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Good morning everyone and welcome to a December edition of Switcher Saturday!  This is a recurring weekly thread celebrating the smaller locomotives that do the big work of railroading!

This thread is always open to all scales and gauges!  The only rules are to keep things somehow Switcher related,  follow the ogr tos regarding pictures,  and have fun!

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This weekend we have a selection of pictures from the archives.  Lionel,  ETS, and MTH represented in O gauge,  and Republic Locomotive and GE seen in 12" to the foot.  Some gauge 1 live steam to top it all off!

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Merry Christmas Everyone- have a great day.

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Last edited by jhz563
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Nice switcher photos JHZ563! What's the weight of that Pennsylvania Power & Light Company locomotive?

At the beginning of the steam-to-diesel transition era in 1937, railroad labor unions tried to preserve the jobs of firemen by negotiating the “90,000 Pound Rule” that required locomotives weighing more than 45 tons to have a two-man crew – engineer and fireman. To skirt this rule and avoid having to pay firemen, General Electric introduced its 44-ton diesel switcher locomotive in 1940, which could be operated legally by just an engineer.

GE produced 386 44-ton diesel switcher locomotives between 1940 and 1956. They were used on at least 26 Class 1 railroads and by many industrial operators. Most 44-tonners were powered by two Caterpillar D17000 V8 diesel engines, each developing 180 horsepower. An electric traction motor was mounted on each axle of the two-axle trucks.

The MTH Premier scale model of the GE 44-ton diesel switcher was announced in the 2015 Volume 1 catalog at a list price of $449.95 and went on sale in October 2016. As a fan of the New Haven Railroad, I purchased two examples (Item 20-20470) with road numbers 0807 and 0815. They are perfect for my 10’-by-5’ model railroad. These die-cast models are heavy for such a small locomotive, have realistic engine sounds, and are the best low-speed runners of any of my engines. The videos show #0807 running at 12 scale miles-per-hour under conventional control but it can creep even more slowly. MTH Northeastern caboose C-649 at the rear of the train is not prototypical.

GE 44-ton #0807 was delivered to the New Haven Railroad in 1945 and was geared for a maximum speed of thirty-five miles-per-hour. It operated on the New Haven at least through 1957 and was off the roster by 1961.

MELGAR

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Last edited by MELGAR

A bulldog of a switcher:

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It's an MTH Premier PS3 New York Ontario and Western 44 ton center cab diesel. I believe it is a scale 44 tonner. Though diminutive, it has heft and is a good puller for its size. It runs and sounds great on DCS, and the electrocouplers work flawlessly on DCS. It's definitely one of my favorite switchers.

It's livery is similar, but not identical, to a center cab diesel that I've seen in photos of trains that ran on The Put.

Over time, I've been adding features of The Put to my model railroad.

That center cab diesel on The Put might have been from a small branch line railroad with the name Addison in it. I don't remember the full name, off the top of my head, but will try to track it down and let you folks know what it is.

Always enjoy this Switcher Saturday thread, which I look forward to all week. I do my best to contribute a little something to it every week. Arnold

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It’s SwSat again!  Saturdays have never been so much fun!  Hooray!

Your Yardmaster, having enjoyed railfanning the B&A recently, headed out to the line again today.  He filmed NYC RS3 no. 8109 - seen last week - with sister no. 8106 heading up the weekly beer train to Boston.  That was fun, but seeing foreign  power, like he saw on the B&M, was totally unexpected!

Believe it or not, it’s PRR’s Broadway Express, far away from it’s usual New York-Chicago route.  The express is led by E6 Atlantic no. 1600.  PRR’s Atlantics were among the heaviest of their type, handling trains pulled by light Pacifics on other roads.

This Saturday is even better because your Yardmaster is headed to a train show!  This is the second of three shows in four weeks!

John

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Wellsville, Addison and Galeton. That was the name of the railroad on the center cab diesel seen in photos of trains on The Put.

It can be seen on page 39 of a book entitled: Forgotten Railroads Through Westchester County, and beneath the photo of the yellow and white diesel pn page 39, it says: "The scrap contractor's train is tied up for the day at Briarcliff Manor in this November 1962 scene. The contractor leased a distinctive 900 hp General Electric centercab diesel from shoreline Wellsville, Addison & Galeton. Photo by Frank Schlegel, Collection Glenn L. Rowe."

Not sure of the size of the real thing. It might have been 70 tons instead of 44 tons.  Arnold

Last edited by Arnold D. Cribari

Happy SWSat!

House reno is winding down. The contractor's should finish on Monday. I'm still busy with project work, but did manage to get my new engine serviced (full lube, added a BCR), programmed into my Cab-1L, and on the rails earlier this week.

I previewed it last SWSat, Lionel New York Central RS-11 w/tmcc. It has fan-driven smoke but I don't run it for fear of dirty looks from the CEO.
I have two other's in D&H and NH and they are well detailed and nice runners. They navigate my 027 curves without a problem. Can't wait to run all three together.

Here is the shakedown run.

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Have a great weekend.

Bob

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@Steam Crazy posted:

It’s SwSat again!  Saturdays have never been so much fun!  Hooray!

Your Yardmaster, having enjoyed railfanning the B&A recently, headed out to the line again today.  He filmed NYC RS3 no. 8109 - seen last week - with sister no. 8106 heading up the weekly beer train to Boston.  That was fun, but seeing foreign  power, like he saw on the B&M, was totally unexpected!

