It's SWITCHER SATURDAY!! February 1,2025 edition.

I purchased a model of New Haven Railroad USRA 0-8-0 Steam Locomotive #3409 at the Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield, MA on January 26, 2025. I came across it 15 minutes before the show closed. It looked like I was going to escape the show without buying any trains but, alas, that was not the case.

It’s an MTH Railking Imperial model (30-1611-1 like new) with PS3 delivered in 2015. I have a similar MTH Premier model of New Haven #3400 with scale wheels that needs O72 turnouts, so I can run it only on my O72 outer loop. The Railking model will run on the O54 loops of my 12’-by-8’ and 10’-by-5’ layouts.

Last Saturday, forum member @Steam Crazy said he was heading to the Springfield show and would be looking to buy a switcher. I wonder what he came up with. I think he would have liked this one.

The New Haven received ten class Y-3 USRA 0-8-0 heavy switchers, road numbers 3400 to 3409, from Alco in September 1920. A total of thirty-five were acquired by 1923. They had 51-inch drivers, were superheated, and ran at 175 pounds-per-square-inch steam pressure – later increased to 190. All were retired by March 1952.

Photos and video show #3409 on my 10’-by-5’ layout with O54 curves.

MELGAR

Here is one of my best road switchers, an MTH PS1 Jersey Central FM Trainmaster:

It is an excellent puller, has great smoke and sounds and has run beautifully on my layout ever since I bought it for about $300 in the late 1990s.
This video shows it hauling oil tankers through my little town:

I hope to one day run this Jersey Central road switcher on the future new layout of the New Jersey HiRailers after its constructed. Arnold

Mel, that NH 0-8-0 is a mighty fine example of beauty! Thx for sharing.  

Yesterday I renovated a (1970’s) David O. King boxcab switcher that was a decoration of sorts on my railmarine endeavors back in 2004.  After a lot of dismantling, cleaning and some lube it became worthy of operation! I’ve had it for twenty + years it never ran.
(Details of the renovation can be found in “what’s on the workbench at the moment” topic.)

Movie: the inaugural test run on my rail float.

A bit funky but will load and unload rolling stock on the railfloat.

A very happy February first and happy switcher Saturday to all.

Happy Switcher Saturday. Today, starring Maine Central GE 44 tonner #11.

Here's a Lionel 623 purchased at York last spring with a damaged shell. Replaced it with a WBB shell, painted frame and railings, added pinstriping and directional lighting.

Great photos/videos/ and info everyone!!   MELGAR - congratulations on your new MTH RK Imperial 0-8-0!  It looks terrific!!  Lerof - Wow! Nice looking boxcab!!  Congrats on getting it running after all those years   Arnold - nothings says "diesel power" like a Train Master and yours looks and sounds super!   Johan - Your 44 tonner looks superb especially framed with the background of your beautiful layout!  Charles - that Lionel 623  B&O switcher looks terrific and a really nice find at York!

Okay here's a video of a B&O GP9 pulling a manifest beer train with drinks for all SwSat participants!  Bottom up!  

Have fun at Timonium.  My son has 4 tables loaded with mostly O scale, including some switchers.  He sent me some pics of his setup last night.

In regards to switcher Saturday, I’m sharing a Russian decopod.  I have interest in their story about how most were built here in Richmond Va, with their fate changed due to the Bolshevik revolution.  Repurposed for U.S. use, some ending up in the Army.

The details are nice on these models, especially the unusual boiler exterior railings.

Happy SASAT! Here’s my MTH PS3 AS-616 in PRSL livery with ATLAS PRSL passenger cars.

Great photos everyone! @Leroof what a great little boxcab .  You’ve inspired me to repair and rejuvenate a few of my shelf queens.

Here is my VO1000 hauling a few box cars -

@MELGAR posted:

I purchased a model of New Haven Railroad USRA 0-8-0 Steam Locomotive #3409 at the Amherst Railway Society’s Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield, MA on January 26, 2025. I came across it 15 minutes before the show closed. It looked like I was going to escape the show without buying any trains but, alas, that was not the case.

MELGAR

Great find Mel, the timing was in your favor. Good luck with it.

Gene

CN SW8 on the move today.  It was advertised as an MTH ‘production sample’ from the factory.  Regardless, I now have another Canadian switcher & at a great price!

Have a great Saturday!

