OK, I thought I might post another one of my "oldies"...this an American Flyer (Chicago Flyer) , Steeple Cab #3110, from 1928-1929. Yes she has a little rust and a few paint chips (Hey! that's called "patina" folks!!) but at 96 years old, I hope I look even close to this much like the original (or if I'm even around 
) OBTW - she still works and runs, even the light lights, and she can still pull a few cars around my little layout.
Best Wishes, Don
MTH Proto 2 PRR L-5
Latest additions to my always growing collection of GG1s. Both are Weaver.
Some years ago I reserved a NYC R-2 freight electric from 3rd Rail. It was never made. Somewhere along the way I saw this old (1940's? 50's?) 2R version of the R-2 for a low price and I snatched it - "just in case" - at least I would have a shelf model of the R-2. Glad that I did, as the 3rd Rail version never got enough orders, I guess, so this is the only R-2 that I have.
All brass and bronze, it seems. 2 can (surprising) motors. And all those chains and sprockets. The paint job is in fair condition.
I have had some luck with a 2R-wheeled tender truck or two tracking OK through GG switches - there are enough wheels supporting the truck that the 3RO flange ways don't swallow the skinny 2RO wheels and their small (but not scale, either) flanges.
Maybe one day (tick-tock) I'll build a NYC hump trailer (a real thing) for this in which will be all the 3RO pickups and electronics, then tether it to this unit. Heck, might even work.
The trucks are an asymmetrical R-2 specific design, so bashing an R-2 on a 3RO chassis is not drawing me in.
@Pantenary posted: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.
I do like your setup, and I am sure that you have been asked before, but, as your catenary is the real deal, and your Center Rail is above, why did you not opt for laying 2-rail track? You could have had the best of both worlds - 2R appearance and 3R operational friendliness.
@D500 posted:Some years ago I reserved a NYC R-2 freight electric from 3rd Rail. It was never made. Somewhere along the way I saw this old (1940's? 50's?) 2R version of the R-2 for a low price and I snatched it - "just in case" - at least I would have a shelf model of the R-2. Glad that I did, as the 3rd Rail version never got enough orders, I guess, so this is the only R-2 that I have.
All brass and bronze, it seems. 2 can (surprising) motors. And all those chains and sprockets. The paint job is in fair condition.
It might be an E. P. Alexander or Baldwin Model Locomotive Works product.
Looking closely at the above photo, I think that you just helped me identify a wayward unknown roof that I have had for quite a while.
Please post a close-up of the roof of yours. TIA
EDIT: There does appear to be e few detail difference between the two roofs, though.
If I was still buying product a GG1PS3 would be at the top of my list.
Walt
@D500 posted:I do like your setup, and I am sure that you have been asked before, but, as your catenary is the real deal, and your Center Rail is above, why did you not opt for laying 2-rail track? You could have had the best of both worlds - 2R appearance and 3R operational friendliness.
Greetings @D500 -- good question without great answers. During the design phase, I decided that O63 would be the best compromise of broad curves in a tight space. In other words, I never gave 2R a thought. The other issue is that the small collection I have is all 3R. The motors might not need the 3rd rail, but they all have 3R couplers which are not easily replaced. All the hoppers would need new trucks. I have all 3R coaches, including GGD Amfleets, which all draw power from the 3rd rail -- those trucks would need replaced as well. Of course all of these issues are fixable with the right amount of time and determination. These days, I have neither.
The bittersweet fact is that we will be moving soon, and all that is currently left of the 300 Loft Electric Railroad is the single-track mainline loop. All the sidings, yard trackage and corresponding catenary have been removed to prep for the move. However, I want to preserve the ability to run something until the very end. The sweet part is that there will be a new electrified railroad in the new place, and it is guaranteed to be the best and most challenging that I have yet assembled.
Best wishes on the move. I trust you will have the space you want for the layout. Been there done that and doing that. ; ) I am building my first live wire trolley, we will see how that works out. For what its worth, high rail wheels will run on code 148 track with barely enough clearance. Seems like mineature rail compared to Atlas and Ross.
@PRRMP54 posted:It might be an E. P. Alexander or Baldwin Model Locomotive Works product.
Looking closely at the above photo, I think that you just helped me identify a wayward unknown roof that I have had for quite a while.
Please post a close-up of the roof of yours. TIA
EDIT: There does appear to be e few detail difference between the two roofs, though.
Looks like maybe all you need is the rest of the R-2 to go under your roof. Thanks for the thoughts on the origin of this R-2; I am familiar with the name Ed (?) Alexander, and Baldwin, a bit. The old domestic 2R stuff is appealing to me.
I should grab my old Tyco power pack and put some DC to the wheels just to see if they will spin.
From both sides:
Last time I looked at this MTH P5a boxcab, zinc pest started to develope on the roof and one side. That was several years ago. I should probably open the box and see if there is anything left of it.
My plan was to run it with my MTH P5a Modified.
