Buy anything cool lately?

Just picked up a Lionel Halloween engine http://www.lionel.com/products...acific-1031-6-85175/ from the Lionel Store under "Special Deals". It was listed as a "refurbished" but as far as I could tell was basically brand new without even marks on the rollers. I'm not even sure the tender was ever unpacked before today.  https://youtu.be/9HwvvM1CfN4

@Don McErlean NICE BUY!!! I’m a Big Amtrak fan so it’s always nice to see people posting Amtrak pics- even better when it’s their first Amtrak loco. Congrats!

Such a nice loco. Have an MTH PS2 Amtrak F59PHI that’s been in pieces ever since something got fried in the board- I do miss it. Regardless- looks like yours runs really well and that horn is certainly better than I woulda thought! Love seeing a ‘silver streak’ passenger consists highballing down the mainline like that- looks even better when it’s head by something with such a sleek nose(no offense to my beloved F40PH).

For the sake of the Williams in WBB, I wish we’d see posts like yours more often- but also understand why we don’t, unfortunately. I started off in conventional( my second loco for Christmas of 1998 or 1999 was a Williams Amtrak GP9) and after resuming the hobby in 2018 it was still my go to loco. Definitely see improvements made with that loco vs the 2 or 3 Williams locos I have, which is nice to see because I had always assumed WBB was just Bachmann selling Williams locos without any type of upgrades. Come to think of it, One of my LHS had a WBB ES44 or Dash 9 heritage LV and that sucker ran very smooth(assume increased gear ratio) it really caught my eye.

Not sure what type of Amtrak passenger cars your seeking, but I have some I’m willing to sell. You mentioned o-31 curves, I have quite a few 15” , 16” & 18” cars I’m willing to sell(prices range from $40-$120). Have some 12.5” and/or 13.5” as well.  Mainly MTH & Lionel, I think one or 2 Williams.

Again- Nice Buy! You’ve earned USA Rail Pass with this purchase!

Still never got to showing my pre-York and York purchases. And since York was almost a darn month ago it’s time to get these posted:

Despite being at Lionel for repairs, I’ll still lead off with one that I held out on last time: 

Lionel Legacy CSX(ex-Conrail) SD70MAC!! Received this late March/Early April from Mr. Muffins!(thanks Steve & Jeff!)  Was so excited to get this...only to have issues with start-up & the rear coupler out of the box-  it’ll be back eventually! Sh’s definitely a looker!

Next up- Atlas Trainman KCS coach in Southern Belle livory & Lionel KCS boxcar. Both of these purchases were spurred on by my KCS SD70ACe

A Pair of Atlas 62’ bulkhead flats (TTX & Union Pacific) both with safety stripes

Atlas  “On Track for a Cure “  Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Railbox boxcar

Got an old Lionel freight station kit(work in progress), a Siku dump truck and some Model Tech Studios “Pre Aced” accessories to fill out this corner

Lionel Conrail PS-4 52’ flat transporting a Corgi Classics Churchill Tank

Some Santa Fe- Atlas Berwick 60’ hi cube & modernized 50’ PS-1(really love the master line modernized PS-1s!)

Some MTH Premier modern freight, now up to FRA regs. NS 50’ waffle boxcar already had safety stripes, I applied them to the 50’ hi cube on the right

Some more modern, all FRA up to date! Atlas CSX gondola & a previously shown but now w/ safety stripes CSX 50’ boxcar

Bought these  Atlas 17,600 gallon corn syrup tankers- Both are exquisite. SYRX rep mark on the rIgor and on the left, being much less discreet about its contents, a Corn Products with reporting mark UTLX

MTH Premier Penn Central X71 boxcar. Thought it was fitting to put this next to the yellow door Conrail, as that’s what the PC X71s became!

That’s pretty much it for pre-York Cool stuff!

I won two eBay auctions from the same seller.  With tax and combined shipping these guys cost my $16.50 each.

