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@RSJB18 posted:

I'm so glad you got the reference to Spinal Tap.

Yea, my "11" days are in the rearview mirror too..😁😁

Peter and Bob - what did you play?  There are many people who participate here who share an interest in music.

Totally off topic, but I've rediscovered my passion for making music.  Two months ago, I repaired my modified Squire Strat that I put EMG pickups and a Floyd Rose tremolo on in the 90's.  I'm also most of the way through redoing the pickups, switches, and pots on another Strat knockoff that should actually blow the doors off an American Strat when it's finished.  This was after adding 4 new synthesizers in the last 8 months of which three were rack mount mono-synths with the classic 70's analog sound.  The 4th is a decent modern play on the classic Roland Juno-60 of 1982 since my original one needs a complete rebuild at roughly the same cost as what I paid for its "replacement".

Like model trains though, I still have that nagging question.  Is a restored original that could continue to need maintenance really a better solution over a modern one that won't?  There is a simplicity to that old Roland that is very appealing.  Finally, I picked up a Zoom 8 track digital recorder that interfaces with my laptop for a fully functional digital audio workstation to record some things.  Will the music be any good?  NOPE!  It is more for my enjoyment than anyone else's.  Going to 12!! 

Back on topic, my first trip to Boston around 1978ish with my parents still had the engine change at New Haven, Connecticut from electric to diesel prior to electrification to Boston.  Granted it was 10 years after the New Haven was no longer operating, but like so many railroads, several traditions continued on for many years after the railroad that started it was long gone.

I'll leave this thought with photos I've posted before on the forum.  The FL9 defined the New Haven in so many ways like the EP-5 "Jet's" and several other classic locomotives.  During my tenure with 3rd Rail, this was the 3rd project I worked on and like my thoughts on my old synthesizers, it hearkens to a simpler day when we just had this many variations.  If you look closely, there are only 4 variations in 6 paint schemes.  Considering I've spent the last month reviewing SD40-2's that have 19 variations across 23 paint schemes I am getting nostalgic!

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@GG1 4877 posted:

Back on topic, my first trip to Boston around 1978ish with my parents still had the engine change at New Haven, Connecticut from electric to diesel prior to electrification to Boston.  Granted it was 10 years after the New Haven was no longer operating, but like so many railroads, several traditions continued on for many years after the railroad that started it was long gone.

Tradition was not responsible for continuing the locomotive change at New Haven well past 1978. The locomotive change at New Haven continued until about 2000 when Amtrak finally had funding to electrify the line between New Haven and Boston.

MELGAR

@GG1 4877 posted:

Peter and Bob - what did you play?  There are many people who participate here who share an interest in music.

I'll leave this thought with photos I've posted before on the forum.  The FL9 defined the New Haven in so many ways like the EP-5 "Jet's" and several other classic locomotives.  During my tenure with 3rd Rail, this was the 3rd project I worked on and like my thoughts on my old synthesizers, it hearkens to a simpler day when we just had this many variations.  If you look closely, there are only 4 variations in 6 paint schemes.  Considering I've spent the last month reviewing SD40-2's that have 19 variations across 23 paint schemes I am getting nostalgic!

IMG_0461

Jonathan- I dabbled in music, trumpet in school, and a little electric guitar. My real passion was lighting and sound. I majored in theater arts in college with the hope of working on Broadway. Reality hit when you had to have a blood relative in the union (IATSE), to get in. I did work for several non-union companies for several years and had a lot of fun. Then I met my future wife and became an electrician. The story goes on but other than having no layout to run trains on through this period it's not train related.

Bob

New Haven Railroad ALCO RS-1 #0668 is an Atlas O Master model (item 6888-2) delivered in March 2004 at an MSRP of $429.95 with TMCC.

The video shows it running at 24 scale-miles-per-hour on my 10’-by-5’ model railroad with Atlas O-54 curves pulling three 60-foot New Haven passenger cars made by Atlas O Trainman.

ALCO built RS-1s between 1941 and 1960. They were powered by a 1,000 horsepower 539T diesel engine, weighed 240,000 pounds and had a top speed of 60 mph. New Haven #0668 (Class DERS-1b) was delivered in 1948. Five New Haven RS-1s lasted into the Penn Central era that began in 1969.