@CAPPilot posted:Last time I looked at this MTH P5a boxcab, zinc pest started to develope on the roof and one side. That was several years ago. I should probably open the box and see if there is anything left of it.
My plan was to run it with my MTH P5a Modified.
😱 Mine is on the shelf I never noticed any signs. I’m going to make an inspection in the morning.
@CAPPilot I don’t see any signs of zinc pest on my P5a, it is a different number, and I didn’t look it up; but I think they were made at the same time.
@pennsyfan posted:
@pennsyfan You are lucky. Based on past post on this, nearly all boxcabs with product numbers 20-56XX, like yours, had zinc pest deterioration. Nice layout, too.
@CAPPilot posted:@pennsyfan You are lucky. Based on past post on this, nearly all boxcabs with product numbers 20-56XX, like yours, had zinc pest deterioration. Nice layout, too.
Thanks Ron.
Found this shot from an old layout from several years ago. NJT is one of my home roads and I remember when the ALP-44s where new. I was in college when they arrived on the property, and I remember photographing them on my list trip to my childhood home before my parents moved in the summer of 2002. Times sure had changed from my high school years. Instead of my cheap plastic 35mm camera with light leaks I was shooting with a Hasselblad 500C. The increase in train speeds made even 1/500th of a second challenging to catch them in focus and they were a whole lot quieter than the 567 and 645 prime movers of the previous diesels. I need to find those images and scan them one day. Who would have known how short a life the ALP-44 would have had?
When electrification came south to Long Branch on the NY&LB in 1988 I saw E60CHs suffering through the summers on break from college. This one is two Williams shells spliced together. One day I'll get to actually finishing this project. The hardest part is finding good quality Faiveley pantographs. I have a BDO E60MA shell that is a little shorter and designed to fit on an MTH SD60 chassis. I haven't done anything with that yet either.
An MTH scale, PRR GG-1 in the classic dark green with a small keystone and 5 pinstripes. It is pulling 5 MTH, scale, heavyweight coaches in PRR Tuscan red livery.
@GG1 4877 posted:Found this shot from an old layout from several years ago. NJT is one of my home roads and I remember when the ALP-44s where new. I was in college when they arrived on the property, and I remember photographing them on my list trip to my childhood home before my parents moved in the summer of 2002. Times sure had changed from my high school years. Instead of my cheap plastic 35mm camera with light leaks I was shooting with a Hasselblad 500C. The increase in train speeds made even 1/500th of a second challenging to catch them in focus and they were a whole lot quieter than the 567 and 645 prime movers of the previous diesels. I need to find those images and scan them one day. Who would have known how short a life the ALP-44 would have had?
When electrification came south to Long Branch on the NY&LB in 1988 I saw E60CHs suffering through the summers on break from college. This one is two Williams shells spliced together. One day I'll get to actually finishing this project. The hardest part is finding good quality Faiveley pantographs. I have a BDO E60MA shell that is a little shorter and designed to fit on an MTH SD60 chassis. I haven't done anything with that yet either.
How many toasters have come and gone; without ever reaching the service life of the GG1?
@pennsyfan posted:How many toasters have come and gone; without ever reaching the service life of the GG1?
Bob:
You speak the truth about the longevity of the GG-1!!!!!!
I also would like to add that the GG-1's center cab gave extra protection to the engine crew in the event of a collision. The wreck of the Federal in 1953 at Union Station Washington DC is testimony to that. GG-1 #4876 was removed in pieces, reassembled in Altoona and ran the rails until its retirement in 1983. Also, I am sure the Amtrak engine crew may have had at least a marginal chance at surviving the tragic crash at Chase Maryland on my 1987 birthday, January the 4th, had they been riding a GG-1 rather than an ALP-44s when broadsiding a freight engine under the control of the idiot, Ricky Gates who missed a stop signal.
It's the summer of 1966 on my 0 scale layout, and a Swiss Federal Ae6/6, 11410 Basel Stadt, has just crossed into Germany with a TEEM [ Trans Europe Express Marchandises ] from Chiasso. The 1:45 model is by Hermann.
Best regards, SZ
@pennsyfan posted:How many toasters have come and gone; without ever reaching the service life of the GG1?
I'll be a fan of the GG1 for life but the AEM7s proved very successful in service. Considering Amtrak GG1s were mostly later production from 1942-1943 and served until 1981, they have an average life of 39 years in continuous passenger service. The AEM7s entered service in 1980 and ran until 2016 so they had a service life that was nearly as long. AEM7s also held down faster trains pulling Metroliners at 125 mph while GG1s were limited to 100 mph operation and generally didn't operate over 90 in corridor service under Amtrak. PRR/PC rarely operated the Gs over 90.
The Conrail ones being lower numbered certainly had longer and harder service lives doing freight duties which the GG1 was not designed for. 4800 operated the longest at 45 years and ran about 5 million miles. A very enviable service record but the AEM7s certainly earned my respect and were well liked by the Amtrak crews that operated them.
