Switcher Saturday 03-11-23

Good Saturday Morning Fellow switcher fans!!  Thanks so much JHZ563 for notching out the the throttle to get us rolling!  Got to love the photo of the one of a kind Santa Fe switcher you posted!  This photo inspired my re-post of my Lionel NW2 postwar doing duty on the Mountain Division.  Also that tiny Swiss switcher you posted is a gem too!   I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's posts today!  Have a terrific weekend everyone!!

The vast majority of motive power on the Mountain Division is of the switcher variety.  Road engines are rarely assigned to the Mountain Division.   So, today some of the switchers that see regular duty on the Mountain Division are featured.

Pennsy GE 44 tonner brings some loads of coal across the Bollman bridge.     This is a Williams by Bachman unit.  

This photos taken from Mt. Patrick on the other side of the valley, we get this view of the 44 tonner doing its' thing.

A B&O Docksider and a defiant flagman ( named Brawn ) , who remains flag - less at a grade crossing.

Recently posted on SWSAT and inspired by JHZ563's post today.  A Santa Fe NW 2 pulls some empty hoppers.  This is a postwar Lionel NW2 which I bought with my lawn cutting money when I was in 7th grade.  I just had it to the shop for repairs and it now runs like the day I bought it!  ... although not at slow switcher speeds .. lol!  

Sally the Yard Goat, ready for service, this time at Gate 4 of Yankee Stadium hauling a very tall cargo:

LOL, Arnold

My latest engine purchase is New York Central ALCo RS-3 #8223 (MTH Railking 30-20269, $359.95), from a special run by forum sponsor JR Junction Train and Hobby in Syracuse, New York. This road-switcher is a sister locomotive to the model of NYC #8344 that I purchased from JR Junction several months ago. Both of these PS3 models run very smoothly, have realistic ALCo engine sounds, are well-detailed, and were manufactured without any defects that I could see.

My interest in the New York Central began as a youngster in New York City and continued during the years when I lived in Massachusetts alongside the tracks of NYC subsidiary Boston & Albany. NYC #8223 ran in both of these locales. When the New York Central dieselized after World War 2, the B&A livery was retired and its diesel locomotives wore NYC liveries. #8223 was the first New York Central RS-3.

“Boston & Albany, The New York Central in New England,” a book by Robert Willoughby Jones, has a picture of NYC “lightning stripe” RS-3 #8223 on the B&A main line in Palmer, Massachusetts pulling a mixed train with boxcars on the head end and NYC “lightning stripe” coaches behind. So, for this week’s SWSAT, I assembled a short mixed train of that description. The photos and videos also include B&A 4-6-6T #400 double-ender steam engine (Lionel Legacy 2031010) and NYC 0-4-0 #901 (MTH Premier 20-3261-1).

MELGAR

@RickO posted:

Nice, Rick, by the way I have the same Pennsy diesel switcher. I might run mine later, make a video and post it here.

On another subject, my Sally the Yard Goat still needs the Rick Squeeze. This morning the tether plug got slightly unseated causing the loco to suddenly race. You can see a bit of this racing towards the end of my above video showing Sally pulling the giraffe cars. Arnold

Happy Switcher Sat! Time for some  44 tonner action -

The sound on this MTH model is outstanding.  

Getting into the swing of things on a Saturday.

@Strap Hanger posted:

Happy Switcher Sat! Time for some  44 tonner action -

The sound on this MTH model is outstanding.  

Gorgeous layout and MTH PS3 Premier 44 tonner.  I got one in NY Ontario & Western livery.

Here is my MTH PS3  NY Central RS3 #8223 circling the Polo Grounds:

Arnold

Hello Team - I hope all is well with everyone...  Great pics/videos, thx John and team for keeping the SWSAT spirit alive!

MTH #30-20920-1 SW-8 Switcher Diesel Engine w/Proto-Sound 3.0 - New York Central (Trainworld Exclusive) Brooklyn Terminal Yards

Yay! SWSat is on track!

