Western Roads Wednesday

Jonathan, very nice. Golden Gate Depot El Capitan?

Paul,

Thank you! Yes that is the GGD El Capitan Set.  Here is it's Amtrak counterpart the Southwest Limited (less the SDP40Fs) with 3rd Rail power, GGD, K-Line and Atlas cars.

A few more of my "Western" trains.  Still need to get some good pictures of the 3rd Rail E6s, but I have a run day at the club on Saturday.  Maybe I'll have a chance then.  Kind of a funny thing happened to me back when I worked on the 3rd Rail FT project.  None of the roads were ones I modeled, but I liked the original catwhisker scheme on the ATSF versions so now I do mostly western roads in 3 rail and my eastern ones in 2 rail. 

The GS4 is a Williams.   All the other locomotives are 3rd Rail.

 I remember riding #5 into LA c. 1963. UP even then was a West Coast road. Also too, the City of Portland on the Oregon Short Line:

Breakfast in the Dome Diner! Looks like 13y old geysergazer was chomping on a slice of toast with a plate of pancakes in front of him. Doesn't get any better than that! 

UP on the Plywood Empire Route:

In the photo Dad took c. 1962, a UP E8 and an E9, Green River, Wy.

Here are some of my West Coast power

SP trains on the G&O.  NH Joe

ATSF locos waiting at the shop.

John

Warbonnet just passing through …

The El Capitan working its way west:

Rusty

Does this count? 

Took this in 2005; my son Mick in Garibaldi, which is on the West Coast... 

Mark in Oregon

Strummer posted:

Does this count? 

Took this in 2005; my son Mick in Garibaldi, which is on the West Coast... 

Mark in Oregon

I would say it does. I've been to that Dairy Queen in the background. You may not be able to spit and hit the ocean, but you can definitely see it from there.

GREAT topic!  Hope you'll continue it weekly!  

I'll have pix next week.

Thanks!

Rusty Traque posted:

The El Capitan working its way west:

Rusty

This video appears to be in stereo with the sound going with the train direction? I like the last scene at the road crossing the best. 

Paul 

yes I agree what a great idea for a topic I’ll post something Wednesday 

Southern Pacific day at the engine terminal

Santa Fe All The Way Day …….

Union Pacific day

Spokane Portland & Seattle diesels running the rails of the Seattle & Yakima RR

A day early, but an SP/UP patch just passing through …………….

Laidoffsick posted:

Santa Fe All The Way Day …….

Holy cow. You really did a fantastic job mating the layout with the backdrop... 

Mark in Oregon

Not quite Wednesday, but here goes.

Since I model the Pennsy, I don't have many West Coast engines.  I do have these beauties.

These SD75s are the K-Line engines that were offered but not built before K-Line folded.  I don't know why I ordered them except they looked great and were inexpensive.  I'm glad Lionel decided to finish the project.  The car and containers are Lionel.

More West Coast action on the G&O:

                                             Southern Pacific A-6 4-4-2 Atlantic

Here’s some Custom Western All Nations Boxcars I built. I repainted and decaled them with Microscale decals 

Can't get any more West than this, Union Pacific "Big Boy" #4012 at Scranton, PA- Aug.95'

                                                                MY PHOTO

Mostly east coast lines on my RR but the ATSF has always been my favorite.

E6 fun on the Paradise and Pacific Railroad from last Saturday.

Very nice Jonathan! Those E6s are sharp. Is the smaller dome a K Line car?  

Paul,

The car with the short dome is a K-Line as are all the 21" cars.  The three 18" cars in one of the videos are MTH including the full dome.  Club cars.  I was too lazy to bring my El Cap set this time! 

After running the E6s I'm tempted to order the GGD 37-46 Super Chief to go with it.  A perfect pairing.  It's just money right?

Don't know if this counts as West Coast also, but broke in this locomotive with the same cars Saturday too.

RSJB18 posted:

Mostly east coast lines on my RR but the ATSF has always been my favorite.

Me too don’t have much West of the OHIO 

GG1 4877 posted:

Paul,

The car with the short dome is a K-Line as are all the 21" cars.  The three 18" cars in one of the videos are MTH including the full dome.  Club cars.  I was too lazy to bring my El Cap set this time! 

After running the E6s I'm tempted to order the GGD 37-46 Super Chief to go with it.  A perfect pairing.  It's just money right?

Don't know if this counts as West Coast also, but broke in this locomotive with the same cars Saturday too.

Jonathan, Yes, I would say Burlington counts.....

