Welcome to Switcher Saturday!! 10/12/24 Edition
Celebrating the little engines that do BIG things!
If you love those do all do anything locomotives that are the backbone of a railroad, you have clicked on THE thread that celebrates all things switching locomotives! If you are new to this thread please consider posting a photo of your favorite switcher from your layout. We'd love to see what you have!
A vast majority of us who frequent this thread love those small ( and not so small ) locomotives that can perform all the tasks given by any railroad. Yep! Switchers do it all ... switching in yards, at the point of way freights, industrial switching, switching at larger passenger stations, heading a MOW train ... including pushing snow plows, switching tight curvature on city streets & harbor areas, at the point of both commuter passenger trains and long distance passenger trains. 
Switcher Saturday (SwSat) welcomes your photos, videos, and information/discussion regarding switching locomotives, steam, diesel, and electric of all gauges and scales from Z - G ... and even real life 1:1 scale too! We'd be honored to have you join us by posting pics and videos of your switchers. We'd also love reading any information regarding toy, model, or prototypical switchers.
This Monday York week begins! AND ... with the opening of the fall York show train season is definitely in the air! I'm soooo excited to be returning to the York Show on Friday, October 18!! Be assured that I'll take plenty of switcher pics for those of you who are not able to attend the show. They'll be posted on next week's SwSat.
Today I'm showing " Switchers from Large to Small " as rostered on the Free State Junction Railway. If you wish, show the largest and smallest switchers, from your railroad's roster. Have a most enjoyable and safe weekend everyone!! Please keep in your thoughts the folks who suffer from the aftermath of the two most recent hurricanes.
One for the road ( also general yard work, passenger commuter trains, road freights, way freights, etc. ) a Fairbanks- Morse Train Master. This model is by Williams Electric Trains and is a terrific puller and most reliable! As a young kid, when visiting department stores, train stores, and browsing the Lionel catalogue, my eyes were always drawn to the Train Master and in particular the Virginian version. As my layout at the time was 027 my dad said that this locomotive would not be able to negotiate 027 curves so I never had a Train Master. When I began building my railroad about 20 years ago, I knew the Train Master was a "must have" so here it is in all its' glory!
This C&O 0-8-0 is for heavy yard operations, transfer freights, and even road freights. Veteran brakeman Jake "The Brake" Willis rides the front step and conductor Ernie Greco stands beside the cab. This scale model equipped with TMCC is by Lionel and is one of my favorite runners. I purchased this engine new back around 2007. This locomotive was catalogued by Lionel around 2005 or 06 ( not sure which ) and has proven to be super reliable and a great puller/runner. It's one of my favorites and will most likely be assigned to the new yard I'm building on my layout.
The GE 44 Ton Locomotive for industrial and lite switching operations. This model is a WbB with sound. A great runner/puller and very reliable. It doesn't run at super slow speeds, but looks great pulling a short freight on the Mountain Division of the FSJR. I bought this model new at York from Trainworld. 
The Plymouth Switcher has many industrial applications such as mining operations. An 0-4-0 C-16 brings a car load of logs across the bridge. This Plymouth model is by K line and is equipped with marker lights and smoke. The 0-4-0 C-16 Dockside is by MTH. I bought the K line used at The Great Scale Model Train Show held in Timonium, Md. It's proved to be reliable and I love the smoke output! 
