It's SWITCHER SATURDAY 12/14/24

I bought New Haven Alco RS-3 #527 (Railking 30-2897-1, PS2 3-Volt, June 2009, MSRP $299.95) new-in-box for a bargain price at a recent train show in Cheshire, Connecticut, a suburb of New Haven. I attended the show just to walk around and see what people are doing in the hobby but I didn’t intend to buy an engine… This is my third New Haven RS-3 in the original orange and dark green paint scheme. I have a K-Line, an Atlas O, and now a Railking version.

When I got home, I replaced the battery with a BCR2 and gave it a brief test run that checked out OK in conventional operation. PS3 versions of the Railking RS-3 have a smoke unit but this one with PS2 does not. Doesn't matter to me because I never run smoke.

Train shows around New Haven often have New Haven Railroad models for sale. Not surprising. They also have a good selection of postwar American Flyer which apparently was popular in the area after A.C. Gilbert moved the company from Chicago to New Haven in 1937.

#527 was one of 20 Class DERS-2c locomotives delivered to the New Haven Railroad in 1950 and worked in Boston in its early years. These engines had 1600 horsepower, steam generators for passenger service, and ran at speeds up to 80 miles-per-hour on the Shoreline and Hartford Divisions. In the late 1950s, they were repainted with black cabs and orange hoods. New Haven #527 was rebuilt by Alco in 1962 and was still in service when the New Haven was merged into Penn Central in 1969.

Photos and video show #527 running conventionally on my 10’-by-5’ layout.

MELGAR

Great start, as usual, Patrick.

My contribution for this edition of Switcher Saturday, is my MTH PS3 Boston and Maine S-2 diesel switcher.

By the way, I just started a new thread about Trading Trains, and my nearby train nut friend, Rick, desperately wanted to make a trade with me in which he would get this switcher. Since I still love this switcher a lot, there was no way I would be willing to part with it.

Hope you enjoy the photos and videos below:

Arnold

My NYO&W 44 tonner moving the giraffes around in the yard……

Have a great and safe weekend, everyone!

Peter

@MELGAR posted:

I bought New Haven Alco RS-3 #527 (Railking 30-2897-1, PS2 3-Volt, June 2009, MSRP $299.95) new-in-box for a bargain price at a recent train show in Cheshire, Connecticut, a suburb of New Haven. I attended the show just to walk around and see what people are doing in the hobby but I didn’t intend to buy an engine… This is my third New Haven RS-3 in the original orange and dark green paint scheme. I have a K-Line, an Atlas O, and now a Railking version.

When I got home, I replaced the battery with a BCR2 and gave it a brief test run that checked out OK in conventional operation. PS3 versions of the Railking RS-3 have a smoke unit but this one with PS2 does not. Doesn't matter to me because I never run smoke.

Train shows around New Haven often have New Haven Railroad models for sale. Not surprising. They also have a good selection of postwar American Flyer which apparently was popular in the area after A.C. Gilbert moved the company from Chicago to New Haven in 1937.

#527 was one of 20 Class DERS-2c locomotives delivered to the New Haven Railroad in 1950 and worked in Boston in its early years. These engines had 1600 horsepower, steam generators for passenger service, and ran at speeds up to 80 miles-per-hour on the Shoreline and Hartford Divisions. In the late 1950s, they were repainted with black cabs and orange hoods. New Haven #527 was rebuilt by Alco in 1962 and was still in service when the New Haven was merged into Penn Central in 1969.

Photos and video show #527 running conventionally on my 10’-by-5’ layout.

MELGAR

Mel - any chance you can do a couple of side by side pix for a visual comparison of your 3 RS3s? Thanks.

Happy Switcher Saturday!  Here is our trusty little boxcab doing her switcher thing around the layout -

Happy Switcher Saturday. My MEC and B&M switchers switching around my layout.

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

Mel - any chance you can do a couple of side by side pix for a visual comparison of your 3 RS3s? Thanks.

Mark,

I plan to put all three on the layout and photograph them together in the near future.

MELGAR

Had some visitors to the layout this week in the form of an Alco S2 in my favorite road name, Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac.  These are M.T.H. Premier.

Greetings, SwSat people!  I hope it’s warmer at your location than it is here in NE!  Fortunately, my cellar is still warm enough for me to go down and enjoy my trains.

RMT Beeps are popular among the switcher faithful, so I decided to show my NYC BP7 no. 5903 today.  She’s been a reliable runner over ten years and is equipped with a basic ERR sound kit.  The sound is OK at the price, but the bell has a habit of turning on spontaneously as no. 5903 circles my layout.  Any suggestions for a cure will be welcome!

John

Happy SWSat!

Mel- You keep telling that "wasn't planning to buy an engine" story long enough you'll have us all believing it's true.......
Arnold- I'd hold on to that B&M S2 with both hands. Better hide it if your buddy comes over to run trains at your place.