Congratulations on your win! I love the covered hoppers the most. Great find :-)

Thanks Winston.  Weaver made some great hoppers, the PS-2 two bay, these PS-2 Center Discharge hoppers and all the other 2 and 3 bay styles they put out.  I've got 3 other Alaska Basic Industries 3 bay hoppers that came with coal loads.  I'll have to find one of those loads for this guy.

I want to learn to make my own coal loads. I’m sure it on the forum somewhere. I’m not very artistic though 😬

Making coal loads is not rocket science.  I did some just cutting a piece of 2" construction foam to shape to fit in the hopper and rounding the top like a mount of coal.  I painted the foam piece black so any voids or the edges wouldn't show.  I then slathered White Glue generously on the top and rolled it around in the coal.  After it dried initially, I filled in any bare or thin spots with more glue and coal and cleaned any excess off the sides.  Once it dried again, presto I had a coal load.

@StevefromPA:  Thanks for your comments on my new Amtrack engine.  As you might tell, I am pretty enthusiastic about it at the moment, its really smooth and powerful (at least when pulling my little trains).  About the cars, I measured what I had and it appears about the longest anything is at the moment is about 12 1/4". I suspect 13 or maybe (?) 15" might work but longer seems unlikely. I would not use many perhaps 2 or 3 not sure as my layout is small.  Anyway thank you for your comments.

Don

I was just hoping to match the loads in the other 3 hoppers.  I thought if I made my own it may be too different.  I've seen a Weaver 3-bay coal load on eBay but for $24.95 + tax + shipping it wont be going in my $16.00 hopper. So I may just wind up making my own if one doesn't present itself in the not too distant future.

@coach joe posted:

I was just hoping to match the loads in the other 3 hoppers.  I thought if I made my own it may be too different.  I've seen a Weaver 3-bay coal load on eBay but for $24.95 + tax + shipping it wont be going in my $16.00 hopper. So I may just wind up making my own if one doesn't present itself in the not too distant future.

Coach Joe, I made coal loads the same way as Gun Runner John suggested and they come out great. I was surprised how easy it is, besides being cheap. I used some gloss black for the coal.
John

These 3 Industrial Rail cars arrived on my doorstep today. I only bought my first O gauge car a year ago but have come to love Industrial Rail because they look great, are highly affordable, and the couplers always, always work, unlike those on more expensive cars I have. As if by magic, a separate package appeared at my door with a Lionel 1033 transformer, beautifully restored. I don't know how UPS knew that I needed this, but it's a happy coincidence, because only an hour earlier I had ordered my first old-school conventional cheap locomotive and think this transformer is what I might need to power it. Now I just have to learn how to connect the TVS Diodes. Then find out what "TVS" means and what a "Diode" is.

Picked up today my Lionel 2233121 NS SD-45 from The Train-Station in Mountain Lakes, NJ. Love the high short hood and bell.

Nice that it had a May release date and actually came in this month.

@Don McErlean, that’s a beautiful Amtrak diesel, Williams will run and run and run, your going to love it. I’m not sure I’ve shown pictures of a new B&O Heavyweight StationSounds diner that I purchased several months ago from a fellow on the OGR Forum. It’s a nice acquisition. Happy Railroading Everyone

Picked up a Woodland Scenics Windmill last week from a LHS. Only have a few more buildings left on my list from Woodland Scenics and Menards. It’s funny how the list keeps growing though! Hahaha!

@coach joe posted:

I won two eBay auctions from the same seller.  With tax and combined shipping these guys cost my $16.50 each.

Awesome win @coach joe ! I love those all those hoppers, especially the covered ones! great price for sure!

Just purchased the Lionel Amtrak 50th Anniversary Box Car and the K-Line 10th Anniversary Diet Coke Trailer on flatcar yesterday at Nicholas Smith Trains.

