Train sets!

First topic message reminder :

Thanks for the update Arthur

Hello everyone, got a bit of news regarding the railroad today! 
     As of 9:50 AM CDST on 9/18/2020, the PLRX has a new grain hopper. This car is former Cargill hopper 7505, and was delivered to the railroad yesterday. It and a cylindrical covered hopper are still stored in the railroad's equipment storage yard at New Roanoke for now, but will become a part of its "Grain Express" equipment pool at some point in the near future.


     Also, the 1st 60301 (which is also a cylindrical covered hopper) is going to be retired from service and moved to the town of Oakdale for use as a short-term storage building at this town's ADM grain elevator once track work on the railroad's Oakdale Branch has been completed (due to the results of a physical inspection, which revealed significant stress cracks in the car's frame). In addition to this, the railroad is currently looking to purchase another locomotive to provide power for a 2nd half of a Grain elevator switcher service at the above industry.

Please stay tuned for further updates as the Phoenix Line Railroad's story continues.

Thanks for the update Art.

Thanks for the update Art

Thanks for the update Arthur

I need to correct an error that I made in my original post.
The car that will be replaced is numbered 604301, and is the 1st car of its type. Interestingly, its replacement is also numbered 604301.

Thanks again for the update Arthur

Thanks for the Update Art

Hello everyone,
Once again there isn't much to report in terms of developments on the railroad as of 8:50 AM CDST, but the newest grain hopper (road number 7505, which was formerly owned by Cagrill and wears the reporting marks originally used by Pullman Leasing Company, but are now used by GE Capital Railcar Services) has been tested on the Phoenix Line's tracks recently. The test proved to be a complete success, but the car has yet to become a part of the equipment pool used by railroad's Grain Express service. Also, the loading of grain and malt barley at Rustyville's Cargill grain elevator and the transport of these commodities from this industry has resumed but its unknown if this will last.

Unfortunately, work on the Oakdale Branch and the plan to make modifications to the coupler gearboxes of the former CP Rail work service cars remain stalled due to other priorities but the prospect of these being completed remains high.

Please stay tuned for further updates as the Phoenix Line Railroad's story continues.

Hello again everyone,

Don't have a lot to say here on account of the fact that there still isn't a lot going on with the railroad at present (as of 9:15 AM CDST on 9/25/2020), but loading of grain and malt barley at Rustyville's Cargill grain elevator as well as transport of this bulk products from this industry continues to take place for the time being. There also has been some talk of renaming the branch line after the moderately-sized town of Arlee, but such remains uncertain for now.

Please stay tuned for further updates as the Phoenix Line Railroad's story continues.

thanks for the Update art

Thanks for the update Arthur

Hello all,

Nothing of major importance to report here (as of 6:45 PM CDST on 9/28/2020) but all is not lost as the railroad's "Elevator Switcher" service as well as a heavily condensed version of its "Grain Express" service are still active.

Hello again everyone,

Once again there isn't a lot of information relating to the Phoenix Line Railroad available at present, but the "Grain Elevator Switcher" service remains in operation as of 10:05 AM CDST on 10/3/2020. I should also mention that the railroad's "Local Freight" service has received a bit of a modification recently. The length of this train was originally stated to average 15 to 30 cars.

This has been reduced to between 15 and 25 cars however, due to weight issues and a shortage of locomotive power. This shortage (as well as a major financial crisis) has also forced the railroad to use several of its available units in at least two roles on many occasions.

Please stay tuned for further updates as the PLRX's story continues.

Thanks for the update Arthur

Thanks for the update art

Hello again everyone,
Sadly there still isn't a lot to report in terms of new developments on the PLRX (as of 1:40 PM CDST on 10/6/2020), but I can say that its "Local Freight" has made some runs over the mainline tracks recently (while powered by former CP Rail EMD SD40-2's 6057 and 5415). There has been some debate about the PLRX's pair of former CN Rail EMD SD40-2's (5937 & 5243) taking a turn at doing this work as well, but no action has actually been taken as of yet. As usual loading of grain and malt barley at Rustyville's Cargill grain elevator and its transport from this industry continues. 

Please stay tuned for further updates as the Phoenix Line Railroad's story continues.

Hello everyone.
There still isn't a lot of stuff going on with the railroad as of late but operations have come to a standstill due to an issue with one of its mainline tracks just outside of Stackville. The railroad's repair crew is working to fix this problem but the work is taking longer than expected. Interestingly, former CN Rail locomotive 5243 was originally built as a wide-cab unit (SD40-2W) but was given a standard SD40-2 cab and nose during the repair process that it received after being damaged in a rockslide. 

Please stay tuned for further updates as the Phoenix Line Railroad's story continues.

Thanks for the update Arthur

Thanks for the Update art

Hello everyone,

The mainline track issue just outside of Stackville has now been fixed but another electrical issue on the wye track of the railroad's main freight yard in Hillside was quick to make an appearance. This has also been fixed now though. so there are no other issues as of 9:15 PM CDST on 10/12/2020. I've also learned that the Phoenix Line Railroad has managed to acquire a former Milwaukee Road covered hopper recently, but is still in negotiations for getting it delivered. 

This gives the PLRX's "Grain Express" service 57 cars to work with but only adds one car to its combined train (as the plan to retire one of its cylindrical covered hoppers from regular service remains in place). Also, the addition of this car will make one of the separate trains 29 cars long. Unfortunately I do not know the road number and length of this new hopper as yet but I will do what I can to collect this information and get it to you as soon as possible.

Please stay tuned for further updates as the Phoenix Line Railroad's story continues.

Thanks for the Update art

Thanks for the update Arthur

Hello everyone!

Unfortunately there still isn't a lot going on with the railroad at present due to a personal injury on my part and all of the virus-related BS in the world at present (as of 9:15 AM CDST on 10?19/2020), but former CP Rail SD40-2 6057 has been undergoing some testing in Stackville's intermodal yard. These tests. which had the aforementioned unit pulling some heavy well cars, have proven to be a success but there are no plans to assign the 6057 to this yard. Former CN Rail SD40-2 5937 also has yet to make an appearance on the tracks but such could happen at any time in the very near future.

Hello everyone, got some railroad-related information to share with you (as of 8:05PM CDST on 10/21/2020). According to my sources, the road number of the former Milwaukee Road covered hopper that the Phoenix Line has purchased is yellow and has the road number 97802. This car has not been delivered to the PLRX yet, but such will be completed by the end of 2020.
  
Please stay tuned for further updates as the Phoenix Line Railroad's story continues.

Hello again everyone!
As usual there isn't all that much going on with the PLRX (as of 11:55 AM CDST on 10/26/2020), but its Phoenix Flyer passenger service has made a run over the tracks and spent a few minutes in Stackville as well as Hillside recently. More recently, the former CN Rail 5937 has made its long-awaited appearance on the PLRX's track. Such was only a test though, and there is no guarantee that such will be a regular event.    

The railroad plans to test all of its locomotives in the next 2 or so months, as several of them have been sitting in storage for far too long. I will also mention that the loading of grain and malt barley at Rustyville's Cargill grain elevator as well as its transport from this industry goes on. 

Please stay tuned for further updates as the Phoenix Line Railroad's story continues.