Hello Forumites and Happy Switcher Saturday!
This is a weekly thread were we celebrate the smaller locomotives that help do the big work of railroading. From diminutive gas powered machines and juice jacks, to small steamers handling the yard or the local run, to modern multi-purpose locos big enough to get the train over the road but still nimble enough to work the yard or the docks, Switchers are a fascinating group of machines.
Here at Switcher Saturday we take pride in being inclusive as all scales and gauges are always welcome. The only thing we ask is that the photos or videos are yours or something you have permission to post here.
Our kick off image this weekend takes us to the extreme of specialization. Brought to you courtesy of reddit user U/HjerterKnaegt, we have a gas powered machine nick-named "the Closet". Built for the Danish state railways in 1931 for the purpose of being able to help steam locomotives on and off the turntable.
And for something a bit more modern and US built, Here's a short clip of a Republic Locomotive works 4 wheel diesel in action, and remember there's no one in the cab, this is run by a remote control( Hmmm - sound familiar?)
And as some of you may know, I also love LEGO. There have been some amazing Lego trains built in the past few years, and my only regret is that "L" gauge track is slightly wide than O gauge track, so the Lego trains are not a drop fit onto O gauge rails. In my head this is a pity, but I have built several O gague cars out of Lego. My inspiration for these can usually be found on the website https://brickmodelrailroader.com/.
The real reason I bring this up today though is that I am excited about the annual OcTrainber challenge for 2021. This year the them is "Critters". From their site "Loosely defined, a critter is a light-duty or industrial switching locomotive between 300 to 1000 h.p. weighing less than 100 tons, although most tip the scales at less than half that weight. " That's right, they are having a building contest featuring Switchers as the subject matter. Please check out the contest description here: https://brickmodelrailroader.c...inber-2021-critters/. This should be fun to watch. You will recognize several of the example pictures on their page. Now if they would only make the wheel base a little narrower and ac powered....
Here's a screen shot from some instructions I purchased but never got the model built for
And I hopper I built from plans using Lego for everything but the wheels/axles. Brick Model Railroader sells Kadee coupler lego mounting boxes, so this can run with all the rest of my O gauge hoppers. It looked even better when I got the decals on later.
Anyway that's the opening message for me folks. Everyone have a great weekend and please show of those amazing switchers and the amazing scenes you have created around them.