Pennsylvania R.R. Everyday

@Don McErlean posted:

Well its a rainy, cold day here in Central Texas so I thought I might continue (see prior post) with my completely un-realistic PRR locomotives from my collection so here is a PRR "Beep" from RMT.

Best wishes to all

Don

I love these little guys! After all, "miscellaneous forums" includes toy trains, doesn't it? I've seen quite a few shells for these on the TW website but no whole locos. Darn it, Don, you just made me make an offer on this same loco on the bay! As Mark points out, I soon won't have any room for "chow" on my coffee table!

"In the ice, sleet or snow the Pennsy will alway show!"

@RSJB18 posted:

I have an older Williams PRR NW-2 also. I wired the motors in series which greatly reduced the jack rabbit starts.

Bob

My newer one has flywheels on each motor that greatly reduce the "jackrabbit" starts and "slamming" stops. Unfortunately, I just found out that the rear flywheel STILL scrapes the bottom of the front window inside the shell when she is pushing a load. That pushes the rear truck firmly toward the front of the loco bringing the rear motor and flywheel with it. If Williams had just used flywheels with a diameter of about 2mm less this blasted scraping wouldn't even happen. Here's a photo of the new NW-2 chassis. Rear is the bottom of the photo:

@Bill Swatos posted:

My newer one has flywheels on each motor that greatly reduce the "jackrabbit" starts and "slamming" stops. Unfortunately, I just found out that the rear flywheel STILL scrapes the bottom of the front window inside the shell when she is pushing a load. That pushes the rear truck firmly toward the front of the loco bringing the rear motor and flywheel with it. If Williams had just used flywheels with a diameter of about 2mm less this blasted scraping wouldn't even happen. Here's a photo of the new NW-2 chassis. Rear is the bottom of the photo:

That's too bad Bill. Give TW a call, they will exchange it for you.

And be careful around those BEEPs. I bought one in PRR green and it rapidly turned into 4. I've upgraded one with ERR boards and railsounds too.

Bob

@Don McErlean posted:

Well its a rainy, cold day here in Central Texas so I thought I might continue (see prior post) with my completely un-realistic PRR locomotives from my collection so here is a PRR "Beep" from RMT.

Best wishes to all

Don

Sharp looking beep Don nice

@trumptrain posted:

"In the ice, sleet or snow the Pennsy will alway show!"

Nice job on the 0-6-0 who is the maker? I just added some engineers to my Lionel 0-4-0. Nice winter photo!

@Sitka --i belive that is a PRR A5 0-4-0.

Tom

@PRR8976 posted:

@Sitka --i belive that is a PRR A5 0-4-0.

Tom

Thanks PRR I'm sure I seen it in trumptrains other photos

Mark

@Sitka posted:

Nice job on the 0-6-0 who is the maker? I just added some engineers to my Lionel 0-4-0. Nice winter photo!

Sitka - Thanks for the compliment!  The locomotive is a Pennsy A5.  It's a K line product which I bought new at a train show in 2019 which I later weathered.  The two cab figures actually came with the locomotive.  It's actually a neat scale locomotive!  

@Sitka- I have the same A5 0-4-0 (minus the weathering). I highly recommend it if you are looking for a small switcher.

@RSJB18 posted:

@Sitka- I have the same A5 0-4-0 (minus the weathering). I highly recommend it if you are looking for a small switcher.

Nice looking A5 and Thank You! Mark

I love the A5 as it was such an iconic part of the PRR roster of Belpaire firebox locomotives that made it into the postwar era.  I'm eventually planning on adding an A5 and a B6 in 2 rail to my PRR roster one day.  While the A5 spent most of its time working the tight urban curves in Philadelphia and Baltimore, I still could see one doing switching duties on my future NY&LB.  The B6 has the honor of being the last PRR locomotive to turn a driver under steam during the PRR's existence so it is a must have one day.

Not sure if I've posted this one before, but on the exact opposite end of the spectrum is this behemoth of a Texas class in the J1.  This is a 2 rail Sunset model I picked up at a very fair price at a local train show in 2011.  There is a 3 rail one coming up for auction at my TCA Division in two weeks that I think I will make a run at to run at my operating club.  We will see what it commands in price first!  If this is a repost, I apologize!!!

