IT's SWITCHER SATURDAY!!! February 24, 2024 Edition

Well, folks, sorry I missed last week's SWSAT, I'll be reviewing the posts after I've taken care of today. First off, I love that "cow-calf-cow" SW1500 lashup, Patrick! The Canton "cross" is really neat! That must be one big consist to haul!

My contribution today is my little PW US Army Davenport gas turbine pulling a few flatcars with varied cargo:

Boys on the base gotta' have some fun once in awhile!

Boston & Maine RS-3 #1506 by MTH Railking (30-21164) with PS3 and MSRP $389.95 is my latest locomotive acquisition. Like my other MTH RS-3 diesels, the manufacturing quality is exceptional, it runs very smoothly throughout the speed range, and the sounds of a 12-cylinder Alco 244 powerplant are realistic.

The B&M locomotive was built by Alco at Schenectady in April 1954 and equipped for passenger service. Alco produced 1,416 RS-3s between May 1950 and August 1956. They weighed 247,100 pounds, had 61,775 pounds tractive effort, 1,600 horsepower, and maximum speeds between 65 and 85 mph depending on gearing.

Photos and videos show the engine running at 18 scale-miles-per-hour on my 10’-by-5’ model railroad pulling Boston & Maine heavyweight passenger cars #4558 and “Mountaineer.” The engine was delivered in 2024 and the passenger cars in 1999 – a difference of almost 25 years. Remarkably, the maroon color on the engine and cars matches perfectly.

MELGAR

Hello SwSat Nation!  Today your dedicated rail fans, Tom and Jerry, headed out to Springfield, MA.  Springfield is an important rail junction, hosting trains from Boston and Albany, Boston and Maine and the New Haven.

The boys decided to start the day with the B&A.  They found NYC 4-8-2 Mohawk no. 3000, just in from Albany with B&A’s “Wolverine”,  sidelined with an overheated rod bearing.  NYC RS1s no’s. 8106 and 8109 have been assigned to complete the run to Boston.

This scene, unfortunately, is a harbinger of things to come.  It’s 1951; by the following year, all steam will be gone on the B&A.

John

Pictures I recently took adjacent to the Stewartstown's PA station MA & PA #84

MTH PS2 Pennsylvania VO1000 diesel switcher:

Arnold

Thanks to pennyfan Bob, I received my B&O RSD-5 special run from METCA this week.  It goes well with my older RS-1, and they work well together.  I haven’t found any evidence that B&O actually had any RSD locomotives, but it’s one of my favorite paint schemes on one of my favorite diesels.

CN cow & calf pulling a few cars to the mainline to be picked up.

Happy Switcher Saturday!

It is a cool day in 1949 and the photographer caught a Pennsy FS10 doing what it does best; working the yard.  The Pennsy bought 55 of these 1,000 hp switchers in 1948 and many lasted until the Penn Central era. Unlike some other roads, the Pennsy did not use these as road switchers.

This FM Switcher 1000 hp is a RailKing FM 10-44 model.

Rutland #110 doing some local switching. MTH 0-8-0 PS2 re lettered. Kadee’s added along with pick up rollers on the engine side.

@Dave_C posted:

Rutland #110 doing some local switching. MTH 0-8-0 PS2 re lettered. Kadee’s added along with pick up rollers on the engine side.

Dave who made this Borden's car????

Ron

Happy SWSat!

Too bad you couldn't get your video uploaded Patrick. I did grab a non-traditional switcher that I'm sharing this week. Oh...and some regular switchers too!

We all love our Alco, EMD, and Baldwin F-units and their matching B's. These diesels with their car-body designs, were the stars of the early diesel era pulling almost any train the railroads needed to move, including some of the most famous passenger trains of all time. Every hero needs a side kick and the B unit was the F's little brother. The B's offered the railroads a easy way to add horsepower to a train at a lower cost since B's didn't have cabs for crews. Many B's did come equipped with a basic control stand so that they could be moved on their own by a hostler or conductor.

The Delaware and Hudson owned many Baldwin RF-16 "Sharks" In fact the last two remaining Sharks 1205 and 1216 were recently sold and are in storage for hopefully a future restoration. The B # 1210 was lost long ago but it lives to see another day on the RSJ&B. Today our intrepid railfan caught #1210 picking up a pair of cars to bring them to the car shop to prep them for the weekend excursions.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Gotta keep up with Mel so this week I added another RS-3 to the fleet. I was searching for some couplers over the weekend and wound up on Trainz. They had the couplers and some other parts I had been looking for. So since I was there anyway, and shipping charges were already incurred, a diesel fell into my shopping cart.

My first Weaver locomotive, New York, New Haven and Hartford # 560 is a conventional loco from around 2011. These newer models featured twin fly-wheel equipped can motors, not the original shaft and chain drives. Courtesy of some Forum searching, I learned that the older chain drives should be avoided.
The NY-NH&H green and orange is a favorite and the price was right, so I grabbed the engine. The wheels and rollers show little to no wear at all. It still needs to be serviced and I will re-wire the motors in series but I put it on the layout to take some pix and give it a test run.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Bob

Patrick, always appreciate you getting us started every SwSat, as are Mel and Bob, and any other previous hosts I’m forgetting.
Railking

Our newest switcher, John Andrew

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

Patrick, always appreciate you getting us started every SwSat, as are Mel and Bob, and any other previous hosts I’m forgetting.
Railking

Our newest switcher, John Andrew

Congratulations Mark!

