Good morning fellow switcher lovers! JHZ653 - thanks for getting us rolling today! .... AND I love the camera angle of your video and the three whistle toots for the reverse move!
Lew - your US Steel switcher looks great! Love your narrative as well RSJB - very nice photos ... love that post war steam 0-6-0! Paul Romano - very colorful RS unit! Mike CT - wonderful photos! Some of you may have additionally posted while I was putting my post together .... sorry if I missed mentioning you.
Lately I've been having a "fling" with postwar/traditional sized trains. The photos today are of Williams reproductions of Lionel's famous Fairbanks Morse Train Master. The Lionel version came out in the 1950s. The Virginian Train Master first caught my 4 year old eye back in 1957 and was burned into my consciousness ever since then. When I got back into model trains about 17 years ago ( sheeeewwww! Been that long ago?! DANG!!! ) owning a Virginian Train Master was definitely on my radar for eventual purchase. Since Reading is a small part of my layout modeling scenario, I purchased a Train Master in Reading livery to be the lone representation of that road on my layout. With the N&W being a larger part of my layout scenario, I could, in good conscience, able to add the Virginian Train Master to my roster, being that the Virginian was absorbed by N&W in 1959. My rational is, the N&W paint shop has not yet re - painted this Train Master.... and the FSJR brass is determined that the N&W paint shop will never see the likes of this beautiful Train Master again. The CEO is **** bent on keeping that beautiful locomotive on the FSJR property.
You may have already guessed that today's theme is something to do with the Train Master road switcher. Well you are correct and the theme is: The FM Train Master Road Switcher as they traverses the tracks of the Free State Junction Railway. Have a wonderful weekend everyone! BE SAFE & BE WELL!!
RUNNING LITE on The Mountain Division. 
This is " Hoghead Harry", the engineer saying "good morning" with a tip of his hat. 
Virginian and Reading Train Masters team up in MU fashion. 
Reading Train Master in local switching service. 
After spotting this military flat car load, the Train Master is back on the main to continue switching duties. 
Running lite again, the Reading TM meets a N&W Y6b headed west. 
A "Power - full" meeting of old and new technologies. 
Brakeman is on the ground and has this view of today's power. 
MU'd for a total of 4,800 horse power! When first produced in 1950 the Train Master had the highest horsepower rating of any diesel locomotive ... 2,400 horses. They were "all the talk" of the 1950 Chicago Railroad Fair. FM seemed to have hit a grand slam home run with the Train Master. Seems the Train Master could walk away with any train the railroads threw it's way. Due to their fast acceleration/deceleration, Train Masters were great in commuter passenger service as well! The Fairbanks Morse opposed piston engine, a gem in marine applications, did not work out well in railway service. ... thus FM had a short lived railroad romance with railroading. In spite of this many of the locomotive stylings live on in the model train world. 
MUed Train Masters make easy work of a long freight train, as a worker struggles to keep this crate on the forklift's pallet. 
