Electrics Galore

I’m surprised I missed this thread earlier. I love electrics (even without a catenary ).

First, my first GG1 (MPC)

Next up, two JLC GG1’s

And a VisionLine GG1

A NYC electric

A couple of trolleys

Finally an Italian electric I saw in the central station in Florence some years ago

Here's some of my entire electric fleet.   Not shown is my K line Collectors Club semi scale GG1.  

GG1 4890 ( a scale Williams Reproductions dummy ) leads lite consist of GG1 4876 and caboose.  

P5a modified.  An MTH Premier model.

GG1 number 4876 ( Williams Reproduction scale powered unit )

On a whim, I only recently acquired my first electric, a classic PRR GG-1, only to find none of my existing loops had the clearance or structural strength to run it! I literally had to rebuild the test layout (to eliminate all O-27 curves) in order to even be able to test the new acquisition! A couple of quick shots, coming and going, once I installed the new track:

I've since added a Marx switch (with modifications to better work with the GG-1's roller pickups) and an old electric decoupler (my first on any layout!) on an interior siding to be able to experiment with remotely dropping off and recoupling a Lionel consist (I run mostly postwar Marx rolling stock on the main layout).

Greetings all -- I have posted in this thread before, and everyone it probably tired of seeing similar shots from my small loop.  But it is electrified with live catenary, and I never get tired of sharing if folks don't mind putting up with it. 

I especially love when all the motors are in the yard, and there are pans up all over the place.

It is SO relaxing to have trains run right past my ear.

Here’s my favorite electric. It’s a former TCA anniversary unit repainted by Elliot Weltz.
That ‘s an actual number board beneath it.

Seeing the AMTRAK units reminded me I do have a Amtrak AEM-7 Electric.

Here it is pictured with all my Amtrak engines including GG1 4935 which was repainted in original scheme  By FOGG-1 and ran on point of Amtrak services for a short.

The discussions about not able to run the model on smaller curves reminded me that first GG1when getting back into O-Gauge was in fact a Scale GG1 made by Williams that would run on )42 curves.

Ron

LGB 'New Orleans' streetcar

Lionel JLC 'Motor'

These are the models of electric locomotives that I run most often – listed in order of when I bought them with the year in which they entered service on their railroads. The New York Central S-2 model was made by Lionel. The others are by MTH. I have other electrics that haven’t been run…

• New Haven Railroad EP5 #371 with PS1 (1955)
• New York Central P-2b #223 with PS1 (1955 in New York City)
• Amtrak AEM-7 #924 with PS1 (1978)
• New York Central S-2 #3207 (1907)
• New Haven Railroad EP3 #0360 (1931)

MELGAR

Doorstop electrics

@MELGAR posted:

These are the models of electric locomotives that I run most often – listed in order of when I bought them with the year in which they entered service on their railroads. The New York Central S-2 model was made by Lionel. The others are by MTH. I have other electrics that haven’t been run…

• New Haven Railroad EP5 #371 with PS1 (1955)
• New York Central P-2b #223 with PS1 (1955 in New York City)
• Amtrak AEM-7 #924 with PS1 (1978)
• New York Central S-2 #3207 (1907)
• New Haven Railroad EP3 #0360 (1931)

MELGAR

Love this S-2. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, no O Gauge model has been made that runs through 031 curves. Arnold

<Smart Azz Button: ON>

Well, seeing as all my 3 rail engines are electrically powered... I reckon' I can play, too?

<Smart Azz Button: OFF>

Seriously, I've long thought that this little Lionel "traditional" engine, pic posted by Don McErlean, has a simplicity and charm all its own:

Then there's this scale model engine posted by Melgar...

That engine has such a brutish, burly, look and is cool on so many levels.

Yes, I "get" the appeal of electric powered locomotives that many of you have. The above are only two examples.

Andre

Posted many times before, but I kind of have a thing for electrics.  This photo is pretty old now and I have several more in fleet.  Probably at least a dozen in O scale alone.  Won't get into the many, many, many electrics I have in HO and N also.  This hobby certainly falls towards the obsessive side!

