My photos and videos for today show Long Island Rail Road B-6 0-6-0 steam switcher #170 on my 10’-by-5’ layout. It’s an MTH Railking Imperial model (30-1710-1) delivered in 2017 with PS3 at MSRP $449.95. Imperial steamers have upgraded features not found in the Railking line such as a real coal load, legible builder’s plate, engineer and fireman figures, and tender truck safety chains. In my opinion, these details greatly enhance the appearance of the model, especially when running on a layout, although a look at the boiler reveals cast-in features that are separately applied on Premier steamers. It seems to me that MTH decided to keep (and upgrade) its lower-priced Railking model of the B-6 0-6-0 and sell the tooling for its more expensive Premier USRA 0-6-0. Is that because MTH thinks the market for a lower-priced 0-6-0 is better?

The MTH model represents a superheated B-6sb. 238 were built between 1916 and 1920. The engines weighed 180,300 pounds (not including tender), developed 36,140 pounds tractive effort, and had 56-inch driving wheels. Only two such locomotives, including #2015, are known to have run on Long Island.

The Long Island Rail Road was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1900. The PRR then tunneled under the Hudson and East Rivers to Sunnyside Yard in Queens and built Penn Station in Manhattan. The PRR leased and sold various types of locomotives to the LIRR, including at least twenty B-8 0-6-0 heavy steam switchers that were not superheated.

MELGAR

Hi there #SwSat gang!

Here's some fun car mover stuff,  more to come next week.

Thanks Pat for starting off this SWSAT; and what a great start with so many great shots. Here is my meager post in contrast.
A WBB Erie 44 Tonner with coal loads for a local distributor.

A New York Central RS unit moves the Rutland Milk from North White Plains on the Harlem Division to the West Side Line in Manhattan by turning up the Hudson Division at Mott haven Junction in the Bronx…..

An S2 switcher pulls the Rutland Milk in electrified territory in the South Bronx…..

…..and what do you know? A New Haven freight is in the South Bronx, too!

Have a great and safe weekend, everyone!

Peter

MTH PS1 Conrail diesel switcher hauling scrap metal, oil tankers and a Conrail caboose through My Little Town:

Good morning, SwSat Nation!  Patrick, great send off, “Fall is in the air” on your layout!  I’m taking a quick trip to the archives this morning because I have to pack up and leave beautiful Moody Beach in Wells, ME.  Summer is over.

My postwar Lionel C&O NW2 switcher no. 624 was my first switcher.  I received it for Christmas in 1953 or 54.  I enjoy running it now as much as I did then, maybe more.

John

It is 1949 and a BS10 is earning its pay.

The Pennsy bought 8 BS10 switchers starting in 1943.  These older Pennsy VO-1000 engines had the 4 stacks.

This is an MTH model.

A Canadian National Alco S2 by MTH is moving a few hoppers to unload at the Coop.

Have a great SwSat!

Going down low this Switcher Saturday on carpet central #1 with our trusty Sw8 switcher.  She’s moving a load of military hardware for the local base. I  love the reliability of these older conventional engines. You just pull them from the shelf, give them a little oil and grease, add some power and off they run. This one has taken considerable abuse from my kids yet has never given me any trouble -

Burlington Junction, Montgomery Illinois.

Happy SWSat!

Can't believe it's Fall already. But on the bright side, more train time is on the horizon!

This week I have a new steamer to share here with SWSat Nation! I've been looking for a steam switcher for a while and Trainz has had a few at reasonable prices. I had been watching a pair of 0-6-0's, one PRR (Lionel), and a NYC (MTH). When Trainz had the 10% off sale last week I decided it was time to go. The PRR model was my first choice but when I went to buy, it was gone.
So I bought the MTH Railking model. My only reservation was that it's a PS2 5v, but I have several and they are all good runners. I changed out the white battery for a BCR and did a full service.
The engine is a New York Central USRA 0-6-0. As we all know, the federal government took over manufacturing during WW I and had developed these engine designs. This is a nice looking model and I'm very happy with it so far.
This has makings on the tender for the Chicago River and Indiana RR, which was part of the NYC conglomerate.
Next on the list is Mel's LIRR model

Have a good weekend.

Bob

A Southern 0-6-0 that visited the layout this week.

She’s a beauty, @RSJB18 . Great addition to the fleet.  Get that smoke going. You’ll need a gas mask when operating these little MTH steamers, since they  give off so much smoke!  

@Strap Hanger posted:

She’s a beauty, @RSJB18 . Great addition to the fleet.  Get that smoke going. You’ll need a gas mask when operating these little MTH steamers, since they  give off so much smoke!  

I have to put a fan in the basement window first.....but I do want to check it to make sure it works.

