Switcher Saturday 6-19-21

Recently seen on the River City 3 Railers layout.......

Peter

The boxcab is coming out of the yard, just for SWS (I love this little guy)-

Looks like he’s blocking the 44 tonner -

The yard crew seems ambivalent, probably talking about some of the great  eurocup and America’s cup soccer matches (Italy, France, and Brazil are all playing  fabulous)-

bonus shot of the switcher activity in the yard -

Happy SWS everyone!

TALES OF THE DOCKSIDER

Well, another Saturday arrives and shop switcher X-8688 is still in the shop.  It seems your Yardmaster didn’t pay close attention to the maintenance schedule, so he just learned X-8688 is still undergoing a major shopping.

Not wanting to disappoint faithful “Docksider” fans, he grabbed his camera and headed to the yard to see if he could find some interesting rail action.  He got lucky, because there was a “Switcher Triple Header” on the move!  This trio consists of all the EMD GP7’s in your Yardmaster’s collection, CNJ no. 1524, MEC no. 562 and B&M no. 1555.

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there!  I hope you get that engine you wanted!

John

Boston & Maine Ten-Wheeler #2074 is a recently released Lionel Legacy model. The prototype for this engine is the New York Central Class F-12 4-6-0, so this B&M version is not prototypical. However, I consider this engine to have classic looks and Lionel’s model is well executed, except for the smokebox color, so I bought it. The model has excellent steam sounds and is small enough for the O-54 curves on my 10’-by-5’ model railroad.

Ten-Wheelers were mostly built between 1890 and 1915 but they were soon replaced as mainline engines by larger and more powerful Pacific-type 4-6-2 locomotives when passenger cars began to be heavier and made of steel, rather than wood, at the beginning of the 20^th Century.

MELGAR

Good Saturday morning!

It's a hot and humid summer afternoon as AC&Y H16-44 (Lionel) leads a short train past a small Penn Central yard where a SW8 (Atlas O) awaits its next assignment.

Tom

I finished another building on my HO switching layout this week.

The local crew lined up the switchers for a publicity shot.

@MELGAR posted:

MELGAR,

That is one good looking locomotive!  I especially like this classic shot sitting by a station.

Tom

Yay SWSat is running.

I love that IR/Alco boxcab @StrapHanger. I always meant to get one of those from MTH but sadly this seems not to have been a mold sold to Atlas. I may have missed the boat. Careful with that High cube @tnkMarx the building opening may be a bit low. Great looking CN switchers.

This week I hopped into the Waybac machine and found some gems of the past. First up my reworked Lionel 520 boxcab and my Williams GE 44 tonner  on my old never quite finished closet layout in my last Apartment. Portholes pulling portholes.

Next up is my Hungarian Steam Dummy 0-4-0ST on the NYSME O Scale 2 rail Layout. This whole town has since been redeveloped into a mine since the discovery of a coal seam. The old boarded up station was one of the first casualties when passenger service ended.

Another visitor from across the pond LBSCR A1 Terrier Fenchurch 0-6-0T also paid a visit to the town just before the redevelopment started as a town send off.
I hope you all have a great Holiday weekend. I can’t wait to see what you guys post.

This is my Milwaukee Road B6sb and you will find it hard at work this Saturday morning…🚂😉😺

Happy SWSat!

Lot's of great stuff this week folks!

Boxcabs and 44's! Here's a couple of shots of my pair. The Boxcab is a K-line, I need to add some weight to it, it tends to hop a bit when it stops.  The 44 is by WbB. Both are conventional but the WbB has Tru-blast 2 sound.

Both represent my favorite railroad.

Also an honorable mention to Williams version of Lionel's classic center cab.

Have a great weekend and Happy Father's Day to all the dads and grandpas!

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Happy SWSat!

.

Bob

That yard came out nice, Bob.  Isn’t it great to have an engine staging area? My crystal ball sees more switchers filling it up in your future!

@Strap Hanger posted:

That yard came out nice, Bob.  Isn’t it great to have an engine staging area? My crystal ball sees more switchers filling it up in your future!

Thanks- I've been trying to get the basic ground cover done so I can fill it up! Been under construction between this and the corner tunnel for so long that it's been a while since I just ran trains. Now that I have a Cab1L and DCS commander installed, I'm itching to start playing.

Bob

Good morning fellow switcher fans!   JHZ563 nice to have you back behind the throttle and thanks for getting us rolling today.   Wonderful pics, videos, and info everyone!!  Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there!!