MELGAR

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In my current youth (69), I have morphed into just enjoying the running of the trains.  I used to be region specific, but now my layout becomes the region of the the locos that are running today.  To that end, I have a Lionel 1950's era NH EP5 my uncle gave me over 20 years ago and it seemed lonely.  I have picked up a NH Rectifier, the Lionel TCCA re-issue NH ALCO set along with the add on B unit and cars, and yes, the NH has become a new joy.  But next week I will be in UP land with the Challenger and Big Boy making miles.  You know, it was said at one time in this country you could travel from California to New York and not walk more than 2 blocks.  The inter-connectivity of trolleys, interurban s, mainline trains made it possible, so a UP/NH connection while not a trackage connection, was at one time a passenger connection.

@CALNNC posted:

In my current youth (69), I have morphed into just enjoying the running of the trains.  I used to be region specific, but now my layout becomes the region of the the locos that are running today.  To that end, I have a Lionel 1950's era NH EP5 my uncle gave me over 20 years ago and it seemed lonely.  I have picked up a NH Rectifier, the Lionel TCCA re-issue NH ALCO set along with the add on B unit and cars, and yes, the NH has become a new joy.  But next week I will be in UP land with the Challenger and Big Boy making miles.  You know, it was said at one time in this country you could travel from California to New York and not walk more than 2 blocks.  The inter-connectivity of trolleys, interurban s, mainline trains made it possible, so a UP/NH connection while not a trackage connection, was at one time a passenger connection.

I currently have the LIRR and Santa Fe on my layout.

I see no problem here. πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

@MELGAR posted:

New Haven Railroad ALCO RS-1 #0668 is an Atlas O Master model (item 6888-2) delivered in March 2004 at an MSRP of $429.95 with TMCC.

The video shows it running at 24 scale-miles-per-hour on my 10’-by-5’ model railroad with Atlas O-54 curves pulling three 60-foot New Haven passenger cars made by Atlas O Trainman.

ALCO built RS-1s between 1941 and 1960. They were powered by a 1,000 horsepower 539T diesel engine, weighed 240,000 pounds and had a top speed of 60 mph. New Haven #0668 (Class DERS-1b) was delivered in 1948. Five New Haven RS-1s lasted into the Penn Central era that began in 1969.

MELGAR

MELGAR2_2022_0727_09_NH_RS1_0668_10X5_SOUTH

Nice engine Mel. I have the MTH Railking version w/ PS2

2021-02-20 07.38.03

Bob

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I never lived in or near New Haven, but I "adopted" the New Haven road name when my father bought me my first Lionel set for Christmas in 1958--it was the Lionel 2242 F3AB.   Fast forward more than 50 years and I decided to pull the set out of storage, then build on it to put a permanent layout in the basement.  I began this in 2017.  As I pondered the newer control systems, I noted that MTH made a replica of the 2242, but with DCS control.  So I went with DCS, bought that F3ABA and as I added more engines over the past 5 years I stuck with the NH road name. Here is a video of my current layout, with a total of 4 NH engines, including a Budd Car set, and several pieces of NH rolling stock.  Most often I see F3 diesels pulling passenger cars, but I stuck with a freight consist, as was my original Lionel set.

I never lived in or near New Haven, but I "adopted" the New Haven road name when my father bought me my first Lionel set for Christmas in 1958--it was the Lionel 2242 F3AB.   Fast forward more than 50 years and I decided to pull the set out of storage, then build on it to put a permanent layout in the basement.  I began this in 2017.  As I pondered the newer control systems, I noted that MTH made a replica of the 2242, but with DCS control.  So I went with DCS, bought that F3ABA and as I added more engines over the past 5 years I stuck with the NH road name. Here is a video of my current layout, with a total of 4 NH engines, including a Budd Car set, and several pieces of NH rolling stock.  Most often I see F3 diesels pulling passenger cars, but I stuck with a freight consist, as was my original Lionel set.

Great layout, great video.....and, love that SuperO track!

Peter

These photos show my Sunset/3rd Rail New Haven Railroad FL-9 #2043. As far as I know, Sunset is the only manufacturer to have made an O gauge/scale model of an FL-9.

Sixty EMD FL-9s were delivered to the New Haven Railroad, 30 in 1956 and 30 more in 1960 (Classes EDER-5 and EDER-5a). They were a dual-mode locomotive designed to operate on the New York Central's 660-Volt DC third-rail electric power from Woodlawn, New York 12 miles into Grand Central Terminal and as a conventional diesel-electric elsewhere on the New Haven Railroad. The rear truck had three axles, two of which were powered, to better distribute the locomotive weight on the Park Avenue Viaduct leading into GCT. The New Haven Railroad did not own any EMD F-series four-axle diesel-electric locomotives such as EMD F-3s. The first 30 FL-9s were ordered during the administration of Patrick McGinnis when the New Haven was contemplating the retirement of its electric motors (such as EP-2s and EP-3s) on passenger trains into GCT.