@GG1 4877 posted:

I love the A5 as it was such an iconic part of the PRR roster of Belpaire firebox locomotives that made it into the postwar era.  I'm eventually planning on adding an A5 and a B6 in 2 rail to my PRR roster one day.  While the A5 spent most of its time working the tight urban curves in Philadelphia and Baltimore, I still could see one doing switching duties on my future NY&LB.  The B6 has the honor of being the last PRR locomotive to turn a driver under steam during the PRR's existence so it is a must have one day.

Not sure if I've posted this one before, but on the exact opposite end of the spectrum is this behemoth of a Texas class in the J1.  This is a 2 rail Sunset model I picked up at a very fair price at a local train show in 2011.  There is a 3 rail one coming up for auction at my TCA Division in two weeks that I think I will make a run at to run at my operating club.  We will see what it commands in price first!  If this is a repost, I apologize!!!

Fine looking engine GG1

@RSJB18 posted:

That's too bad Bill. Give TW a call, they will exchange it for you.

And be careful around those BEEPs. I bought one in PRR green and it rapidly turned into 4. I've upgraded one with ERR boards and railsounds too.

Bob

I think this is likely a design flaw in these newer NW-2's, Bob, so another one would likely have the same problem. Williams may have tried to address the sudden stopping and starting with larger flywheels and never thoroughly tested a prototype before releasing the redesign for manufacture. And I'm being pretty fussy as the scraping only occurs in reverse under load and most owners might not even notice it. What bothers me about it is that it does slow the loco slightly with the shell on when the scraping occurs.

Regarding the BEEPs, I've been drawn into the "vortex." I just got the tuscan one like Don's and, if it works like it looks, I'll be getting more in other roadnames, just like you have. Do you have any details on those ERR boards? I've heard about them here but never looked into them further.

@Bill Swatos - Welcome to the BEEP vortex!! I am pretty pleased with mine, I have 3...AF, Navy (Philly Navy Yard), and  PRR.  They all have worked real fine from the time I bought them.  They can pull 4-5 MPC wt cars but only 2-3 PW cars .  However they easily handle my very tight radius 0-27 curves with little to no overhang.

Best Wishes

Don

@Bill Swatos posted:

I think this is likely a design flaw in these newer NW-2's, Bob, so another one would likely have the same problem. Williams may have tried to address the sudden stopping and starting with larger flywheels and never thoroughly tested a prototype before releasing the redesign for manufacture. And I'm being pretty fussy as the scraping only occurs in reverse under load and most owners might not even notice it. What bothers me about it is that it does slow the loco slightly with the shell on when the scraping occurs.

Regarding the BEEPs, I've been drawn into the "vortex." I just got the tuscan one like Don's and, if it works like it looks, I'll be getting more in other roadnames, just like you have. Do you have any details on those ERR boards? I've heard about them here but never looked into them further.

Bill,

I did a build thread documenting my wins and losses....

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...c/err-upgrade-newbie

Happy reading.

The BEEPS are a blast. There are two versions, the older ones have smaller  power drivers on the boards and are rather slow. The newer ones have upgraded boards and run at faster speeds. The old ones have chromed handrails and the new are painted.

Some of the shells you see for sale online are aftermarket repros, but they do fit on the powered chassis.

Good luck.

@GG1 4877 posted:

I love the A5 as it was such an iconic part of the PRR roster of Belpaire firebox locomotives that made it into the postwar era.

Jonathan,

Based on your buying preferences, I assume the A5 you will buy will be a Sunset/3rd Rail model.  I have the oversize K-Line/Lionel model, but wanted a scale model of it.  I was looking at 3rd Rail's 3-rail version of it, but after talking to a few folks who do command upgrades, it sounded like this little brass engine would be tough to upgrade.  I finally settled on the more scale sized MTH model.

@GG1 4877 posted:

There is a 3 rail one coming up for auction at my TCA Division in two weeks that I think I will make a run at to run at my operating club. 