THE 0-8-0 Number 75 - Shown here taking on a bunker load of coal as she gets ready for a day's work on the Free State Junction Railway.  Thats Mack, a laborer on the service crew,  standing on top of the coal pile, as Jake the headend brakeman is standing on the tender's front deck.  Linwood, the hostler inside the cab, sits behind the throttle dreaming of the day when he will be a road engineer sitting behind the throttle of a J class 4-8-4.  That's Grady O'Rourke on the ground beside the engine.  He's permanently assigned to number 75 and is the engineer.  Grady likes to get down to the engine terminal early, way before he's on the clock,  to make sure the maintenance crew takes the best care of number 75.  Grady is pretty darn persnickety!  Anyone observing Grady's behavior when he's at the throttle would think that Grady himself owned number 75.  

The maintenance crew gives number 75 the once over, as her sand domes have been topped off with plenty of grit for the iron.  Number 75 will surely use a lot of that grit today for she has some heavy moves to make.   What did I tell ya about Grady?  There he is on the ground overseeing the entire maintenance process.  The nickname given to Grady by  fellow railroaders is " Old Eagle Eye."  They go on to say "You don't want to cross Old Eagle Eye or you'lll have **** to pay!"

Number 75 first assignment was to push an air dump car loaded with sand to the sand house.  She'll get to moving as soon as Grady comes down off the side of the engine.  He's up there giving the maintenance workers work an up close inspection.  Grady never misses a thing.  He can see a nat sitting on a the back of fly a mile away.  

Out on job, number 75 pushes a REA express reffer onto the perishables track for unloading.  That's Hubert, the rear end brakeman, riding the sturip on the side of the car.

After many switching assignments all morning and into the afternoon, number 75 takes on water.  Fireman, Herbert Baulmage, and front end brakeman Jake Jones are on the tender deck.  

Back to work number 75 pushes a load of anthracite coal onto the siding of a fuel dealer.  Number 75 and her crew will get the many switching tasks completed today.  Once they've punched out on the clock, they will all congregate at at the Shamrock Pub for a few ice cold ales.   Old Eagle Eye will join them later after he makes sure that the maintenance crews at the roundhouse treat number 75 with tender loving care.  If not they will have **** to pay.    

Patrick,

Since he has been such a nitpicker all day, eagle-eye Grady should probably buy a round for all the fellows at the Shamrock...

MELGAR

@MELGAR posted:

Patrick,

Since he has been such a nitpicker all day, eagle-eye Grady should probably buy a round for all the fellows at the Shamrock...

MELGAR

MELGAR I doubt that he will.   When it comes to money, Grady has a reputation among the crew and those who know him as " being as tight as a knuckle coupler."  The barkeep will be luck if he gets any more than a quarter tip from Grady.  The crew affectionately puts up with Old Eagle Eye because they  all love to hear Grady's stories from when he was a road engineer up on the NYC.  Old Eagle Eye used to be at the throttle of many a 4-6-4 Hudsons, some of them Dreyfus Hudsons.  He even piloted the 20th Century Limited on occasion.  

Patrick,

You've got me wondering whether Grady was just a figment of your imagination or a real person.

So as not to "derail" SWSAT from the subject of switchers and locomotives, I'm posting another short video of B&M #2074. Grady never worked for the B&M, did he?

MELGAR

Wow- great looking SWSAT so far crew!

Patrick,

I must compliment you on your weekly SWSAT photos and stories. They must take quite a bit of time and effort to prepare.

MELGAR

MELGAR - Grady came close to hiring out on the Boston and Maine as a brakeman when he was fresh out of high school at  18 years old, however,  World War Two came along and had other plans from Grady.  He enlisted in the US Army Transportation Corp. during the war.  That's where he was able to gain experience as a locomotive engineer.  

After the war  he did, however, spend some time working on the Boston and Albany, for about 6 months as an engineer on a yard switcher.  As Boston and Albany was  leased by the NYC, Grady easily transferred over to the NYC, becoming a road freight engineer in early 1947.   It wasn't long before he was running electric locomotives, pulling passenger trains from Harmons NY  to Grand Central Station and back.  ( Whew!  You should here those stories he has to tell! )  From there he went on to taking the throttle of many NYC steamers such as Mohawks, Niagras, and the famous 4-6-4 Hudsons.  He spent 10 years in passenger service as a locomotive engineer on the NYC.  Due to his keen eye sight and love for the railroad, his safety record is spotless.  Funny thing though, after running all those types of locomotives on the NYC, Grady loves his job here on the FSJR running old number 75 the best.  He's a old grumpy curmudgeon for sure, but everyone knows that deep down Old Eagle Eye Grady has a real soft spot in his heart for railroading and all the people associated with the " ribbons of steel."