STEAMday Sunday (3/16/2025 edition)

Thanks for the Steamup Arnold! I also reached into the archives today. My layout is packed with All I  ran yesterday.
Here is a MTH 263 with a mixed freight.

I also wanted to share this Lionel Pre War 226 e   with Nickel journals and box coupler. I can't find the video.

Photos and video show my Weaver diecast model (1809LP) of Boston & Maine 2-8-0 Consolidation #2403 pulling two B&M heavyweight passenger coaches by MTH on my 12’-by-8’ layout. It’s a nicely detailed model that runs well. Atlas O now owns the tooling for this model and is scheduled to deliver updated versions with PS3 electronics in April or May 2025. I’m looking forward to receiving two of these revised models – in Boston & Maine and New York Central liveries.

Boston & Maine #2403 ran in passenger service around Boston until at least September 1954 and was the last 2-8-0 to be retired by the B&M. It was scrapped in June 1955.

MELGAR

Good morning, StDaySun fans!  Like Arnold and Bob, I’m reaching back into the archives for today’s steamer.

The Central Railroad of New Jersey rostered a fascinating collection of Camelback steam engines.  The most numerous example of the type was probably the 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler, a versatile locomotive used for light freight and commuter passenger service.

My model of this type is a MTH Railking Imperial product.  It has been a dependable performer for the Steam Crazy Lines for about fifteen years; the only services required were installation of a new smoke wick and a BCR.  Here is no. 763 at the head of a short commuter job.

John

Here’s some K-Line green for St. Patrick’s Day.

Dualing steam on this fine Sunday...great pictures here...

Thanks so much Arnold for keeping the boiler pressure up and getting us rolling for this fine Sunday!  

I also dug through my archives today and put together this mix of photos showing steam on the Free State Junction Railway.  

Two 0-8-0s N&W number 244 ... the last steam locomotive manufactured in the U.S. in Dec. 1953.  Also a C&O manufactured by Lima Locomotive Works in the 1920s.  The N&W is an early MTH model and the C&O is by Lionel.  Both are scale size.

A Shay by Lionel with TMCC.  

K line A 5 switcher.

MTH Docksider.  My first locomotive weathering project.

Scale Lionel .. N&W  J class 611 with TMCC.    

Another steam icon ... a N&W Y6b Mallet ... a MTH RailKing version.  

Close up of the K line A5.   My second locomotive weathering project.

A 5 takes on water at the spout.

A 5 takes on water in the late afternoon.

Docksider on the engine service track.   Those O'l boys are taking good care of the old gal.

C&O 0-8-0 takes on water.

The N&W J class 611 brings the Powhatan Arrow through Patsburg as C&O 0-8-0 number 75 waits in the hole.  Meanwhile a diesel switcher lurks in the background with a tale of things to come but in this moment ... steam is still king!  

@trumpettrain posted:

steam is still king!  

It certainly is on your layout with those pics! Great job on blending the archival photos.👍

Gene

Steam Sunday has become a favorite here - thanks Arnold. :-)

K-Line Hudson with it's 1/2 sized little brother

Lionel C&O Texan 2-10-4

@trumpettrain- WOW Patrick what a great picture portfolio.  Great scenes for sure.  Thanks for posting.

My offering this fine (and sunny) Sunday is much more humble.  You know in my experience, sometimes in the "collecting" part of the hobby (which I am in) finding the simple, humble, and common is the most difficult.  Why?  Because over their history such components are thrown out, lost, misplaced, etc because they do not gather much attention.  Well today I have one of those.  The Hafner Company, always produced clockwork trains, Mr. Hafner said he felt electric trains were too expensive to be a toy.  One of the last models by the company was this #1010 streamlined loco which was initiated in the late 1930's and offered by the company until it was sold to Wyandotte Toys in 1956.  However, to my earlier point, Hafner rarely every offered a steam engine + tender as a pair.  The engine almost always was a separate item and you had to buy the tender separately if you wanted one.  Even when you bought the loco as a separate item it did not automatically come with the tender.  Over the course of time, Hafner produced several very decorated tenders, BUT what I wanted was their simple, black, plain, tender to go with my black/silver 1010 loco.  WOW was this tough to find!  In fact, being honest,  I bought an entire train set at a train show last year  JUST TO GET THE TENDER!  So here is my (Type 1- full aero shroud on top of boiler) Hafner 1010 loco AND TENDER.  Note that the Type 1 1010 with full aero shroud on top and full length skirts was the first of the 1010 Type's offered by Hafner but was still available both pre and post war and came in several colors (red, black, green, blue and beige with various contrasting skirt colors).

View from the front quarter...note fixed key, a Hafner trademark and the full aero shroud on the boiler top.  The tender follows behind in plain black elegance.

A better look at the (very unassuming but hard to find) simple black tender.  Also note, with Hafner trains the "tab" for their tab/slot coupler went up instead of down...Mr. Hafner believed this helped the trains not to uncouple when running.  OBTW, in case you missed it when I mentioned it before, when asked "where did you get the number 1010 from?, John Hafner - the son running the company in its later years, simply said..."Its the number on the street address of our factory in Chicago".

Well hope you have a great Sunday everyone and a great week upcoming.

Best Wishes, Don

My one and only PS2 command steamer - One of my favorite engines regardless of type.  Smoked like a bandit and the sounds were awesome.  Why did I sell it?  Dumb me.

- walt

Don McErlean, your trains may be "humble", but that doesn't mean they aren"t REALLY interesting!  If Patrick and Mel are our 1/1 scale historians, you are our O gauge historian.  I learn something about the history of O gauge every time I read one of your posts; it's fascinating.  Anybody can buy a new $2,500 Big Boy (well, not me if I want to stay married), but your trains are treasures.  Thanks for sharing!

John