Not pictured below are Septa and MARC AEM7s.

Some newer additions since that photo above:

@laming- Andre, thanks for your comment.  Don

Here is a size comparison for you...an American Flyer Wide Gauge #4644 box cab from 1928-1933 and an American Flyer Steeple Cab #1211 in 0 gauge uncatalogued from the 1920's.

Best Wishes

Don

Brooklyn #8454 is a model of a Peter Witt streetcar by Williams-by-Bachmann. Electrically-powered cars of this type entered service in Cleveland in 1915 and also operated in Brooklyn, New York. They were designed with a front door for boarding and a center door for quick exit. Bachmann’s model is nicely detailed but I don’t run it often. It is running at 20 miles-per-hour on my 10’-by-5’ layout.

MELGAR

@West Side Joe posted:

Can we also share memories of these electrics? Here's mine of the GG-1:

When I was a little boy, my dad and I would go "exploring" around NYC on Saturdays. Often we would visit places and things that soon would be no more. One Saturday we went to the old Pennsylvania Station. I liked walking along the platform looking through the windows of the coaches, diners and sleepers as the passengers prepared for departure. We walked all the way to the front of the train, where a GG-1 was waiting to take the train away.To a little boy, a GG-1 was a leviathan, its enormous bulk disappearing into the darkness above. I was mesmerized.

The engineer was watching us from the window of his cab. He smiled and asked if I wanted to come up. When I got into the cab, he told me to sit in his seat. I looked out the front at the enormous bulk of the engine ahead. I looked down at the platform where my dad stood far below. The engineer directed me to move a lever, and as I did I heard a faraway hiss.

After I came back down, the engineer asked if I had a buffalo nickel. My dad did. The engineer pointed to the Indian whose profile was on the other side of the nickel. "I met the man who posed for that picture", he said.

Thank you, dad, for that enduring memory from so long ago. 😘

When I grew up I lived in Astoria, Queens, and I used the marvel at the GG-1’s that went across the Hellgate bridge. Latter on in life I had the privilege of driving one of these majestic locomotives. I filled me with pride as we ran over the road.

some of my fondness memories are running on the express/thru track in Jersey at speed and seeing a young boy and his dad just waiting to see us charge by, I would always love to lean on the air horn and wave. The smile on a child’s face said it all. Thank you for reminding me of those times with your commitments above.

My 8659 Virginian from 76,77 had issues with the truck gear, replaced a couple times then decided to replace motor with a pw Lionel motor run great.

A EP-5 Pennsylvania 8551 from 75,76 nice runner awaiting parts.

@pennsyfan posted:

Here’s my favorite electric. It’s a former TCA anniversary unit repainted by Elliot Weltz.
That ‘s an actual number board beneath it.

Bob that is a great find, very sharp! Mark

This also reminded me of another story, one Sunday I was working OT going to DC for the PennCentral. While talking with my supervisor in Penn Station a young father was carrying his daughter who had braces on her legs. He asked could she touch my engine, of course and when she did she let out such a scream of joy. His wife came up with the wheel chair and took her back to one of the coaches. Dad explained his little angle had a terminal illness and to ride on a train was one of her wishes. He thanked us for our kindness and walked back, my supervisor and I stood speechless and with eyes welling up, he said you know it would be nice offer for her and her dad to ride in the engine. But you know it’s against company rules, and with that he said I’m leaving now you have a few minutes to get ready…………I will be way over there were I can see nothing. I ran back thru the coaches and found the family, I explained that we had an issue in the front end and would their daughter like to come up and take a look. The little girl screamed……please,please please. Once they had stepped up and in we put her the fireman’s position and poof we had to go……guess you will have to stay for the whole trip!  Mom was told by a conductor what we did and she relaxed in the coach.

‘’this was the greatest day of my life running over the road”

it’s not always about the trains…….it about how you treat people along the way.

