Black Friday FL220 Arrives

Ex-NSW 422 loco FL220 has been spotted in Philden Street Yard, Melbourne.

There's a new arrival that has been spotted in Philden Street Yard following the 2021 Black Friday Sales! CFCLA's FL220 was seen on the dual gauge line only minutes after the Postman had knocked on the door. What you don't see in the photo is that my latest Auscision Models addition is also DCC sound equipped. Unfortunately I won't get to hear it until after my wife lets me unwrap the NCE Power Cab that I am getting for Christmas.

I'd had my eye on this model ever since selling off my Northern Rivers Railroad 422 after I'd moved on my previous NSW North Coast layout. And while you can't have everything, it is especially nice to again have a 422 Class loco back in my possession. This time wearing the CFCLA or Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia livery that this loco was reintroduced in back in 2001. Its been a long time favourite livery of mine, and fits well with my Melbourne based early 2000's era layout given it was a regular runner to Appleton Dock throughout the 2000's. In fact, I'm sure I even saw this locomotive once up here in Queensland at Acacia Ridge Yard parked with a row of Interail locos. Either way, leased locos do get around, and they make for a great excuse to include some older generation motive power.

I love old locos that are given a second lease of life! They don't make me feel so old.

It turns out that admiring it will be all I'll get to do for the next few weeks as my knee has deteriorated further. I'm itching to get into the garage and build my staging shelf to be ready to install my DCC throttle to the layout, but it's painful to even stand on it. As a result, I've let the application deadline for the 2022 Bundaberg Model Train & Hobby Expo pass me by. There's no way that I can guarantee having the layout completed in time for March, when I'm now at the point of contemplating closing our cleaning business in the New Year, a little earlier than we'd planned to. A lot will depend on how well my knee recovers over the Christmas break and I'm now hoping that Philden Street Yard may get an invite to the Pine Rivers Show in Brisbane instead.

I wasn't going to consider adding anymore locos to my roster until I had seen the painted samples for the G and BL Class models. A 20% off sale however made the FL220 too good to pass on, and funnily enough, Auscision posted sample pics on their Facebook page just days later. Either the G or the BL would be a staple loco for an early 2000's Melbourne Yard, but with another house move in the foreseeable future, if I pre-ordered one I doubt it would arrive in time before I face the task of packing up house again.

The next arrivals I'm waiting on are the much anticipated Indigenous NR Class locos. From what I've heard they should be here early in the New Year.