Switcher Saturday 04-23-22

Happy Switcher Saturday! This Easter, my nephew made good use of the spare dcs handheld and had a blast running the trains with me. I’m amazed at how easily a four year old took to using the handheld. Not surprisingly, His favorite engine by far was the little B6 steam engine.  What a great little switcher

Greetings SWSAT  fans…have a great day! 🚂😉😺

Happy Switcher Saturday. I will continue with the Maine theme. The Maine Central and Boston & Maine ALCO S2 locomotives will continue to operate in rural landscapes. I am already looking forward to the soon to be completed Bangor & Aroostook EMD NW2, in addition to the completion of the MEC GE 44 T. The NW2 picture is from my canvas painting.

Happy SWSAT everybody!

Penn Central SW8 8616 (Atlas O) couples up to a transfer caboose:

Tom

Autumn, 1964...

The late autumn air is quite crisp on this beautiful bright moonlit night in the West Bottoms district of Kansas City, Mo. as the crew of Frisco's Baldwin VO1000 #214 takes pause from its chores of switching the various industries therein. Inside the toasty warm cab, hot coffee and maybe a biscuit or two is being consumed as the crew talks about how the KC Chief's are doing... and isn't that Lenny Dawson something? However, it won't be long and it will be time to grab up the lanterns, hit those footboards, and get back to doing what they do: Earning a living workin' on the railroad.

About the photo:

As the mood moves, I'm in the process of mocking up my future KC&G "Riverfront District" urban industrial switching shelf layout. This current around-the-wall bench work (that was to represent the West Bottoms District in KC) will be removed, and the concept will be significantly downsized to a narrower, more simplistic L-shaped layout. Thereon will reside my new KC&G "Riverfront District".

I'm hoping to have my "Riverfront District" 100% functional by year's end. Going forward, I will be dividing the time spent on my model railroad layouts between my mountainous "Ozark Sub" of the KC&G which dwells in my 20' x 16' out building, and this simplistic shelf layout, the "Riverfront District" of the KC&G.

I'm super enjoying my KC&G theme!

Andre

Have a Great SWSAT, PW Lionel moving some HO switchers

Happy SWSat!

LIRR SW8 # 499 (MTH PS2) picks up an empty hopper from the team track and moves it to the interchange.

Have a great weekend!

Bob

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Happy Switcher Saturday. I will continue with the Maine theme. The Maine Central and Boston & Maine ALCO S2 locomotives will continue to operate in rural landscapes. I am already looking forward to the soon to be completed Bangor & Aroostook EMD NW2, in addition to the completion of the MEC GE 44 T. The NW2 picture is from my canvas painting.

Johan- I recently saw a BAR BL-2 for sale in this paint scheme. I wasn't sure if it was prototypical. I guess it is!

Gotta check if it's still available.....

Hello SwSat fans!  Today your Yardmaster decided to post a photo of CNJ GP7 no. 1524 shifting a couple of “gons”.

No time for more photos today because the lawn awaits the first mow of the season and I’ll be taking my summer car for a spin this afternoon.  I’ll be spending less time in the cellar now that the good weather has arrived!

John

@RSJB18 posted:

Johan- I recently saw a BAR BL-2 for sale in this paint scheme. I wasn't sure if it was prototypical. I guess it is!

Gotta check if it's still available.....

Bob,

Very interesting. Usually only the Williams BL2 versions are available, which is a pretty neat model, but I’m particularly interested in the MTH Premier version.

Johan

Well great switcher photo's everyone.  I loved that Steam Crazy had his "first mow of the season" today, I don't know where he lives but here in central Texas I am on #4 and headed to twice a week !  You know in passing, I have to say I don't understand the "grass thing"...we water it, fertilize it, and then complain when it grows and we have to cut it ??? Seems like we could replace it with artificial turf and cut all that out!

OK back to trains, I am continuing with the RI story I sort of pictured last week... Now we are on the other end of the journey and the RI E7 ABA is giving up the train for break up and distribution.

Here the crew of that road diesel set is ready to hand over the train to the yard switcher.

. Th

The yard switcher, a Marx #799 RI GE-70 ton, moves to place itself at the head of the train.  This locomotive was available from Marx for quite a period, from 1959-1965. The Marx RI box car from 1952-1959 and the E7 A unit was offered from 1958-1974 (about the end of the original Marx company) but the RI B unit was only available from 1958-1961.

Here is that switcher, ready to take the train into the yard for break down and classification or delivery to local industry. That beautiful streamlined covered wagon road set will move on to pick up a passenger train and become the afternoon "Rocket"

Best Wishes everyone

Don

Happy Switcher Saturday

Good afternoon fellow switcher fans!!  JHZ563 thanks so much for notching out the throttle and getting us rolling once again!   As always all of you have lots of wonderful photos, videos, and info!! 

Here are some photos from around the Free State Junction Railway.

A C&O 0-8-0 takes the grade on Saturday morning.

B&O SW 9 runs in reverse as it pulls a short work train.  Brakeman Smokey Nicely rides the footboard.

At Butler Junction B&O SW9 does some switching.

Taking on water.  C&O 0-8-0 takes a drink.  Later on her crew will take a drink or two a Pat's Pub ... although their drink will be in the form of a couple pints of ale.

Brakemen Otto Lungford is looking for snakes before he steps off the 44 tonner.  He's almost stepped on two different copperheads so far this spring.  Railroading has more dangers than just the obvious.  

@mike.caruso posted:

Nice shot. Reminds me of the meatpacking district back in the 70s.  Now it s the elevated high line nature walk. Go figure.

Don, I live way up North in Shrewsbury, MA.  I won't  need to mow twice a week until sometime next month.

Lots of great posts, guys, as always.  I always look forward to SwSat!

John

John:  Well I am a little familiar with Shrewsbury, beautiful area. Wife, family and I spent a year about 30 miles E of you in Needham, Ma when the folks I worked for (USAF) sent me back to MIT for some graduate work.  Glad to meet you.  I agree, SwSat is one of my favorite threads, always seem to have interesting items on it.

Best regards

Don

@RayKay posted:

Happy Switcher Saturday

This looks great!  Can you tell us more about it?

A Saturday night double feature first ... a movie featuring a B&O GP9 at the point of the Brewer's Limited.Second ... Movie featuring a Baldwin VO1000 in Patapsco and Back Rivers, Baltimore & Annapolis SW 9, Canton SW1500, and Maryland & Pennsylvania SW1.  

Caught this guy getting a tow.