Jonathan,

This is another 3rd Rail model I almost bought.  At the time I was looking at this, a Lionel TMCC version showed up and for the price it was a better deal than the 3rd Rail (which needed to be upgraded).  While I really like that 3rd Rail J1, the Lionel version turned out to be a pretty good model.

@CAPPilot posted:

Jonathan,

Based on your buying preferences, I assume the A5 you will buy will be a Sunset/3rd Rail model.  I have the oversize K-Line/Lionel model, but wanted a scale model of it.  I was looking at 3rd Rail's 3-rail version of it, but after talking to a few folks who do command upgrades, it sounded like this little brass engine would be tough to upgrade.  I finally settled on the more scale sized MTH model.

Hi Ron - Is your MTH A5 a RailKing?  It looks terrific!  

Patrick,

It is a Premier model.  It is supposedly 1:48 scale and is definitely smaller than my K-Line A5.  It is a nice little engine for switching.

@CAPPilot posted:

Jonathan,

Based on your buying preferences, I assume the A5 you will buy will be a Sunset/3rd Rail model.  I have the oversize K-Line/Lionel model, but wanted a scale model of it.  I was looking at 3rd Rail's 3-rail version of it, but after talking to a few folks who do command upgrades, it sounded like this little brass engine would be tough to upgrade.  I finally settled on the more scale sized MTH model.

Ron,

I'm not necessarily set on a Sunset A5, just a 2 rail one since all but two of my PRR steam locomotives are 2 rail.  I honestly haven't done much research on even who makes that model in 2 rail.  I know GEM imported a fairly average B6 that can be found fairly reasonably priced at times, but as I've found with the F3 Mogul, you get what you pay for on those even though mine is a later one with a can motor. 

As for the J1 in 3 rail, it seems that you can't go wrong with any of the major manufacturer's versions.  As for mine, it really is a fish out of water as it never got close to operating on the eastern seaboard, but I really don't care.  I like the locomotive's lines quite a bit.  If I ever need to pull a 50 car commuter train, that will be my go to locomotive. 

When I get some time, I'll need to photograph my other Sunset steam locomotive that I have not posted here which is an M1a.  A really nice model that lives sadly in a box too much!

@GG1 4877 posted:

Ron,

As for the J1 in 3 rail, it seems that you can't go wrong with any of the major manufacturer's versions.  As for mine, it really is a fish out of water as it never got close to operating on the eastern seaboard, but I really don't care.  I like the locomotive's lines quite a bit.  If I ever need to pull a 50 car commuter train, that will be my go to locomotive. 

I have the Lionel Legacy J1a from 2019. A really sweet engine - I wish I had room to try to run 50 passenger cars!!! As I remember, there were a lot of people who were put out by the shrill whistle, but personally, I like it.

Pennsy PA pulling an excursion run.

@Bill Swatos posted:

My newer one has flywheels on each motor that greatly reduce the "jackrabbit" starts and "slamming" stops. Unfortunately, I just found out that the rear flywheel STILL scrapes the bottom of the front window inside the shell when she is pushing a load. That pushes the rear truck firmly toward the front of the loco bringing the rear motor and flywheel with it. If Williams had just used flywheels with a diameter of about 2mm less this blasted scraping wouldn't even happen. Here's a photo of the new NW-2 chassis. Rear is the bottom of the photo:

Solved the flywheel scraping problem on my Williams PRR NW-2! For anyone who might also have this problem, simply cut a section of 1/2"w x 1/16"t brass strip as shown in the photo below. The strip should have a snug fit, so you will have to use calipers to measure your particular shell as there are small production variations in injection molded parts. When you are done with the cut, carefully file smooth all the cut edges and corners so the strip will not dig into the plastic during insertion and adjustment. Then slide the strip up toward the roof until the bottom of the strip is 5/8" above the bottom edge of the shell. You won't even have to glue it in AND it won't spread the shell if the fit is exact. When the rear truck rides forward under a "pushing" load, the motor can will contact the strip BEFORE the flywheel can contact the lower part of the front window. I wish I had thought of this before I messed around grinding the inside of the shell and glazing as seen in the photo:

I hope this helps somebody out there! It sure worked for me...