The Borden’s car is an interesting story. I bought it in a lot of 3 cars on the big auction site. All 2 rail. No real description of it. Just a picture. It was unfinished and set up for 2 rail. It got my curiosity. It is actually based on a Lionel scale milk car as far as the chassis and trucks. The butterdish is carved, I’m guessing out of balsa wood as it’s very light. It has inserts glued into the body to make it removable. The car is very well done. I don’t know why it wasn’t completed. I switched the wheelsets back, added the missing handrail, paint and decals. Who ever did this had a vision and some modeling skills. The prototype was built in the same fashion. The Lionel woodsided body was carefully removed from the chassis.

I have a some other Borden’s cars and already a white version. Seeing I had extra black decals I went with a silver version.

@RSJB18 posted:

Congratulations Mark!

Thanks, Bob! Yes, we're thrilled. The previous 5 were inboards; this is our 1st outboard!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️

Good morning SWSAT crew!

Penn Central GP9 7180 (Atlas O) has an oversize load in tow:

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tom

Good Morning and Happy Switcher Saturday from Finland. Maine Central's EMD SW-9 #334 en route to port. The return train appears to have a crude oil cars.

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

Patrick, always appreciate you getting us started every SwSat, as are Mel and Bob, and any other previous hosts I’m forgetting.
Railking

Our newest switcher, John Andrew

Congrats Mark!

@CAPPilot posted:

It is a cool day in 1949 and the photographer caught a Pennsy FS10 doing what it does best; working the yard.  The Pennsy bought 55 of these 1,000 hp switchers in 1948 and many lasted until the Penn Central era. Unlike some other roads, the Pennsy did not use these as road switchers.

This FM Switcher 1000 hp is a RailKing FM 10-44 model.

Very nice pics Ron. Thanks for sharing

Happy SWSAT everyone here’s today’s. It’s been awhile so here’s some archives of “Buzz” doing his this hope to have new pics next time.  

@lee drennen posted:

Happy SWSAT everyone here’s today’s. It’s been awhile so here’s some archives of “Buzz” doing his this hope to have new pics next time.  

Welcome back Lee. Good to see you posting again.

Bob

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Good Morning and Happy Switcher Saturday from Finland. Maine Central's EMD SW-9 #334 en route to port. The return train appears to have a crude oil cars.

Nice pics I like the farm background

I recently found this new in the box K-line mp-15 switcher on the bay at a great deal. First thing I did was tamed the beast,and wired the motors in series. Not the most glamorous switcher, but a classic nonetheless. Stay safe everyone!

@RSJB18 posted:

Welcome back Lee. Good to see you posting again.

Bob

Thanks Bob I’m down to just working one Saturday a month at the Feedstore and they finally got me some help in the Mill and warehouse so maybe I can get back to the layout more I miss it here.

@jstraw124

John I’m glad that you’re enjoying your B&O RSD5. This is actually my first B&O engine.  I’m kind of glad that you didn’t find a prototype; that will lessen the blow if this isn’t a prototype B&O  caboose.🥹 I’m going to open that up and subdue that lighting. Benny the Brakeman will never get any sleep. Here it is shoving an auto boxcar loaded with ‘66 Pontiac LeMans’ from the team track to a siding next to a Pontiac dealer.

@RSJB18 posted:

Happy SWSat!

Too bad you couldn't get your video uploaded Patrick. I did grab a non-traditional switcher that I'm sharing this week. Oh...and some regular switchers too!

We all love our Alco, EMD, and Baldwin F-units and their matching B's. These diesels with their car-body designs, were the stars of the early diesel era pulling almost any train the railroads needed to move, including some of the most famous passenger trains of all time. Every hero needs a side kick and the B unit was the F's little brother. The B's offered the railroads a easy way to add horsepower to a train at a lower cost since B's didn't have cabs for crews. Many B's did come equipped with a basic control stand so that they could be moved on their own by a hostler or conductor.

The Delaware and Hudson owned many Baldwin RF-16 "Sharks" In fact the last two remaining Sharks 1205 and 1216 were recently sold and are in storage for hopefully a future restoration. The B # 1210 was lost long ago but it lives to see another day on the RSJ&B. Today our intrepid railfan caught #1210 picking up a pair of cars to bring them to the car shop to prep them for the weekend excursions.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Gotta keep up with Mel so this week I added another RS-3 to the fleet. I was searching for some couplers over the weekend and wound up on Trainz. They had the couplers and some other parts I had been looking for. So since I was there anyway, and shipping charges were already incurred, a diesel fell into my shopping cart.

