Switcher Saturday 8-6-22

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

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

Good morning fellow SwSat folks.  My kids were given this Marklin set by a neighbor.  It is pretty simple but you can still run if off the track!

Have a great day!

@SIRT posted:

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

Steve - is the 44 tonner by MTH? Thanks, looks great!

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 -

Here is a Williams C&EI BL2 that I waited years for a caboose to go with. Berwyns Toys and Trains did a special run so I can now use it.

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 régime, 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

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.

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

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.

Have a great weekend.

Bob

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

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!

PW Lionel 520 helping the U.S. Post Office move boxes of trains.

@Tom Densel posted:

Tom

Great looking choice of color and softened backdrop in this video Tom.        The lighting that gave this a look of an overcast day really making  this scene believable.

Nice

@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

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.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

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

@SIRT posted:

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

More fantastic photos from SIRT

I really love the look of the track work in this scene Steve

@Dallas Joseph posted:

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.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

More fantastic photos from SIRT

I really love the look of the track work in this scene Steve

Thank you Dallas, always kind words and comments from you. Glad to inspire!