@John's Trains posted:

Now I just have to learn how to connect the TVS Diodes. Then find out what "TVS" means and what a "Diode" is.

This thread should tell you what you need to know.  Scroll down to post by @rtr12.

electrical-reference 

@Don McErlean posted:

Well folks here is my story today, a new acquisition about which I am really excited.   I did post a few pictures of this loco on "Front End Friday" but I thought I would post some additional pictures here.  I must admit, I am really enthusiastic about this locomotive.  Its my first Amtrak loco and my first large Williams by Bachmann locomotive.  I had bought 2 Williams GE 44 tonner's before and they were great operators so I thought I would try this larger engine.  Man! I am excited.  This gal runs like a charm, smooooooth and powerful , takes 0-31 curves with no problem had great sounds and a cool horn.  The level of detail is really wonderful.  

Its the Amtrack, F59PH Pacific Surfliner.  Here is the side view of the entire locomotive.

The next two pictures gives you a glimpse of the level of "add on" detail Williams provided to this locomotive.  Windshield wipers, crew, lights, crew ladders , rear view mirrors, etc.

Here she is with her current train.  The loco so over-shadows the PW Lionel passenger cars that its clear to me, I will need some additional and more appropriate Amtrak cars.

Folks, I am used to the pre (sometimes tinplate) and post war level of detail.  The detail on the roof of this locomotive is amazing to me.  You can see fan blades under the fan screen, vents are actually open and the horn array is highly detailed.  This is really cool to me.

Here is a little video of her in action.

That is one great looking engine, Don! Now if you can find some Amtrak Surfliner cars to go with it, you'll have an awesome looking train.

I've ridden the Surfliner several times from San Diego up to Los Angeles and back. It is one beautiful ride! I took this photo back in September of 2018, just before boarding. The EMD F59PH locomotives were replaced with the Siemens Chargers a short time later.

WBB did an awesome job on this one. Nice going.

leapinlarry and Yellowstone Special - thank you for your comments on my new Amtrack engine.  Larry I hope your are right about Williams running and running, my experience with my 44 tonner's does support this for sure.  Yellowstone thanks for your comment and the 1:1 picture of the actual locomotive, amazing Williams really did seem to get the livery and detail correct. Now...for those Amtack cars...

Best wishes all, Happy Memorial Day

Don

I just picked up a set of METCA exclusive hoppers today.

Realized that I am on a K-Line kick, especially twins.   Now have two Mikado (B&O, SOU), two Allegheny (C&O, Virginian), and a pair of A units (B&O).  All TMCC and all now have cruise m or K-Line cruise. The AA units will need an upgrade eventually from its misbehaving K-Line cruise.

I found this in a used book store today, I doubt it'd ever been read.

New Lionel SW1200 (Mr. Muffin's Custom Run) Rock Island switcher. Very nice!

VERY cool!  I love that Rock Island switcher.

Awaiting pre-order for the MTH Maine Central drop bottom gondola, but in the meantime added the B&M version over the weekend. Impromptu buy from New Hampshire dealer on Friday night and had it Monday morning - great service. I really like the heft of the MTH Premier rolling stock. Always feels solid. MEC should be a beauty, too.

I picked up a B&A caboose to go with the B&A Berkshire I showed in April. I found it on an internet search on Brady’s Trains out of PA.

Well, just taking a break from staining the deck. Came down to the cool basement to run trains for some therapy. Here's another shot of my Woodland Scenics engineer figures. The previous photo of them didn't turn out so well. 😉

@Yellowstone Special posted:

Well, just taking a break from staining the deck. Came down to the cool basement to run trains for some therapy. Here's another shot of my Woodland Scenics engineer figures. The previous photo of them didn't turn out so well. 😉

Vern, swabbing the deck doesn't sound like much fun! ;-) Nice to take a break with some train action. That Geep 7 looks awesome with the engineers on it! Nicely done photo, too! Looks like the guy in the peach shirt is trying to take a nap. LoL Happy Thursday!

