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Hello fellow forumites, and welcome to another edition of Switcher Saturday. Many thanks to @RSJB18 for an unscheduled pinch hit for me last weekend, sometimes life just gets ahead of you.

I understand we may have an influx of new forum members. If you are reading this thread for the first time Welcome to OGR forum!  Switcher Saturday is a weekly recurring thread celebrating the smaller locomotives that do the big work of railroading.   All switcher locomotives are welcome here, from ancient steamers working the yards to the most modern diesel electric hybrid or hydrogen powered machines stillin development, all Switchers are welcome here.   

Somewhat unique to the ogr forum,  this thread is always open to all scales and gauges. Whether an electric switcher at home on a full size traction rr, a 2 rail O scale saddle tanker, some fancy brass ho GP unit, a wooden Thomas, an S scale A-5 , live mules working mine carts, we've seen it all but there's always something new!  Obviously we have a large helping of 3 rail O gauge given our host.

The only things we really ask are that everyone have fun, and follow the Ogr tos regarding pictures. The photos and info offered in this thread are routinely some of the best you will see on the forum thanks to the many regular contributors, and fresh participants are not only welcome but encouraged 🙂!

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For this weekend's kickoff image we have a Right-Of-Way Industries saddle tanker,  paused by the Marx crane,  just on the outskirts of Brickerville.  This conventional switcher was top of the line when new, and still runs like the well oiled machine that it is.

With that giant wall of text behind us, please shares your switcher related photos, videos and stories.

Have a great weekend everyone!



Below are bonus photos from Knoebels over the past week.   15" gauge trains are welcome too!

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JHZ563 and family - glad to see that you had a good vacation!

Looks like John and I are awake very early this morning.

Providence & Worcester GP-38-2 #2007 and GP-40-2 #3001 are MTH Premier models with PS3. Yes – they are “road-switchers,” but they are large and probably should be considered as road locomotives rather than switchers… I purchased #3001 (20-21020-1, MSRP $499.95) in 2019 and #2007 several years before. The video shows them running conventionally on my 12’-by-8’ layout with Boston & Maine cabooses. MTH advertised two Providence & Worcester cabooses in its catalogs but I haven’t found either one.

EMD GP38-2 locomotives weigh 250,000 pounds and have a 16-cylinder 2,000 horsepower diesel engine with a Roots blower. They have a starting tractive effort of 61,000 pounds and a maximum speed of 65 miles-per-hour. 2,213 GP38-2s were produced between 1972 and 1986. EMD GP40-2 locomotives have a 16-cylinder 3,000 horsepower turbocharged diesel engine. Their weight, starting tractive effort and maximum speed are the same as for the GP38-2. 1,143 GP40-2s were produced between 1972 and 1986. Due to turbocharging, GP-40-2 engines have improved high-altitude performance, reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions, but higher maintenance costs.

The Providence & Worcester Railroad was chartered in Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 1844. It is presently a Class II railroad that operates in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. I often used to see P&W #2006 in New Haven prior to the 2016 acquisition of the Providence & Worcester Railroad by Genesee & Wyoming, Incorporated – but not since then. P&W #2006 looked like the MTH model of #2007.

MELGAR

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Welcome back John.  I hope you and the family had a wonderful time.  Bob did a great job pinch hitting last week.

Mel, the P&W diesels are mighty sharp looking.  Matching cabooses would be nice.  I don't know if MTH made the ones cataloged but if they did I hope you can find them.

Sirt is that NYDR switcher custom.  I really like that paint scheme.  Have you modified the subway car in the last picture?

Happy Switcher Sat, everyone. Love the pics so far.  The other day, we really got down with some of our switchers here in Florida.  Down on the floor that is.  It’s always fun running the conventional stock on the carpet central.



I was so impressed with how the little Plymouth ran on the carpet central that I figured I’d give her a swirl pulling one of my larger work train consists.  There’s no video because the little gal couldn’t quite do it although she looked great trying -

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General Electric's response to the EMD GP38 was the U23B.  These lower horsepower units were suitable for switching as well as road power.  Penn Central purchased these GE units for general use.  Under the Moore rĂ©gime, several units were ordered to operate long-hood forward.

Penn Central U23B 2723 (Atlas O) runs long-hood forward as it handles the local:

Have a great day, everyone!

Tom

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Happy SWSat!

@jhz563- It was my pleasure to get things started. I know that you are usually an early riser so when nothing appeared by 8 AM I figured I'd start it up. Glad you were doing something fun with the family. My kids are 24, and 18 now but we spent every summer vacation at Disney, Hershey, Bush Gardens, and countless other smaller amusement parks when they were little.