So I'm heading out of the basement and into my office this week....and even changing scales.....
Last Spring a co-worker and fellow train nut was retiring and moving to S. Carolina. He ran mostly G scale but had always dabbled in HO. All of the G went with him and he's planning to build a new garden layout as soon as he possibly can. He was clearing out a bunch of stuff and showed up at my office door one day with a Bachman HO starter set. Nothing fancy but still a nice set.
It's a SantaFe Freight set that originally came with a F40PH diesel, box car, tank car, hopper, and caboose, a large figure 8 of EZ-Track and transformer. (I was going to take a picture of the box but forgot)
He said the F40 had died and he replaced the engine with a B&O B-6 0-6-0....yea still SWSat!
So the ladies in my office were decorating yesterday and one asked if I was going to put a train under the tree.....not quite the tree but the conference room table will do.
The track needed some serious cleaning but I put the engine on the track and after a little persuasion, off she went.

I forget how small HO is compared to O. Glad I decided to switch scales......

Hoping to get the trains under the tree at home today and start decorating the layout for Christmas.

Have a great weekend.

Bob

Happy Switcher Saturday!

My RailKing PRR 0-6-0 steam switcher in night time operations!

Take Care,

Ray

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Happy Switcher Saturday. My MEC and B&M switchers switching around my layout.

Welcome back Johan! Where have you been hiding?

Bob

I have to admit that I know almost nothing about what makes a steam engine a "switcher" versus "main line power".  So if what I'm showing is not a switcher, my apologies.  I don't do operations and I use it as "main line power" only.

- walt

Lionel LEGACY 6-18992 Southern Pacific

Alco S-2 diesel switcher #1440

@RSJB18 posted:

Welcome back Johan! Where have you been hiding?

Bob

Thanks Bob. The summer and autumn were spent running the museum railway association. We also had the 150th anniversary of the Porvoo Railway in the summer and that kept me very busy. Now it's nice to relax with the modul layout again.

Johan

Lionel PRR NW2 on the point of Giraffe, elephant, and reindeer train on club layout. This train with the 4 actuators was a big hit last week at our annual opening.

Great content as usual everyone   Johann it's wonderful to have you join us again!  Wonderful photos!

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Thanks Bob. The summer and autumn were spent running the museum railway association. We also had the 150th anniversary of the Porvoo Railway in the summer and that kept me very busy. Now it's nice to relax with the modul layout again.

Johan

Welcome back my fiend.  It sounds like you were a good kind of busy.  I thought I remembered you mention that big anniversary and was hoping that was what kept you away from the forum.

The streets of San Francisco, and in particular those around the embarcadero, is where this little 0-6-0 is usually found.  Today, though, he is out in the country looking for wildflowers.  Here’s hoping all of you have a dynamite weekend.

Have a good weekend Switcher fans

@trumpettrain posted:

Great content as usual everyone   Johann it's wonderful to have you join us again!  Wonderful photos!

Patrick,

Thank you. Thanks. It's nice to be back again.

Johan

@coach joe posted:

Welcome back my fiend.  It sounds like you were a good kind of busy.  I thought I remembered you mention that big anniversary and was hoping that was what kept you away from the forum.

Joe,

Thank you. Nice to hear from you too. It's nice to be back again.

Johan

Hey Johan, your are the MEC three rail undisputed king! Nice to see your photos again.

leroof. (Pierre)

@Leroof posted:

Hey Johan, your are the MEC three rail undisputed king! Nice to see your photos again.

leroof. (Pierre)

Pierre,

Thank you very much. Nice to hear from you.

Johan

@Steam Crazy posted:

Greetings, SwSat people!  I hope it’s warmer at your location than it is here in NE!  Fortunately, my cellar is still warm enough for me to go down and enjoy my trains.

RMT Beeps are popular among the switcher faithful, so I decided to show my NYC BP7 no. 5903 today.  She’s been a reliable runner over ten years and is equipped with a basic ERR sound kit.  The sound is OK at the price, but the bell has a habit of turning on spontaneously as no. 5903 circles my layout.  Any suggestions for a cure will be welcome!

John

Honestly, ear plugs would be your cheapest bet.

@RSJB18 posted:

Happy SWSat!

Mel- You keep telling that "wasn't planning to buy an engine" story long enough you'll have us all believing it's true.......
Arnold- I'd hold on to that B&M S2 with both hands. Better hide it if your buddy comes over to run trains at your place.

I forget how small HO is compared to O. Glad I decided to switch scales.....

Bob

Bob, about 6 or 7 years ago someone gave me some S scale American Flyer and then I purchased some more S scale on E Bay thinking I could have 2 layouts: an O gauge 3 rail and an S scale 2 rail.

I thought the S scale looked great and so I set up a carpet central S scale layout in my house.

After a while I decided I wasn’t that crazy about the S scale layout.The wiring is much more complicated and more of a mess than 3 rail O gauge if you have any reverse loops. I believe the same problem exists with 2 rail HO,

So, I suggest you retain your O gauge, at least for a while, before selling or trading it away if you decide you might fully transition to HO.  Arnold

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Bob, about 6 or 7 years ago someone gave me some S scale American Flyer and then I purchased some more S scale on E Bay thinking I could have 2 layouts: an O gauge 3 rail and an S scale 2 rail.