I'd run smoke all the time if it didn't lead to dirty looks from the CEO.......

Thanks Strap!

@RSJB18 posted:

I'd run smoke all the time if it didn't lead to dirty looks from the CEO.......

I guess I’m not alone here, I’m using smoke less frequently now except for the steamers. I’m liking that engine Bob, there’s something about the look of a 0-6-0. I should have my Lionel newly designed A5 0-4-0 soon from Mr. Muffin’s.

Gene

@RSJB18 posted

I'd run smoke all the time if it didn't lead to dirty looks from the CEO.......

Scented smoke tempers the backlash in my house.  Apple pie works like a charm!  

Happy Switcher Saturday+! 

Today I'm displaying "FIDO" K-Line's Western Lumber Porter (K2631-10)

It's a nice engine, but the engineer is like G scale size!

Take Care, Ray

PW Lionel GE 44 Tonner #628 Northern Pacific from 1956-57, bought as not working after a good degreasing and cleaning the e-unit, runs like a champ. Have a good weekend

Strap hanger! Love those French building( paper) fronts in the French part of town! They look fantastic!

I so happen to have a few behind a train shelf in my study.

Bob, your new switcher video is mesmerizing. Very Nice.

Melgar! That imperial B6 Long Island  0-6-0 is certainly the belle of the ball!

thanks for posting her video.

Wow, Saturdays sure roll around fast, thanks @trumpettrain Patrick for starting this fun to review thread off for us today. There’s always lots of neat pictures to review. Switcher Saturdays are a favorite thread of mine and I wish everyone in harms way from hurricane “Helene” good luck. Happy Railroading Everyone

@RayKay posted:

Happy Switcher Saturday+!

Today I'm displaying "FIDO" K-Line's Western Lumber Porter (K2631-10)

It's a nice engine, but the engineer is like G scale size!

Take Care, Ray

I think this little gem IS G-scale. As I posited in a previous SWSAT discussion, she is based on K-Line's 2625 chassis, the same as that used on their Plymouth switcher. Western Lumber operated 2 of these Porters, beginning in 1898, on 3' narrow-gauge track laid temporarily to service areas being logged just outside of Carter (now Tuolumne) CA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...mber_Company_railway

Her "sister" was named "Star." I'm still looking for one...

@Leroof posted:

Strap hanger! Love those French building( paper) fronts in the French part of town! They look fantastic!

I so happen to have a few behind a train shelf in my study.

Thanks Leroof. I picked those up at a flea market years ago with the intention of making a few building fronts for the main layout but never got around to it. The ones I have are actually ceramic. I’ll get to it one day.

Woooooowweeee!!!   Because of all of you who contribute posts .... yet again Switcher Saturday never disappoints!!  You all have made some terrific posts full of wonderful videos, photos, historical and technical information.   As I've mentioned in the past; we all learn so much from each other!   Thanks to everyone for contributing to our weekly thread.  We have an awesome community of folks and we certainly welcome any new comers into our fold!  

Remember you can post on SwSat any day of the week ... so feel free to keep on posting. The SwSat party never ends!  

At the bottom of this post, are two videos I made this afternoon of my Ma & Pa SW1 pulling a short Ma & Pa freight on the Mountain Division.  I was running this engine to see how it worked with the new MTH Z1000 which is the new power unit ( replacing a Lionel ZW ) for the Mountain Division.  

Ray kay - Nice looking K line Porter named Fido!!!  Btw - the engineer grew up next to the nuclear power plant

Leapin Larry - beautiful photos of your colorful switchers!   I love the B&O GP9 ( I assume ..but could be a GP7? ) with the cab side window visor overhangs

Dave Warburton - looks like you had a great time at the St. Clara Railroad Museum!

Leroof - nice looking GP locomotive by Lionel on your shelf!

Sitka - nice looking Post War NP Lionel switcher!!  Great that you got it working in tip top shape!

Jstraw124 - that's a might fine looking Southern  0-6-0 that visited your layout!

RSJB - Bob congrats on your new MTH 0-6-0!!  Nothing like welcoming a new switcher to the family!  AND yes TRAINZ has some really great deals on switchers, as well as other locos and cars.    That's where I purchased my Weaver brass B&O 0-6-0.

Dave Ripp - Great photo of real 1:1 scale end cab switchers!  

Strap Hanger - That NYC SW8 looks terrific!  Your kids put it to the test and you're loving running it!  It doesn't get any better than that!!

tnkMarx - Your S2 looks terrific pulling those hopper cars!  

Ron - I love your BS10!   It looks ( at least to me ) very similar to a VO1000 with the 4 exhaust stacks.

MELGAR - Mel - What a terrific looking  Long Island 0-6-0 you have and a wonderful back story to boot!  Your consist looks terrific!  AND your 0-6-0 looks right at home as the power!  