@Bill Swatos posted:

Solved the flywheel scraping problem on my Williams PRR NW-2! For anyone who might also have this problem, simply cut a section of 1/2"w x 1/16"t brass strip as shown in the photo below. The strip should have a snug fit, so you will have to use calipers to measure your particular shell as there are small production variations in injection molded parts. When you are done with the cut, carefully file smooth all the cut edges and corners so the strip will not dig into the plastic during insertion and adjustment. Then slide the strip up toward the roof until the bottom of the strip is 5/8" above the bottom edge of the shell. You won't even have to glue it in AND it won't spread the shell if the fit is exact. When the rear truck rides forward under a "pushing" load, the motor can will contact the strip BEFORE the flywheel can contact the lower part of the front window. I wish I had thought of this before I messed around grinding the inside of the shell and glazing as seen in the photo:

I hope this helps somebody out there! It sure worked for me...

That's a great fix Bill. Perseverance pays off!

Bob

Here is my Lionel B6 0-4-0 6-8635 1986 was a A.T.S.F. Repaint and weathered, Renumbered to 1931 for the year for my mother's birth year. $30.00 engine and runs great. Parts were from the Train Tender. Also added grab rails on the boiler.

On the tender grab rails were added with engine# 1931 on back up light

then added were tender marker lights and grab bar near the coupler

added grab bars on the front of the tender along with some real coal that I had found from an old rail line in Newport, NY

Painted some brass pipes and gauges then painted and added a fireman, and engineer

Well done Sitka! Is the rear headlight on your A5 switcher functional? Been wanting to squeeze a tiny lamp, like a grain of wheat bulb, into the rear light on my Lionel 0-8-0 switcher.If I could just replace the whole light assembly with a working one...well that would be great.

@GG1 4877 posted:

If this is a repost, I apologize!!!

No need to apologize to me Jonathan.   

I like seeing these kinds of photos.

@Jack Petrof posted:

Well done Sitka! Is the rear headlight on your A5 switcher functional? Been wanting to squeeze a tiny lamp, like a grain of wheat bulb, into the rear light on my Lionel 0-8-0 switcher.If I could just replace the whole light assembly with a working one...well that would be great.

Yes the tender light was operating when I bought, Thanks

@Jack Petrof posted:

Well done Sitka! Is the rear headlight on your A5 switcher functional? Been wanting to squeeze a tiny lamp, like a grain of wheat bulb, into the rear light on my Lionel 0-8-0 switcher.If I could just replace the whole light assembly with a working one...well that would be great.

Here is a picture of parts for the switcher Bulb 2312-9 try the train tender

GG1s running lite.

A BEEP leading an excursion train.

Thanks Sitka!  That does look like a fit. Traintender is my go to for parts. That'll be in my next order.

Pennsy switcher moving a new Missile for the U.S. Army, Hope all are Veterans had a good day God Bless America!

Pennsy GP taking in the view, Thank a Vet.

@trumptrain posted:

Pennsy PA pulling an excursion run.

trumptrain (Pat) very nice story in the December run well done will have the grandson read it and Thank You for your dad's service to our Great Country! God Speed!  Mark

OK, guys, here are the first scenes from my humble 5' x 14' pike. Finally off the coffee table (except for the PE for the holidays). First, here's my scale Williams GG-1 and her semi-scale Congressional consist, complete with "fantasy" dome car:

And here she is in action, clocking about 100 mph:

Since it's my only "train space," I've got to figure out how to integrate with my HO trackage and roster...

@Bill Swatos

Great start Bill!

Bob

@Bill Swatos posted:

OK, guys, here are the first scenes from my humble 5' x 14' pike. Finally off the coffee table (except for the PE for the holidays). First, here's my scale Williams GG-1 and her semi-scale Congressional consist, complete with "fantasy" dome car:

And here she is in action, clocking about 100 mph:

Since it's my only "train space," I've got to figure out how to integrate with my HO trackage and roster...

WTG Bill Great start, now that's some Highballing!! Mark