| Welcome to the CSX North Beach Division. My layout
simulates a point between Baltimore Maryland Yard and Baldwin Florida.
Approximant 15 trains a day cross our division bond for the destination in the south and north. Located in North Beach is the North Beach Electric coal fired plant. This plant needs 4-5 unit coal trains a day to keep the boiler burning. It gets supplied by our division. Our trains get loaded at the speed loader at the Elizabeth mining company and brought down the mountain to the electric plant where they are off loaded at the rotary dump. Also high balling through the division is intermodal trains along with trailer trains and a lot of mix freight. We are also host to the Tropicana orange juice trains. They do a crew exchange at the station to continue on its journey to Baldwin south or north through the Baltimore yard to New Jersey and finally to New York. We also have the Amtrak Frontier which comes up from Florida to New York stopping at the station to pick up and drop off passengers. We also have Marc trains the Maryland commuter service stop at the station. The CSX division yard is a 15 Car flat classification with a round house for minor repair and 90 check up for our locomotives. Our division is also used for switching out power on some trains also crews. We also have a modern covered fuel depot to refill the locomotives. The amount of snow this area gets allows our employees to fill the locomotives out of the weather. There is also a car shop for switching out wheel sets when needed. that gets a lot of work with the coal hoppers. The North Beach Train Museum has a steam train excursion which operates on weekends to take passengers up in the mountains on a four hour train ride. Our division is very active with all the train traffic. |
| Picture one shows the Traveling Boxcar arriving at the Baltimore yard. The car was put in the consist coming in from Chicago. It was placed on CSXT Q716 Chicago to Baltimore with lead engine ex Conrail sd60 #550. We can see the MI-Jack translift working in the yard picking up containers off the intermodal train which came up from Baldwin. CSXT business train sits on the yard train awaiting departure later this morning. Amtrak motor power is being service to be ready for the Amtrak frontier run.. After switch out in the yard the traveling box car was put on CSXT Q222 Baltimore to Richmond Virginia with lead power now two cw44-9 lead engine number 608. |
| Picture two: We have now gone through the mountains and about to enter the CSXT North Beach Division. As we undertake the horseshoe curve going down the mountain we are placed on track 2 while the Tropicana Orange Juice Train is on track one. In the back round we can see the coal speed loader in operation filling the coal hoppers at Elizabeth Mining Corporation. A major accident has occurred after a police case starting with a carjacking in another city. Two suspect where injured when they crash into another vehicle driven by a teenage girl. The fire department working with the hydraulic rescue tools to cut her out of the wreckage. The city police arrested the two suspects and the third one got away but was later captured by the city k9 officers hiding in the woods. |
| Picture three: Q222 now gets new power and a new crew to continue its journey south. We wait on track two at the North Beach train station. Amtrak frontier is loading and unloads passengers at the station. We have to wait until they leave so new power is able to come out of the yard. So we have time to look around. The coal rotary at the North Beach Electric coal fired plant is empty loaded coal hoppers. On the right the white building is the covered modern fuel depot. Not in the picture but right in front of the Amtrak locomotive is the NB round house. We do small repairs and 90 day maintenance there. Well finally we got our power. We are now CSXT Q439 lead power is now 4 sd40 -2 lead engine number 1542 for our next part of the trip south. |
| Picture four: Our journey now passes the CSX Hazardous Materials Training Center. The city fire department hazardous materials team is drilling on a pressure tank car. They are doing the drill with level a chemical protective gear. The Tropicana Juice Train passes us on the inbound track. A small derailment happened in the yard and the crane and the hustlers (red in for ground) and trying to get the cars back on the rails. Pushers have been added to be consist to help us get the train up the steep grade. |
| Picture five: We made the grade and come out of tunnel number two. The upper tracks swings around and goes udder itself. As we cross the trestle we can see the Maryland State Police helicopter on approach to land to take out a trauma victim to the Washington Hospital Trauma Center. The victim was struck while changing a flat tire on route 32. Fire department is in place to make sure the area is safe for landing. |
| Picture six: Slow orders given to us as we pass a large fire going on in the city. The fire is in the six stories Brunswick Office Tower. The fire started on the fourth floor and has extended up to the fifth and sixth floors. At least 100 firefighter are now on the scene trying to control the blaze. Heavy master stream are flowing from numerous ladder and tower apparatus. The new BP gas station on the right just opened. It’s now loosening business because customer can’t get in for fuel. Boy look at the price for gas on their sign “350” a gallon is that a sign of the future. |
| Picture seven: We are now in the state of Florida. Our consist has changed many times to get here. The Perryville Yard is located just outside Baldwin. Our main power will break off and the yard engines from the Baldwin yard will push us back into the yard. In the back round heavy construction is being done after the railroad overpasses where built to allow higher main line track speed. They were down to 20 miles an hour before because of the three track railroad crossing. There goes another Tropicana Juice Train north. |
| Picture eight: The yard engines CSXT 4249 push us back in the yard. Here we will be broke up and put on the CSX Business train to go to the Orlando Train fest able for the week. Welcome to Baldwin Yard always think safety. |
| Picture nine: The week is over and back on the rails. This time we are in the consist of CSXT Q145. Our lead engine is borrowing power from Canadian Pacific Railroad 9108. As we enter the lower leg of the horse shoe curve we pass ex Conrail 4200 coming out of Elizabeth mine heading for North Beach Electric Plant. On the other side of the curve we can see helper engine CSXT 9119 waiting to help another train down the mountain. |
| Picture ten: The switching is complete in the Baltimore Yard and now we are on a train heading west. CSXT Q623 a mixed freight will be taking us back out to our next designation on the list. Our lead power is a new SD70 loaded to CSX by Union Pacific engine number 1982. |
| The layout: CSX North Beach Division is a 44’ x 17” O GAUGE TRAIN LAYOUT. It has two levels on it. The trains climb a 3.5 steed grade to get to the upper portion. The horse shoe curve part allows us to get from the lower portion of the layout to the upper part. There is four yard on it for yard operations. I run Lionel.MTH, and Atlas o command control locomotives with cab 1 and legacy and MTH controls. The layout was designed so five people and a dispatcher could operate on it. The dispatcher controls are computer operated which sits under the horse shoe curve. |
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Thank you again Francis Bauer |