@Steam Crazy posted:Canadian Pacific Alco FA1 no. 4001 and FB1 no. 4403 head up a coal drag in Greenville, ME. No, it isn’t a war zone! Some troops from the ME National Guard are training on the property of a patriotic farmer. This actually happened to me when I was a member of the MA National Guard!
John
John, I think you have very nice looking tubular track on your layout. Arnold
Arnold, thank you for the compliment!
John
The Boston & Albany Railroad used 2-6-6T and 4-6-6T double-ended locomotives in commuter service between South Station in Boston and the city’s western suburbs. Commuter trains ran a circuit - outbound along the railroad’s main line 12.25 miles to Riverside (in Newton, MA) and inbound on its Highland branch. They also ran the circuit in the opposite direction. These double-ended suburban type locomotives operated equally well in both forward and reverse, and therefore it was unnecessary to turn them when they completed a circuit. After the B&A terminated suburban passenger service, the Highland branch was purchased by the Metropolitan Transit Authority in 1958 and the branch was reopened as the MTA Riverside Line with light-rail electric cars in 1959.
The 2-6-6T locomotives were built by ALCO Schenectady in 1906 and ’07. Five 4-6-6Ts (Class D - #400 to #404) were built by ALCO in 1928 and remained in Boston commuter service until 1951. They ran on 63-inch driving wheels, weighed 352,000 pounds and produced 41,600 pounds of tractive force at 215 pounds-per-square-inch boiler pressure. They were designed for rapid acceleration and could pull up to 20 passenger cars.
The O gauge models of the 4-6-6Ts were first produced by K-Line and more recently by Lionel – from the same tooling. My model of D-1a #400 (Lionel SKU 2031010) was offered in 2020 at an MSRP of $1099.99. The photos and videos show it in operation on my 10’-by-5’ model railroad. I believe that the 4-6-6T locomotives hauled steel passenger cars when they began service. In later years they pulled New York Central round-roofed passenger cars. Since I don’t own the correct passenger cars for this engine, I run MTH Premier unlettered wood-sided passenger coaches behind this locomotive.
MELGAR
Wonderful layout. Would love to see your engine roster someday!
Mel, I hereby appoint you as the unofficial Forum historian! Enjoyed the history lesson, photos and videos!
John
From the club last night…
CentralFan1976,
Very nice. I like the track pans too.
MELGAR
@Steam Crazy posted:Mel, I hereby appoint you as the unofficial Forum historian! Enjoyed the history lesson, photos and videos!
John
John,
For me, buying books about railroads and their history is a part of model railroading. I like to read about how the railroads contributed to the development of the United States, growth of cities, towns and industries, and also about the technical details of the locomotives, especially steam engines. And, old photographs in the books can be useful in building a model railroad.
Here is a closeup video of the B&A #400 tank engine running at 16 scale miles-per-hour on my 10'-by-5' layout. It's my favorite locomotive model.
MELGAR
My hometown is Mt. Vernon, NY, and I remember in the late 1950s taking the New Haven passenger train from the downtown Mt. Vernon train station to Grand Central Station with my mother.
I thought the New Haven passenger train was beautiful. I believe the passenger cars looked like shiny, silvery, aluminum extruded cars, and the locomotive was an electric (pantographs running from overhead catenary) with the orange, black and white McGuiness livery.
Does anyone else remember these New Haven passenger trains in the 1950s?
If so, is my above description of them accurate?
If not, how would you describe them?
Arnold
Arnold, your memory hasn’t failed you! Here’s a video of my NH EP5 electric being passed by aNH RS3 pulling shiny stainless steel passenger cars.
John
John, the video of your New Haven passenger train on your layout brings back fond memories of the real New Haven passenger train I rode with my mother in the 1950s. Thank you for sharing it. Arnold
B&A fast milk run…
Thanks!
- Mario
Mel, I also enjoy railroad history and technical data, which is why I enjoy your posts. I also have a collection of RR books and videos.
You've inspired me to post of video of my B&A 4-6-6T and passenger cars; I'll do that sometime this week.
John
Boston and Albany 4-6-6T no. 403 backs it’s train into South Station, Boston, MA for an afternoon commuter run to Boston’s Western suburbs. The tank engine is K-line converted to MTH PS3. The heavyweight passenger cars are MTH Premier models.
I videoed the train backing because I’ve never seen it done on the Forum. Let’s see more backing moves!
John
John,
Thanks for posting. I regret having passed up the chance to purchase MTH Premier B&A heavyweights.
MELGAR
Mel, I won't bore you with my long list of regrets!
John
This picture has my Flyer New Haven A-A diesels, My New Haven Electric and my Boston and Maine F-3's. Flyer also produced a single A unit which is there.
We had Weaver do two Boston and Maine and two New Haven PS-2 covered hoppers. Weaver also did two Boston and Maine box cars.
The G&O operates red, white and blue trains on the 4th of July and other national holidays. Some of these trains are composed of State of Maine products box cars. These cars were purchased by the Bangor & Aroostook and New Haven railroads to haul Maine products to market. I understand that it was mostly potatoes but other products were also hauled. The cars were insulated but were not reefers with ice. These cars traveled throughout the nation hauling other products after the Maine growing season.
Note that some cars are lettered for the Bangor & Aroostook and others for the New Haven. The dark blue cars are MTH. The others are K-Line or Lionel. I don't know which blue is correct. I wish that the railroads had put the red stripe on the top instead of the blue. The engine and caboose on this train are K-Line. Much of this scenery has been upgraded since these photos were taken.
NH Joe
Maine Central 2-8-0 #501 was manufactured by Alco (Schenectady) in 1910 and, as best I can determine, is awaiting restoration at the Conway Scenic Railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire. The engine weight was 193,000 pounds and the total locomotive weight was 333,000 pounds. It produced 37,000 pounds of tractive force at a boiler pressure of 185 pounds-per-square-inch and rode on 63-inch-diameter driving wheels.
My diecast model of #501 was made by Weaver Models. It’s a model of a Baldwin locomotive and is similar to the full-size #501 but not entirely accurate. However, it is close and has a great steam whistle, so I enjoy running it. There are 4 chuffs/rev.
The #670 caboose probably came along after #501 was retired and is an anachronism on my train. Is there an O gauge model of a steam era Maine Central caboose? I would buy one.
MELGAR
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