Thanks, Scott. Fortunately, it isn’t a huge deck, but I still do it in increments. 😉 I think the guy in the peach shirt IS sleeping! 😂.

Thank you for giving me the idea to get these guys.

While not as exciting as some earlier post, added another SP piggyback to the fleet

This Williams 9632 Pennsylvania Sharknose arrived on my doorstep today, along with an MTH N-8 Pennsylvania caboose to run with it. Until now I had only 3 LionChief/LionChief Plus locomotives, so I hesitated about diving into something transformer-controlled. But the AA pair of sharknose units that I really want cost over 10 times what this single unit cost. I read here that Williams engines can be jack rabbits, and I like to be able to run slow.  I was also concerned because the website didn't say whether this even has a horn, and I could tell it only has a dummy coupler on the rear because it was originally part of an ABA set. I hooked it up to my new refurbished Lionel 1033 transformer, putting it on the B-U posts as I read here. It runs great, and can even start slower than my LionChief Santa Fe FT, and it doesn't die out when going over the switches slowly like the other engines. This frees me up to an entire range of more economical engines that look great. Question: I am ok with the 3 position forward-neutral-reverse, but turning the lever to Whistle just makes the engine go faster. Does this engine not have a horn? I didn't even try switching to the A-U posts to see if a higher voltage does anything because I like the slow starts and the high range is plenty fast enough. It didn't come with a manual and I can't find any database for Williams engines. A Worthpoint webpage says it has dual motors with flywheels and a 6 amp electronic reverse unit, but no mention of sound. Don't need a horn, but is that normal to go faster on the whistle lever if there's no horn?

Got this Lionel 6-24574 Union Pacific E7 AA set for a great deal. It was mint and un-run till I pulled it out of the box. TMCC, Odyssey, and Railsounds 5.0 with 8 RPM levels. Pretty nice locomotive set.

@Lou1985 posted:

Got this Lionel 6-24574 Union Pacific E7 AA set for a great deal. It was mint and un-run till I pulled it out of the box. TMCC, Odyssey, and Railsounds 5.0 with 8 RPM levels. Pretty nice locomotive set.

Lou, beautiful model from 2006! Lionel made great quality highly detailed models for a reasonable price during this time period. Congratulations, nice find! Simulated Mars light too.

@Lou1985 Beauty of UP set! Totally agree with Scott’s comment above, I really like Lionel’s  late TMCC and early Legacy from  03/04 to around 2010. The way the lighted number board and MARS light(or gyralight?) surround the slightly brighter headlight is very well done.  Awesome buy!

@NS1975 very cool Rock Island SW1200! Looks like it’s a really well done model! How does it run? Has me really excited for my PB&NE SW1200, which will be my first diesel yard switcher, to arrive!

@John's Trains posted:

This Williams 9632 Pennsylvania Sharknose arrived on my doorstep today, along with an MTH N-8 Pennsylvania caboose to run with it. Until now I had only 3 LionChief/LionChief Plus locomotives, so I hesitated about diving into something transformer-controlled. But the AA pair of sharknose units that I really want cost over 10 times what this single unit cost. I read here that Williams engines can be jack rabbits, and I like to be able to run slow.  I was also concerned because the website didn't say whether this even has a horn, and I could tell it only has a dummy coupler on the rear because it was originally part of an ABA set. I hooked it up to my new refurbished Lionel 1033 transformer, putting it on the B-U posts as I read here. It runs great, and can even start slower than my LionChief Santa Fe FT, and it doesn't die out when going over the switches slowly like the other engines. This frees me up to an entire range of more economical engines that look great. Question: I am ok with the 3 position forward-neutral-reverse, but turning the lever to Whistle just makes the engine go faster. Does this engine not have a horn? I didn't even try switching to the A-U posts to see if a higher voltage does anything because I like the slow starts and the high range is plenty fast enough. It didn't come with a manual and I can't find any database for Williams engines. A Worthpoint webpage says it has dual motors with flywheels and a 6 amp electronic reverse unit, but no mention of sound. Don't need a horn, but is that normal to go faster on the whistle lever if there's no horn?

