of these in the 1970’s at the National Museum of Transport but lost it over the years.

…gregg

[Gregg Laiben]

Nose problem huh….I’m guessing they forgot the white circle on the buzzsaw, like on the E8.

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