It's SWITCHER SATURDAY January 4, 2024

Here's a 28 car mixed freight with a 4 switcher consist ( 3 are MTH RailKing scale ) at the point.  Washington Terminal Co RS 1, B&O GP9 ( Williams non powered ) , B&O SW9, and B&O FM H-10-44.  

Did a little track cleaning with my BS10 (Baldwin Switcher 1000hp).  Tried pulling two cars with it but it could handle only one.  Need to MU it with another switcher and try two cars again.  By the time I finished the last loop I was down to one clean roller.

MTH RailKing VO-1000

MTH’s Premier model of New Haven Railroad GE 44-ton diesel switcher #0815 (item 20-20470) was delivered in October 2016 at a list price of $449.95. This small, heavy, die-cast, scale model is an excellent runner with loud and realistic engine sounds and is a perfect size for the O-36 inner loop on my 12’-by-8’ model railroad. I don’t often run trains on this small loop, but I spent extra time making the scenery of surrounding hills and a narrow track cut to disguise the small size of the loop.

In 1937, railroad labor unions negotiated the “90,000 Pound Rule” that required locomotives weighing more than 45 tons to have a two-man crew – engineer and fireman. To skirt the rule and avoid having to pay firemen, General Electric introduced its 44-ton diesel switcher locomotive in 1940, which could be operated legally by just an engineer.

GE produced 386 44-ton diesel switcher locomotives between 1940 and 1956. They were used on at least 26 Class 1 railroads and by many industrial operators. Most were powered by two Caterpillar D17000 V8 diesel engines, each developing 180 horsepower, with an electric traction motor on each axle of the two-axle trucks.

#0815 was delivered to the New Haven Railroad in 1945 and geared for a maximum speed of thirty-five miles-per-hour. The New Haven had 18 of these locomotives and sold all but two by 1961.

Photos and videos also show New Haven NE-6 caboose C-667. It was built by the International Car Company of Kenton, Ohio in 1950. The model is Atlas O 6671, delivered in April 2003 at MSRP $69.95.

MELGAR

Happy 2025, everyone!  I apologize for my lack of participation the last several months.  Between work and family commitments, I have had to limit myself to lurking.  I am taking this opportunity to chime in before all h--l breaks loose again this year.  My boss informed me that we have a full plate at work for the foreseeable future (a good thing) and we are expecting our second grandchild any day now.  I already have his first train bought!

Now to the show...

Penn Central RS-11 7608 (Lionel) shoves a cut into the yard to pick up some outgoing cars:

Have a great Switcher Saturday and a great year!

Tom (AKA Papa Choo Choo)

MTH PS1 Erie diesel switcher hauling boxcars and caboose through My Little Town:

Thanks, Patrick, for getting this edition of Switcher Saturday started, and wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year. Arnold

Happy New Year 2025 and Switcher Saturday.

In addition to building the Modul layout, I would shoot a few trains at my favorite shooting locations. It's nice that the Edwards fabric factory now has busy railway traffic. The road connection has already been completed, but there is still a lot to do on the upper level.

A venerable and recently serviced (E unit re-build) PostWar 616 Santa Fe switcher picks up a loaded refrigerator car (PostWar Bosco 3672 car) packed full with chocolate milk…..

Have a great and safe week, everyone!

Peter

Due to the increased interchange traffic on the North Branch and Lamington, it was decided to acquire another switcher to handle the increase. NKP 112, an SW8 was quickly assigned to handle a few hoppers in a last-minute drill.

Happy first  Switcher Saturday in this New Year!  Here’s one last video of the beast (MTH 256) and a Lionel Dash 8 under the tree before disassembly next week -

@Tom Densel posted:

Happy 2025, everyone!  I apologize for my lack of participation the last several months.  Between work and family commitments, I have had to limit myself to lurking.  I am taking this opportunity to chime in before all h--l breaks loose again this year.  My boss informed me that we have a full plate at work for the foreseeable future (a good thing) and we are expecting our second grandchild any day now.  I already have his first train bought!

Now to the show...

Penn Central RS-11 7608 (Lionel) shoves a cut into the yard to pick up some outgoing cars:

Have a great Switcher Saturday and a great year!

Tom (AKA Papa Choo Choo)

Welcome back Tom, congratulation on your second grandchild, just bought my granddaughter a PW 2018 going to repaint to girl's pink. God Speed Mark

Happy New Year, SwSat Nation!  Patrick, thanks for getting us rolling, Tom D, nice to see you back and Johan, the Edwards factory and bridge look great!

