Switcher Saturday 12-31-22

JHZ563 - Happy New Year to you and all SWSAT fans.

Great Northern Railway #98 is a die-cast model of an EMD SW8 locomotive made by Atlas O around 2002 with MSRP $349.95 and item number 6104-1. I bought it a few years after resuming O gauge model railroading when I was doing some reading about electrification on the Great Northern Railway.

The full scale GN #98 locomotive was built in June 1951 and retired in 1982. Photographs show it operating in Seattle. It was powered by an 8-cylinder 567B engine with 800 horsepower.

EMD built 309 SW8s for U.S. Railroads between 1950 and 1954. They weighed 230,000 pounds and produced a starting tractive force of 57,000 pounds with a maximum speed of 65 miles-per-hour.

MELGAR

Happy SWSAT and Happy New Year to all!

Thank you Mr. Z for taking the time to provide this wonderful weekly format.

I humbly submit my longest owned switcher of 20 plus years.   It is in excellent condition, runs well and since I purchased it locally, know it’s lineage. It was given to a young lady as a Christmas gift by her grandfather.

Lionel 623

John

Happy New Year Switcher Sat!  Here is my favorite little steam switcher in action from yesterdays run session -

Hey Jhz , did Santa bring you that red 256? If so, how is it and where are the pics?  

Happy Switcher New Year, SwSat faithful!  Your Yardmaster, feeling nostalgic on this holiday, has decided to reach into the archives for something old and something new.

The old is NYC B6 0-6-0 no. 429.  This senior citizen was built by American Flyer circa 1938 and is the oldest switcher in your Yardmaster’s modest collection.  She runs very well except for a balky E unit, so he locks her in forward.  She is as speedy as any engine in his collection, but “slippery”, so a light consist is in order.

The newest switcher in the collection is a Williams Rutland GE 70 tonner, no. 500.  She is also a good runner except for “jackrabbit” starts (mitigated somewhat by coupling up a heavy train.  She “pulls above her weight”, like most Williams engines).

Your Yardmaster will be hunting for a switcher bargain at the Springfield train show, just a few weeks away.  He hopes to meet some of his SwSat brethren at that time!

John

SIRT 29 shoves a cut of cars into Edgewater Yard to make up a roustabout (local freight).

The C&O boxcar is a cast aluminum kit-built Scale Model Engineering item from 1936. The ATSF boxcar was rebuilt from a $10.00 'junker' in the 1980's.

The 0-6-0 center cab was built from a highly modified Locomotive Workshop kit. As a boy just before my 7th birthday, I saw the real SIRT 29 pass buy close -up at Harbor Road station. An aunt was taking me to South Beach for an early birthday treat on the amusement rides, when the 29 rolled by the platform swathed in steam and smoke. And it was HOT!

I was in my 50's when I learned that this was its last day of service. It was also the last SIRT steam locomotive still running. The brass LWS model followed.

S. Islander

Happy SWSat!

The yardmaster woke up this morning to no heat in the house. Fortunately he keeps spare thermo-couplers in stock and made quick work of the repair. At least it didn't happen this time last week.......

This week's featured switcher is the Fairbanks Morse H10-44. This is a MTH PS1 model, in PRR livery, # 5984. I purchased this from Trainz several years ago and may upgrade it to PS3 one day.

The FM H-10-44 was a yard switcher produced by Fairbanks-Morse from August, 1944–March, 1950. The units featured a 1,000-horsepower (750 kW), six-cylinder opposed piston prime mover, and were configured in a B-B wheel arrangement mounted atop a pair of two-axle AAR Type A trucks, with all axles powered. Many H-10-44s received modifications that increased their horsepower rating to 1,200 hp (890 kW).

The Raymond Loewy-designed carbody featured a slanted nose, sloping hood lines, and (considered to be its most distinguishing feature) a protruding roof visor mounted on the rear of the cab. These styling cues were carried through to the H-10-44's successor, the FM H-12-44, until September 1952 when the exterior design was "Spartanized" to reduce production costs.

A total of 195 units were built for American railroads. Three intact examples of the H-10-44 are known to survive today, all of which are owned by railroad museums. Most notable of these is Milwaukee Road #760 (originally delivered as #1802), the first Fairbanks–Morse locomotive constructed in their own plant, which is preserved and operational at the Illinois Railway Museum.