John, I believe Williams put the horn in the dummy A unit of an A-A set.  If I remember correctly the older transformers sent an increased voltage necessary to operate the horn or whistle circuit when the whistle button was pushed.  Without that circuit the engine would speed up due to the increased voltage.

Here’s some rolling stock I’ve acquired over the passed 2 weeks and some York stuff:

Arrived in the mail yesterday- first pink grain hopper! Love the Lionscale line, a nice PS2-CD 4740 Klemme CO-OP

Pairing nicely w/ the above, this vera nicely weathered Soo PS4750 from a Mr. muffins auction came last week

Next-My first Atlas O “Premier” train arrived on Tuesday- TTX 50’ Hi Cube!

both of these might as well be from York-
MTH Railgon 52’6” coil gondola(MTHRRC) I bought there. However, I forgot where the white MTH Conrail coil car was as 6pm rolled around. Luckily, I posted a WTB and a forum member came to the rescue !

Last but certainly not least- Atlas O Conrail 60’ boxcar and die cast Weaver trucks from Mr. Muffins!

special Thanks   to @Jeff78rr and @brianel_k-lineguy  who helped verify this was a prototypical model(former Erie-Lackawanna) on the Real trains forum!

@John's Trains posted:

This Williams 9632 Pennsylvania Sharknose arrived on my doorstep today, along with an MTH N-8 Pennsylvania caboose to run with it. Until now I had only 3 LionChief/LionChief Plus locomotives, so I hesitated about diving into something transformer-controlled. But the AA pair of sharknose units that I really want cost over 10 times what this single unit cost. I read here that Williams engines can be jack rabbits, and I like to be able to run slow.  I was also concerned because the website didn't say whether this even has a horn, and I could tell it only has a dummy coupler on the rear because it was originally part of an ABA set. I hooked it up to my new refurbished Lionel 1033 transformer, putting it on the B-U posts as I read here. It runs great, and can even start slower than my LionChief Santa Fe FT, and it doesn't die out when going over the switches slowly like the other engines. This frees me up to an entire range of more economical engines that look great. Question: I am ok with the 3 position forward-neutral-reverse, but turning the lever to Whistle just makes the engine go faster. Does this engine not have a horn? I didn't even try switching to the A-U posts to see if a higher voltage does anything because I like the slow starts and the high range is plenty fast enough. It didn't come with a manual and I can't find any database for Williams engines. A Worthpoint webpage says it has dual motors with flywheels and a 6 amp electronic reverse unit, but no mention of sound. Don't need a horn, but is that normal to go faster on the whistle lever if there's no horn?

Nice loco. I have a Williams NYC shark AA set. IIRC the horn is in the dummy unit as Joe mentioned. I can check mine if you like.

For the speed issue, you can wire the motors in series to slow it down. I've done all of my Williams engines and it makes a big difference.

Bob

@John's Trains awesome to hear that your Pennsy works well at low speeds and that your enjoying it!

regarding the horn- when you activate the horn on your transformer whether by turning the handle or pressing a button, a small amount of DC + is superimposed onto the track and it’s that positive DC voltage that activates the horn(if a loco has a bell and you have a bell button negative DC voltage activates that). It’s like that for postwar locos and modern conventional electronic horns, such as Williams true blast. See the thread below for sone good info

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...-operate-on-dc-power

Regarding the increase in speed, iirc, when I would apply the DC to my postwar 2056(horn in the tender) it would speed up. Again, iirc, my Powered units w/ horn:  RMT buddies, K-line by Lionel box Cab, Williams Amtrak GP7 w/ true blast, etc... also speed up somewhat when the DC voltage is applied to sound the horn.