Hello, SwSat Nation!  I’m late to the party today - so I have a lot of catching up to do - but it gives me a chance to see all the great switchers you guys have posted.

MELGAR, you’re right about your new NH 0-8-0 being  “right up my alley”.  You’re lucky I didn’t see it first, it’s a beauty!  I missed out on your switcher, but I picked up a switcher that is popular with the Nation, a WBB EMD NW2.

Boston & Maine no. 1206 is my first B&M “bluebird”.  I have resisted buying a “bluebird” because I  like the B&M maroon and gold paint scheme so much, but I finally decided the “bluebird” scheme is part of B&M history that should be part of my collection.  I didn’t get as good a deal as Don McErlean did on his WP model ($150), but I still paid only $159.  I saw another offered for $225.

Like all WBB engines it runs great and is well finished.  If I have “a nit to pick”, it’s the volume of the prime mover sounds; they get drowned out by track noise except at low speeds.  I don’t think there’s a volume adjustment, but - if there is - I’d like to hear it!

John

@Steam Crazy posted:

Hello, SwSat Nation!  I’m late to the party today - so I have a lot of catching up to do - but it gives me a chance to see all the great switchers you guys have posted.

MELGAR, you’re right about your new NH 0-8-0 being  “right up my alley”.  You’re lucky I didn’t see it first, it’s a beauty!  I missed out on your switcher, but I picked up a switcher that is popular with the Nation, a WBB EMD NW2.

Boston & Maine no. 1206 is my first B&M “bluebird”.  I have resisted buying a “bluebird” because I  like the B&M maroon and gold paint scheme so much, but I finally decided the “bluebird” scheme is part of B&M history that should be part of my collection.  I didn’t get as good a deal as Don McErlean did on his WP model ($150), but I still paid only $159.  I saw another offered for $225.

Like all WBB engines it runs great and is well finished.  If I have “a nit to pick”, it’s the volume of the prime mover sounds; they get drowned out by track noise except at low speeds.  I don’t think there’s a volume adjustment, but - if there is - I’d like to hear it!

John

@Steam Crazy,

John,

I'm just happy to hear that you didn't have to go home without a new switcher. The B&M Bluebird is a nice one. Enjoy it.

MELGAR

Edit:       John, I went through the entire show twice - on Saturday and Sunday - and didn't see the B&M Bluebird model. The Springfield show is so large that it's just not possible to see and find everything that's there.

MELGAR

@Steam Crazy posted:

Hello, SwSat Nation! Boston & Maine no. 1206 is my first B&M “bluebird”.  I have resisted buying a “bluebird” because I  like the B&M maroon and gold paint scheme so much, but I finally decided the “bluebird” scheme is part of B&M history that should be part of my collection.  I didn’t get as good a deal as Don McErlean did on his WP model ($150), but I still paid only $159.  I saw another offered for $225.

Like all WBB engines it runs great and is well finished.  If I have “a nit to pick”, it’s the volume of the prime mover sounds; they get drowned out by track noise except at low speeds.  I don’t think there’s a volume adjustment, but - if there is - I’d like to hear it!

John

John, another lucky show find, looks great and sounds fine to me. Good luck with it and happy model railroading.

Gene

Happy SWSat!

Patrick- Have fun at the show....hope a switcher follows you home. Oh yea- PBR had a different meaning for us "Pabst Blue Ribbon" Looks like you should track down @jstraw124 's son for a SWSat Nation discount!

So I finally acquired a long sought after switcher. A LIRR A5 0-4-0. It's a Lionel Legacy model from the 2022 catalog. I believe it was just released last year. I received a generous gift certificate to my favorite train store, Trainworld for Christmas which I put to good use.

It doesn't appear from my research of the LIRR steam rosters that they ever owned A5's but they did on my railroad! Surprising that they didn't since the PRR built the 0-4-0 in Juniata and the LIRR was a subsidiary.

Have a great weekend!

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Happy SWSat!

So I finally acquired a long sought after switcher. A LIRR A5 0-4-0. It's a Lionel Legacy model from the 2022 catalog. I believe it was just released last year. I received a generous gift certificate to my favorite train store, Trainworld for Christmas which I put to good use.

It doesn't appear from my research of the LIRR steam rosters that they ever owned A5's but they did on my railroad! Surprising that they didn't since the PRR built the 0-4-0 in Juniata and the LIRR was a subsidiary.

Have a great weekend!