The Pennsylvania RR owned 55 H10's, most of which survived into the Penn Central days.

Bob

Happy Last SwSat of 2022!!!

Thanks jhz563 for getting us up with a purpose on Saturday mornings!

Here is one of my favorites, PRR H12-44.
Happy New Year to all!

Wow, you guys begin early, and there’s some awesome pictures posted, and it’s our last Switcher Saturday for an even numbered year 2022. Thank you @jhz563, for starting this thread for all of us here on the OGR Forum, you efforts in keeping this really fun to review thread alive is much appreciated. Happy New Year to everyone and may 2023 be even more Fun. @Melgar, thank you for your continued help with thread to. Happy Railroading Everyone

Just had to add my $.02, after seeing 2 FM switchers in a row. This, along with it’s unpowered dummy, were, at the time they resurfaced, to my knowledge, the only engines I owned that escaped a drowning in Sandy.

Yay! Last SwSat of the year!

Great posts so far! This week I’m posting a few pics from an ops session I attended about a month ago on a HO scale Civil War era layout. I worked a local freight that handled all switching from Big Shanty to Chattanooga TN on the WARR. My engine was the “Cattawissa” a 4-4-0. At the time these would have been the jack of all trades do freight and passenger work as well as switching. Oh and all the coupling was link and pin which ment a steady hand and eye strain. Since it had a cow catcher in from a long bar was the front coupler for the head end switching.

If you want to see more there is a video of the operation on my YouTube channel.
Have a great weekend. Happy new years and I can’t wait to see what you post.

Happy New Year, SWSAT crew!

Our granddaughter was with us this past week to celebrate Christmas.  Of course, we had to run some trains.  She asked if we could run some of HER trains on my layout.  She chose Diesel, from the Thomas series.  I dug out some old hoppers and gondolas for her to pull around.  She wanted to do some "switching" like Papa does.  We assembled a train of gondolas. which she had filled with things from her kitchen center.  She would move the train back and forth as I operated the switches and made sure the cars were coupled properly.  When the train was assembled, she knew what to do:

Have a happy, safe and prosperous New Year!

Tom

Have a great Saturday all!

@Tom Densel posted:

Happy New Year, SWSAT crew!

Our granddaughter was with us this past week to celebrate Christmas.  Of course, we had to run some trains.  She asked if we could run some of HER trains on my layout.  She chose Diesel, from the Thomas series.  I dug out some old hoppers and gondolas for her to pull around.  She wanted to do some "switching" like Papa does.  We assembled a train of gondolas. which she had filled with things from her kitchen center.  She would move the train back and forth as I operated the switches and made sure the cars were coupled properly.  When the train was assembled, she knew what to do:

Have a happy, safe and prosperous New Year!

Tom

WTG Tom, start your granddaughter early with the train bug! Mark

@RSJB18 posted:

Happy SWSat!

The yardmaster woke up this morning to no heat in the house. Fortunately he keeps spare thermo-couplers in stock and made quick work of the repair. At least it didn't happen this time last week.......

Bob, what a  funny  coincidence. We woke up this morning to no AC. Fortunately, the AC repair guy was in the neighborhood and was able to get us back up and running just a few minutes ago - blown compressor motor on a 10 year old unit.  Like you, we’re just glad it’s fixed and that this didn’t happen when we had our family over during Christmas.

Good morning fellow switcher fans!!   Thanks JHZ563 for throwing the switch and getting us rolling this morning!    I've really enjoyed reading information, looking at photos, and watching your videos guys!! Always so much for me to learn from all of you.  Thank you all!!  

Today the Free State Junction Railway switch crew has gathered on the front deck of WM BL2 number 81 to wish all of you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!  

B&O GP9 on the service track getting ready for snow plow duty.  

Later the GP 9 is refueled on the Mountain Division.

Washington Terminal RS 1 trundles across the Bollman bridge with a freight train on a fall day.

Here are some images of my MTH FM H10-44 working the yard.  In Pennsy terminology, it is a FS10 (FM Switcher 1000hp).  I like MTH's model because it represents the engine as initially built, not the spartanized version Bob alluded to above.