How bout THE 4014, and my 4014 when they pulled it out of the Rail Giants Museum in 2013. I took these almost 6 years ago... Nov 14, 2013

RSJB18 posted:

Mostly east coast lines on my RR but the ATSF has always been my favorite.

I resolved that in my head by keeping my west coast roads, modern and Amtrak in 3R while keeping my transition era PRR, CNJ, etc in 2R.  Not sure why, but it keeps it all organized for me in my head.

Paul,

The challenge for me now having added my first Burlington locomotive to the roster is now I need to find the right cars to put behind it.  I'd like straight Burlington cars as opposed to CA Zephyr cars.  But at this point I just need to do some research.  Luckily the funds or lack thereof afford me the time to do that research.

What if...……..

Great photos and videos, please keep them coming!

E8A's

John

                                                      MTH S.P. F7 A-B-B-A

Wow Gents', some very impressive motive power and layouts being displayed'...... Another great thread in the making'...

                                   Sunset Models/3rd Rail S.P. MT-4 #4360.

Menards O27 one of my favorites 

Number 90's Number 90.

That’s beautiful Tom! Wow in o scale not an easy thing to pull off 

my favorite western road power  courtesy of Key. 

Great work as always Tom.  You such a nice layout. 

Eric when are you going to start posting some model photos instead of all  these prototype shots?

Another view of my Southwest Unlimited with improper road power due to an extreme shortage of SDP40fs in the O scale market.  All three E8s are powered and the entire train only draws about 6-7 amps off the transformer.

Break in run for my Alco PA's a few months back.  Didn't run them together, but had fun using the E8b for a very fictitious Scottsdale Chief!

All scenery courtesy of the wonderful people who keep the Paradise and Pacific operating 363 days a year for the public. 

GG1 4877 posted:

Another view of my Southwest Unlimited with improper road power due to an extreme shortage of SDP40fs in the O scale market.  All three E8s are powered and the entire train only draws about 6-7 amps off the transformer.

Break in run for my Alco PA's a few months back.  Didn't run them together, but had fun using the E8b for a very fictitious Scottsdale Chief!

All scenery courtesy of the wonderful people who keep the Paradise and Pacific operating 363 days a year for the public. 

Jonathan, please tell me how big is that layout? Looks like a lot of long straight running.

PAUL ROMANO posted:

Jonathan, please tell me how big is that layout? Looks like a lot of long straight running.

Paul,

The layout is 32' x 40' with four mainline tracks.  The outer two loops are normally set to run on automatic so it can be operated if no one is there, but they have the most forgiving grades.  I've run my largest trains on track 1 and 2 which run the perimeter of the layout.  Not a record on the club by any stretch, but I have run up to 75 cars on that track.  The record is 147 ore cars, so I might be close on train length? 

Tracks 3 and 4 tend to be used the most and have the longest runs as they run through the center section.  That's where most of the members run their trains as you have the best access to the trains and the TMCC signal is strong.  However the 2 1/2% grade can be hard on longer trains.  I think the FT pulled freight was the longest train I've pulled on the inside tracks.  There is also an 072 curve at the bottom which can cause string lining if you don't assemble the train properly.  Passenger trains up to 20 cars don't seem to have issues. 

Overall, it is a great layout and we have great members.  Very dedicated.  That's why I see no need for a home 3r layout.  I'll never have one this nice. 

You can learn a little more at pandprr.com

Enjoy!

How refreshing!

Santa Fe all the Way.......

A day late but the Blue Goose and The Fast Mail Express.

Lou1985 posted:

A day late but the Blue Goose and The Fast Mail Express.

Lou, I'm a big fan of mail trains and yours is spot on with the head end express boxcars. Thanks for posting!

PAUL ROMANO posted:

Lou1985 posted:

A day late but the Blue Goose and The Fast Mail Express.

Lou, I'm a big fan of mail trains and yours is spot on with the head end express boxcars. Thanks for posting!

Thanks. The Santa Fe express service boxcars took a little digging to find. The two 50' double door cars were made by Pecos River, the 40' single door by Weaver. I think they make the train. 

  Lou, here is my old Athearn A.T.&S.F. 50' express boxcar I resurrected some years back. 

PAUL ROMANO posted:

  Lou, here is my old Athearn A.T.&S.F. 50' express boxcar I resurrected some years back. 

That's pretty neat. Those didn't even come up in my search. I think they are harder to find than the Pecos River cars I have.

Love the Athearn Car Paul.  I have a few of these 50' cars laying around that need work, but not in ATSF.  I also have two of the Pecos River 50' cars in ATSF, but one is the in service oxide red and the other MOW silver.  No express versions!