Some of you may recall I was in a Geep frame of mind last Saturday.  I’m still thinking about them today, so here’s installment #2.  I may continue this theme the next couple of Saturdays too, if you’ll let me include close Geep relatives.

Maine Central EMD GP7 no. 562 is seen with a coal drag in Brunswick, ME.  MEC will be hauling a lot of coal over the Maine winter to fire home furnaces and municipal power plants.  Clean energy initiatives have reduced the demand for coal today, but we still, u fortunately, “have a long way to go”.

John

Happy SWSat!

Happy New Year to all of SWSat Nation!

This week I finally got a project out of the shops that has been sitting for a long time. I bought a pair of MTH S2's in May of 2022, at one of the Cabin Fever/ MTH auctions for a project. One engine was a SOO Chassis with no shell, that became my L&NE with a PS3/2 stacker board. The other is a NYC model that was a dummy. I was going to leave it that way and just add lights but in sourcing parts for both I came across a member who was selling a parts engine so I grabbed it.
I had a ERR Cruise board set with a ALCO R2LC sound board that was going to be used, but it didn't fit under the shell, so I decided to put a Flyerchief board in the engine. Command control with sound, lights, and electro-couplers. I've done several of these upgrades and they are pretty easy. The basic LC boards with Bluetooth are only about $80-$100 so its an affordable option for upgrades. Dallee reversing boards are about the same price. Only issue is that Lionel doesn't offer a S2 in Flyer, but I did find a Baldwin S-12 end-cab switcher that is a suitable alternative.

The Baldwin S-12 or BLH S12 is a 1,200-horsepower (890 kW) diesel-electric switcher locomotive. Utilizing a turbocharged 6-cylinder version of the powerful 606A diesel prime mover, S12s were known for their "lugging" power, despite being temperamental. Like most BLH switchers, the S12 had AAR Type-A switcher trucks in a B-B wheel arrangement. 451 units were built between 1951 and 1956, when BLH left the locomotive market.

The ALCO Prime mover was also a 6-cylinder turbo diesel so the sounds are very similar and just as quirky on start up.
Here's how it arrived

And what's a switcher if it's not earning a living......

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Be careful if you are in the path of the snow/ ice storm.

Bob

@Tom Densel posted:

Happy 2025, everyone!  I apologize for my lack of participation the last several months.  Between work and family commitments, I have had to limit myself to lurking.  I am taking this opportunity to chime in before all h--l breaks loose again this year.  My boss informed me that we have a full plate at work for the foreseeable future (a good thing) and we are expecting our second grandchild any day now.  I already have his first train bought!

Now to the show...

Penn Central RS-11 7608 (Lionel) shoves a cut into the yard to pick up some outgoing cars:

Have a great Switcher Saturday and a great year!

Tom (AKA Papa Choo Choo)

Tom,

In my opinion, your urban and railroad scene is terrific. Captures Penn Central perfectly. That's a lot of switching to pick up a couple of green PC gondolas and coal cars but it certainly is realistic.

I'd like to ask how you recorded 3 minutes and 46 seconds of video in less than 100Mb to post on the Forum. The video doesn't look to me like it's low resolution.

MELGAR

Happy 2025 switcher crew!  Here is a Chesapeake and Ohio triple header local with EMD locomotives GP30, GP9 and NW2.  The first two are Williams and the last is postwar Lionel.  There are a lot of great submissions here today.

Here’s one that my son brought home.  It’s a late 80s Lionel bell ringer.  Love the colors used.  Very little run time and in great condition.

@jstraw124 posted:

Here’s one that my son brought home.  It’s a late 80s Lionel bell ringer.  Love the colors used.  Very little run time and in great condition.

I like this paint too. Not common for Western Maryland models. I have a K-line MP-15.

@MELGAR posted:

Tom,

In my opinion, your urban and railroad scene is terrific. Captures Penn Central perfectly. That's a lot of switching to pick up a couple of green PC gondolas and coal cars but it certainly is realistic.

I'd like to ask how you recorded 3 minutes and 46 seconds of video in less than 100Mb to post on the Forum. The video doesn't look to me like it's low resolution.

MELGAR

Mel,

Thank you for the kind words.. It means a lot coming from you.

I use a Sony Handycam to do most of my video recording.  I am not a tech geek by any means.  Most times I just get lucky and run with it.  I know the file has a MAH prefix and a MP4 suffix.  Don't know what it means but it might have something to do with the file size.  I know if I shoot video with my iphone the file sizes are a lot larger.