Steam Crazy - John there's nothing quite like the charm created by a post war locomotive and your C&O switcher has tons of charm for sure!   Glad to hear you still run it and it still brings you great joy to this day!  

Peter - I also have a fondness for milk trains and I must say you really know how to assemble a great consist complete with RPO!   The Rutland RS3 looks right at home pulling the consist!  And the final stretch of its' journey being pulled by the NYC S2 takes the cake!  

Arnold - Fine looking train and switcher!   Got to love me some tank cars!    Is that a GP 40?  

Pennsyfan-  Thanks for your kind words, however; Bob there's no meager in your post at all.  Your WBB 44 toner looks terrific pulling the hoppers of coal!  As a matter of fact your post inspired me to get my WBB 44 toner out and run around my Mountain Division for a while today.  Thanks for the inspiration!!

JHZ563 - John that's some interesting photos and video you posted!   I can't say that I've ever seen a car mover in motion before and your video allowed me to do so.  I can't wait to see what you post next week!  

On my afternoon bike ride I stopped at this grade crossing for a Ma & Pa freight.  

Tropic-Ana pulling some hope and sunshine for everyone affected by the devastation brought by Hurricane Helene to Florida and the southeast:

May we all keep all the folks suffering the ravages of this terrible storm in our hearts and prayers as they work to recover physically and emotionally and mourn the loss of loved ones.

Another great SWSAT!  Thank you one and all for your posts this week I've enjoyed every one of them.  Nothing on the layout this week so my contribution is a pic of switcher row.

Sorry for the poor quality photo.  The smaller critter size switchers are scattered amongst the shelves of road engines where ever there is space.

@trumpettrain, Patrick your original post included a great variety of switch engines from small to behemoth!  The Train Master was enormous but classified as a road switcher.  I've got three, a Wabash in the Bluebird paint scheme, an orange Great Northern, both by Williams and a Virginian, blue and yellow like yours courtesy of the K-Line Collectors Club.

@MELGAR, another great steam switcher with slope back tender from your collection.  D you ever run the one you bought at the Westchester County Center show we attended?

@jhz563, nice live action.  It would have been to see that Trackmobile spotting that car.

@pennsyfan,  I've got to get my WBB 44 tonners on the tracks, i didn't recall them having engine sounds.

@Arnold D. Cribari, Arnold I've got the same MTH RK SD60.  I got it from Trainland when they were trying to clear out their stock of PS1 engines after PS3 came out.  Are you running conventional?  I didn't here any prime mover sounds.

@Strap Hanger,  I noticed the French on your building fronts and was trying to frame a comment about military bases in France but @Leroof chimed in first.  Then it hit me,  that NYC switcher was working the Manhattan neighborhood that he grew up in.

@RSJB18,  Bob I love the firebox glow.  I'm in the same predicament when it comes to smoke.  I can get about three laps around the layout before the CEO wants to know what the smell is or is something burning.  Maybe I'll give the apple pie a try.

@jstraw124,  I definitely see a resemblance to Bob's 0-6-0.

@Bill Swatos posted:

I think this little gem IS G-scale. As I posited in a previous SWSAT discussion, she is based on K-Line's 2625 chassis, the same as that used on their Plymouth switcher. Western Lumber operated 2 of these Porters, beginning in 1898, on 3' narrow-gauge track laid temporarily to service areas being logged just outside of Carter (now Tuolumne) CA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...mber_Company_railway

Her "sister" was named "Star." I'm still looking for one...

Bill,

I picked this up from Western Depot in 2005, they said Western Lumber was an "exclusive" for their shop.  I can agree with the G scale, as the engineer is similar in size to my sons LGB people!

Ray

@coach joe posted:

Another great SWSAT!  Thank you one and all for your posts this week I've enjoyed every one of them.

..............

@MELGAR, another great steam switcher with slope back tender from your collection.  D you ever run the one you bought at the Westchester County Center show we attended?

@coach joe,

Joe,

To answer your question - yes - but not often. Maybe once a year...

MELGAR

Mel I know it was prized engine when you got it so I understand why it's not a regular runner but I'm glad to hear you do stretch it's legs once in a while.

@RayKay posted:

Bill,

I picked this up from Western Depot in 2005, they said Western Lumber was an "exclusive" for their shop.  I can agree with the G scale, as the engineer is similar in size to my sons LGB people!

Ray

Indeed, Ray! Standard Fastrack is 32mm between the inside faces of the rails. If we assume that K-Line used the spacing standards of 4' 8.5" for US standard gauge and 2' 6" for narrow gauge, then your model's scale would be 1:24, which is mighty close to the 1:22.5 of LGB's g-scale. Since most Shay logging locomotives operated on 2' 6" narrow gauge, this would also explain the seemingly oversized nature of Shay models that run on 3RO track. They, too, are actually g-scale.