Lou1985 posted:

A day late but the Blue Goose and The Fast Mail Express.

Very impressive train...thank you for sharing.

Fendermain

Last week I mentioned I only had one example of a western road, but I forgot about my red, white and blue fleet.  Two of those engines I think meet the criteria.

A Lionel BN U30C

And a pair of MTH WP GP-40s (need to get a better picture).

CAPPilot posted:

Last week I mentioned I only had one example of a western road, but I forgot about my red, white and blue fleet.  Two of those engines I think meet the criteria.

A Lionel BN U30C

And a pair of MTH WP GP-40s (need to get a better picture).

 

Wow! That is quite a sharp collection of red, white and blue engines. I really like the S.P. #4449 in the AFT scheme. Thank you for posting.

GG1 4877 posted:

Love the Athearn Car Paul.  I have a few of these 50' cars laying around that need work, but not in ATSF.  I also have two of the Pecos River 50' cars in ATSF, but one is the in service oxide red and the other MOW silver.  No express versions!

I have 3 other Pecos River 50' double door boxcars besides the 2 Santa Fe Express Service versions. The other 3 are Santa Fe slogan cars with oxide red sides and black roofs. I have 5, but I'm always on the lookout for more in ATSF lettering. 

The El Capitan pulling into Albuquerque, well actually the station relettered for my hometown of Douglas, AZ.  Lionel F-3's with K Line scale El Cap cars.  Now if I could just find the baggage car to complete the set.

PeterA posted:

The El Capitan pulling into Albuquerque, well actually the station relettered for my hometown of Douglas, AZ.  Lionel F-3's with K Line scale El Cap cars.  Now if I could just find the baggage car to complete the set.

 

Spectacular station scene! Thank you for posting.

     Atlas O Rio Grande GP60 w/Digital Dynamics prime mover turbo sound upgrade.

There's "western" and then there's GREAT WESTERN...

THE RIGHT ROAD!

PeterA posted:

The El Capitan pulling into Albuquerque, well actually the station relettered for my hometown of Douglas, AZ.  Lionel F-3's with K Line scale El Cap cars.  Now if I could just find the baggage car to complete the set.

 

Awesome as always Peter.  I've seen a few of the K-Line 18" baggage cars on eVilbay and was tempted to pick one up.  However, it just seems K-line cars are out of site on prices these days!

Look forward to seeing you Saturday.

What is wrong in this picture? 

Unfortunately, "Everywhere West" kinda petered out Colorado-way, but one of them thar Zephyrs did make it all the way...

Rusty

Johnathan, there is nothing wrong with the picture, it just shows the long rumored electrification of the Transcon is finally underway!

                             Pecos River Santa Fe " 3450 Class Little Hudson"

The Chief.

Here is the ElCap on the road

Here Are some SP cars and 44 Ton Switcher.

UP M-10000 City of Salina.   Still working on ties.

Fendermain

Started a restoration thread here

                              Atlas O D&RGW Berwick 60' DD hi cube boxcar.

Many SP modelers model Dunsmuir, CA.  It was the division point for adding helpers for the climb into the Cascade mountains.  The line is now operated by the UP and is an Amtrak Coast Starlight stop in the middle of the night.  Here are a few photos  that I took several years ago.  NH Joe

New Haven Joe posted:

Many SP modelers model Dunsmuir, CA.  It was the division point for adding helpers for the climb into the Cascade mountains.  The line is now operated by the UP and is an Amtrak Coast Starlight stop in the middle of the night.  Here are a few photos  that I took several years ago.  NH Joe

 

                       Great pictures Joe! I see the "Malley" shed and turntable are still there. 

MPC era 8020. I have bought all the items one piece at a time. The only power is the lead 8020 engine, and it pulls the whole thing very well.

                                          MTH BN, former Burlington, SD24.

Santa Fe freight F3s on a SFRD refrigerator block pass Southern Pacific's Golden State. 

Here is my Westpac F3's, 3 modern era 6464 Westpac boxcars and a Westpac caboose that I custom painted

jgtrh62 posted:

Happy Thanksgiving all, hope everyone has a great holiday!

John

Awesome stuff! Happy Thanksgiving........

Puget Sound Sounder heading into Seattle.

                                                MTH AT&SF "Big Hudson."

                                                              MY PHOTO

2383 Lionel

Work train power waiting to head west.

I attended the TCA Convention in Albuquerque, NM this past summer and took the tour to the Santa Fe 2926 restoration facility.  2926 is one of the largest Northerns ever constructed.  It is much larger than SP 4449 and SF 3751.  2926 is supposed to be steaming this winter or early next year.  The boiler needed to be pressure tested and the cylinders  installed at the time of this visit - August 2019.