Tom

@Tom Densel posted:

Mel,

Thank you for the kind words.. It means a lot coming from you.

I use a Sony Handycam to do most of my video recording.  I am not a tech geek by any means.  Most times I just get lucky and run with it.  I know the file has a MAH prefix and a MP4 suffix.  Don't know what it means but it might have something to do with the file size.  I know if I shoot video with my iphone the file sizes are a lot larger.

Tom

+ @MELGAR

It all about video resolution. Most modern phones and cameras shoot at much higher resolution than Tom's older Sony probably does. The higher the resolution, the larger the file = less time to reach 100MB.
That's why most of my videos are on Youtube. I can only shoot about 50 sec at ultra high resolution with my phone and be just under 100mb.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Happy SWSat!

Happy New Year to all of SWSat Nation!

This week I finally got a project out of the shops that has been sitting for a long time. I bought a pair of MTH S2's in May of 2022, at one of the Cabin Fever/ MTH auctions for a project. One engine was a SOO Chassis with no shell, that became my L&NE with a PS3/2 stacker board. The other is a NYC model that was a dummy. I was going to leave it that way and just add lights but in sourcing parts for both I came across a member who was selling a parts engine so I grabbed it.
I had a ERR Cruise board set with a ALCO R2LC sound board that was going to be used, but it didn't fit under the shell, so I decided to put a Flyerchief board in the engine. Command control with sound, lights, and electro-couplers. I've done several of these upgrades and they are pretty easy. The basic LC boards with Bluetooth are only about $80-$100 so its an affordable option for upgrades. Dallee reversing boards are about the same price. Only issue is that Lionel doesn't offer a S2 in Flyer, but I did find a Baldwin S-12 end-cab switcher that is a suitable alternative.

The Baldwin S-12 or BLH S12 is a 1,200-horsepower (890 kW) diesel-electric switcher locomotive. Utilizing a turbocharged 6-cylinder version of the powerful 606A diesel prime mover, S12s were known for their "lugging" power, despite being temperamental. Like most BLH switchers, the S12 had AAR Type-A switcher trucks in a B-B wheel arrangement. 451 units were built between 1951 and 1956, when BLH left the locomotive market.

The ALCO Prime mover was also a 6-cylinder turbo diesel so the sounds are very similar and just as quirky on start up.
Here's how it arrived

And what's a switcher if it's not earning a living......

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Be careful if you are in the path of the snow/ ice storm.

Bob

Bob, I have no idea how or what you did to upgrade this engine, but it certainly sounds and looks great. Nice job as always.

Happy New Year, Gene

First SwSat of 2025!  MTH SW1 is testing out the snow plow in anticipation for the incoming storm on Sun/Mon (6-10” are expected).

What a great start to the New Year!

@RSJB18 posted:

+ @MELGAR

It all about video resolution. Most modern phones and cameras shoot at much higher resolution than Tom's older Sony probably does. The higher the resolution, the larger the file = less time to reach 100MB.
That's why most of my videos are on Youtube. I can only shoot about 50 sec at ultra high resolution with my phone and be just under 100mb.

Bob

Bob,

Of course!

But, to me, Tom's video doesn't look like low resolution. Maybe it's just the very slow-running trains in his video that look good at low frame rate. Low resolution can be accomplished with fewer pixels per image and/or fewer frames per second. I'm really curious to know the details of that video.

On my phone, 51 seconds of video uses 100 Mb at the default resolution with a frame rate of 30 images per second.

Just to get back on topic, here's a photo of my New Haven GE 44-ton switchers double-headed. I'll have to try this again soon...

MELGAR

Happy New Years Switch Sat.

Digging out the old reliable B&M RS-3 w/Heavy Plow today, in prep for the polar vortex hitting us in the land of Citrus. Glad I took her with when I left New England.

Take Care,

Ray

MELGAR, your double-headed NH 44 tonners reminds me of fond memories of Grafton & Upton 44 tonners nos. 9 and 10 double-headed near my boyhood home in North Grafton, MA.  I also remember 9 or 10 plowing and triple-headed with Alco S4 no. 212 0r 1001!

I'm pleased to say no. 10 has been restored to operating condition on the Newport & Narragansett Bay RR.  Here's a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF24dbvd4lI

John

Happy New Year SWSAT fans!

