Maine Trains in O Gauge

@Leroof posted:

fresh ground Coffee in French press.....nothing quite like the aroma of coffee and a brand new locomotive plus the instruction manual .

Merry  belated Christmas to me! Lol.

Mel, I need to spend some time laying some track.
But until then. I will need a loop to run the F3 and select rolling stock sooner than later! will keep you posted.

I have coffee scented MTH smoke fluid; it's my favorite and I bet you would love it, Leroof! LOL, Arnold

                                                                 MEC

@Leroof posted:

Richie C! That’s a cool PT switcher. When did Lionel put that out?

thanks for posting photo.

The Legacy BTO Portland Terminal S-2 Alco switcher is in the 2019 Lionel Vol. II catalogue on pages 40-41, along with five (5) other liveries.

An additional five (5) of the S-4 versions are also on pages 42-43.

Not a bad looking one in the bunch.

Thanks

SIRT, nice yard of New England rolling stock. Great work as usual.

I used to have many  O scale pine green 40 footers with the decals you exhibit. Classy stuff.

Thanks for everyone's MEC photos.   The Maine Central is my main railroad of focus.  Currently I'm focusing my collection on the toy semi scale side of O-gauge.

MTH GP38 (second run -2008)

MTH GP7's from 2002

Atlas caboose

Atlas GP7 , caboose.   Boxcars are MTH.

Williams Green boxcar.   I've seen the same boxcar labeled as Franks Roundhouse.

Weaver boxcar.

Altas caboose trio.

Lionel.

I have more,  It just involves unboxing and taking photos.   Maybe in a couple of days.

Hi Mike McCutcheon, nice collection! I had many of these at one time or another. I am a big fan of the three rail MEC. I recognize all of your trains except I can’t make out in the fifth photo down  GP9 in pine tree green MEC #569? Was this a custom paint? That guy that does all the MEC B&A equipment selling  at most of the Maine shows had one like that. I forgot his name now? Hmmm.   I bought a Reny’s boxcar yesterday from an associate of yours. I will be adding it to another video here later this week (I hope). Also big fan of Maine 3 railers, look forward to seeing more of your collection here, Thanks for sharing.

leroof

I still can’t find my Frank’s roundhouse MEC 40 footers! Maybe they were sold! I will keep looking. Lol!

Mel, the MTH F3 instruction book states that running in standard DC eliminates  the horn and bell sounds! Maybe I should read that again! Hmmm, doesn’t sound right to me. Lol.
I will test run the MEC F3 with a DCC handheld NCE I borrowed to get the full feel of the loco. Afraid to use the old ZW  AC traditional power for this electronic  engine.
I will have to adjust the smoke cessation program first. Can’t wait to tell my colleagues that I got an F3 to cooperate!
MEC F3 report to arrive in the next few days.
how do you power your modern fleet? Being I am in the analog traditional KISS modality for all my postwar, this is quite a leap for me!

Arnold look! I have just entered the twilight  zone!

(Music from twilight zone theme playing).

Dug up a few more pics of my Maine stuff. The engines and caboose are MTH, the boxcar is Atlas.

Leroof,

I run everything on AC power from an MTH Z-4000 transformer. I shall review the 3-rail instructions to see if it clarifies anything about the 2-rail model.

MELGAR

I gave my Lionel scale green gondola car away for a Christmas present last year. CNJ Joe, yours is mighty heavily weathered well! You run on two rails it seems by your photos.

Mel, the 2 rail DC instructions are fairly clear. I just have to ease in with DCC alternately. Thanks for any advice.

Nice looking equipment, Mel.  That MEC Green pine tree paint scheme looked good in the MEC's locomotives (sort of a kiss good bye to the joint B&M/MEC management era).

Leroof,

That looks like a custom paint by Dave Kenyon

Gunny

Leroof,

The green GP7 #569 is a factory paint from Atlas.    I actually got a cab ride in real #569 in the Waterville yard.  So having this engine is really  special to me. 

Mike

Here's my latest addition.   Santa left this under the tree last week.