We are off to a great start this AM with many posts and only half are from @Arnold D. Cribari (I’m teasing because I like you 😛). And a rare appearance from @Murnane!   I see several B&O C16s also known as the “docksider” and I have a few to add to that score.

The C16 was a 0-4-0T with a saddle tank designed for the B&O they were used in tight city track by the docks of the inner harbor in Baltimore and Philadelphia. There were only ever 4 of these little engines made. #96-99. Two were later modified removing the saddle tank among other modifications into tender engines. These became known as C16a. I believe that this is one of the most popular engine styles in the whole hobby. Models have been made of them in every scale that I know of  

Embarrassingly I have more of these two classes than the B&O ever had.

Here are a pair of my 2 rail O scale versions. On the left is a International Products C16 it’s dates back to the 50’s. (Please forgive the missing front coupler. I blame a hard coupling) On the right is a C16a from Thomas Industries my model dates to the 1960’s. They both are inexpensive brass engines dating back to the Japanese brass days.

Although they look different I thought it was neat to see the same engine side by side compared before and after service modifications offered as mass produced models.

Have a great weekend I can’t wait to see what you guys post.

Hello, SwSat nation!  Considering all the negative press recently about railroads, your Yardmaster thought it was a good time to post a heartwarming story of railroads serving the public in a time of need.

Governor Gerry Mander of VT phoned Governor Malcolm Kickback of RI to advise he declared a state of emergency in VT due to a severe shortage of beer.  Armed, angry Vermonters were  protesting at package stores (that’s what we call liquor stores in NE) all over the state.  Governor Mander asked Governor Kickback if the latter could influence NE’s largest brewery, Narraganset, to arrange an emergency shipment of their refreshing lager.

Governor Kickback, realizing a crisis was at hand, got on the phone immediately.  A promise of future tax consideration got “the ball rolling” and a train was assembled by the NH.

The videos below show the progression of the emergency shipment:

1) NH 0-6-0 no. 2334 pulls the train out the brewery in Providence, RI, for delivery to the B&M in Worcester, MA.

2) B&M 0-8-0 no. 613 hauls the train up the Gardner branch to Bellows Falls, VT.

3) Rutland GE 70 tonner no. 500 picks up the train to deliver the beer to the thirsty citizens.

John

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@Murnane posted:

Hello Team - I hope all is well with everyone...  Great pics/videos, thx John and team for keeping the SWSAT spirit alive!

MTH #30-20920-1 SW-8 Switcher Diesel Engine w/Proto-Sound 3.0 - New York Central (Trainworld Exclusive) Brooklyn Terminal Yards

!!!  #SWSAT OG posting Alert !!!  Hi Rich

                                                 Special deliveries...

Happy SWSat!

Lot's of great posts this morning as usual.

Some pix from the archives this week but a sign of things to come. Because I have a lot of trains, and a small layout, I have to swap out equipment periodically. I've been running the PRR/ NYC lately and will be moving a little bit south on the Northeast Corridor to the home of the crab cake soon. I was always a big Chessie fan as a kid. I had several diesels on my old HO layouts in the 70's, so naturally when I got back into trains, I had to make sure I honored that legacy. Add in the predecessors of the Chessie, C&O, B&O, and Western Maryland and we have the mid- Atlantic region well represented.

Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated under the Chessie name from 1973 to 1987.

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the Chessie System was the creation of Cyrus S. Eaton and his protégé Hays T. Watkins, then president and chief executive officer of the C&O. A chief source of revenue for the Chessie System was coal mined in West Virginia. Another was the transport of auto parts and finished motor vehicles.

The name "Chessie System" had been a popular nickname for the C&O since the 1930s, cemented with an advertising campaign that featured a sleeping kitten named Chessie. The 1970s holding company developed the "Ches-C" emblem: a kitten outline imposed on a circle, creating a rough letter C. This emblem was emblazoned on the front of all Chessie System locomotives, and also served as the "C" in "Chessie System" on the locomotive's flanks, and on other rolling stock. (wiki)

Here's some of the switchers in the fleet.

