Road tests after decoders installed.
Videos:
SF E-1's by BLI; both powered with sound.
Can handle 45-50 cars on a 0.5% grade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...amp;feature=youtu.be
B&O EM-1 2-8-8-4 by Westside.
Can handle about 30 cars on a 0.5% grade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...amp;feature=youtu.be
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The EM-1 had two more shorts to diagnose.
Tender wheel needed a kadee washer to keep the insulated side from touching the truck frame.
The engine's trailing truck was out of gauge and shorting. A NWSL wheel puller fixed that.
The company photographer went out for pictures.
This snow scene reminds me of Christmas and a 'Christmas' memory:
Best Christmas ever had or will ever have.
I was seven. Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, we had Higbees, May co and Halley’s down town department stores. After Thanksgiving, each would have an entire floor full of toys. Of course the best was the train area where there were Lionel and American Flyer layouts set up. I’d stay there for hours watching them run and, of course, there were free catalogs.
Mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I pointed to the Lionel SF diesel A-A and 4 beautiful aluminum passenger cars and said ‘that’. At 90 bucks, mom said we can’t afford that. Dad worked at Midland Ross steel and, if he made that in a week, he was lucky!
$90 in 1953 is over $800 in 2018: imagine spending that much on a seven year old, today, for one present!
I remember getting up that Christmas morning and seeing the large rectangular box all wrapped and knew exactly what it was.
As in ‘Christmas story’, that was the best Christmas I ever had, or ever will.
And it still runs great!
The 'interchange/staging': just the basics.
The last three engines decoded and road tested.
SF 4-8-4, PRR T-1 4-4-4-4 and SF E-1 A-B set.
