Switcher Saturday 09-04-2021

Penn Central SW8 8616 (Atlas O) shoves a cut of empty gondolas into the yard:

Tom

Once hooked up,  the boxcar is moved out onto the mainline and hooked on the waiting train.

After the 0-6-0 spots the transition gondola and pulls clear, the big J comes in to hustle down the main.

You can get a slightly better view of the 0-6-0 at the end of this video

Another early start!

@coach joe posted:

Another early start!

Yup, I knew I couldn't get all the videos in one post, even after editing them down,  so I figured I could get a couple posts in a row .  Good old Tom jumped in while I was still playing around. 🙂

Happy Saturday guys!

Happy SWSAT everyone. Man I’m late. I bought this Lionel NW2 last week on eBay it needs the headlight replaced I serviced it and thought I would share it today. I’ve read where this was a 1962 release with the Cyclone set. Here it is pulling some Lionel Standard O scars enjoy your weekend.

Lots of yard action this morning on my pike with box cabs and 44 toners leading the way -

Happy Switcher Sat everyone!

New York Central EMD GP9 #6001 and Boston & Maine Alco S-2 #1274 are two recent MTH Premier models with PS3. Both are smooth-running and well-detailed. At the South end of my 12’X8’ layout with New Haven RS-3 #531 in the background. Question - Who can tell me a place where these three railroads actually met?

MELGAR

Rusty

Happy SWSat!

Off to another great start this week. I've been enjoying just flipping the power on and running trains lately. My two recent projects behind me, the layout is basically together now and ready to roll. Still running ATSF so this week the crew on #2174 (Lionel 0-6-0 conventional), is busy shifting cars. They wanted to get everything done today since Monday is a holiday and the Yardmaster gave the crew a bonus if they got the revenue cars to the interchange before the end of the day.

First move was to grab two tankers from the local factory and move them to the yard. Once they were spotted they dropped the two box cars in their place.

The next set of orders was to pull a couple of cars from Team Track #2 and run them to the interchange along with an empty hopper.

With the jobs completed they stopped at the tower to check in with the boss and head off to a well deserved long weekend.

Happy Labor Day!

Bob

Blooper reel

What happens when the coupler on the 0-6-0 is a bit stiff and the box car is very light.

@jhz563 posted:

Yup, I knew I couldn't get all the videos in one post, even after editing them down,  so I figured I could get a couple posts in a row .  Good old Tom jumped in while I was still playing around. 🙂

Happy Saturday guys!

Oops! Sorry for cutting in line   I had just finished watching a football game and saw the SWSAT train was in motion, so I jumped on!  Besides, I wanted to sleep in this morning!

Thanks for getting things going!

Tom

Bob, you've got to weight those cars to NMRA standards.

@coach joe posted:

Bob, you've got to weight those cars to NMRA standards.

Yes I do Joe. I wish I still had my Dad's old bucket of lead fishing weights. We used to make our own and had lot's of loose pieces.

Have a great weekend, and a happy Labor Day!

Switchers from the roads I grew up with. Just received the Rock one yesterday. I took it out of the box for the pictures and surprise, the power truck fell out. I checked back on ebay and then remembered I bought it this way for a very low price. Now I just have to figure out where the loose wires go. Postwar and modern motors are not my forte.

Dear Switcher Saturday Forumites,

my weekly switcher photo attached is a Weaver PRR A5 I weathered and detailed.

The Weaver model was IMHO the most accurate in comparison to thr GEM/Olympia version.

safe Labor Day holiday to all!!

John P Dunn Sr. Scale2Rail Promotions

Strasburg Pa. show- 10/16/21

A Lackawanna SW8 (Atlas) rolls a short freight through town. This switcher sees a lot of work on my layout.

Happy Labor Day weekend, SwSat fans!  After an unwelcome visit from Ida last week, we are enjoying a beautiful Fall day in Central MA.

There isn’t a lot of activity in your yardmaster’s territory today, so he settled for a photo of NYC RS3 no. 8106 backing into the engine house.  A quick lube and checkup is all she needs today; she’ll be back on the high iron soon.

