STEAMday Sunday (12/15/2024 edition)

This week on the layout the NYO&W Mogul runs a combined “Christmas and mixed freight-passenger train” and the N&W J pulls the Pocohantas……

Have a great and safe week, everyone!

Peter

Thanks for getting the steam up this morning Arnold. The Empire State Express Hudson is certainly a handsome addition to your roundhouse! I’m going with another Prewar engine this morning. A Lionel 260E 2-4-2 Black with a Green frame and an oil tender, made in ‘30-‘35. Here it is with Blue 710-710-712 passenger cars.

My steam locomotive for this Sunday 12-15-2024 is New York Central 4-6-0 ten-wheeler #1244, a Lionel Legacy model (2431660) that arrived recently. Lionel has been making versions of this NYC prototype since at least 2002 and they did a great job on this one. I liked the looks of the chromed cylinder heads and valve covers when this model appeared in the Lionel catalog, so I pre-ordered it. It’s my 5th Lionel ten-wheeler. It also seems to me that the black paint and graphite smokebox color differ from previous versions. The black paint has no gloss at all and the smokebox looks realistic.

#1244 was built by Alco in November 1907 and began service on the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad as Class F-2e #2118. It was reclassified to NYC Class F-12e and renumbered #831 when superheated in February 1916. Weight was 208,000 pounds with 31,900 pounds tractive effort at steam pressure 200 pounds-per-square-inch and 69-inch driving wheels. It was renumbered to #1244 in 1948 and retired in February 1952.

Ten-wheelers ran on the New York Central’s Putnam Division until the end of steam. I didn’t have a green New York Central passenger car to run behind this engine so I purchased the unlettered parlor car (Atlas O Premier 3007040) shown in these photos and the video taken on my 10’-by-5’ layout.

MELGAR

Good morning, steam fans, on another frigid NE morning!  Makes you want to huddle around the firebox!

Arnold, beautiful new engine!   I always thought the Empire Estate Hudsons were better looking than the Dreyfus Hudsons on the 20th Century Limited, but I think my opinion is in the minority.  That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to own an example of each!

In commemoration of the announcement of the plan to restore the 1/1 scale NYC L3a Mohawk no. 3001 to operating condition, I ran my 1/48 scale Lionel NYC Mohawk no. 3000, the first of the L3a class.

John

Mel, you may have as many 10 wheelers as the Put had in the 1930s and 1940s.

I forgot to add I think NYC Mohawks look better without the “elephant ears”.  That opinion may be in the minority, too!

John

Thanks for kicking things off with a touch of class this week Arnold. That Hudson looks sharp.

Getting the Christmas trains ready to roll in circles under the tree for another season today. Last year I added this steamer to the fleet. It's a Lionel Lionchief/ BT 2-4-2 loco from a set break up. I needed something to pull the new Lionel Fezziwig Railway cars that I had just bought as well. My wife and I met in a bar called Fezziwigs so I had to have them.

Clearly not a scale model. The shell is a rework of a common MPC steamer that doesn't represent any particular prototype. Sounds are typical Lionel and Santa is at the controls to keep the Christmas Express on schedule. It has Bluetooth so the apps will run it.

Bob

@MELGAR posted:

My steam locomotive for this Sunday 12-15-2024 is New York Central 4-6-0 ten-wheeler #1244, a Lionel Legacy model (2431660) that arrived recently. Lionel has been making versions of this NYC prototype since at least 2002 and they did a great job on this one. I liked the looks of the chromed cylinder heads and valve covers when this model appeared in the Lionel catalog, so I pre-ordered it. It’s my 5th Lionel ten-wheeler. It also seems to me that the black paint and graphite smokebox color differ from previous versions. The black paint has no gloss at all and the smokebox looks realistic.

#1244 was built by Alco in November 1907 and began service on the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad as Class F-2e #2118. It was reclassified to NYC Class F-12e and renumbered #831 when superheated in February 1916. Weight was 208,000 pounds with 31,900 pounds tractive effort at steam pressure 200 pounds-per-square-inch and 69-inch driving wheels. It was renumbered to #1244 in 1948 and retired in February 1952.

Ten-wheelers ran on the New York Central’s Putnam Division until the end of steam. I didn’t have a green New York Central passenger car to run behind this engine so I purchased the unlettered parlor car (Atlas O Premier 3007040) shown in these photos and the video taken on my 10’-by-5’ layout.