The ALP-44 shouldn't be confused with the AEM7. ASEA provided the design that EMD built under contract and Budd supplied the bodies and were based on the Rc4 prototype. All around a very successful partnership. The ALP-44 was built by ABB, based on the European Rc6 and limited to 100 mph operation. It did not prove to be as successful in commuter service as NJT had hoped, however I have never fully understood why NJT chose to retire these so soon and replace them with the ALP-46. They were not poor performers.
I posted this image the day the Toasters were original retired in 2016.
For any that I may have caused some heart palpitations to for saying the AEM7 was a worthy successor to the GG1, here is an antidote 
Finally, for comparison's sake a most unworthy successor to any electric locomotive in the Bombardier HHP-8. They were not reliable, rode poorly, and are now being tested for possible use as cab control units after a very short service life.
@GG1 4877 posted:Finally, for comparison's sake a most unworthy successor to any electric locomotive in the Bombardier HHP-8. They were not reliable, rode poorly, and are now being tested for possible use as cab control units after a very short service life.
I have a friend that was a block operator at WT and when I told him about my Lionel HHP8 having died after less than an hour and a half, his comment: "Well, at least Lionel got that right.".
OK talk about monster's and a center cab...how about this one. A German (Deutsche Reichsbahn ) "Crocodile" locomotive. This one in the German Technical Museum (note monitors, this is my picture). If you look down the end of the picture, you can see a full sized office desk (they were taking some data) compared to the locomotive...this thing was immense!
Best Wishes
Don
@GG1 4877 posted:I'll be a fan of the GG1 for life but the AEM7s proved very successful in service. Considering Amtrak GG1s were mostly later production from 1942-1943 and served until 1981, they have an average life of 39 years in continuous passenger service. The AEM7s entered service in 1980 and ran until 2016 so they had a service life that was nearly as long. AEM7s also held down faster trains pulling Metroliners at 125 mph while GG1s were limited to 100 mph operation and generally didn't operate over 90 in corridor service under Amtrak. PRR/PC rarely operated the Gs over 90.
The Conrail ones being lower numbered certainly had longer and harder service lives doing freight duties which the GG1 was not designed for. 4800 operated the longest at 45 years and ran about 5 million miles. A very enviable service record but the AEM7s certainly earned my respect and were well liked by the Amtrak crews that operated them.
The ALP-44 shouldn't be confused with the AEM7. ASEA provided the design that EMD built under contract and Budd supplied the bodies and were based on the Rc4 prototype. All around a very successful partnership. The ALP-44 was built by ABB, based on the European Rc6 and limited to 100 mph operation. It did not prove to be as successful in commuter service as NJT had hoped, however I have never fully understood why NJT chose to retire these so soon and replace them with the ALP-46. They were not poor performers.
I posted this image the day the Toasters were original retired in 2016.
For any that I may have caused some heart palpitations to for saying the AEM7 was a worthy successor to the GG1, here is an antidote
Finally, for comparison's sake a most unworthy successor to any electric locomotive in the Bombardier HHP-8. They were not reliable, rode poorly, and are now being tested for possible use as cab control units after a very short service life.
@GG1 4877
Jonathan, thank you for providing this informative and interesting information.
A future Milwaukee Road Steeple Cab. Parts from Scale Rail, engine 44 tonner from Williams. Now to get started.
Always forget I have this random electric. It's a brass Japanese imported by International Model Products. The prototype operated on narrow gauge track in Japan. Mine has been set up for outside 3rd rail operation but it's missing one key component, a motor.
@GG1 4877 posted:When electrification came south to Long Branch on the NY&LB in 1988 I saw E60CHs suffering through the summers on break from college. This one is two Williams shells spliced together. One day I'll get to actually finishing this project. The hardest part is finding good quality Faiveley pantographs. I have a BDO E60MA shell that is a little shorter and designed to fit on an MTH SD60 chassis. I haven't done anything with that yet either.
At the risk of going off-topic, or at least veering off the road, I have a couple of Wms E60's, and a spare E60 body shell, and have considered swapping the extra body, suitably re-detailed and modified as a freelance twin-cab diesel, with appropriate fans, exhausts, roof changes and the like, on to one of the E60 chassis. I like electrics a lot, but the project seems appealing and "harmless", should I not like it. Maybe I'll even get to it, one day.
I like dual-cab locos, and the type was used, but not extremely often, in N. America, especially on diesels.
The motor shop was warned about not putting Woolite in the motor washer :
I went looking for my 3rd Rail T-motor (got it from Public Delivery Track's last stint at Allentown, if anyone remembers when that was), but it's too deeply buried to go hunting for it at 3am. Without any real idea year that was, searching through my 163GB archive for the sole photo I took of it would've taken all night...
But I did find this photo of my most recent MTH AEM7, in stainless-plated finish. Not sure what year this one was, Google images weren't any help, turning up mostly a 2018 Forum thread with units numbered 915 and 925. So here is #938:
The photo this version was derived from shows a date of 11/16/2009. Has it been that long?
---PCJ
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