My first layout plans and a few pics of my loco fleet

I'm planning on starting up my first layout soon. This will be my first time doing a complete layout, I have done a few small display cases and have done some weathering to my rolling stock and a couple engine.

My plan is to model the EJ&E (Elgin, Joliet, & Eastern RR) in freelance. I'm going model after some part of the real J but I'd like to add my own twist to it. It's going to be present day, no CN merger in sight, and the J has extended itself into a few more of the towns in rural NW Indiana, mainly Valparaiso, Kouts, Hobart, and LaCrosse. And Possibly a line in the future going towards Michigan City or Plymouth. The Background is that the J bought up the CF&E and some old right of ways in the area to service different industries like the local Co-ops, seed mills, power plants, and factories. Even been thinking of adding some new power to the J roster of SD38's, maybe a couple SD40-2's or SD45's painted in J livery. There might even be some foreign power being used by the J. I've been planning for a longtime and this idea has been in the works for a few months, I'm thinking of making up alot of the cars and painting the engines over the next couple months and in the spring start building the actual layout. I need to get a design software to make my plans up but I do plan on making this layout to be most of the room in the basement.

I'd like to start the layout in Joliet IL and then continue it east to Griffith, Gary, and then to Hobart, Valparaiso, Kouts, and Lacrosse.

Got a couple pictures of the first few engines in my roster:

 

Welcome!

Great looking equipment. Can't wait to see a track plan and follow along!

 

Welcome at TrainBoard, SD38-2.

Nice pictures and paint scheme.

Wolfgang

 

Welcome to TrainBoard! :thumbs_up: I always like the SD38-2 in any paint scheme. I don't know why; just the proportions or something. It was my first real kitbash where I hacked up a Kato locomotive.

 

Thanks, I'm glad I joined this site. Seems to be alot of good info here and good people.

I'll be moving into a new house soon and want to make the layout in the basement of it. So not much work will go one yet, just weathering cars and engines, some track planning, and gathering of materials I'll need. I'll be sure to take pictures and update from time to time. Need to get a few more sd38's for the road, a few high hood sd9's for yard power, and a couple sd40s or 45's for the larger road power. Might do a couple sw1200's for local industial jobs.

Flash Blackman, I'll agree with you, the SD38 looks great in any paint. It is my favorite engine, next in line are any high hood Geeps or SD's, then third is the SD45 with the flared radiators.

 

Well I had a productive day. I had some time to weather two of my J locomotives. I weathered the 650 pretty heavy as it's older and hasn't been overhauled yet. I then did the 703 tonight, I gave it a dullcote and a little weathering with some chalks, nothing too heavy on this one. I might leave the 655 pretty clean maybe to represent a recent rebuild. I'll take some pictures in the next couple days of my work. Also did a little planning for my layout on my note pad today, got a few ideas on paper.

 

Cool

Good lookin' start. :thumbs_up:

 

Hey thanks for posting the pics. Nice looking fleet.

 

Sounds like fun!
Always liked the J.
Hope to see more as it devolopes...

 

Thanks, I have a few more pics but I haven't had the time to load them up yet. This will be a work in progress for a while. I probably won't have the actual layout started till I buy a house, but like i said I will have cars and locos being built before hand.

 

Good looking fleet.
What part of Indiana? Reason I ask, opeartions on this EJ&E layout are a real blast. Starting on page nine, about the third picture with the dispatcher panels.

http://www.trainweb.org/wmrc/layouttouroct25/layouttouroct25.html

You should get up to the Detroit area sometime to check it out.

 

I will be doing NW Indiana. Some will be in Lake County where the real J runs then the freelance part will run though Porter and Laporte Counties.

 

Built a couple cars for my future layout. I have 4 EJ&E2 Bay 70 ton hoppers. 3 of them were kits I built one was Ready 2 Run from the box. Whats a good weathering idea for them? They will be used as grain cars. Should I just make them look rusty and dirty? or is there anything specific I could do to them? I'll try to get a few pics of them later, I don't have the camera right now.

 

Another update...

I recently purchased a High Hood SD45 ready to run from Athearn. Got it undecorated so I could paint it up in EJ&E livery. The J never owned a High Hood SD45, but they had SD9's and SD18's. As part of my future layout I wanted to keep a few high hoods on the roster, and since it is part like the prototype and part freelanced, I picked to add some larger power to run with the SD38's the J normally ran.

I got the model built tonight as far as I could before I needed to paint it. I built the locomotive up to run long hood forward like how the Southern use too. I put the bell off the end of the long hood, fixed a plow to the long hood end, and when my Microscale EJ&E decal sets come in the mail I'll put the "F" on the Long hood end.

The Athearn undecorated Ready to Run kits come mostly apart and have alot of additional parts with them to customize the model. I was impressed with it. i'm going to paint it tomorrow and when ever the decal sets come in I'll finish it. I'm going to take some pictures of it now not complete and some of it painted and lettered. Not going to weather this one much because I want it to resemble a fresh rebuild or repaint.

 

I checked out the website you listed. I really like the J portion of it, it gave me some ideas for mine. I'd like to get up to see it sometime in the future when i rally start planning my layout.

 

Nice looking roster of power!

 

The good old EJ&E...As a kid I would ride my bike over to Lake Zurich to see the trains wait in the siding off near Rt22 and Rt12. I still have some old pics of the 600 series engines from 15 years ago. Its a great railway but to bad it was just bought out by CN. They will likely just get rid of all the engines or paint them into CN colors. all they wanted them for was the outter belt around Chicagoland. Joliet has some nice places to catch the J. My dad moved down there and I would always try to get down ner the river to see them.

 

Thanks, I'll have some more pics of my power a soon as i get time to take them.

Yeah the J was a great railroad. I worked for the J for a few yrs and had the opprotunity to work on the SD38's, SD9's, and the SW1200's. It's very sad know what the CN is going to do to most of the fleet that they are getting. i would imagine most will see the torch or be sold off. My favorite engines on the roster were 616 ( the only High Hood the J operated), 703 ( the only Geep 38), and the 650 ( had the job of rebuilding it).

 

Got a pic of my newest edition. I plan on having a couple SD45 High hoods in my roster. I have the first one done, it's number 925. SD45 #925 is not a real EJ&E locomotive. It's part of my freelanced EJ&E model railroad. Sorry for the bad quality of my camera.