Switcher Saturday 01-29-22

Happy Switcher Saturday To All. Some Maine Central ALCO S2 #301 action pics.

Happy SWSat!

Cold and snowy here so the RSJ&B is assisting with spotting a couple of loads of salt for the local highway department.

Stay safe if you are in the path of the storm along the northeast coast.

Bob

Welcome back John and Happy SWSAT. Still to cold for me to get some new pics out in the Garage so I hope you will enjoy the reruns. Have a great weekend.

It’s windy and getting cold down here in south Florida. We expect to see iguanas falling from the palm trees tonight as the temperature dips into the 30s.  Meanwhile, it’s a perfect morning to run some trains. Happy Switcher Saturday everyone!

Happy SWSAT to all,

Postwar 623 and 624.

Fendermain

@lee drennen posted:

Welcome back John and Happy SWSAT. Still to cold for me to get some new pics out in the Garage so I hope you will enjoy the reruns. Have a great weekend.

Lee. Thank you, it's nice to be back.

Johan

CN on the move this morning.

There is a nor’easter howling outside in Central MA today, so it seems appropriate to post another picture of a plow extra.  This Saturday B&M 0-8-0 no. 613 is seen shoving a borrowed MEC plow.

MEC was controlled by B&M, so it was not unusual for the two roads to interchange equipment.  MEC power could also be seen in locations like Boston and Worcester, MA.

The caboose in the consist, painted in “McGinnis” colors, suggests it’s 1956, the last year B&M ran steam.  No. 613, sadly, will soon be replaced by RS3s and GP7s.

I was hoping to meet some of you guys today at the Springfield show.  Alas, travel is near impossible today and cleanup duty awaits tomorrow.  Maybe next year!

John

Last night’s switching session. Serving the south once again. I still haven’t wore the new off the Lionel Southern gp-7. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Here is my H6b doing switching duties late in its life.  These are older photos because the engine is now boxed up and going to a repair person to fix a failed gear.

Hello everyone !  Wow you folks in the north and northeast ... snow, cold, storms... Wow I guess I don't miss the east coast as much as I thought ... I will have to go out later and shovel the sunshine off my walk !!  BAR GP7 #63 :  I just wanted to say that your blending of the background pictures into your foreground scene is just superb.  I don't think I have seen better.  Great job!

Well today, I have some pictures of my hard working Southern Williams GE 44 ton switcher.  I have 2 of these 44 tonners and they work so well on my little layout taking the curves with almost no overhang and going over the switches without a "dead" zone.

Here she is with the crew waiting until maintenance gets done with a few quick repairs to the "necessary" behind the freight house.

Here she is pulling her little train through the industrial area, headed for the yard.

Have a good weekend, stay warm, stay safe and off those treacherous snow covered roads.

Best Wishes

Don

Hi Guys!  I'm late to the party today.  Here is a short video of AC&Y H16-44 #202 (Lionel) heading out with a short train:

Tom

@Don McErlean posted:

Hello everyone !  Wow you folks in the north and northeast ... snow, cold, storms... Wow I guess I don't miss the east coast as much as I thought ... I will have to go out later and shovel the sunshine off my walk !!  BAR GP7 #63 :  I just wanted to say that your blending of the background pictures into your foreground scene is just superb.  I don't think I have seen better.  Great job!

Well today, I have some pictures of my hard working Southern Williams GE 44 ton switcher.  I have 2 of these 44 tonners and they work so well on my little layout taking the curves with almost no overhang and going over the switches without a "dead" zone.

Here she is with the crew waiting until maintenance gets done with a few quick repairs to the "necessary" behind the freight house.

Here she is pulling her little train through the industrial area, headed for the yard.

Have a good weekend, stay warm, stay safe and off those treacherous snow covered roads.

Best Wishes

Don

Don. Many thanks. This hobby is great because it can always evolve and landscaping equipment and technology have also developed tremendously in recent years. It probably won’t be many years before digital backgrounds start to become more common.

Johan

Good afternoon fellow switcher fans!  You guys have posted some wonderful content!!

Today I have a photo of my MTH Washington Terminal RS1 on the Mountain Division and a short video of the same.  Have a terrific weekend everyone!

These two are resting and waiting around the turntable for their next assignment:

JHZ563, thanks for getting us rolling again this week.  I may have asked this before but is the Laurel Run a repaint?  I've got a black one that was Denver and Rio Grande that I re-lettered for Indiana Harbor belt.  I thought that switcher came in black, gray and I think blue when Lionel put them out in the late 80s early 90s.

Johan I've said it before, the layout is incredible.  Is that an E unit sticking it's nose out of the engine shed?  Who made it?