MELGAR

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Well this is a little different. When the Connecticut Southern Railroad built the new shop in Hartford. Formally New Heaven hump yard the old sand tower was taking down. Luckily the guy doing the HVAC saved it from being scraped. Fast forward to last year, he was back doing some work on the shop. The sand tower came up in talks and he said we could have it back. He didn’t use it on his property. I have a video on my YouTube. So the tower has made it back to its home. The tower itself is in great shape. I’ll have to do some work on the ladder cage. All new piping as well. It’s nice to have a piece of history back and to be able to work on it. 6DE569F5-18F8-407E-880F-3027BF2E7F0AE373B746-D714-4E2A-8533-C112A31F6019F7863FC6-761E-4507-B1CD-74D3CF19FE18

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@Wvm posted:

Want to be sure everyone knows that Sunset Third Rail is taking reservations for a run of RDC s  the New Haven is available as RDC 1 and 2. Come on everyone don’t miss this opportunity for a scale model of this car. Email’d with them this morning and they are getting close to number they need to do build.

I actually own two of the same numbered RCD1’s (don’t ask!!!) and have an RDC2 on order. I hope Scott gets enough reservations for this run!!!

Last edited by Apples55

There were a number of pictures of the new Lionel Atlantics posted on the forum, mostly over on the New York Central thread. It looked like a great, small steamer, so… Fortunately, Sister Mary Flowerpot didn’t have her ruler handy to whack my hand as I checked out Grzyboski’s website (the voices were particularly strong that day ). Since I really have enough New York Central engines (may the train gods forgive my heresy), I went with one of my other favorite lines - New Haven. I’ve found info online which indicates that the NH Atlantics were used later in life (the 40’s) for short commuter trains. In fact, there are pics of the 1101 in 1940 pulling two passenger cars, filling in for The Comet. The Comet was diesel streamliner that ran between Providence and Boston - the tag line was β€œ44 miles in 44 minutes” (have to wonder if the Atlantic made that time!!!). The cars in the photo look like the Atlas Bradley-Osgood cars. A bit of additional research indicates that, while they were built by Bradley-Osgood, they were called American Flyer cars - to my uneducated eye, the only difference is a longer, full skirt on the cars. Here is my engine… I’ll have to dig out my Atlas Bradley’s to run my own version of the Comet fill in!!!

FDEA1664-32DB-4E06-A052-9189D62091C8

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@Apples55 posted:

There were a number of pictures of the new Lionel Atlantics posted on the forum, mostly over on the New York Central thread. It looked like a great, small steamer, so… ...New Haven. I’ve found info online which indicates that the NH Atlantics were used later in life (the 40’s) for short commuter trains. In fact, there are pics of the 1101 in 1940 pulling two passenger cars, filling in for The Comet. ...The cars in the photo look like the Atlas Bradley-Osgood cars. A bit of additional research indicates that, while they were built by Bradley-Osgood, they were called American Flyer cars - to my uneducated eye, the only difference is a longer, full skirt on the cars. Here is my engine…

I was seriously contemplating this engine but the pilot sort of bugged me and did not shout out "New Haven" to me.  Not that i am a prototype modeler but it deterred me enough for a pass.  As for the lightweight "Am Flyer cars" i just happened to read a 1985 NHRHTA Shoreliner article last night on these cars and they were built starting in the mid-30s by Osgood-Bradley of Worcester MA out of a then-new specialty steel developed by US Steel in 1934 called "Cor-Ten". Several lasted into the Penn Central era - but none were accepted by Amtrak due to severe structural issues from lack of maintenance by the time the NH went bankrupt. For whats its worth, as for the name "Am Flyer", the article author indicates the cars were never officially or even unofficially called by that name but rather it was coined in a book by Arthur Durbin in 1974 (More Classic Trains, Kalmbach) after the Gilbert Company which first produced models of these cars. Prior to this the cars were referred to by their class or simply as lightweight or streamlined.