John

Hi everyone, great switcher photos for sure.  jhz - I applaud your skill at actually making those "automatic" prewar couplers work, my success rate is far lower. Great videos but the pastel colored boxcar is a mystery to me, who made that?  Lee that 633 really runs smooth, OBTW I checked my reference material and you are correct, the 633 was offered one year only...1962. It came in outfit (set) # 11212 along with a 3439 Turbo Missile Car,6825 flatcar with trestle bridge load, and a 6057 SP type caboose in red.  Eight curved (0-27) , one straight, one uncoupling track and a 1010 35 watt transformer.  Not sure what you paid for the engine, BUT the set because it was offered for one year only has considerable collector value and the price for a complete set in the box is eye watering!! beardog49 neat NW-2's in great livery.  I am sure you can get the wiring sorted, these MPC early engines are not very complicated as they really didn't have any function except horn, lights, and reverse. Everyone else thanks for the videos and pictures, I really enjoyed them for this Labor Day Saturday.

The L&S due to tight radii and close clearances operates a number of GE 44 Ton Switchers, these from Williams.  Here is the UP variant moving a short boxcar run from the wharf up to the staging yard.

Here is the 44 Ton that the L&S borrowed from "big brother" (Southern) to move a refr full of "Blue Bell" Ice cream to small town for the Labor Day picnic later today.

After unloading the same refr is headed back to its source at the ice cream plant, but it ends up holding up the regular afternoon freight run (much to the annoyance of a very senior conductor who wants to get home for Labor Day).  This  switcher is the K line MP-15 in UP colors.

I hope everyone has a great labor day

Don

@Don McErlean. I will give you a hint, it came with a pink engine!

Yay SWSat is rolling along.

Great stuff posted everyone. I am going to post my Minerva 2R O scale 0-6-0T Hunslet #1 named Janine It is acting as my station pilot and shifting one of my scratch built SD&JR passenger cars. I had the W Irons and axel boxes cast in brass from a 3D print.

Over the lockdown I decided to start crafting my own cars. I started with a Cricut and styrene. The only commercial parts are the wheels and buffers. They have wood frames and stiffening as well as full interiors. The whole process is fun but I need to just go ahead and finish some. The under frame on this car need paint and some buffers.  I can tell that my crafting is getting better.

There is my little update on what I am up to in the form of an SWSat post. Hope everyone is well and I can’t wait to see what you post.

PS @Don McErlean The UP only ever had one 44tonner it was their shop switcher and probably shoved that BigBoy that is touring around. Now it is in a museum in Danbury CT. It is no longer in UP paint because it became a power plant switcher in CT. It I s the only engine I have ever had a chance to run. When I saw WBB was making one I had to get one for myself.

@Silver Lake posted:

Yay SWSat is rolling along.

Great stuff posted everyone. I am going to post my Minerva 2R O scale 0-6-0T Hunslet #1 named Janine It is acting as my station pilot and shifting one of my scratch built SD&JR passenger cars. I had the W Irons and axel boxes cast in brass from a 3D print.

Over the lockdown I decided to start crafting my own cars. I started with a Cricut and styrene. The only commercial parts are the wheels and buffers. They have wood frames and stiffening as well as full interiors. The whole process is fun but I need to just go ahead and finish some. The under frame on this car need paint and some buffers.  I can tell that my crafting is getting better.

There is my little update on what I am up to in the form of an SWSat post. Hope everyone is well and I can’t wait to see what you post.

Hi Andy - that carriage looks awesome,  great work 😃

Good afternoon fellow switcher fans!  You all have some great videos up!!  AND great photos and info too!! WOW!!!  JHZ563 - I like your succession of switcher videos and thanks so much for notching out the throttle and getting us rolling today!!   

On the Free State Junction Railway railroad fan/ junkie "Roamer the Foamer" was out and about on the FJSR property this week and snapped these photos.  Roamer FJSR visit included Butler Junction and the Mountain Division.

Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend everyone!!  Be safe = Be well!

Ol Roamer climbed the switch tower steps to get this shot ... here we see a Westside Lumber shay pushing a string of cars through Butler Junction.  Roamer was able to shoot the loco in succession as it passed over the grade crossing at Patsburg Ave.  Good thing shays move slowly because Roamer was one busy guy running around to take these shots.  

That's headend brakeman Virgil Tucker riding the rear of the tender.  

Up on the Mountain Division Roamer was able to capture these scenes of a Ma & Pa SW1 heading a freight as it crossed the Bollman Bridge with  fall foliage as a backdrop.

Here the freight is seen approaching Danlillou siding.  With bell clanging engineer Spunky Harding pulls the horn cord for a rhythmic two longs, a short, and a long as the train approaches the rural grade crossing. The locomotive's horn echos throughout the mountains.

Hard working MOW laborers  don't even take notice as the SW1 passes by.

Soon the SW1 and its' short freight train will be swallowed by yet another tunnel on the Mountain Division.    