Rob is that 88 tonner Lionel or Williams?

Lee is that a Lionel single motor RS3.  Love the NP KW in the foreground.

Don those Williams 44 tonners are real nice.  I've got two but not a Southern.  I like that VW delivery truck.

@coach joe posted:

JHZ563, thanks for getting us rolling again this week.  I may have asked this before but is the Laurel Run a repaint?  I've got a black one that was Denver and Rio Grande that I re-lettered for Indiana Harbor belt.  I thought that switcher came in black, gray and I think blue when Lionel put them out in the late 80s early 90s.

Johan I've said it before, the layout is incredible.  Is that an E unit sticking it's nose out of the engine shed?  Who made it?

Rob is that 88 tonner Lionel or Williams?

Lee is that a Lionel single motor RS3.  Love the NP KW in the foreground.

Don those Williams 44 tonners are real nice.  I've got two but not a Southern.  I like that VW delivery truck.

It's a Williams Joe. Based on the classic Lionel shell. It's a nice loco, just a bit of a jack rabbit.

@coach joe :  Thanks for your comment on the switchers, the two I have are Southern and UP.  By the way, the VW delivery truck was a "Walgreens Special" right out of the display of die cast cars they always seem to have in drug stores, was less than $5 as I recall.

Don

@coach joe posted:

JHZ563, thanks for getting us rolling again this week.  I may have asked this before but is the Laurel Run a repaint?  I've got a black one that was Denver and Rio Grande that I re-lettered for Indiana Harbor belt.  I thought that switcher came in black, gray and I think blue when Lionel put them out in the late 80s early 90s.

Johan I've said it before, the layout is incredible.  Is that an E unit sticking it's nose out of the engine shed?  Who made it?

Rob is that 88 tonner Lionel or Williams?

Lee is that a Lionel single motor RS3.  Love the NP KW in the foreground.

Don those Williams 44 tonners are real nice.  I've got two but not a Southern.  I like that VW delivery truck.

Joe. Thanks again. It's E3. I have MTH E3's AA - set with PS2. MEC never own E3's, but it's okay to me. If i can found some Williams E7's i can maybe repaint them, but i like still keep those E3's.

Johan

RSJB18, the cure for jack rabbit Williams engines is a heavy train.  If you're not too heavy handed on the throttle, you can make nice smooth starts and stops.  Works for my 44 tonner, BL2 and Alco FA.  Load up your cars!

John

@coach joe

Lionel put out some low dollar,  low effort switchers out in the early 90's.  This is one of those, painted with inspiration from a diesel at the Reading Society of Model Engineers.

Here's a neat little switcher I have, it's a Lionel Postwar army turbine frame with the shell of one of the cheapo MPC reuses of the shell mounted to it by the previous owner. There's a rather unsightly gash on the side for the E unit lever but a spare "de-militarized" Mega Blox "Call of Duty" figure acting as a crewman covers it up nicely. Funnily enough the actual army turbine Lionel based the engine off of got passed around a few private owners before ending up at it's museum so this isn't entirely fictional.

Super photos today, everyone!  Love them!  Stay safe and warm you Easterners. We’re having Santa Anna Winds here in SoCal  w/50+ Mph gusts. Cool for us here by our standards (low 60s) and the wind gives a sharp bite.

Hey SWSAT Team - I hope everyone is staying warm, here's what's on the RiCHY RR today....

All the best to everyone and John thanks for keeping the thread around...Rich

Hey Rich @Murnane- thanks for stopping by. Hope all is well.

John @Steam Crazy- I've re-wired all of my WbB's in series. This one has only one motor so it is what it is.

Bob

Essex, CT,   a pic without the snow!   

Happy Switcher Saturday.

Patrick nice job as usual.  I really like that RS1 you've got.

Stang those guys should be assembling the next passenger train out of town.

Don, those are the best type of vehicles for our layouts.

Johan that E3 looks sharp in Maine Central green.  I'm like you, who cares if it's prototypical as long as it looks good.

JHZ563, sounds like the same batch of "Industrial Switchers".  Nice job on the repaint.

Rich glad to see you again.  The layout looks great.

Johan, your MTH E3s are OK with me, too!  I had a chance to buy an ABA set; I passed on it, but I regret it now.  This hobby is more fun if you get what you like vs absolute fidelity to the prototype railroad or scale!

John

@coach joe posted:

JHZ563, thanks for getting us rolling again this week.  I may have asked this before but is the Laurel Run a repaint?  I've got a black one that was Denver and Rio Grande that I re-lettered for Indiana Harbor belt.  I thought that switcher came in black, gray and I think blue when Lionel put them out in the late 80s early 90s.