Happy Railroading

Joe

Well this is a little different. When the Connecticut Southern Railroad built the new shop in Hartford. Formally New Heaven hump yard the old sand tower was taking down. Luckily the guy doing the HVAC saved it from being scraped. Fast forward to last year, he was back doing some work on the shop. The sand tower came up in talks and he said we could have it back. He didn’t use it on his property. I have a video on my YouTube. So the tower has made it back to its home. The tower itself is in great shape. I’ll have to do some work on the ladder cage. All new piping as well. It’s nice to have a piece of history back and to be able to work on it. 6DE569F5-18F8-407E-880F-3027BF2E7F0AE373B746-D714-4E2A-8533-C112A31F6019F7863FC6-761E-4507-B1CD-74D3CF19FE18

#1 this is really cool #2 what are you going to do with it? If youre looking to get rid of it id recommend donating it to essex or naugatuck . #3 how did you manage to get a truck and crane to move it for you? …I guess you railroaders are a resourceful bunch lol! Thanks for posting!

@biscuitag97 posted:

#1 this is really cool #2 what are you going to do with it? If youre looking to get rid of it id recommend donating it to essex or naugatuck . #3 how did you manage to get a truck and crane to move it for you? …I guess you railroaders are a resourceful bunch lol! Thanks for posting!

We will be putting it back in service. There’s some work I need to do first. Our current sand tower is horrible. It’s blown in makes a huge mess and takes about 3-4 hours pre side of the engine. Most likely be using the old one as extra sand storage. Moving it was easy the company doing the concrete work went to pick it up. Then we called in the crane company to unload it. Never a dull day on the railroad.

I’ve been running two New Haven Railroad diesels on my 12’-by-8’ model railroad. Are there β€œAny New Haven Fans” still out there?

New Haven ALCo DL-109 #0719 is an MTH Premier model and ALCo PA #0771 is a Sunset/3rd Rail model. Both of these locomotives went into service on the New Haven Railroad during the 1940s – the DL-109s in 1941 and the PAs in 1948. The DL-109s hauled passenger trains between New Haven and Boston during the day and freight at night, thereby becoming the first successful type of dual-service diesel locomotive. The PAs were, of course, used for passenger trains.

In the video, #0719 is running on a middle loop of Atlas O track with O-54 curves and pulling MTH 18-inch heavyweight passenger cars similar to those in service on the New Haven during the 1920s, including parlor car β€œFlying Cloud,” which ran on the β€œYankee Clipper” between New York and Boston beginning in 1930. #0771 is running on the outer loop of Atlas O track with O-72 curves and pulling 21-inch β€œAmerican Flyer” lightweight passenger cars by Weaver Models whose prototypes went into service on the New Haven in 1937.

New Haven passenger trains on the β€œShoreline” often included Railway Post Office cars to carry the large volume of mail between New York City and Boston. RPO #3286 is at the head end of #0719’s train and RPO #2782 is behind #0771. Both RPOs were made by Weaver Models.  

MELGAR

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I’ve been running New Haven Railroad 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler steam locomotive #816 (Lionel 6-82272, MSRP $899.99, 2014 Volume 2 catalog) on my 12’-by-8’ layout this week. Lionel refers to this engine as a β€œClassic Design from the 19th Century.” This model looks well, runs well and has outstanding steam sounds but, in true Lionel fashion, its prototype is a New York Central Class F-12 4-6-0 locomotive built by ALCo. However, the model does look quite similar to New Haven’s #816.

Ten-Wheelers hauled mainline passenger trains on the β€œShoreline” in the early 1900s but were superseded in a few years by more powerful 4-6-2 Pacific types as heavier steel construction replaced wood for passenger cars.

New Haven Class G-4 #816 was built by Baldwin and went into passenger service in 1904. On my layout, it is pulling models of heavyweight steel passenger cars by MTH. From a time long before the McGinnis era and paint schemes...

MELGAR

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I received my Lionel C-Liner this week, former MTH tooling. I think it looks spectacular - Lionel nailed the dark green, and the gold tint of the pinstripes accents it perfectly. IMG_1898IMG_1897

On the bottom of the engine was the MTH style QA stickers - the oval gold-colored ones with the inspectors' number in them. I hope this means the former MTH tooled pieces are still made in MTH's factory, which IMO has always had better quality.

~Chris

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The Merchants Limited just pulling into New Haven from Boston on Xmas eve.  No Snow. Since I'm from west of Albany, New York where there is about a foot of snow on the ground today, I called my brother near New Haven and he verified no snow there  So I can claim its the Merchants Limited on Xmas eve. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.



https://photos.app.goo.gl/a2RhqvkcbC7i31JS9

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