Switcher Saturday - Mark II, 9/12/2020

Yay! SWSat is on!  Thanks @jhz563 for keeping this line rolling along.

This week I an posting another work in progress. Someone started this 2 rail O scale  0-6-0 scratch build many years ago and I ended up with it.

When I got it there was a lot of bent metal work to straighten out. Both the cab roof and pilot were worse for wear. But I have not fully gone over it or cleaned it up.

It has some funny features. It is a bit heavy on solder in some places. All the rivets are hand done. The only commercial pasts are the wheels and running gear, motor, cylinders and stack. Some parts like the domes are made of wood. The smoke box front is lathe turned. The builder loaded it with lead. If you dropped it you would definitely break a toe.

One of my favorite features is the cab floor is made of a brass stamped plate. It looks like it may have come from a fire extinguisher. 
I don’t need another project but I thought it would be fun to clean this one up and finish it off. 

I am taking recommendations on what the prototype was. Clearly it was supposed to be modeled after a specific engine. I have a suitable wedge tender for it to pull if nothing else. 

What do you think?

I can’t wait to see what you guys post this weekend. Have a good one. 

Happy SWSat!

Three generations of NW-2's

Lionel post war ATSF 623
Lionel PWC series C&O 624
WbB Pennsy 8543

Dad’s 8310 converted to 0-4-0.

Penn Central GP9 7180 (Atlas O) has the task of delivering a large electrical transformer this morning:

Tom

Happy Switcher Saturday To All.

@Silver Lake  - That's one awesome project, and I could see what you mean about breaking a toe!

@Tom Densel  I am so glad you posted the picture of that transformer move!

you guys probably remember me sharing pictures of these PP&L 80 ton center cabs before. (There are two, this only one.)

Well recently I have found some pictures of original plant construction.  I haven't found photos of the loads being spotted by these engines but these were only locos on the property at the time.

I didn't have time to scan these, just take some snapshots of the photos.  You. don't generally see construction projects like this anymore, but there were tons of tracks that were used to spot everything heavy that came into the facility.  And one of the few times I have seen pictures of a Schnabel car in the wild!

Enjoy

Let me add my thanks, jhz563, for keeping this great topic going!

The crew of shop switcher X-8688 will be taking some time off, so TALES OF THE DOCKSIDER will not appear for a few weeks.  Fear not, DOCKSIDER fans, X-8688 and her plucky crew will return in the future!

This Saturday I’m proposing a sub topic to Switcher Saturday, “Switcher Caboose Hop”.  My contribution is NH RS3 538 pulling not one, but two cabooses!  Let’s see your switchers and cabooses!

NYS&W Alco C420 #260, ex-LIRR #221, leads NYS&W GP18 #1804 and leased ex-ATSF CF7 #2417 with stone train roaring upgrade at Beaver Lake Rd. Sparta, NJ- Nov. 86'.

                                                                               MY PHOTO

Got that covered.

Good morning fellow switcher fans!!  JHZ563 thanks so much for notching out the throttle to get us rolling this morning!  WOW ... those photos of the power plant construction are most enjoyable .... love the Schnabel car and the flat cars ... what a construction project that must have been ... certainly kept those little switchers busy! 

Today's tribute is to the venerable A5 and SW9.  In a nod to Steam Crazy's request I've included B&O caboose  photos as the SW9 is a B&O locomotive.  The scale Pennsy A5 is a K line product which I purchased new ( yes new ) at a show in early 2019.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!  Be safe = Be healthy! 

A 5 on the main leading a short freight.  SW9 has dropped its' caboose, pulled ahead and backed some freight cars onto a siding where they will be uncoupled.

A 5 rounds the bend.

Stopping for a drink of water.

Up close

SW9 switching near dusk. 

Track workers labor as SW9 idles behind them just a few tracks over. 

@trumpettrain posted:

Good morning fellow switcher fans!!  JHZ563 thanks so much for notching out the throttle to get us rolling this morning!  WOW ... those photos of the power plant construction are most enjoyable .... love the Schnabel car and the flat cars ... what a construction project that must have been ... certainly kept those little switchers busy! 

Today's tribute is to the venerable A5 and SW9.  In a nod to Steam Crazy's request I've included B&O caboose  photos as the SW9 is a B&O locomotive.  The scale Pennsy A5 is a K line product which I purchased new ( yes new ) at a show in early 2019.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!  Be safe = Be healthy! 

A 5 on the main leading a short freight.  SW9 has dropped its' caboose, pulled ahead and backed some freight cars onto a siding where they will be uncoupled.

A 5 rounds the bend.

Stopping for a drink of water.

Up close

SW9 switching near dusk. 

Track workers labor as SW9 idles behind them just a few tracks over. 

Great shots, TT!  Your close-up of the ‘Ol 94 is a gem!

@Dave Warburton posted:

Great shots, TT!  Your close-up of the ‘Ol 94 is a gem!

Dave - thanks so much for your kind compliment!  Much appreciated!

Hello SwSat fans...great pictures all, the ones of the construction Bjz653 were especially interesting although I will reveal my ignorance I don't know what a "Schnabel" car is? Bar GP7 the scenery and trains of the SBR are truly fascinating what super work.  Paul Romano - great pictures and by the way, when I was a teenager my family owned a home on Lake Mohawk just a few miles outside Sparta NJ for years.  Silver Lake, that is quite a project you have in front of you will really like seeing it as you progress.

Well what about me...well you may remember just a while ago I posted my Beeps running a Defense Drill on the L&S because them pesky commies were on the move...well things got worse.  Now we're afraid they're comin over the North Pole.  So our fellow RR up in the New York area got told to ..."Bring up the Defenses"  and "DO IT NOW" and like the claxton on the ship used to say..."THIS IS  NOT A DRILL"!

So the NYC dispatcher fired up old 8300 and hooked up the Air Force Missile Train...to take it into the mountains to protect it .  Look out now boys, these guys have the Launcher Car with them, the "AF Aerospace Command" own special rocket launcher .  They can erect it , tie it down to the track and let -er- go!! 

Here is that AF Aerospace Command Launcher car...can't be defended against because no one will know where it is!

Here comes the ammunition...once we clear the depot, we an fire within 30 minutes from anywhere.

Well the above is all in fun, happy weekend everyone.  Stay healthy

Don

#110 on the Black Hills Central RR is pulling up to the water spout at Custer, SD in August of 2020.   #110 is a 1923 Baldwin 2-6-6-2 articulated and handles the sharp curves and 4-6% grades with aplomb.  It just amazes me that a piece of machinery , 100 years old,  works - and works so well.

Switcher action on the S&Y RR

@Don McErlean a Schnabel car is the specialty transformer transport car.  The transformer is actually used as part of the car during delivery. 

Jhz563!: Thanks Mate!  Why I love the forum I always learn new things !

Don

Never thought a Prewar 203 switcher would drag 12 cars around!    All prewar trucks, no needlepoint axles either.  Just hook em up and crank it....

Day late for Switcher Saturday, but when your retired they all seem the same, which is not a bad thing.

Here's a little Lionel UP Vulcan switcher with some Kusan all plastic cars. 

A little action

My other Lionel United States Steel Vulcan switcher with some freight. I wonder if it is heading for my old place of work, the 84 inch hot strip mill in Gary Indiana.... probably not.