Engine I'd like to see made

It is hideous in a attractive sort of way. I want one!

Oh, I'd love to have one!  Yes, ugly, yes.  But wow - you gotta have one!

When were they built?

When were they retired?

Thank You.

Andrew

So fugly, it's good looking, in a cast iron behemoth steam engine kinda way.

Looking at it some more, in detail,  you might be able to make a pretty good facsimile out of the Lionel 0-4-0 steam switcher: not a perfect match - but it would be pretty dang close.

Actually, the more I look at it . . . the more I think about it . . .  it would be a very fun project to do this conversion.  And I really would like to have a model - only took two minutes to order a Lionel 0-4-0: this will be my next project!  Probably will start sometime next week - still have a couple of 'Streets big rigs to complete this week.

Not sure where I will put the sound card and speaker since it does not have a tender - probably in a boxcar pulled by it, unlessI can squeeze them in the cab (doubtful). 

Looking at it, it rather looks like Lionel's red & silver plastic-bodied switcher from the 70's - the Kickapoo maybe? Add some saddle tanks and you'll come pretty close.

is it an 0-4-0 or 0-6-0?  looks like it would be over balanced forward if only 0-4-0.  i can't tell.

How would you make an 0-6-0T "saddle tank" shop switcher out of a tender equipped 0-4-0????

how about this one?

roundhouse switcher

Lee, they didn't pull box cars. The were used around the roundhouse to push and pull dead 

steam engines. How about working on this engine. Don

I spent some time trying to decide.  I think its an 0-4-0 with a good deal of front overhang.  If it were a 0-6-0 I'd expect not to see that bit of daylight down near the rails where I've drawn that third driver would be.  Regardless, a project to add the saddle tanks, etc. and convert it will be fun regardless.

If it is an 0-6-0, I suppose I could use the  MTH RK 0-6-0 (I have one I don't run much), but the Lionel dockside switcher would be my logical choice to do the conversion.  

Just do a netsearch for " SP 217 0-6-0T " or something like that images;  brass models were imported in HO.

SZ

217 in later years.

Hummmmm . . . , looking at that photo, I'll probably go with using the MTH 0-6-0 rather than the Lionel dockside switcher.  But I'm still tempted to go ahead and convert the 0-4-0 anyway: it's not that important to me that I model a real loco if I get the "ugly" right, and I suspect I might actually run this puppy a lot once its done - so that fact that the 0-4-0 is a better runner than either of the other two is something I have to consider.  And I think it would look pretty "good" Ii.e., hideous) with the saddle tanks on it.

That is one really ugly loco.

That's ummmmm.   Interesting?

Don

I know you are a Milwaukee Road guy so here is a page of Milwaukee Road tank engines borrowed from Milwaukee Road Steam Power by John Tigges. Not quite as weird looking as your SP one, but the top and bottom ones come close.

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I'm going to plunge ahead and convert the Lionel 0-4-0 shifter, pretty much along the lines of the tank shapes (ie., two separate tanks, not one) and other added equipment and the look on/of that 0-6-0 that started this thread.  My reasons are:

1) I like the look, a lot, and it will look good pulling a short train on my "BEEPWorld" loop.  I will run this loco alot on that loop, or have it sitting on a siding when not actually running - its perfect for that loop.

2) My (self-imposed) rule on my BEEPWorld is that nothing longer than a BEEP can run on that loop or sit on the sidings.  The MTH 0-6-0 is way too long to meet that criterion, so that leaves the Lionel 0-6-0 dockside switcher or the Lionel 0-4-0 Shifter.  The 0-6-0 is semi-scale would be nearly impossible to to covert (the small coal reserve area behind the cab cannot be cut off - it contains the electronics: you can't easily cut it off).  The 0-4-0 is scale (I run almost entirely scale anymore, it will look better on the layout) and somewhat a better loco, etc.

I saw a photo of an SP Cab-forward 0-6-0 years ago while surfing and couldn't save it. It was somewhat similar to the roundhouse switcher, but had a single saddle tank superstructure. Looked like a "shop job" but I can't figure the purpose unless it was for improved visibility. Anyone heard of such a critter?

One of my favorites!

Yes, it's a nice little engine: solid, good runner and puller (for the size) and dependable and durable.  But its not scale, and for my project not well suited, as I said, because of the electronics that are in the coal bin ( and there is nooo room inside elsewhere for them) one can't truncate it at the rear of the cab to get the look I want in my conversion.  