MELGAR

Looking good Mel, I do like the look of a 4-6-0. I did notice a lack of chuff sounds in the video, did you have the volume down? It almost sounds like a diesel running but there’s only one track. Maybe it’s just me??

Gene

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Mel, you may have as many 10 wheelers as the Put had in the 1930s and 1940s.

Arnold,

As you know, my two favorite Lionel locomotive models are the ten-wheelers and the Boston & Albany 4-6-6T tank engines. The ten-wheelers have a classic look - that of a choo-choo. The absence of a trailing truck, slatted "cowcatcher" pilot, high driving wheels on unequally-spaced axles, cab roof overhang, and small tender contribute to that.

The larger engines - Hudsons, Mohawks, and Niagaras - symbolize power. But the ten-wheelers have a classic style that the more modern ones do not - in my opinion.

MELGAR

@MELGAR posted:

Arnold,

As you know, my two favorite Lionel locomotive models are the ten-wheelers and the Boston & Albany 4-6-6T tank engines. The ten-wheelers have a classic look - that of a choo-choo. The absence of a trailing truck, slatted "cowcatcher" pilot, high driving wheels on unequally-spaced axles, cab roof overhang, and small tender contribute to that.

The larger engines - Hudsons, Mohawks, and Niagaras - symbolize of power. But the ten-wheelers have a classic style that the more modern ones do not - in my opinion.

MELGAR

I agree 1000% Mel. These do highlight all of the classic features of steam engines. The off-set rear driver sets this apart from the crowd too.

Bob

@Genemed posted:

Looking good Mel, I do like the look of a 4-6-0. I did notice a lack of chuff sounds in the video, did you have the volume down? It almost sounds like a diesel running but there’s only one track. Maybe it’s just me??

Gene

Gene,

Lionel eliminated the volume adjustment knob on their locomotives. There is no longer any way of adjusting the sound volume in conventional operation and, in my opinion, the volume is set too low. As far as I'm concerned it's a deficiency in their recent steam locomotive models. My older ten-wheelers have better sounds than the new ones. I have expressed my thoughts about this to Lionel.

MELGAR

Plenty of holiday season buzz at the North Main Street Station this weekend...

happy Steam day Sunday one and all.

Arnold, that Empire State Express is an example of majestic beauty in motion!

nice trade!

So there are two other steamers? OK, we would like to see them too!

@MELGAR posted:

Gene,

Lionel eliminated the volume adjustment knob on their locomotives. There is no longer any way of adjusting the sound volume in conventional operation and, in my opinion, the volume is set too low. As far as I'm concerned it's a deficiency in their recent steam locomotive models. My older ten-wheelers have better sounds than the new ones. I have expressed my thoughts about this to Lionel.

MELGAR

Thanks for clearing that up. I didn’t realize you ran the engine conventionally.

Gene

Since Arnold started with a RK Hudson, I might as well show off mine. This is the RK MTHRRC Hudson with PS2, I search for this Loco for a long time and finally found one! The bad news it ended up having a bad motor and the replacement from MTH had a different worm gear and would not work! I was able to pull the gear and flywheel off the old motor, but all attempts to pull the gear off the new motor only resulted in a ruined motor. So, for $12 I ordered 2 motors from China, installed the flywheel, sensor, and worm gear from the old motor and now she runs like a champ again! And since it's that time a year, my MTHRRC 4-6-0 is also running pulling some Christmas cars!

How about some good ol' Wabash?  It was a Christmas gift from my parents way back around the late 80's.

- walt

@Genemed posted:

Thanks for clearing that up. I didn’t realize you ran the engine conventionally.

Gene

Gene,

My 12'-by-8' layout was built prior to the advent of command control and operates well without it. My 10'-by-5' layout has just an oval of track for which I considered command control to be unnecessary. My interests in model railroading are locomotives and engineering, scenery and structures, and railroad history. I prefer to have avoided the expense and electronic issues that many people have with command control. The features it offers are not of importance to me. I want to be able to walk downstairs, turn on the transformers, and run the trains without having to troubleshoot any electronic issues, and I prefer the emphasis to be on the trains and railroading rather than electronics.

I hope I don't sound like I'm criticizing command control. I just prefer to keep things simple and avoid unnecessary complexity.

MELGAR