So back to switchers. I gave a sneak peak at my new Boston and Maine RS-3 last week. I had to order a new battery for it so it hadn't been on the track yet. When I opened it up to change it out last night I realized I ordered the wrong ones (2.4v instead of 8.4v). I did put it on the track and powered it up without the battery and it does work. Here's a couple of pix with some new cars I had purchased from forum member @chris a     a while back.

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The blue and black B&M scheme is one of my favorites. This is a Lionel PS-1 car with a load.

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And we've all read the threads about removing the old white or green batteries from MTH engines after they have sat for a long time.

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Have a great weekend.

Bob

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TALES OF THE DOCKSIDER

Back by popular demand (at least, in my mind) it’s plucky NYC 0-6-0T shop switcher X-8688!

Your Yardmaster is short on time today, so he’s reaching back into the archives.  He may, in fact, get lazy and utilize the archives the next few weeks.  Some of the material is two years old now, so I think it will look fresh again, especially to Forum newbies (welcome, new guys!).

Today the crew of X-8688 - engineer Joe Safetyvalvoni, fireman Vasik Semaphorowski and brakeman Mick O’Depot - are thrilled to get out on the High Iron assisting NYC 0-4-0 no. 901 on a local freight.  They don’t get out of the yard often, so this is a day they will long remember.  They will likely head for the tavern after work to put down a few cold ones to celebrate the day (except Joe will have lemonade, he’s a teetotaler.  Vasik will make up the bar’s lost revenue by having a couple of extra ones.  His capacity seems limitless!).

JHZ and MELGAR, great posts today.  Mel, I don’t have a P&W loco in my collection; you’re making me regret passing up opportunities to buy one!

John

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Coach Joe & Mark-

MTH #20-21392-1 New York Dock RR GE 44 Ton Diesel Engine

Subs were modified for S.I.

Amazing how all these dealers have raised the price of MTH engines by 50 bucks this year! I realize everything's gone up, but I hope we are not being taken advantage of. Dealers bought them at a much lower price back then. Probably why they still have them in stock. I always said, 44 tonners were not worth 500 even then. They don't even smoke. You can get RK & Premier diesels with many more features and also use them in lash ups for the same price. This one's only a stand alone making it limited in operation. Glad to have it since I model the NY waterfront, but will never have a need for another 44 tonner. Atlas O obtained them but its going to be a tough sell with even another price increase.

Brian is visiting end of Aug. One sound file is messed up (#10) with a bunch of digital noise. He will fix it. The other crew sounds he and Zack did were outstanding, specific to N.Y. operations. Very believable!

Last edited by SIRT
@RSJB18 posted:

Happy SWSat!

I had to order a new battery for it so it hadn't been on the track yet. When I opened it up to change it out last night I realized I ordered the wrong ones (2.4v instead of 8.4v). I did put it on the track and powered it up without the battery and it does work

2022-08-05 21.08.112022-08-05 21.11.25

Bob

Boy Bob , I think I would get rid of that flaking speaker and the sourounding flakes before the board shorts out and ends up going south.

I would also  definitely like to see you get a BCR or one of GRJ's iterations if one could be used for this engine.

Good looking engine Bob.

Boy Bob , I think I would get rid of that flaking speaker and the sourounding flakes before the board shorts out and ends up going south.

I would also  definitely like to see you get a BCR or one of GRJ's iterations if one could be used for this engine.

Good looking engine Bob.

I've read about the speaker issues Dallas. Didn't realize that's what I was looking at, thought it was the battery. I've already reached out to John.

Thanks

Boy Bob , I think I would get rid of that flaking speaker and the sourounding flakes before the board shorts out and ends up going south.

I would also  definitely like to see you get a BCR or one of GRJ's iterations if one could be used for this engine.

Good looking engine Bob.

Install a super cap and also replaced the wires. They increase resistance when the wire strands turn green from battery corrosion. The battery connector  + & - terminals look bad.

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@SIRT posted:

Install a super cap and also replaced the wires. They increase resistance when the wire strands turn green from battery corrosion. The battery connector  + & - terminals look bad.

Yep- It all has to go. I have new 9v battery harnesses in stock. I hope I've not opened a can of worms with this one. Not looking good so far.

Thanks

PS- love your modeling Steve.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Yep- It all has to go. I have new 9v battery harnesses in stock. I hope I've not opened a can of worms with this one. Not looking good so far.

Thanks

PS- love your modeling Steve.