I have several, and it is the only non-Thomas loco my grandkids currently have: durable enough to put up with kids and easy for a five-year old to mount on the tracks.  

Oddy enough, the Lionel 0-6-0T is scale sized.  It was a very small prototype locomotive.

Rusty

I think there are plenty of engines we all would love to see made. One I would love to see is the B&O Cincinnatian. 

The Missouri Pacific rebuilt one of their standard 0-6-0s into a tank engine. MP 9527.

Dan

I didn't know it was scale - I certain never considered it that - it has barely 7 feet of headroom at the center (max) in the cab when most steam locos, even small ones, have a good eight feet.  Regardless, it looks out of place among scale locos,  even smallest of them.  Here it is with a Legacy 0-8-0 and the Lionel 0-4-0 shifter, both of which are scale or very close to it.  

Looks like the old Lionel Docksider from the 70's or 80's. I think they were all 0-4-0 engines. Maybe someone re-engined it. Don

On the same subject of "utility " engines that have a short range used for only switch moves..one that is as quirky as your pick and my equivilent of your choice has got to be the "fireless cooker" with that huge boiler shell and often very small diameter wheels..I always thought it would make for a great feeder operation at an industrial plant that gathers up cars from an interchange. The headlight on this example looks more like a flashlight tacked on with Crazy Glue.

Fireless cookers...

The Santa Fe had one, too.  Westside made a brass model of it about 20 years ago.

If Lionel did one, I'm sure it would be in 'Warbonnet' paint, though....like their version of the Inspection Vehicle. 

Hmmmmm, they'd probably do the SP one (subject of this thread) in 'Daylight' colors....Hot Chihuahau!  Momma Mia!!

BTW, Don, I thought your priority for the un-made was a (drum roll, please!).....

Steeplecab!?!?!?...per an earlier thread, same topic.  I still think that should be at or near the top of the list....or maybe one line below the Santa Fe Prairie 2-6-2.

But, if you like your priority, you can keep your priority...........Period!

KD

Your right KD. A steeple cab would be a big hit. I haven't given up yet. Don

If I recall correctly, SP #217 was built by Brooks Locomotive Works (ALCO-Brooks) in 1908, which was about 7 years after Brooks was merged with Schenectady Locomotive Works, which along with mergers from a few other manufacturers became ALCO.

This was built in Brook's Buffalo, NY shops, before locomotive production moved to the Schenectady shops and  the Brooks plant was demoted to building fixtures and spare parts for ALCO, eventually closing up shop in 1962.

SP built some of its own steam engines too, most of them were shop switchers like this one.  As a matter of fact, I believe the "cab forward" switcher that Matt referred to above was amongst those built by the SP shops.

Would like to see an articulated logging engine

I thought Matt was talking about the very first cab forward ever built. It was home built by Northwestern Pacific with a tank tender. It was very small and didn't last long before it was scraped. Don

Knew I had a picture of the first cab forward somewhere. The tender is a flat car with two upright tanks. It was a 4-4-0 and ran around Marin County north of San Francisco. I think the number on the engine was 2. It was re-built from the wrecked engine #5. This would be a good one for Lee to build. Don

I second L.I. Train's motion for a Little River Logging Co. 2-4-4-2.  There has been, I

think. about 2 different O scale, two rail versions imported, probably more versions

in HO.  3rd. Rail has done one obscure 2-6-6-2 logging loco and has now offered

another.  I think that last one is current and can be bought from them.  Maybe next time...

I would hardly call the Weyerhaeuser #4-Sierra/Rayonier #38 obscure.  If anything, the Little River 2-4-4-2 is an even more obscure locomotive.

Those of us who came up from HO in the 60's and 70's can recall the PFM Sierra 38 model being a mainstay of many an HO pike.

Rusty

Lionel's 0-6-0T is a model of a locomotive built for the Leetonia and Cherry Valley Railroad in Ohio. Kalmbach's "Model Railroader Cyclopedia-Volume 1 Steam Locomotives" contains plans for it.

Bob

Then we know ..... you-can-do-it!

Looks like the electronics could fit in those tanks??

("Not sure where I will put the sound card and speaker since it does not have a tender")

ETS makes a 2-4-4-2 Logging Mallet in 3 rail "0" tinplate. Scalerail, that plastic-bodied steamer is the one I mentioned in an earlier post, but I'd only ever seen one in red & silver.

The reason I've always loved US steam is the weird and wonderful variety of odd-ball locos produced. This little one is a real weirdo, ugly and beautiful.