I would have to disagree that the K-Line Porter is G scale (1:22.5, 1:24, or even 1:29). I have one in a wall display case about two feet from me as I'm typing this (see photo taken from my office chair because I'm too lazy to get up), and even though it may be a bit large for O gauge/scale, it is still a tiny little bugger compared to even a very small G scale locomotive (I also have several of those). Looks pretty good next to that Lionel #41 switcher.

@coach joe posted:

Mel I know it was prized engine when you got it so I understand why it's not a regular runner but I'm glad to hear you do stretch it's legs once in a while.

@coach joe,

Joe,

Photo shows my two 1950s Lionel 1615 0-4-0 steamers. They reside at the front of the lower level of my 12’-by-8’ layout in a yard used only for storage that I rarely photograph. They have a prominent position beneath the truss bridge. The one I bought at the Westchester show is at left.

MELGAR

@coach joe posted:

Another great SWSAT!  Thank you one and all for your posts this week I've enjoyed every one of them.  Nothing on the layout this week so my contribution is a pic of switcher row.

Sorry for the poor quality photo.  The smaller critter size switchers are scattered amongst the shelves of road engines where ever there is space.

@RSJB18,  Bob I love the firebox glow.  I'm in the same predicament when it comes to smoke.  I can get about three laps around the layout before the CEO wants to know what the smell is or is something burning.  Maybe I'll give the apple pie a try.

The firebox glow was a pleasant surprise. I didn't seen it listed on the label.

As for running smoke, I was building the lighting board for my BEEP this afternoon. Despite having a fan in my shop window, I got a " what's that smell?????" question from upstairs......granted that solder can be an unpleasant smell to some....not me tho.....

🤪🤪🤪

I like the line up on your shelf.

Coach Joe and Bob, Shelved switchers! Nothing quite like it, a thing of beauty !

@coach joe posted:

Another great SWSAT!  Thank you one and all for your posts this week I've enjoyed every one of them.  Nothing on the layout this week so my contribution is a pic of switcher row.

Sorry for the poor quality photo.  The smaller critter size switchers are scattered amongst the shelves of road engines where ever there is space.

@trumpettrain, Patrick your original post included a great variety of switch engines from small to behemoth!  The Train Master was enormous but classified as a road switcher.  I've got three, a Wabash in the Bluebird paint scheme, an orange Great Northern, both by Williams and a Virginian, blue and yellow like yours courtesy of the K-Line Collectors Club.

@MELGAR, another great steam switcher with slope back tender from your collection.  D you ever run the one you bought at the Westchester County Center show we attended?

@jhz563, nice live action.  It would have been to see that Trackmobile spotting that car.

@pennsyfan,  I've got to get my WBB 44 tonners on the tracks, i didn't recall them having engine sounds.

@Arnold D. Cribari, Arnold I've got the same MTH RK SD60.  I got it from Trainland when they were trying to clear out their stock of PS1 engines after PS3 came out.  Are you running conventional?  I didn't here any prime mover sounds.

@Strap Hanger,  I noticed the French on your building fronts and was trying to frame a comment about military bases in France but @Leroof chimed in first.  Then it hit me,  that NYC switcher was working the Manhattan neighborhood that he grew up in.

@RSJB18,  Bob I love the firebox glow.  I'm in the same predicament when it comes to smoke.  I can get about three laps around the layout before the CEO wants to know what the smell is or is something burning.  Maybe I'll give the apple pie a try.

@jstraw124,  I definitely see a resemblance to Bob's 0-6-0.

No apologies needed, Coach! High-quality collection. You're all making me ever more motivated to acquire a PW NW-2 to go with my WbB version!

@Bill Swatos
“Pennsyfan   I've got to get my WBB 44 tonners on the tracks, i didn't recall them having engine sounds.”

Bill I love the  sound,  especially at startup. I try to catch that in my videos; but  sometimes it makes the video too long and I get the dreaded red screen. I know I should use the YouTube option.

Pennsyfan, a short video isn’t a bad thing.  I start to lose attention if a video is too long, particularly if it’s the same train going round and round.  IMO, 30-45 seconds is ideal for most videos.  I’d rather see short videos of two different trains than a long video of one train.

John

@Steam Crazy posted:

Pennsyfan, a short video isn’t a bad thing.  I start to lose attention if a video is too long, particularly if it’s the same train going round and round.  IMO, 30-45 seconds is ideal for most videos.  I’d rather see short videos of two different trains than a long video of one train.

John

John, agreed. What I was saying is that to have the WBB startup recorded eats up record time, with not much time left to record the movement.