Great GG1 stories folks...one for me to add :  In the 1960's I was attending Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.  The PRR corridor ran through New Brunswick and the express trains from D.C. only made 2 stops on their way to Newark...New Brunswick (for Rutgers) and Princeton Junction (for Princeton U).  I can remember  catching an express to Newark, boarding and sitting in a beautiful Pullman coach, being asked if I wished a drink by a uniformed Pullman porter, and then the "G" would start.  The acceleration was unbelievable, and it was doing over 100 mph BEFORE the last car cleared the platform!!  In those days, if you drove to Newark (what college kid had a car?) it took about 60-75 minutes.  The G made it in about 20!!

Best Wishes

Don

I know we all call them “electrics” we used to call them motors……because that is what they are pure power. No diesel can compare to a motor accelerating out of a station,.

Some prototype photos from my various travels.

Great Northern W-1 “Cascade” #5019 is an MTH Premier die-cast model (20-5514-1) with 5-volt PS2 delivered in December 2001 at MSRP $699.95. The body length is 24 inches and length over couplers is 25 inches. Mine has never been run – partly because it is too large for the O-72 loop on my 12’-by-8’ layout. The wheel arrangement is B-D+D-B – the electric locomotive equivalent of a Big-Boy 4-8-8-4.

General Electric built two W-1 locomotives (#5018 and #5019) in 1947 for use in Great Northern’s 73-mile electric zone across the Cascade Mountains between Wenatchee and Skykomish, Washington. They were the largest single-unit electric locomotives of their time but were retired in 1956 and replaced by diesels when the electrification was shut down.

The W-1s had 5,000 horsepower and weighed 720,000 pounds, with a tractive force of 119,000 pounds. Maximum speed was 65 miles-per-hour. #5019 was scrapped in 1959.

Does anyone else have one of these models?

MELGAR

Here are a couple of other electrics, one is a home made wooden shelled PRR O1 and the other also home made.

The little red  brass 2-4-4-2 on the bottom is early import brass, it has a plate that says KMR on it, might be IMP related, who knows.

Milwaukee Road steeple cab electric ES-2 class

Don McQuaig 3D-printed body kit on modified Williams 44-tonner chassis.  Superdetailed with brass and styrene scratch built parts, painted and decaled.  ERR mini-commander for TMCC control.

Bob

Brass Weaver Little Joe

Purchased with $$.  No effort applied.  

Bob

Well talking about the Williams GG1 Motor made me wonder "where was it stowed any"?  Looked at my storage images saw were it should be.  When up and grabbed it.

Since there's sale price maker on it must have construed selling it?  That surprise me since it has sentimental value.  A couple years after graduating from the ABBEY with a business degree started a new as QA Manger for a company making hose, including loco sanding hoses and Air brake hoses.  While back in school got rid of most credit cards.  Anyway saw this in an ad, asked my Mom if she would order it for had a wallet full of cash to pay her back.  She would not take my money. said it was a gift!  Mom and Dad (Santa) brought my first Lionel trains And now this would be her last one to me since she passed less then a year and a half later.

SO since it is out of storage will have to unpack, pop the Pans on, set it on a strip of track for a better picture.

And as I said it will run onO-42 and looks better on O-48.

Ron

I’ve been running my electrics recently, so I decided to resurrect this thread.

Here is one of my favorites: an MTH Railking PS3 New Haven EP5 hauling gleaming Williams aluminum passenger cars:

Now, let’s see some of your glorious electrics. Arnold

PreWar Lionel Electric 0-4-0 in Mojave 1924-32

Before being torn down and repainted

Here’s Lionel’s largest O gauge tinplate electric. It was larger than some Standard Gauge.

Here are my two scale GG1s. The Lionel solid stripe is a 1990 TMCC. The MTH is a PS2 version.  I think that the MTH horn is more authentic.

Here are a couple for you, the Lionel #248 available in several colors offered between 1927-1932. Pictured below are the orange with strap headlight from 1927 and the red, available from 1929-1932.

Red #248 from 1932 with Lionel "outfit" # 292 with 629 Pullman and 630 observation.