Johan I've said it before, the layout is incredible.  Is that an E unit sticking it's nose out of the engine shed?  Who made it?

Rob is that 88 tonner Lionel or Williams?

Lee is that a Lionel single motor RS3.  Love the NP KW in the foreground.

Don those Williams 44 tonners are real nice.  I've got two but not a Southern.  I like that VW delivery truck.

Coach thanks for the complement. That RS-3 is a old Weaver.

@coach joe posted:

Patrick nice job as usual.  I really like that RS1 you've got.

Stang those guys should be assembling the next passenger train out of town.

Don, those are the best type of vehicles for our layouts.

Johan that E3 looks sharp in Maine Central green.  I'm like you, who cares if it's prototypical as long as it looks good.

JHZ563, sounds like the same batch of "Industrial Switchers".  Nice job on the repaint.

Rich glad to see you again.  The layout looks great.

Thanks so much Coach Joe!!

@coach joe posted:

Patrick nice job as usual.  I really like that RS1 you've got.

Stang those guys should be assembling the next passenger train out of town.

Don, those are the best type of vehicles for our layouts.

Johan that E3 looks sharp in Maine Central green.  I'm like you, who cares if it's prototypical as long as it looks good.

JHZ563, sounds like the same batch of "Industrial Switchers".  Nice job on the repaint.

Rich glad to see you again.  The layout looks great.

Thanks! I'm not sure what RS-1 you're talking about though.

@Steam Crazy posted:

Johan, your MTH E3s are OK with me, too!  I had a chance to buy an ABA set; I passed on it, but I regret it now.  This hobby is more fun if you get what you like vs absolute fidelity to the prototype railroad or scale!

John

John. You are on the right. Before, I was a rivet counter, but it’s a lot more fun when you don’t have to do everything according to protocol. Now I am going to focus more on building the modules and only then will I focus more on the equipment. Rare Maine-themed stock that is not industrially manufactured is coming to me.

Johan

@trumpettrain posted:

Good afternoon fellow switcher fans!  You guys have posted some wonderful content!!

Today I have a photo of my MTH Washington Terminal RS1 on the Mountain Division and a short video of the same.  Have a terrific weekend everyone!

Patrick. Very interested RS1. In real life, that RS1 # 46 was later sold to Maine, where it pulled tourist trains. Later, when the activity waned, vandals struck and destroyed the locomotive, now it is apparently scrapped. Very sad.

Johan

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Patrick. Very interested RS1. In real life, that RS1 # 46 was later sold to Maine, where it pulled tourist trains. Later, when the activity waned, vandals struck and destroyed the locomotive, now it is apparently scrapped. Very sad.

Johan

wait are there two Patrick's here then? might've gotten a bit confused here, sorry about that.

" Rare Maine-themed stock that is not industrially manufactured is coming to me." After seeing your Shark Bay equipment I can't wait!

Patrick B the mix up is understandable.  Trumptrain's name is Patrick.  I try to direct my comments to members real names when I know them rather than screen names.

@Tom Densel posted:

Hi Guys!  I'm late to the party today.  Here is a short video of AC&Y H16-44 #202 (Lionel) heading out with a short train:

Tom

Tom this is ironically poetic your video image appears but I can only play the audio to a black screen, all other videos play.  But as I have said the ACY never made it/came to "Murdertown USA" even though it was originally chartered to do so in 1907.

Ron

@coach joe posted:

Patrick B the mix up is understandable.  Trumptrain's name is Patrick.  I try to direct my comments to members real names when I know them rather than screen names.

Ah I getcha, no worries

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Patrick. Very interested RS1. In real life, that RS1 # 46 was later sold to Maine, where it pulled tourist trains. Later, when the activity waned, vandals struck and destroyed the locomotive, now it is apparently scrapped. Very sad.

Johan

Johan - I've always loved the RS1 style locomotive with its' cab roof overhang giving the locomotive its' character.  

During the late 1970's - 1990s I would see the real  Washington Terminal number 46 many most days of the week,  as I would drive into Washington, DC to play gigs and teach at a community music school.  I saw 46 in both her Washington Terminal livery and AMTRAK livery.  Built in 1945 number 46 had a long life which ended after her time pulling tourist trains on  the Maine Coast Railway.  Agreed.  Very sad that she was destroyed by vandals and apparently scrapped.  

I also have on my roster  Washington Terminal Co. number 63 ( an Atlas O model ) which is another RS1 I often saw working the AMTRAK coach yards and Ivy City engine terminal in Washington.