Switcher Saturday 03-05-22

Switcher Saturday!!!

An SW1 switcher moving an SP boxcar on a branch near a lumber mill.

Happy Switcher Saturday Everyone.

Happy Switcher Saturday!

Sunrise COOP in South Charleston, OH.

Switcher must be parked somewhere else for the winter, and the 2 other units were idle.

Lots of grain cars waiting too.

Happy Switcher Saturday, everyone! The 44 tonner has been relegated to trestle repair work this weekend.

Happy SWSat!

Great pix so far everyone.

Here's my shiny new LIRR RS-1 from MTH. This was a custom run done for Trainworld and one of MTH's last before Mike hung up the reins.

The color on this engine is *edit* dark green (ummm......black) . Hard to tell it from black but that's what MTH claims is the color. Lot's of debate whether the LIRR actually used this color.

Fortunately, the RS-1's were not affected by the programming issues on the smoke unit that the new RS-3's were.

Here's the prototype.

Here's a short video. I like the bell sound with the added solenoid "clack"

Have a great weekend.

Bob

Happy Switcher Saturday! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

On the New York Ontario and Western end of my layout, an O&W 0-6-0 steam switcher exchanges loaded hoppers for empty ones at the Whiting Coal Company in Scranton Pa for transport to Cedar Hill yard in New Haven, CT.  The switcher is a Lionel 1656 type with Madison hardware providing it as a special with 6 driving wheels and renumbering to 656. This was purchased from Madison Hardware by uncle somewhere in the early 50's.

Good morning fellow switcher fans!   Thanks for getting us rolling JHZ 563!  Here are some switchers doing what they do best on the FSJR.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

TALES OF THE DOCKSIDER

Good morning, SwSat fans!  Does anyone else wonder if they posted a photo/video before or have trouble coming up with a new idea?

Well, I don’t think I posted this short video before, but I’m posting it anyway because I like it!  NYC Beep 5903 is seen leading NYC shop switcher X-8688 on a caboose hop.

John

It’s Switcher Saturday…have a great one! 🚂😉😺

Bob, I like your LIRR RS1.  I have the NYC version; I think it has the best sounds in all of “dieseldom”!

When I was a kid, I used to cross the tracks of a local short line, the Grafton & Upton, on my walk to school.  When I got lucky, I’d see a train headed up by the road’s Alco S4 or one of it’s two GE 44 tonners (if real lucky, double or triple headed!).

I remember the distinctive whistling sound made by the S4’s prime mover.  What a thrill it was when I powered up my RS1 the first time and heard that whistle!

John

Checking out the 44 tonner doing its thing - shifting.

@Steam Crazy posted:

Bob, I like your LIRR RS1.  I have the NYC version; I think it has the best sounds in all of “dieseldom”!

When I was a kid, I used to cross the tracks of a local short line, the Grafton & Upton, on my walk to school.  When I got lucky, I’d see a train headed up by the road’s Alco S4 or one of it’s two GE 44 tonners (if real lucky, double or triple headed!).

I remember the distinctive whistling sound made by the S4’s prime mover.  What a thrill it was when I powered up my RS1 the first time and heard that whistle!

John

I agree John. I have another RS-1 in New Haven. The sound set in these is great.

I like the roof overhang on the cab. Gives the 1's a distinctive look. Too bad ALCO eliminated it on the 3.

@Steam Crazy posted:

....Good morning, SwSat fans!  Does anyone else wonder if they posted a photo/video before or have trouble coming up with a new idea?...

YES!!! Omg there are so many times on a Friday night when I am trying to get the topic primed and I am thinking that, "oh, this has been done." Or "no no that's just boring."  When I have to work or am traveling I feel bad when I need to scroll through the archives for a picture.

Sometimes you just stumble into something awesome and other weekends its hard to think of something.   I actually don't have much time to spend with the trains anymore,  but I am trying to carve out some more time.   

Everything looks great as usual #SWSAT crew!

JHZ, adding to the confusion, sometimes you don't think you put forth your best effort and you get the most likes!

John

This is for BAR67 GP7 #63, NYS RS-3 moving some Military support for are friends overseas, For God and Country, God Bless America and are Veterans going overseas.

Here is aB&O Plymouth switcher on the Mountain Division & a Canton RR SW 1500 hauling scrap.  

@Sitka posted:

This is for BAR67 GP7 #63, NYS RS-3 moving some Military support for are friends overseas, For God and Country, God Bless America and are Veterans going overseas.

Sitka,

Many thanks. In fact, our President visited the White House yesterday and tomorrow our Minister of Defense will travel to the United States. Finland and the USA are now deepening defense co-operation, which I think is a very good thing. After all, Finland has already ordered F35 fighters to replace the F18 Hornets. 🤝

Johan

I got to get one of these!