Bob

Bob, looks perfect on your layout. Ever since I received my PRR model, I’ve enjoyed watching it run on the layout as much as my 0-6-0T. Good luck with it.

Gene

@Genemed posted:

Bob, looks perfect on your layout. Ever since I received my PRR model, I’ve enjoyed watching it run on the layout as much as my 0-6-0T. Good luck with it.

Gene

Thanks Gene. I have a K-line PRR 0-4-0 conventional model. I'll have to put it on the layout and run the pair.

Bob

Bob, LIRR 0-4-0 ! Another magnificent machine! Nice train assembled in your video.
awesome.

We're on our way to another great SWSAT!  Thanks to the regulars and everyone that has posted today.  I always liked the K-Line Plymouth switcher.  I have the KCC Kennecott Copper set from back in the Collectors Club days and had picked up a Hooker Chemicals No. 34 from eBay years ago.  My most recent acquisition is NYC No. 34 that came in set K-1530.  Here they are all together.

NYC No. 34 came in set  K-1530, with a box car, three dome tank car and a shorty bay window caboose.  Short bay window cabooses were discussed in last Tuesday edition of Tail End Tuesday.   No. 34 is dark gray with a black roof, large NYC cigar band herald on the rear of the cab and New York Central on a white sill.  K-Line also produced a NYC No. 80 Plymouth.  Unlike 34 No. 80 is all black with a small cigar band herald on the rear of the cab and New York Central spelled out across the hood of the unit.  I'll be posting about No. 34 over on the What's on The Workbench thread.

Here is a short video of my new WBB  Western Pacific NW-2

Don

Good morning SWSAT crew!

While running errands this morning I had the good fortune of being delayed by a freight train passing through town.  This inspired me to dig through the archives and pull this video out for another view:

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tom

@RSJB18 posted:

Happy SWSat!

Patrick- Have fun at the show....hope a switcher follows you home. Oh yea- PBR had a different meaning for us "Pabst Blue Ribbon" Looks like you should track down @jstraw124 's son for a SWSat Nation discount!

So I finally acquired a long sought after switcher. A LIRR A5 0-4-0. It's a Lionel Legacy model from the 2022 catalog. I believe it was just released last year. I received a generous gift certificate to my favorite train store, Trainworld for Christmas which I put to good use.

It doesn't appear from my research of the LIRR steam rosters that they ever owned A5's but they did on my railroad! Surprising that they didn't since the PRR built the 0-4-0 in Juniata and the LIRR was a subsidiary.

Have a great weekend!

Bob

@RSJB18,

Bob,

Very nice engine with great sounds. Use it well.

There are photographs in "The Pennsy Era on Long Island" and "Steel Rails to the Sunrise" - two books by Ron Ziel, of A-3 0-4-0 steam locomotive #3 on Long Island. #3 (and later #03) was an earlier type of 0-4-0 (not superheated) made by the PRR at Juniata in 1905. According to Ziel, it was not on the roster of the LIRR and was transferred to the Central Islip State Hospital sometime in the 19-teens and used to move coal. One of Ziel's photographs (by LIRR engineer Richard J. Harrison) shows it in Jamaica in 1933 with road number 03 and the tender possibly lettered "Long Island" - can't be sure. A clearer photo by Ziel shows the tender looking just like your model and lettered as "State Hospital C.I."

MELGAR

@MELGAR posted:

@RSJB18,

Bob,

Very nice engine with great sounds. Use it well.

There are photographs in "The Pennsy Era on Long Island" and "Steel Rails to the Sunrise" - two books by Ron Ziel, of A-3 0-4-0 steam locomotive #3 on Long Island. #3 (and later #03) was an older type of 0-4-0 (not superheated) made by the PRR at Juniata in 1905. According to Ziel, it was not on the roster of the LIRR and was transferred to the Central Islip State Hospital sometime in the 19-teens and used to move coal. One of Ziel's photographs (by LIRR engineer Richard J. Harrison) shows it in Jamaica in 1933 with road number 03 and the tender possibly lettered "Long Island" - can't be sure. A clearer photo by Ziel shows the tender looking just like your model and lettered as "State Hospital C.I."

MELGAR

Mel- the Trainsarefun website does mention some early Pennsy 4-4-0's that were single digit numbered.

I have a copy of one of those early LIRR history books in my office. I'll have to look through it next week.