Here is my Lionel 0-6-0 saddle tank that was relettered to PRR by Bob ?, escapes me. The Saddle Tank is moving a cut of cars  to the team track

@Steam Crazy posted:

MELGAR, your double-headed NH 44 tonners reminds me of fond memories of Grafton & Upton 44 tonners nos. 9 and 10 double-headed near my boyhood home in North Grafton, MA.  I also remember 9 or 10 plowing and triple-headed with Alco S4 no. 212 0r 1001!

I'm pleased to say no. 10 has been restored to operating condition on the Newport & Narragansett Bay RR.  Here's a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF24dbvd4lI

John

@Steam Crazy,

John,

Interesting video. I like the GE 44-ton, the ex-Long Island Dashing Dan commuter coach, and the center-cab pusher locomotive with rods connecting the axles. Do you know anything more about that switcher? I wonder if it has traction motors on only one axle per truck...

MELGAR

@jstraw124 posted:

Here’s one that my son brought home.  It’s a late 80s Lionel bell ringer.  Love the colors used.  Very little run time and in great condition.

Beautiful switcher!!!  It's quite the eye catcher.  Your son has a good eye for switcher beauty!  I remember Lionel coming out with this paint scheme ( or very similar ) during the 1950s.   As a Western Maryland fan, I wish the real WM would have used this scheme on their locomotives.  Thanks for posting!

@Tom Densel posted:

Happy 2025, everyone!  I apologize for my lack of participation the last several months.  Between work and family commitments, I have had to limit myself to lurking.  I am taking this opportunity to chime in before all h--l breaks loose again this year.  My boss informed me that we have a full plate at work for the foreseeable future (a good thing) and we are expecting our second grandchild any day now.  I already have his first train bought!

Now to the show...

Penn Central RS-11 7608 (Lionel) shoves a cut into the yard to pick up some outgoing cars:

Have a great Switcher Saturday and a great year!

Tom (AKA Papa Choo Choo)

Tom - welcome back!! Congratulations on your second grandchild!   I love the realistic look of your video ... everything from the slow speed of the train to the building fronts, tracks, fencing, placement of the Pup trailer, debris along the tracks,  and tall weeds.  Well done!!!

SWSAT is off and running into 2025 with a great first week.  Thanks to Patrick for keeping us going and to all who have posted today.

@CAPPilot, Is your track cleaning car that heavy r was the switcher not that strong?

@MELGAR, As always very informative posts of smooth running trains through small town New England.

@Tom Densel, slow speed switching at its best.  Add me to the list of those offering congratulations on the impending birth of your second grandchild.

@BAR GP7 #63, Johan  incredibly realistic scenery, smart looking engines and great photography always combine on your modular layout.

@RSJB18, another highly successful project.

My contribution this week is a meet between Santa at the throttle of the Christmas Extra and 'Annie" at the head of The Juice Train, followed by a couple of maintenance questions.

Santa's little 0-6-0T is slowing down a little so I believe it's time for a good lube job.  I took a look at the bottom to see about removing the shell to access the gears for a good greasing but there's like a bazillion screws underneath this little guy.  Has anyone taken one of these apart to grease the gears?  I could use some direction before I go down the wrong road.

The WBB 70 tonner is new and the paper work said it's lubed from the factory.  I've run it for 20-30 minutes testing it out and entertaining Sally the yard cat.  For those of you that have this model, should I be dis-assembling it to grease the gears?

Mel, the N&NBRR website lists the pusher as JPEX7349, ex USN 7349.  I ran out of time before I could identify the manufacturer, but I believe its a Whitcomb.  Here's a photo:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/...m-72157715254359636/

John

@Steam Crazy posted:

Happy New Year, SwSat Nation!  Patrick, thanks for getting us rolling, Tom D, nice to see you back and Johan, the Edwards factory and bridge look great!

Some of you may recall I was in a Geep frame of mind last Saturday.  I’m still thinking about them today, so here’s installment #2.  I may continue this theme the next couple of Saturdays too, if you’ll let me include close Geep relatives.

Maine Central EMD GP7 no. 562 is seen with a coal drag in Brunswick, ME.  MEC will be hauling a lot of coal over the Maine winter to fire home furnaces and municipal power plants.  Clean energy initiatives have reduced the demand for coal today, but we still, u fortunately, “have a long way to go”.

John

John,

Thanks. The visit to Augusta got me excited about the Edwards factory, anyway, rail traffic in the Augusta area must have been very interesting to watch at times. The landscapes have been really wonderful. It's a real shame that there hasn't even been a worthwhile museum railway activity in those landscapes.