Bob

Definitely flakes from a speaker, Bob. The original owner appears to have installed some cotton covering up the original damage on the speaker, I guess to improve speaker sound. However, stay positive. I’ve had two original 5 volt ps2 engines that had far worse flaking - my subway NW2 switcher and my GP38. Both were made with the original dreaded ps2 5 volt boards and crappy speakers.  After noticing some scratchy speaker sounds and reading about the shorting of the boards on this great forum, I opened each up and was shocked at how bad the flaking was (definitely worse than yours). I removed the speakers (both already had BCRs), meticulously cleaned everything up, bought a couple of new speakers (here but currently out of stock - https://www.parts-express.com/...eaker-16-Ohm-289-131). They both now sound great and I’ve been running them regularly, piling up the DCS mileage, with not a problem for years.   I’m sure they’ll die eventually, but after over 20 years of usage, I can’t complain.  I’m sure it’ll work out just as well for you.  

BTW, I noticed that although  my Diesel engines with the 5 volt ps2 boards survived well. The subway engines were  another story. All but one of them has died and needed a ps2-3 board upgrade. I think it has something to do with the subways packing way too much electronics into a smaller space and running much hotter, killing the ps2 5 volt boards quicker.

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@SIRT posted:

                                                   N.Y.D.R. assignment...

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Another MTH center cab 44 ton diesel with a similar look is this NY Ontario and Western:

20210204_164901

44 ton center cab diesels with similar light colors. particularly the yellow, are reminiscent of a 44 tonner in pictures I've seen in books about The Put. I don't know the road name of that particular 44 tonner on The Put. Arnold

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@SIRT posted:

Coach Joe & Mark-

MTH #20-21392-1 New York Dock RR GE 44 Ton Diesel Engine

Subs were modified for S.I.

Amazing how all these dealers have raised the price of MTH engines by 50 bucks this year! I realize everything's gone up, but I hope we are not being taken advantage of. Dealers bought them at a much lower price back then. Probably why they still have them in stock. I always said, 44 tonners were not worth 500 even then. They don't even smoke. You can get RK & Premier diesels with many more features and also use them in lash ups for the same price. This one's only a stand alone making it limited in operation. Glad to have it since I model the NY waterfront, but will never have a need for another 44 tonner. Atlas O obtained them but its going to be a tough sell with even another price increase.

Brian is visiting end of Aug. One sound file is messed up (#10) with a bunch of digital noise. He will fix it. The other crew sounds he and Zack did were outstanding, specific to N.Y. operations. Very believable!

What about Williams’ version? Much cheaper. Any good?

Since we started talking about them...here is my Southern GE 44 ton by Williams.  You can see what I mean by tight radii and very low clearances to the side.  These little guys really work well for me.

Here is #1951 leased to the Leonardtown and Savannah from "big brother" Southern moving some freight into Small Town.  The crew just might stop off at McDonald's for Lunch except they have every street in town blocked by the train!!

Sourthern Switcher 2

Here you can see the traffic jam created by this train moving through town.

Williams GE 44 ton street scene

Another quick stop at the freight station just outside town at the edge of the yard.  Seems the maintenance crew is more interested in working on the "necessary" than in moving some LCL freight over to the train.

Williams GE 44 ton freight station stop

Best wishes everyone.  jhz - looks like you and the family had a great vacation...well done, they will have memories that last forever.

Don

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@Dave Warburton - I have 2 Williams GE 44 Ton engines, conventional with diesel sounds.  In my view and for $150 bucks new they area great engines.  The run smooth, look great, and sound cool.  They pull like mad and are particularly useful to me with a very tight clearance and radii type layout.

Good to know, Don, thanks!  I recently purchased a Williams 70-Tonner in SP livery and like it very much. Very sharp looking and quite solid. Conventional power, of course, but with horn. Train World is blowing them out right now at $159, if anyone is interested. I recommend them.

@MELGAR posted:

JHZ563 and family - glad to see that you had a good vacation!

Looks like John and I are awake very early this morning.

Providence & Worcester GP-38-2 #2007 and GP-40-2 #3001 are MTH Premier models with PS3. Yes – they are “road-switchers,” but they are large and probably should be considered as road locomotives rather than switchers… I purchased #3001 (20-21020-1, MSRP $499.95) in 2019 and #2007 several years before. The video shows them running conventionally on my 12’-by-8’ layout with Boston & Maine cabooses. MTH advertised two Providence & Worcester cabooses in its catalogs but I haven’t found either one.