K-line S2

MPC GP20

Lionel PWC NW2 w/ TMCC

Lionel GP9 w/ Legacy

And since John shared a unique version of a MTH 0-4-0

Have a great weekend!

Bob

@Murnane posted:

Hello Team - I hope all is well with everyone...  Great pics/videos, thx John and team for keeping the SWSAT spirit alive!

MTH #30-20920-1 SW-8 Switcher Diesel Engine w/Proto-Sound 3.0 - New York Central (Trainworld Exclusive) Brooklyn Terminal Yards

I want one!

@Strap Hanger

Your railroad never fails to make it seem like I'm at the Long Island Rail Road station in downtown Jamaica (Queens, NY) waiting for the next train on the Babylon branch. Excellent!

@trumptrain

It's about time for the railroad to repair the door on that sanitary facility!

@Murnane

Always great to see you post. Please rejoin us every week.

@Silver Lake

An interesting and unique post - as it is every Saturday.

@RSJB18

Nice Docksider. I still don't have one. But I'm still looking.

@Steam Crazy

Kudos to the New Haven, B&M and Rutland Railroads - and, of course, the Worcester Yardmaster - for preventing a catastrophic beer drought in Vermont on a Saturday.

@jhz563

Thanks for starting SWSAT every week.

MELGAR

A great SWSAT so far.  Thanks to all for sharing.  Rich comes back to check in with a Loco I can say I've never seen before and like Arnold I want one.

Andy I see one of the domes has left the unsaddled C16a.  What was that for and why was it no longer needed?

Good morning SWSAT crew!

Penn Central RS-11 7608 (Lionel) was called to duty on the wreck train this morning:

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tom

MELGAR, I believe B&A’s five Alco HH600 High Hood diesels from the Thirties were the only diesels to wear B&A livery.  I couldn’t find a source to confirm it, but I figured if anyone could, it would be you!

John

PS Wouldn’t it be nice if some dealer would offer a special run of these locomotives?

Well SwSat Fans, its a wonderful sunny day here in central Texas so I got up early to post to one of my favorite threads before heading to the hospital to spend the day with the wife.  Jhz - wonderful pictures and thanks for getting the thread started today.

Here are some pictures of a humble little Hornby (Mecanno) 0-4-0 locomotive and some Mettoy wagons.  The Hornby is the first variation of the M0 class of their line, which was specifically targeted at the low price end.  It is from 1930 and while 0 gauge it is of a somewhat smaller scale than their normal line.  The Mettoy wagons are very close to the same M0 scale but are much later, dating from the 1950's.

Here is the Hornby M0 locomotive and tender, never had either drive rods or cylinders until somewhat later (mid-30's) and it came (with the same number) in both red and green (no I don't have the green one ).

Here she is on my main line, getting ready to pull her little train of Mettoy wagons over the pike.

I know this little gal has quite a few age marks on her, but remember she is a hard worker, never far out of the yard, and is over 90 years old!!

Best wishes

Don

@coach joe posted:

Andy I see one of the domes has left the unsaddled C16a.  What was that for and why was it no longer needed?

Joe. I believe the second sand dome was removed because there was more space on top of the boiler after the saddle tank was removed. Originally the forward sand dome was for sanding the front axel and the rear for the rear. The sand pipes drain the sand from the lowest  spot on the dome. They ran under the saddle tank but over the boiler. After the modification there was not a reason for two smaller domes and one bigger one was substituted with piping that branched to each wheel. I imagine the smaller domes were harder to maintain and added another step to servicing and filling.

My whole answer is conjecture. I have no real idea but it is the story I tell myself. LoL

@Steam Crazy posted:

MELGAR, I believe B&A’s five Alco HH600 High Hood diesels from the Thirties were the only diesels to wear B&A livery.  I couldn’t find a source to confirm it, but I figured if anyone could, it would be you!