Believe it or not, it’s PRR’s Broadway Express, far away from it’s usual New York-Chicago route.  The express is led by E6 Atlantic no. 1600.  PRR’s Atlantics were among the heaviest of their type, handling trains pulled by light Pacifics on other roads.

This Saturday is even better because your Yardmaster is headed to a train show!  This is the second of three shows in four weeks!

John

Love this, John, thanks for sharing. You have a very interesting looking model railroad, and the NY Central RS3 running in your video is also one of my favorite locomotives. The real thing ran on The Put.

And, the B&A is also one of my favorite railroads, having gone to Albany Law School, and married a lovely woman (married now for 45 years), originally from the Lansingberg section of Troy, NY in the Albany, NY area.

Here is a photo of my Lionel B&A Hudson:

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Arnold

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Last edited by Arnold D. Cribari

Yay SWSat is on!
I see we are off to a great start this AM. Great posts so far guys.

This week I am posting a picture of my LBSCR A12 Terrier 0-6-0T Brighton acting as station pilot and moving visiting LMS Black Five 4-6-0 5190 into position. The terrier is from Dapol and the Black Five is a kit build both in 2 rail O scale.

8F8E761F-8F4E-41BD-AF29-AF9716191EF3This week is the beginning of Holiday Train Show open houses at my club the New York Society of Model Engineers in Carlstat NJ. Come by and see the layouts we are open 1-5 every day this weekend and next. I’ll try to get some switchers out on the Main if you can find me.

Also I posted a new video about this years New York City Holiday store windows on my YouTube channel linked in the signature. Check it out if you’d like.

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Last edited by Silver Lake

Well everyone, this is certainly a great Saturday !  jhz - neat photos especially of the 1:1 locomotives, admit I had not heard of "Republic" but its a neat switcher.  Arnold / Melgar - thanks for the 44 ton history.  I have two 44 tonners but mine are WbB, and  as you say they run great and navigate my 0-27 curves.  @Strap Hanger - good looking around the tree layout @tnkMarx- that NYC GE 70 ton pulling the Christmas Tree train is neat! @Steam Crazy- 3 shows in 4 weeks - LUCKY DUCK! @RSJB18- beautiful NYC RS-11 best of luck with her.  Tom / Sitka - great pictures and video.

@Silver Lake - great UK trains, the switcher I had never seen before.  However, for my input today, I am going to go to school off of you, and post some Hornby, concentrating on the little engines that worked the local branch lines and industry spurs.

Here is the Hornby type 51 pulling a short train of type 31 coaches.

Hornby Type 31 coaches and 51 loco

Here a pre-nationalization Type 101 tank pulls some LMS coaches down the branch line.

Hornby M3 with train

Here the humble Hornby type MO from 1930 pulls a little train of Mettoy wagons.

Hornby MO with Mettoy train at McDonalds curve

Happy Holidays Everyone

Don

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Last edited by Don McErlean

Hi SS fans,

Hartford yard has been busy today, so this v-1000 is getting a break while it’s crew goes to beans.  The diesel is one of the most dependable on the railroad, logging many hours of switching in many operating sessions.  It is permanently assigned to Hartford, a division point on this segment of railroad.  

This Weaver TMCC loco was originally Western Maryland, but repainted by the Hartford shop super (me).  Rustoleum primer provided a paste coat, followed by Scalecoat II black and decals by Champ.  Weathering is coming soon; I wish I had purchased another back in the day😉

Thanks for looking…

Don

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Wow, Switcher Saturdays are coming around faster and faster, and there are so many beautiful switchers from real to models, all wonderful to review. @RSJB18 Bob has encouraged me so much to buy the smaller switchers and I have, but here’s a 0-6-0 Pennsylvania switch engine and I do have the Lionel legacy 0-4-0 yard goat on order but haven’t heard a word on when it will get to Clarksville. Happy Railroading Everyone and Merry Christmas to All.513A3165-90FE-422B-8A11-C6EA2720835857E17152-F66C-4F90-A69E-0C5369C826BCC83421D5-EA72-4CFF-8238-2FC47EB79651

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@leapinlarry posted:

Wow, Switcher Saturdays are coming around faster and faster, and there are so many beautiful switchers from real to models, all wonderful to review. @RSJB18 Bob has encouraged me so much to buy the smaller switchers and I have, but here’s a 0-6-0 Pennsylvania switch engine and I do have the Lionel legacy 0-4-0 yard goat on order but haven’t heard a word on when it will get to Clarksville. Happy Railroading Everyone and Merry Christmas to All.513A3165-90FE-422B-8A11-C6EA2720835857E17152-F66C-4F90-A69E-0C5369C826BCC83421D5-EA72-4CFF-8238-2FC47EB79651

Happy to enab......errr......help Larry 🤣🤣🤣

Bob

@Steam Crazy posted:

Your Yardmaster got so excited about seeing the Broadway Limited, he misidentified his NYC RS1s as RS3s.  MELGAR, I’m sure you noticed the error but were too polite to point it out!

John

John,

MELGAR did not notice it! The old eyes and old brain were just not fast enough... But I find your layout and trains really interesting. How was the Marlborough Show yesterday? I wish I could have attended.

MELGAR

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