Have a great final SWSAT for 2022…🚂😉

Hey, all you guys with the neat FM H10-44s;  if I come home with one from the Springfield show, I'm going to tell my wife it's your fault!

John

@Steam Crazy posted:

Hey, all you guys with the neat FM H10-44s;  if I come home with one from the Springfield show, I'm going to tell my wife it's your fault!

John

While they haven’t been released yet, MTH has several FM H10-44s pending. Frisco, N&W, UP, and NYC. And if anybody is selling the Santa Fe zebra stripe FM from a few years ago (30-20739-1), I’m interested.

Mark, thanks for the tip!

John

Happy New Year, everyone!  
A Christmas Story 0–8-0 (Lionel-built) is soon to pull my “Christmas Special” into the Cleveland Street Yard for the last time this year tonight. Waving goodbye for another holiday season is The Old Man at the throttle.

Happy Switcher Saturday. Shark Bay Terminal FM H10-44 and Shark Bay R.R. ALCO HH660 switching some cars. Happy New Year.

Okay gang, as mentioned I have more to share..

First,  the kiddos were treated to a Dutch Wonderland visit by their Grandmother.   In one of the eateries we stumbled across a UP geep working hard...

Then, as alluded to above, I did indeed get my long sought Red 256 for Christmas 🎄.

While supposedly based on Milwaukee road electric locomotives,  to me it looks an whole lot like a New Haven EP-1🙂.

(Image from Wikipedia)

So without further ado - my white whale!

For all it's size and heft, its still a little slippery on start-up due to tinplate wheels and no traction tires.  I may add some weight eventually,  but for right now I'm in love.   I have been pursuing this beast for at least five years, and I think it's awesome!

Well helo SwSat fans, here we are either starting a new year or ending the old one, depends on your point of view.

Here is the little Hornby type 51 from the late 1950's thru 1962 pulling a cattle car down the line to make sure the beef for those New Year's dinners is available to support celebrations.

Here is a re-engined Hornby type 101 (Marx motor) pulling a branch line train with a cattle car and a single coach.  I hope those possengers in the coach have their windowns closed or the smell may be too much!!

Here is the lionel diecast #204 from 1941-42 pulling a short freight down the line.

Leaping forward into the era of the "road switcher" here is the Burlington 2328 by Lionel from 1956 in charge of a local freight.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Don

@jhz563 posted:

So without further ado - my white whale!

For all it's size and heft, it’s still a little slippery on start-up due to tinplate wheels and no traction tires.  I may add some weight eventually,  but for right now I'm in love.   I have been pursuing this beast for at least five years, and I think it's awesome!

Awesome! She’s a beauty!  Love the red passenger cars as well!

Nothing says Christmas better than a red 256 with red passenger cars! I’ve never noticed any slippage on mine. However, she’s never pulled more than the three red passenger cars I have. You seem to be pulling more of those red beauties.

I've enjoyed the posts of the FM H10-44!   Raymond Lowey did a wonderful job with the styling of this locomotive.  I've always had a soft spot for the H10-44 but for some reason never acquired one.  I just might make that aquisition in 2023.    Meanwhile here is a video re-post of a Patapsco and Back Rivers RR VO 1000 pushing a string of freight cars.  Happy New Year!!  

Happy New Years!

@RayKay posted:

Happy New Years!

Nice video.  Love this Reading unit🙂!

@jhz563 posted:

Nice video.  Love this Reading unit🙂!

Thank you very much, Have a great New Year.

Ray

Morning guys, sorry for being late to the party, but I wanted to say what wonderful scenes you all have and thank you for sharing all the great photos and videos!

I will try to get back into things once I get my layout rebuilt! But don't worry I will be looking to see what everyone else is doing!

Happy New Year’s y’all. Welcoming 2023 with a little switching session before the football games begin! I got the Lionel genset making a move with the heritage GATX high cube from Atlas.

Stopped today to grab some pics of East Penn Railroad 1701.

And neatly parked clear of the main🙂.

@Jesse Ferguson, I like your CSX Genset switcher, and your good track work, and nice scenery.  @jhz563, nice pictures of the old #1701 switcher, and it looks like it’s rested there for several years. It’s now 2023, Happy Railroading Everyone