Bob

While I wait for my Lionel Legacy UP GP9 to arrive later today, here is the cutest little switcher I own. Thanks to Lionel’s Base3 I can now run this Lionchief locomotive with my Legacy controller:

Following another UP locomotive, here is mine that was just delivered today by USPS...so it is not my traditional favorite of The Pennsylvania or even B&O. This is my second HO Union Pacific brass 0-6-0. The paint and weathering are excellent, in my opinion.

Tom

Lionel Dockside switcher on SWITCHER SATURDAY God Speed All!

Tom Densel, I think that’s one of your best videos, I’m glad you dug it out!  Your story reminds me of the time I was out on business with three other guys and got stopped by a train.  I thought it was great, but the other guys griped about the delay!

John

Happy Switcher Saturday!

Today I have some pic's from Essex Steam train & Riverboat, Essex CT I took a few years back.

Take Care,

Ray

Great stuff, everyone!

Peter

Coach Joe! Nice collection of Plymouths! Looking fwd to your what’s on your workbench topic.

Arnold! That JC FM takes that tight 031 curve with grace, elegance and aplomb. The tank consists are one of my favorites!

Tom Denzel! You have earned the title of master of trackside viewpoint. Thanks for the lessons.

Johan! MEC #11 44T happily transverses your amazing Maine environment!

Tom PRR8986! Wow, what a little gem! Painted and weathered to perfection. You are going to run it…I hope.

Straphanger! From shelf queens to workbench, yes indeed! Enjoy the transformations.

and to Everyone here at Switcher Saturday, thx for posts, pics, and videos.

@Steam Crazy posted:

Tom Densel, I think that’s one of your best videos, I’m glad you dug it out!  Your story reminds me of the time I was out on business with three other guys and got stopped by a train.  I thought it was great, but the other guys griped about the delay!

John

My wife spent the past week with our son, daughter-in-law and new-born grandson in Cleveland.  On her way home she sent me a text telling me she was stopped by a train in Bellevue.  I responded "Some people have all the luck",,,  she was not in agreement.  She then sent another text telling me that before the first train passed, another showed up going the opposite direction.  My response was "Now your just rubbing it in."  She didn't see the humor for some reason.

Tom

@Leroof posted:

Coach Joe! Nice collection of Plymouths! Looking fwd to your what’s on your workbench topic.

Arnold! That JC FM takes that tight 031 curve with grace, elegance and aplomb. The tank consists are one of my favorites!

Tom Denzel! You have earned the title of master of trackside viewpoint. Thanks for the lessons.

Johan! MEC #11 44T happily transverses your amazing Maine environment!

Tom PRR8986! Wow, what a little gem! Painted and weathered to perfection. You are going to run it…I hope.

Straphanger! From shelf queens to workbench, yes indeed! Enjoy the transformations.

and to Everyone here at Switcher Saturday, thx for posts, pics, and videos.

Thanks Pierre,

Johan

My UP GP9 just arrived - greatest packaging ever from Lionel:

@Leroof posted:

Tom PRR8986! Wow, what a little gem! Painted and weathered to perfection. You are going to run it…I hope.

Thanks also, Pierre.

Tom

@Tom Densel- I smiled when I read the story of your wife and being stopped by the trains crossing the road.  I guess Tom that some people just don't know when they have gotten the very best of luck !  I used to have to cross a track on my way to work, I knew of the approximate time the morning train was due and tried to always coordinate my arrival to see the train (Note- being "stopped by a train" was an acceptable excuse for being late )  I was successful more often than not and saw some great trains.

Don

When I got this MTH 060 it was free from the previous owner. The PS1 was fried. Now with a new PS3 upgrade and little bit of cosmetic work it has a new life and runs great.

This video shows my 2nd switcher, the 1st being the iconic Lionel #41 US Army diesel switcher.

My father bought this Lionel #626 B&O 44 ton center cab diesel switcher for me when I was about 10 years old. It was purchased from a hardware store, Telly Electric, in downtown Mt. Vernon, NY.:

I loved it then, and still do.

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

This video shows my 2nd switcher, the 1st being the iconic Lionel #41 US Army diesel switcher.

My father bought this Lionel #626 B&O 44 ton center cab diesel switcher for me when I was about 10 years old. It was purchased from a hardware store, Telly Electric, in downtown Mt. Vernon, NY.:

I loved it then, and still do.

Arnold - I'll bet watching your center cab B&O switcher run on your layout brings back a flood of wonderful memories!   Thanks for posting!