A Maine Central Alco RS-3 by MTH (RailKing).   It's a one off paint scheme that was only applied to #554.  The real 1:1 scale engine was actually a RS-2.

Franks Roundhouse MEC #8056

Nice MEC  Mike! Looks like you have most of the MEC 3 rail stuff.
I remember back in the eighties Frank Roundhouse in the  NYC/NJ/LI metropolitan area sold the cars in such abundance that they were priced $22 to 25 each and  five for $100. I had a number of them. Favorites included MEC both pine Green and your Harvest Orange livery and that controversial UPS car (unlicensed). The paint jobs were fantastic and the cars smooth wheeling.

Dave Kenyon, that’s the custom painter guy! Yep. Thanks Gunny.

That GP7 #569 MTH is Atlas! Wow. Cool that you got a cab ride in Waterville.

I painted a number of custom  MEC locos and rolling stock back in the day. I have some photographs (remember them on paper!) I might be able to scan today and display. They will look rather flat! Lol.

I plan to test run my MTH F 3 on its maiden start up today. More on that later.

"Picture if you will, a young boy from 20th century Manhattan transported to the distant future in a land of trees and wilderness, where model trains are controlled by electronic chips..." Cue the music.

Hi Alan P.  is the top of your MEC GP 38 pine green or harvest yellow? Cool engine. Who makes the short caboose? Like that too.  Also, B&M 4227 is seriously classy.
thx for the photos.

Coach Joe, that’s Hysterical ! LMAO! Thx.

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...3#152899748961445183

Hi Leroof,

The caboose and GP38 are both MTH Premier. The 4227 is a Railking. The top of the GP38 is green, which is correct, but the horns are silver, which isn't. MTH actually did two runs of these. Mine is from the first batch. I guess the later ones have correct horns and a slightly different shade of yellow. I think Mike McCutcheon's engines are from that later group.

I like SIRT's rebuilt block-letter cars, without roofwalks. I model circa 1970 and really should have some non-roofwalk cars mixed in.

And yes, Dave Kenyon was the "famous" MEC custom painter. He did a beautiful Lionel GP7 in yellow for me that I sold, as I've focused on MTH PS2/PS3.

I'm going to miss MTH! Still waiting for the B&M bluebird Alco switcher they promised in the last catalog. I've attached a couple more pics of my own McGinnis models.

Alan P.

Hey Alan P. I bet there are quite a few B&M modelers hoping to see that 1274 switcher (S2 or S4?) grace their pike! Kind of iffy at this point in time, but it could still happen. Were orders or deposits in for that model? hope you get yours.
Nice   BUDD car as well as bluebird GEEP.  I had my eye on the Williams traditional McGinness F3 A/A at one point.  I spoke to a couple of people at the big E that said it had plastic gears, which turned me off. I still like the look of it. Maybe a bit Eire, but I would adapt a shell to a postwar mechanism were that possible in keeping with the postwar operators vibe.

Will check out the electronic wizard modernism’s of MTH scale two rail F3 sometime today! Another new experience for me!

After over 40 years of collecting I have a few Maine pieces on the layout. Let's start with the steam...  The Berkshire with the Boston express, the Mountain with a string of coal empties, and the Mogul pulling a local.

Here we have the Flying Yankee ready to depart Eastvale (The English Village), CN leaving Portland heading for Montreal, and a shot of the Diesel yard.

Here a switcher works the culvert plant, a train of State of Maine cars, and an MEC freight.

Finally, a string of the Maine 3 Railers annual cars, a B&M train in blue, and a couple of BAR cars being shifted.

@Leroof posted:

Nice MEC  Mike! Looks like you have most of the MEC 3 rail stuff.

I painted a number of custom  MEC locos and rolling stock back in the day. I have some photographs (remember them on paper!) I might be able to scan today and display. They will look rather flat! Lol.

Not even close.   I only have a small percent of all the Maine Central that MTH has produced throughout  the years.   

I definitely  remember chemical paper photographs.   I have a A.A in Photography and worked in a large photo processing  lab for 15 years.   That career ended when digital make it obsolete!

My adventure in the space age!