EMD GP38-2 locomotives weigh 250,000 pounds and have a 16-cylinder 2,000 horsepower diesel engine with a Roots blower. They have a starting tractive effort of 61,000 pounds and a maximum speed of 65 miles-per-hour. 2,213 GP38-2s were produced between 1972 and 1986. EMD GP40-2 locomotives have a 16-cylinder 3,000 horsepower turbocharged diesel engine. Their weight, starting tractive effort and maximum speed are the same as for the GP38-2. 1,143 GP40-2s were produced between 1972 and 1986. Due to turbocharging, GP-40-2 engines have improved high-altitude performance, reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions, but higher maintenance costs.

The Providence & Worcester Railroad was chartered in Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 1844. It is presently a Class II railroad that operates in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. I often used to see P&W #2006 in New Haven prior to the 2016 acquisition of the Providence & Worcester Railroad by Genesee & Wyoming, Incorporated – but not since then. P&W #2006 looked like the MTH model of #2007.

MELGAR

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Hi all. Late to the SWSat party this week. I had to post because a week ago Friday I rode the Acela through Providence RI and had my phone out to take some pictures of some areas I used to frequent in college and I caught some unrepainted P&W GP38s so these are still out there.

I found your 2006 Mel!
5FC80C2D-56F1-4F86-AED5-69A9BB2036B5927F3DE5-0AAA-4BE7-BE9C-4966DF7F40ABFE6335CA-2FD3-4C8C-A92F-1E82889C8E1851375D2B-B35A-400F-A29D-B43F0BD877E1Not such high quality pics but relevant. I used to live on this side of town in Providence and walked along the industrial area of Harris Ave to get to class on college hill. Sometimes I was delayed by P&W switching paper cars at the Providence Journal press. So I was happy to catch these two in the old paint.

Also bought an old kids book for my nephew. It was from Lionel Kiddie City toy store. 4070EE05-FF74-4B2B-A413-AF137C5B9D0D

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Last edited by Silver Lake
@Silver Lake posted:

Hi all. Late to the SWSat party this week. I had to post because a week ago Friday I rode the Acela through Providence RI and had my phone out to take some pictures of some areas I used to frequent in college and I caught some unrepainted P&W GP38s so these are still out there.

I found your 2006 Mel!


5FC80C2D-56F1-4F86-AED5-69A9BB2036B5927F3DE5-0AAA-4BE7-BE9C-4966DF7F40ABFE6335CA-2FD3-4C8C-A92F-1E82889C8E1851375D2B-B35A-400F-A29D-B43F0BD877E1

Not such high quality pics but relevant. I used to live on this side of town in Providence and walked along the industrial area of Harris Ave to get to class on college hill. Sometimes I was delayed by P&W switching paper cars at the Providence Journal press. So I was happy to catch these two in the old paint.

Andy,

That is really interesting! Thanks for the pictures. I appreciate your letting me know. I was under the impression that #2006 had been sold to a far-away railroad and was no longer in New England. It's an old engine but it still looks good...

MELGAR

@SIRT posted

                                                   N.Y.D.R. assignment...

0806220643

SINY AREA TRANSIT O SCALE [2)

For those of you folks interested in The Put, there is a picture of a yellow and white General Electric centercab diesel switcher on page 39 of a book entitled Forgotten Railroads Through Westchester County. It says that centercab diesel, which ran on The Put, was from the shortline Wellsville, Addison & Galeton.

It is very similar in appearance to SIRT's above New York Dock Railway center cab diesel, which has a yellow and tan livery. Arnold

I thought I should add my MEC #11 Switcher build project update.

here are a couple of photos.58E239C0-4438-4CE3-B29C-482181E9439375520546-BBD0-4F02-83C6-23A3AC1A2B3E



adding the LEDs was fun. I am working on some specific detailing aspects currently.
will update my switcher project progress.

it’s been a long duration scale build project! Will post MEC #11 maiden flex track voyage footage probably in the coming weeks (or months!).

switchers are really my favorite machines!

thanks for looking.

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Last edited by Leroof
@coach joe posted:

Welcome back John.  I hope you and the family had a wonderful time.  Bob did a great job pinch hitting last week.

Mel, the P&W diesels are mighty sharp looking.  Matching cabooses would be nice.  I don't know if MTH made the ones cataloged but if they did I hope you can find them.

Sirt is that NYDR switcher custom.  I really like that paint scheme.  Have you modified the subway car in the last picture?

MTH made at least 2 P&W cabooses. An cupola and a bay window. I have to he bay window one that has been weathered by SIRT on the board here.

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