@jdunn posted:

Dear Switcher Saturday Forumites,

my weekly switcher photo attached is a Weaver PRR A5 I weathered and detailed.

The Weaver model was IMHO the most accurate in comparison to thr GEM/Olympia version.

safe Labor Day holiday to all!!

John P Dunn Sr. Scale2Rail Promotions

Strasburg Pa. show- 10/16/21

John - fabulous weathering job on your A5!!  This is an awesome looking model for sure.  On the tender coupler shot, I notice a second hose.  Is that hose a steam line used for heating passenger cars when the A5 is on assignment in passenger stations/coach yards?   Also I love the job you did with the water in the stream!  

jhz...Oh No a "pink engine" in tinplate, and I thought my postwar pink engine was an outlier...Well regardless mate, that boxcar looked good getting switched.  Trumptrain, great pictures and stories thanks for posting.  Silver Lake - superb craftsmanship the engine and cars look terrific.

Regards to all

Don

Silverlake - I just noticed your comment on the UP 44 ton switcher...I too was unsure of the reality of the loco when I decided to buy it but the livery just looked too good to pass up.  I guess as long as they had 1 it counts !!

Don

@lee drennen : Lee I will apologize in advance for being a "research nerd" but your acquisition of the #633 diesel switcher by Lionel got me thinking.  1962 was the beginning of Lionel expanding its ties with the large retailer and mail order firms.  This trend would continue and expand as Lionel sought a means of sustaining sales in what was clearly becoming a declining market.  So what did that mean for your #633??  Well as I said in my original post, the 633 was only used by Lionel in ONE traditional catalogued outfit (set) that was # 11212 sold one year only 1962.

However the #633 was used in 6 promotional outfits in 1962 and one in 1963.  They were:

1. # 19191 sold through Montgomery Wards

2. # 19149 sold through JC Penney

3.# 19151 sold through Allied Toy Distributors

4.# 19152 sold through a large buying cooperative, Associated Merchandising  Corp (AMC)

5. # 19184 sold through Halle Brothers

6. # 19198 sold through Robin Distributors

All of these sets were sold in 1962 only.  However your #633 did make it into 1963 in one set

#19321 sold through Sears and Roebuck.

Another interesting fact, the Allied Toy Distributors set, # 19151 came with a Lionel Trestle Set and the #633 was improved slightly for this set in order to pull 5 cars up the trestle.  This was a "promotion only" modification.  The basic #633 was officially called the 633-25 and had "2 wheel drive" the modification that was made to what became known (engineering designation) #633-50 was an upgrade to "4 wheel drive" .  IAW my reference material the 633-50 is more scarce having only 3,600 produced vice the basic 633-25 which had 11,900 produced.

Oh yes, all these promotional sets had different cars, track, accessories, etc.  I do have the data on them but it would be too long to list here.  Lionel in this era borrowed a trick from Marx and would "throw in" various accessories, add on's, change rolling stock, add track etc to meet any retailers price point.  Hence most of these sets, except for the engine, can have different rolling stock.  They also used these promotional outfits to clear out any left over inventory that was available especially in rolling stock.

So you have found a really interesting little engine for sure

Regards, Don

Hey Don, tried to pm you again. Comes up "you do not have permission to pm this member"

A dirty LIRR Alco S2 handles a short freight

beardog 49  I thought I checked the correct setting, it says that I am blocking no members and should be eligible to recieve pm.   I will check again.

Don

maybe talk to Alan? new system?

John

@beardog49, @Don McErlean, you must both be a digital subscriber in order to private message.

Really?  Don, my email is jgerding49@sbcglobal.net. I wanted to talk to you about the 1708 stockcar

John

Thanks for clearing it up Ted

Bob, as per the blooper reel dilemma, I would apply automotive tire weights. Worked well for me.

John Dunn beautiful switcher and scene!

Andy Silverlake!  Your SG&DR carriages are amazing! Nice work! Thanks for sharing.

Billbarman, awesome “ short freight” really like the LIRR S2.

Steam Crazy, I like your great photo but isn’t NYC LS 8106 an RS 1? I used to have one just like it.

another great switcher Saturday! Thanks to all.

This particular thread doesn’t seem to want to load up completely on my iPad….

Anyway, here is my Alco Road Switcher RS3 I repainted and detailed for the Lackawanna Railroad. It is an MTH RK engine…

Tom

Leroof, right you are, 8106 is an RS1!  I will never claim any typing skill!

John