After a couple of hours in this new experience, I walk away feeling like DCC two rail is Not for me. I am a dedicated analog traditional dinosaur!  I am still attempting to get her back to factory default settings! As beautiful a MEC F3 she is, I probably will resell it.  I did not run it in DC as features such as the bell and Horn are not accessible in this engine on DC. Never been big on sound anyway but those two sounds are main stream! I did not want to run these electronics with traditional ZW AC power. Heard too many tales of woe regarding fried electronics. I will get some instruction from a buddy at work who does DCC before I decide to sell it.

@Leroof posted:

After a couple of hours in this new experience, I walk away feeling like DCC two rail is Not for me. I am a dedicated analog traditional dinosaur!  I am still attempting to get her back to factory default settings! As beautiful a MEC F3 she is, I probably will resell it.

Leroof,

Sorry to hear that. I don't have experience with MTH in 2-rail DC but the absence of whistle and bell in that mode is a deficiency in my opinion. My question is what happens if 2-rail AC is applied to the track with a Z-4000 transformer? Was your model delivered with pickup rollers (that have to be removed for 2-rail) or scale wheels?

MELGAR

FYI:  Dave Kenyon is still painting MEC and doing very well. Just talked with him on the phone for a bit.

John

Mike, I too did commercial photography, working in studios, doing all kind of darkroom printing and screening for commercial publications, and doing private portfolio work. I went to the Germain school of photography ( Woolworth building  NYC). enrolled in their professional career program. Studied additionally in the New School programs and worked for photographers in studios assisting,  setting up shots, arranging shoots, etc etc. those were exciting years! Still have my equipment, I know that it’s now obsolete. This film art form disappeared so suddenly! Still I can tell a difference between a print or a digital photo! Hey, I still play my LP’s through stereo components while running analog ozone machines(PW Lionel) Lol.

I do find digital camera use useful. Hey remember having Polaroid backs on Nikons and Hasselblads , to check what final shots would look like? Remember view cameras and that reciprocity factor!
but I digress,  back to MEC trains. I always had the MTH catalogs year after year. Yep, there were many New England examples.

thanks for sharing.

leroof

I repurposed a Marx 3/16 scale boxcar to MEC.  Doors were added after I took the picture a number of years ago.  Not much variety in Marx cars.

These are my customed painted Maine Central GP's

Mel, yes the engine was supplied with center rail pickup rollers separately packaged additionally. The unit has has scale wheels.
running scale wheels is not compatible with tubular track such as my traditional layout as you know.  ZW is my only AC power, and I have a MRC Control Master 20 for DC. I borrowed a friends hand held NCE DCC controller for this adventure.
all is not lost but it possibly can be run on a future O scale layout without all the bells and whistles. While not my cup of tea, it kind of defeats the design intent and purpose to run it without the DCC performance. So right now it has not been run, and I will ask what my DCC buddy thinks, he can thoroughly through his understanding and experience program it easily.  More on this situation to come in future installments.  Bottom line is If I can program and run advanced life support systems I can learn how to do DCC once I have trackage up! Just a matter of practice and time. This is not my Waterloo! Lol.

Thank you for starting this thread! We have seen a lot of Maine railroads! Apparent to me that there are so many MEC fans!

The Judge! Great! More seriously  MEC GEEPS!   Thanks for your pics! Custom paints are awesome.

rumbling across the bridge....

Still Looking for some traditional photos I can scan and send. I too did quite a few repaints for a yard 16x4 in the last apartment we lived in in Queens NYC.

Correction, it was 16X 2. Gargraves track and turnouts. All MEC locos.

TnkMarx, an original you have there. Awesome. I once saw someone at a show display a Marx gondola decorated MEC filled with home made Christmas trees! Like your forty footer!

Dave did a MEC rotary snowplow based on a Lionel MPC unit.

@Leroof posted:

Mel...

Thank you for starting this thread! We have seen a lot of Maine railroads! Apparent to me that there are so many MEC fans!

I've enjoyed reading this thread and seeing what's happening with Maine O gauge model railroading. In four years on the Forum, this thread has the most I've seen on the subject. Seems to be lots of O gauge modeling in Maine.

MELGAR