Best Wishes, Don

My new to me K-line, PRR, Tuscan red GG-1 highballs past with the Morning Congressional. This K-Line GG-1 has been upgraded to MTH Proto-Sound 3. Also, please excuse the mess on the layout platform. The layout is undergoing, slow, extensive rewiring, rebuilding and redesigning.

April 23, 2024 (youtube.com)

MTH Railking PS3 Pennsylvania GG1 and matching passenger cars: the Representative:

"Papa Ted's" PW 2340 GG1 on the point of Lionel's FARR #5 PRR consist (plus WbB PRR gondola):

I got this wonderful locomotive on the auction site but, unfortunately, she was not well packed by the seller and she arrived with extensive damage to both pilot trucks and a cracked tail bearing on one motor. Fortunately, thanks to parts available from Forum sponsor Trainz, I was able to replace the bearing and rebuild both pilot trucks. Now, she's back on the rails, running better than ever. She's rolling (and "honking") along here at just 7.5V. Her paint, keystone decals, roadnumber and "Pennsylvania" appear to be original while I believe "Papa Ted" reapplied the stripes with a decal set some time in the past.

In the listing for this locomotive, the seller stated that she was part of "Papa Ted's" train collection. "Papa Ted" is Theodore Althof who was an expert in "putz" houses, miniature houses made from cardboard in Japan and sold in dimestores during what Mr. Althof called the “Great Golden Age” of the American Dimestore Christmas between WWI and WWII. Here is an article by Mr. Althof describing the history of this fascinating American tradition.

Well first for "Electrics Galore" an American Flyer (Chicago Flyer) #4644 box cab NH type electric in "wide gauge" (AF's name for what Lionel called "standard gauge") from the 1930'a and an American Flyer (Chicago Flyer) #1211 steeple cab electric in 0 gauge from the 1920's (uncatalogued).

As an "add on" for @Bill Swatos  and his great lead on the article by "Papa Ted" on the paper based, dime store, Christmas houses.  Thanks Bill the article was GREAT!  Here is one of those houses I just picked up a few years ago for fun.  Yes, my family, like many others,  had these Japanese paper houses on our Christmas putz every year.

Best Wishes

Don

Triple play! Postwar 2332's.

While most of my electrics are in storage, I have run my two Williams GG1s at National Capital Train shows.  This quick video is from our show at Kids Fairfax in Oct 2017.  All williams.

@MELGAR posted:

Great Northern W-1 “Cascade” #5019 is an MTH Premier die-cast model (20-5514-1) with 5-volt PS2 delivered in December 2001 at MSRP $699.95. The body length is 24 inches and length over couplers is 25 inches. Mine has never been run – partly because it is too large for the O-72 loop on my 12’-by-8’ layout. The wheel arrangement is B-D+D-B – the electric locomotive equivalent of a Big-Boy 4-8-8-4.

General Electric built two W-1 locomotives (#5018 and #5019) in 1947 for use in Great Northern’s 73-mile electric zone across the Cascade Mountains between Wenatchee and Skykomish, Washington. They were the largest single-unit electric locomotives of their time but were retired in 1956 and replaced by diesels when the electrification was shut down.

The W-1s had 5,000 horsepower and weighed 720,000 pounds, with a tractive force of 119,000 pounds. Maximum speed was 65 miles-per-hour. #5019 was scrapped in 1959.

Does anyone else have one of these models?

MELGAR

Impulse buys. Unh.

I have the body shell from one of these that I bought on a whim years ago. Thought maybe I'd do a freelance "re-chassis" job using something or another.

Then I found out how long 2 actual FEET really is in 1:48. I have a functioning Weaver 'Lil Joe chassis. Way too small. It would need splitting and extending. Maybe a streamlined UP Big Boy!  Sure is pretty.

Maybe I could cut the shell in two and use the "bodies" for some off-the-wall creations on F3 chassis.....nah, I don't have the energy. I'll just keep it - maybe turn it upside down for a boat.