My first Weaver locomotive, New York, New Haven and Hartford # 560 is a conventional loco from around 2011. These newer models featured twin fly-wheel equipped can motors, not the original shaft and chain drives. Courtesy of some Forum searching, I learned that the older chain drives should be avoided.
The NY-NH&H green and orange is a favorite and the price was right, so I grabbed the engine. The wheels and rollers show little to no wear at all. It still needs to be serviced and I will re-wire the motors in series but I put it on the layout to take some pix and give it a test run.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Bob

Bob the Weaver RS-3 is one of my favorites and that New Haven you have looks Awesome. Unfortunately all 3 of mine are chain driven had to make one a Dummy unit because the board was fried glad I did I’ve used several spare parts from it so for I’ve rebuilt one last spring it runs fine now after I replaced the gear ever one talks about that breaks so yes stay away from the chain driven ones unless you like working on your own stuff. Thanks for sharing your pics

@MELGAR posted:

Boston & Maine RS-3 #1506 by MTH Railking (30-21164) with PS3 and MSRP $389.95 is my latest locomotive acquisition. Like my other MTH RS-3 diesels, the manufacturing quality is exceptional, it runs very smoothly throughout the speed range, and the sounds of a 12-cylinder Alco 244 powerplant are realistic.

The B&M locomotive was built by Alco at Schenectady in April 1954 and equipped for passenger service. Alco produced 1,416 RS-3s between May 1950 and August 1956. They weighed 247,100 pounds, had 61,775 pounds tractive effort, 1,600 horsepower, and maximum speeds between 65 and 85 mph depending on gearing.

Photos and videos show the engine running at 18 scale-miles-per-hour on my 10’-by-5’ model railroad pulling Boston & Maine heavyweight passenger cars #4558 and “Mountaineer.” The engine was delivered in 2024 and the passenger cars in 1999 – a difference of almost 25 years. Remarkably, the maroon color on the engine and cars matches perfectly.

MELGAR

Beautiful pics as always Mel. Thanks for sharing have a great weekend

@pennsyfan posted:

@jstraw124

John I’m glad that you’re enjoying your B&O RSD5. This is actually my first B&O engine.  I’m kind of glad that you didn’t find a prototype; that will lessen the blow if this isn’t a prototype B&O  caboose.🥹 I’m going to open that up and subdue that lighting. Benny the Brakeman will never get any sleep. Here it is shoving an auto boxcar loaded with ‘66 Pontiac LeMans’ from the team track to a siding next to a Pontiac dealer.

Bob - please post a video with start up sounds?

Pennsyfan, I have two MTH cabooses like your B&O example.  They have two bulbs; removing the bulb from the end w/o cupola subdues the lighting enough for me.  Leave the bulb in the cupola end to light the marker lights.

John

@lee drennen posted:

Nice pics I like the farm background

Lee,

Thank you and welcome back. 🤝

Johan

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Lee,

Thank you and welcome back. 🤝

Johan

Thanks Johan I appreciate it glad to be back.

Another great start trumptrain Enjoy your Switcher Saturday, support your local VFW and Legion.

@Mark V. Spadaro- Congratulations on the new arrival!   @lee drennen - Welcome back Lee!

Well for a little historical vignette, here is the last of the steam switchers on the Leonardtown and Savannah, a perky little 2-4-2 handling a short consist moving out of the city and up the line, circa about 1950.

And to the horror of all the steam fans lining the tracks, here is the EMD demonstrator about to show L&S management how they can do without any steam.  This diesel powered NW-2 is the wave of the future.

Best Wishes

Don

Here is some critter’s I picked up two weekends ago. The ICG is my favorite, the Ford is interesting also. All are pictured on flex-i-track.protecting the window struts.

@Brad J - Neat little switchers...were they factory made or custom.  If factory, who made them?

Thanks

Don

Patrick, thanks for getting us rolling again this week.

Thanks to all the contributors that keep this thread going each week.

Mark congratulations on your first grandson (outboard).

Bob I believe that's the most unusual switcher we'll see.  I guess the the engineer (hosteler) leans out the window on the door.

Donnie did you pick up the searchlight caboose with the engine?

@rpmcobra posted:

Pictures I recently took adjacent to the Stewartstown's PA station MA & PA #84

Super great pics!!  Got to love the Ma &Pa!!  What a great little railroad   Great to see you back again @rpmcobra!!!

Don it looks as if some of Brad J's critters are custom.  The Illinois Central and Union Pacific were 0-4-0 "Industrial" switchers without lead or trailing trucks and no rod connecting the drive wheels.  So those two appear to have a different chassis than what Lionel intended..  Looks like a snow plow drive or like Bill Swatos Davenport.  The Jersey Central is one of those wonderful K-Line Plymouth switchers.  I believe they did produce a Jersey Central. the Ford and Chessie are the Davenport type but appear to have the same chassis.  I'm not sure if either were produced as shown.

@Mark V. Spadaro posted:

Patrick, always appreciate you getting us started every SwSat, as are Mel and Bob, and any other previous hosts I’m forgetting.
Railking

Our newest switcher, John Andrew

Mark - that's a fine looking ALCO unit you posted!!  AND an even finer addition to your family!!!  CONGRATULATIONS!!!!  May he grow up to LOVE trains!!  I know you will be an incredible influencer!