Notice how the tender gleams.  Reflections of the people can be seen in the paint.  This is an oil fired engine.

PAUL ROMANO posted:

                                                MTH AT&SF "Big Hudson."

                                                              MY PHOTO

I have that model as well. One of my favorite locomotives. I also have a MTH Premier version of it's sister 3460, the "Blue Goose". 

A PA goes for a ride on the turntable. 

Zebra Stripes

Field, British Columbia, 07/1997.

Rusty

Northern Pacific Z-7 Challenger

                                                MTH Southern Pacific SW1.

Here are a couple.

Santa Fe's Chief, lead by Hudson 3463 (MTH Premier model), hustles through a grade crossing at 80 mph westbound out of Chicago.

Here are photos of the old Southern Pacific station in Roseburg, OR.  I took these photos in 2015.

The station has been converted to a restaurant.  It is still alongside the tracks but the tracks are owned by a shortline railroad.  I don't recall its name.  Roseburg was once a booming lumber town.  I think that the tank car shown in the photo is used for fire fighting.  The restaurant had good food and beer.  NH Joe

The Spokane Portland & Seattle is about as Western as you can get.

It's Christmas, but also Wednesday. 

It is Wednesday, December 25, 2019, Christmas Day.  I couldn't find a Christmas photo to post so I thought that I would post photos of the San Leandro Historical Railway Society's (SLHRS) Depot.  I took these photos a couple of days ago with my phone.  

These are unusual photos because the parking lot in front of the Depot was completely empty.  There are usually several cars parked in front.  This prevents us getting a clean photo of the Depot.

This Depot was built in 1898 by the Southern Pacific Railroad to serve San Leandro, California.  San Leandro is directly across San Francisco Bay from San Francisco and borders on Oakland, CA to the south.  The SLHRS purchased the Depot from the Southern Pacific in 1988 and moved it into San Leandro's Thrasher Park in December 1988.  The building was completely refurbished by the SLHRS between 1989 and 1991.  A John Armstrong designed Southern Pacific HO layout was built inside the Depot during the next 10 years.  The SLHRS started construction of the G&O garden railroad in the weed convered lot behind the Depot in 2008.  The SLHRS now has three model railroad displays - the original HO display and the G&O in the garden which consists of both G and 3 rail O gauges.

I wish everyone on the forum a wonderful holiday season and healthy and happy new year.   NH Joe

An empty parking lot in front of the Depot is very unusual.

This is a closer view of the Depot's left side.  This side of the building houses a small railroad museum with many artifacts.  As would be expected, most of the items are from the Southern Pacific railroad.

The SLHRS is in the process of replacing the front porch steps.  The bottom landing that was redwood has been replaced with concrete.  This is a 4,000 project.

This is a photo of the center and right side of the building.  The center of the building houses the HO display.  The right side houses the work shop and HO staging yard.

This is the right side as seen from Orchard Avenue.  San Leandro was an agricultural town until the 1930's and 1940's.  Most of the town's land was planted with fruit trees.  The main town fair is the Cherry Festival.  

This is the back of the building.  The children's display is directly behind the gate.  The yellow / gray building in the far distance is an unused Delmonte Foods warehouse.  The grey building on the right is a private home.  The 80 foot long wood fence between the Depot and the home is scheduled for replacement in 2020.  This is expected to cost $5,000.

Here is another view of the back of the Depot.  The G&O display can be seen inside the gate.

Here is a view of the working train order signal in front of the building.  The signal arms are connected to manual levers inside the Depot's office.  They can be moved using the levers.  Trains used to stop at San Leandro for orders.  The Delmonte Foods warehouse can be seen in the distance.

I hope that you have enjoyed this short tour of the SLHRS Depot.  Again - Happy Holidays to All.  NH Joe

Years ago I was on a road trip to visit one of the areas where I grew up. Yakima Washington. Went to the Yakima Valley RR head quarters and there were two guys sitting around doing nothing. Got talking to them and they offered me a ride in their steeple cab. Loved it. Most of the line is gone now and when they would try to run their trolley found someone always stole the copper wire for the overhead. Now they run the trolley with a small generator car in tow. Sad. Don

A new one on the S&Y RR, WP boxcar with screeching brakes.

                                               MTH BNSF SD40-2 at NJ Hirailers.

                                                                  MY PHOTO

Just found this photo. Didn't realize I had three different generations of Santa Fe in one photo.

Post-war, MPC, and Modern