John

PS Wouldn’t it be nice if some dealer would offer a special run of these locomotives?

John,

That is correct. There were five ALCo HH-600 600 horsepower diesels, B&A Class des-7b, built in 1939, painted in Boston & Albany livery, numbered #680 to #684. They were renumbered #806 to #810 in 1948, re-lettered for New York Central in 1952, and retired in 1963. The link below will take you to a New York Central/Boston & Albany diesel roster where you will find a photograph of Boston & Albany #682. The five locomotives of this class were the only diesels ever to have been lettered for the Boston & Albany.

MELGAR

https://nycshs.files.wordpress...om-dieselroster1.pdf

Andy, conjecture or not that is an entirely plausible explanation.

Here's my MTH B&O SW1 moving some new (to me) Strasburg freight cars. The box car was a custom run by Industrial Rail and the tanker is from RMT.

Charlie

RK MLR H10-44 PS3

Wow, Switcher Saturdays are so much fun, Happy Railroading Everyone

PW Lionel New Haven 209 from 1958 made for one year Picked up dirt cheap very clean motor, still looking for that non-powered unit, Have a good Switcher Saturday all!

Here is a quick shot of the Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad I got last week.

PITTSBURGH AND OHIO CENTRAL SWITCHING ON NEVILLE ISLAND, PA RECENTLY

@RickO posted:

Rick, I may be wrong, but I think I may have the same Pennsy RS1 diesel switcher that you have in this video.

In a few minutes I will post a short video of mine rollin' down the line.

Arnold

Here is a short video of my MTH PS2 or 3 Pennsy diesel switcher (I think it's an RS1 or 3) hauling mixed freight:

I will hunt down the box and then share with more certainty the exact model of this diesel switcher. To my untrained eye, this looks like an accurate model of an authentic workhorse of a switcher. Arnold

@Sitka posted:

PW Lionel New Haven 209 from 1958 made for one year Picked up dirt cheap very clean motor, still looking for that non-powered unit, Have a good Switcher Saturday all!

Nice RARE PW 027 find, Mark! How's she run?

Two of my MTH switchers. One I rebadged for Jenkins Valve. We had a factory and track entrance in Bridgeport CT.

@Bill Swatos posted:

Nice RARE PW 027 find, Mark! How's she run?

Runs like a champ Bill inside was very clean, horn works and use was low on rollers, Other than the shell having marks on it, can't complain for 36.00 bucks. How's that F3 looking?

@Strap Hanger posted:

Happy Switcher Sat! Time for some  44 tonner action -

The sound on this MTH model is outstanding.  

She also rolls right through that turnout, too!

@Bill Swatos posted:

She also rolls right through that turnout, too!

Yes. Although the MTH 44 toners are notorious for stalling over turnouts, mine seems to handle 031 real track switches just fine.  I had some sections of unlevel track that gave her a hard time but once I shimmed them to level, all is well. Great little engine.

@Strap Hanger posted:

Yes. Although the MTH 44 toners are notorious for stalling over turnouts, mine seems to handle 031 real track switches just fine.  I had some sections of unlevel track that gave her a hard time but once I shimmed them to level, all is well. Great little engine.

My MTH 44-tonners run smoothly through Atlas O-54 turnouts at 12 scale miles-per-hour. Video shows engine running conventionally through two switches. Track is level with no kinks anywhere. Maybe people expect their engines to run through switches at 3 scale miles-per-hour and they stall, but I don't run that slowly.

MELGAR

@Strap Hanger posted:

Yes. Although the MTH 44 toners are notorious for stalling over turnouts, mine seems to handle 031 real track switches just fine.  I had some sections of unlevel track that gave her a hard time but once I shimmed them to level, all is well. Great little engine.

Indeed. I wonder how the MTH 44-ton compares to the WBB 44-ton in turnout performance. I have the WBB 70-ton and, as I mentioned a couple of SWSAT's ago, she runs great but I don't have turnouts yet so I don't have any direct experience in this regard.