I thought the S scale looked great and so I set up a carpet central S scale layout in my house.

After a while I decided I wasn’t that crazy about the S scale layout.The wiring is much more complicated and more of a mess than 3 rail O gauge if you have any reverse loops. I believe the same problem exists with 2 rail HO,

So, I suggest you retain your O gauge, at least for a while, before selling or trading it away if you decide you might fully transition to HO.  Arnold

Arnold- I grew up with HO and still have enough accumulated that's in my folks attic to build two good size HO layouts. No risk of me turning back though.

I wouldn't mind having space for a loop or two to run my old steamers though.

My cousin had Flyer trains when we were kids. I always thought they were just the right size...like Goldilocks said "This one is just right!"

Thanks

Bob, I'm happy to hear you're not going over to the "dark side"!

John

@Steam Crazy posted:

Bob, I'm happy to hear you're not going over to the "dark side"!

John

No worries John. 5 minutes of fiddling with the track and connectors and the kadee couplers on the rolling stock and I'll stick with the lobster claws.

Besides......I like lobster........

@RSJB18 posted:

No worries John. 5 minutes of fiddling with the track and connectors and the kadee couplers on the rolling stock and I'll stick with the lobster claws.

Besides......I like lobster........

That's "lahbstah" isn't it, Bob? And I came over from the Dark Side, too. Like you, I have enough DCC HO for a couple of layouts with some N thrown in.

Well I am going to side with @walt rapp today in not being sure what constitutes a "switcher" in steam.  This is the Lionel 1062 (sort of Scout) locomotive from 1963-1964 a small steamer that could certainly be used in switching or short haul duties like commuter runs or branch line runs.  She is pretty humble, being cast plastic with a slope back tender, but she operates fine and can pull a few cars.

Here is a better view from the side.  Not much in way of operations, 2 position reverse with lever on the boiler top.  I have some information that says she should be a 2-4-2 or a 0-4-0 , well its likely that somewhere in the last 60 years she might have lost that trailing truck.  She was a 5$ scrap box acquisition and has provided way more than 5$ worth of fun to me.

Best Wishes and Happy Holidays everyone

Don

A custom Erie Lackawanna run I picked up in Grzyboski’s last week…

@Steam Crazy posted:

Greetings, SwSat people!  I hope it’s warmer at your location than it is here in NE!  Fortunately, my cellar is still warm enough for me to go down and enjoy my trains.

RMT Beeps are popular among the switcher faithful, so I decided to show my NYC BP7 no. 5903 today.  She’s been a reliable runner over ten years and is equipped with a basic ERR sound kit.  The sound is OK at the price, but the bell has a habit of turning on spontaneously as no. 5903 circles my layout.  Any suggestions for a cure will be welcome!

John

Because BEEPs have a plastic chassis and rely on the contact of the bottom plate with the axle bearings to ground, the connection to ground can be "noisy" and generate "stray" signals that activate sounds (and other functions) randomly. This may be your problem. To improve the connection to ground on my LionChief-converted PRR BEEP, I've added tiny "shims" of thin metal from battery contacts, folded over the bottom plate at the points where it contacts the axle bearings:

You have to be careful with the thickness of the shims, though, because if they're just a bit too thick, they will distort the thin area of the flattened bottom of the axle bearings, resulting in axle binding.

Thanks for taking time out of your performance and rehearsal schedule to get SWSAT rolling for this week, Patrick! I hope all goes well for you in your musical endeavors.

For my SWSAT Sunday Supplement post, a "troop train" of sorts headed up by our favorite #41 US Army Davenport switcher:

To allow her to do this, I've added 4 "low profile" traction tires:

They're held on around the outside edge with carefully applied CA and they stay in place and work really well with the pilot and trailing trucks acting as ground on either end of the loco. When the tires wear out, they can be "rolled" off from the inside edge, the CA cleaned off with acetone on a Q-Tip and new ones installed.

She's running at about 10V here. My next project is to get a string of tanks on flats for her to pull along with the illuminated boxcar.

Bill, thanks for the Beep tip!  It sounds like you’ve identified the problem.  I’ll look into it.  Also, your Davenport has impressive pulling power!

John

Merry Christmas Switcher Saturday gang!

This year a simple wonderful K-Line A5 got the honor of the inaugural runs around the tree!

@Steam Crazy posted:

Bill, thanks for the Beep tip!  It sounds like you’ve identified the problem.  I’ll look into it.  Also, your Davenport has impressive pulling power!

John

John, I failed to mention that the battery contact metal is known as "Pure Nickel Battery Tabs" and is available online. These are usually used with spot welders to make lithium battery packs for hoverboards, scooters, etc. I use two thicknesses, 0.1mm "medium duty" and 0.15 mm "heavy duty."

@jhz563 posted:

Merry Christmas Switcher Saturday gang!

This year a simple wonderful K-Line A5 got the honor of the inaugural runs around the tree!

Looks good John. Thanks for stopping by.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Bob