And while we enjoy these great pics today, let us all take a moment to “switch” our focus and remember and pray for the brave suffering people of Ukraine. Thanks.

@Dave Warburton posted:

And while we enjoy these great pics today, let us all take a moment to “switch” our focus and remember and pray for the brave suffering people of Ukraine. Thanks.

Hear! Hear!

Thanks Dave

So I did confirm that my RS-1 is indeed dark green. According to MTH, the green one's have silver horns.

I did a thing, going to build a small HO/Marklin layout  :-)

I hope all are well, thanks for keeping the SWSAT spirit rolling everyone...Rich

Well I have pictured my three "official" switchers ( 2 GE 70 tonner's and an MP-15) before so I am trying for something else today.  I am taking advantage of jhz's guideline that any little engine is OK even if it's not officially a switcher.  So here is my NKP Lionel 2-4-2 from 1970-72 (MPC all the way!!) heading up a small train of cars from the mid 2000's and a caboose from 1986-91.  Interestingly neither the white "Linex" gasoline tank car or the "Lionel" 3 dome lubricating car appear in any of the traditional sources of product listings (Greenberg's Price Guides for instance) so I need to do some further research to date them.

Here is the Lionel NKP #8040 2-4-2 engine with its slope back tender.  1970-72 so she is early MPC.

Herne is a look at the whole train with my "mystery" tank cars...the #2035 Linex gasoline 1 dome in white and the (no number) Lionel "lubricants" 3 dome in traditional Lionel orange and blue.

Here is a better look at the Lionel NKP # 6919 caboose from 1986-91.

Well Happy SwSat to everyone, I'm a little late today but its just been that sort of Saturday .

Best Wishes

Don

@Murnane posted:

I did a thing, going to build a small HO/Marklin layout  :-)

I hope all are well, thanks for keeping the SWSAT spirit rolling everyone...Rich

OOOOHHH! Sounds interesting Rich. I was an HO kid, mostly Athearn, Bachman, Tyco, and Rivarossi. I had a Marklin catalog that I just about wore out flipping through it.

Keep us posted. Good to hear from you.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

OOOOHHH! Sounds interesting Rich. I was an HO kid, mostly Athearn, Bachman, Tyco, and Rivarossi. I had a Marklin catalog that I just about wore out flipping through it.

Keep us posted. Good to hear from you.

Bob

"I was an HO kid" - me too!  Though my dad had Lionel.

@Murnane posted:

"I was an HO kid" - me too!  Though my dad had Lionel.

Same here. He had pre war tinplate but started me with a nice HO layout when I was 8. Gotta dig out some old pix one day.

@jhz563 posted:

Welcome one and all to another edition of Switcher Saturday!  For any newcomers,  Switcher Saturday is a weekly thread celebrating the smaller locomotives that do the big work of railroading.   No matter the scale or gauge, all Switchers are welcome here.  We have showcased new, old, diesel,  electric, steam, gas powered,  and even horse and donkey powered switching work.

For this weekend's kickoff image we have the freshly delivered PPL sw1500,  shoving a reminder of a Switcher project waiting to be completed.

So please,  share your photos and videos of anything Switcher loco related, and have a great weekend everyone!

Beautiful PPL locomotive! Thank you for sharing.

Bob, Your RS-1 is a beauty. My two RS-3,s pale by comparison. Bill

Quick pic I took while shooting some video.

@Bill Park posted:

Bob, Your RS-1 is a beauty. My two RS-3,s pale by comparison. Bill

Thanks Bill. I have a RS-3 (PS2) as well. The paint scheme on the RS-1 is unique and from an earlier era in the LIRR's history.

This is a Custom Brass import of the 1970's, with a few touches to better model a 1944 Alco S-2.  The most distinguishing feature on them were horizontal rather than vertical radiator shutters.    SIRT 489 was the last of eight 'war baby' Alco diesel switches delivered to Staten Island between 1943 and 1944.  They displaced nearly all the SIRT and B&O steam freight and yard power of the 1910's as their flue times ran out. Then, off to a scrap yard to be cut up for the War effort.  I spent one day aboard SIRT 489 in 1956 with runs that covered two subdivisions with local freights. Below is the clearance card for that day and the model I worked over some 30 years afterward. This Form covered our run on the Perth Amboy subdivision which had regularly scheduled MUE commuter service.   I will not say who is sitting in the engineer's seat of the model . . .

S. Islander     

Rich with equipment like this who could blame you.  I would love an O version of that engine.  The car carriersare cool too.

@John Pignatelli JR. posted:

I got to get one of these!

I got one.