Johan

@coach joe posted:

SWSAT is off and running into 2025 with a great first week.  Thanks to Patrick for keeping us going and to all who have posted today.

@CAPPilot, Is your track cleaning car that heavy r was the switcher not that strong?

@MELGAR, As always very informative posts of smooth running trains through small town New England.

@Tom Densel, slow speed switching at its best.  Add me to the list of those offering congratulations on the impending birth of your second grandchild.

@BAR GP7 #63, Johan  incredibly realistic scenery, smart looking engines and great photography always combine on your modular layout.

@RSJB18, another highly successful project.

My contribution this week is a meet between Santa at the throttle of the Christmas Extra and 'Annie" at the head of The Juice Train, followed by a couple of maintenance questions.

Santa's little 0-6-0T is slowing down a little so I believe it's time for a good lube job.  I took a look at the bottom to see about removing the shell to access the gears for a good greasing but there's like a bazillion screws underneath this little guy.  Has anyone taken one of these apart to grease the gears?  I could use some direction before I go down the wrong road.

The WBB 70 tonner is new and the paper work said it's lubed from the factory.  I've run it for 20-30 minutes testing it out and entertaining Sally the yard cat.  For those of you that have this model, should I be dis-assembling it to grease the gears?

Joe,

Thank you my friend. I've really enjoyed the time I've been able to spend building the layout. I hope that someday I will have the time and the opportunity to expand the whole to an even bigger and more versatile one. The current size will be a maximum of 12 modules.

Johan

Almost forgot about CNJ 1522, a Lionchief GP9 that was pressed into service on the Christmas layout, pulling a Jersey-themed mixed freight. Pretty impressed by this offering from Lionel. One thing I noticed is that the incidental sounds - squeaks and groans, compressor noise are louder and borderline obnoxious compared to Legacy locomotives. Nonetheless it’s a keeper.

Dave P, are you running your CNJ GP9 in conventional mode?  My MEC GP7 is a Legacy model;  the groans, squeaks, etc are louder in conventional than they are when I run it using the Lionchief app.  The prime mover sounds are louder with the app, which may help to drown out some of the other clatter.  Let me add it's also more fun to run with the app!

John

@Genemed posted:

Bob, I have no idea how or what you did to upgrade this engine, but it certainly sounds and looks great. Nice job as always.

Happy New Year, Gene

Nothing to it Gene.....wire A in plug B, throw some LED's in it, etc, etc,........
Here's a few more photos.

Thanks for the compliments.

Bob

@MELGAR posted:

Bob,

Of course!

But, to me, Tom's video doesn't look like low resolution. Maybe it's just the very slow-running trains in his video that look good at low frame rate. Low resolution can be accomplished with fewer pixels per image and/or fewer frames per second. I'm really curious to know the details of that video.

On my phone, 51 seconds of video uses 100 Mb at the default resolution with a frame rate of 30 images per second.

Just to get back on topic, here's a photo of my New Haven GE 44-ton switchers double-headed. I'll have to try this again soon...

MELGAR

Mel- Sony definitely had the better product when it came to video cameras.
It would be nice if the Forum increased the file size limit but I know that comes at a cost.

Bob

@Steam Crazy posted:

Dave P, are you running your CNJ GP9 in conventional mode?  My MEC GP7 is a Legacy model;  the groans, squeaks, etc are louder in conventional than they are when I run it using the Lionchief app.  The prime mover sounds are louder with the app, which may help to drown out some of the other clatter.  Let me add it's also more fun to run with the app!

John

Now that you mention it, I noticed a difference as well between conventional and the app. Sounds are more reserved running via the app

@DaveP posted:

Now that you mention it, I noticed a difference as well between conventional and the app. Sounds are more reserved running via the app

You can adjust the volume of the background sounds with the app which helps too.

I agree that the background sounds are a bit over the top.

Happy New Year, everyone!  As promised last week, I unpacked my Lionel Postwar Pennsy Congressional Set (a great Christmas present from my wife!) and here it is. Very excellent shape. I put a previously owned Lionel 2028 GP7 on point to qualify for this esteemed switcher thread .
The bare-bones Geep is perfect as it was issued in the exact same timeframe as the passenger set, although never with the set (Tuscan GG-1 for that) . A nice matchup for the photo here, but the single-motor engine is no match for the heavy four aluminum cars . I have several Lionel GG-1s which I will use to pull them.