Switcher Saturday 11-12-2022

jhz563,

I'm pleased to have been able to help with last week's SWSAT. I hope your family and you enjoy your visit to Strasburg. Please post some pictures.

MTH New York Central #415 is a scale-sized Railking model (30-1123-1 with PS1) of a USRA 0-8-0 steam switcher that was advertised in the 1997 Volume 2 catalog at an MSRP of $399.00. This was the first steam locomotive model that I ran after starting to build a layout in 1999. When I took it off the shelf to run for this week’s SWSAT, I thought to myself that it looks brand new. It’s basically a classic postwar engine with sounds. It has an early version of PS1 with some extra wires connecting the engine and tender in addition to the usual tether. The chuffing is once per driver revolution and it doesn’t have speed control. I replaced the MTH white battery with a BCR years ago. Versions of the Railking USRA 0-8-0 can be purchased on the secondary market for less than $200. Lionel also makes low-priced versions of the USRA 0-8-0, and Lionel and MTH sell more detailed models in their Legacy and Premier lines. One advantage of running a low-value model like this is that I don’t worry as much about wear or damage as I do when running more expensive engines. But I still don’t run smoke…

American Railroads were nationalized under control of the United States Railroad Administration between 1918 and 1920. The USRA also designed standardized 0-6-0 and 0-8-0 switchers as well as other types of steam locomotives. A total of 1,375 0-8-0s were built to the USRA design during and after World War 1. The engine and tender weighed 364,000 pounds. The engines ran at 175 pounds-per-square-inch boiler pressure and developed 51,042 pounds of tractive force on 51-inch driving wheels.

MELGAR

Good morning everyone. I have been waiting for this particular Switcher Saturday edition to present my long overdue switcher project.

August 08,  2021 disassembly.

November 06, 2022

fresh from the shops

MEC #11 is ready for service.

So, information from a personal experienced Maine source is as follows:

assignments, the 11 rotated through all seven assignments: Yard only: Vanceboro, Lewiston Upper, Lewiston Lower,Livermore Falls. Yard and road: Brunswick-Bath Rd Swr, Augusta-Gardiner Rd Swr, Eastport-Ayers Junction freight (two round trips six days a week in early 1950s). Ran at night as necessary, ran on timetable schedule on Eastport job, ran as an extra on other road switcher assignments. I have seen photos of the 11 at both Lewiston locations, Livermore Falls and Augusta.

Happy Veterans Day weekend Switcher Saturday edition! Here is my US Army GP20 pulling a load around the layout -

And while we’re on the subject of Veterans Day, here are some of my military flatbed loads awaiting a switcher to miraculously move them from the shelves to a mainline -

Have a great Veterans Day weekend everyone!

Leroof,

Excellent! Please post more detailed information about the model and the project.

MELGAR

Bought this switcher last weekend from my local train store. MTH recently released a replica of the EMD SW8 switchers that serviced Cincinnati’s Union Terminal, C.U.T., in the 1950s and 1960s.  I will add that the yard also had several lima switchers as well.  With the seven railroads that used the terminal they got a workout. MTH did a really great job on this replica. Previously I had modeled the C.U.T. Logo on the tower in the background so this was a great find for the layout. Thinking of changing my background to portray the rear of the terminal.

@Leroof posted:

Good morning everyone. I have been waiting for this particular Switcher Saturday edition to present my long overdue switcher project.

August 08,  2021 disassembly.

November 06, 2022

fresh from the shops

MEC #11 is ready for service.

So, information from a personal experienced Maine source is as follows:

assignments, the 11 rotated through all seven assignments: Yard only: Vanceboro, Lewiston Upper, Lewiston Lower,Livermore Falls. Yard and road: Brunswick-Bath Rd Swr, Augusta-Gardiner Rd Swr, Eastport-Ayers Junction freight (two round trips six days a week in early 1950s). Ran at night as necessary, ran on timetable schedule on Eastport job, ran as an extra on other road switcher assignments. I have seen photos of the 11 at both Lewiston locations, Livermore Falls and Augusta.

Well done, Leroof!

Arnold

Good morning, SwSat Nation!  While at his favorite location on the B&M Ayer branch last Saturday, your Yardmaster swung his camera in the opposite direction to capture D&RGW 44 tonner no. 42 with the milk train seen passing a coal train last week.

Let me “add a voice to the chorus” praising William’s model of the 44 tonner.  It has nice detail, sounds and is a smooth runner.  I also believe it’s still available for only $150 from that big retailer in NYC.

Leroof, love your MEC 44 tonner!  Like MELGAR, I would like to see some details of the build.

John

Good morning SWSAT crew!

Penn Central SW8 8623 (Lionel) crosses Kill bridge with a short train in tow:

Have a great weekend!

Tom

Two of my favorite switchers in action:

The stars of the show are an LC+ Delaware & Hudson RS3 diesel hauling mid-Atlantic box cars, and an MTH PS3 Long Island B6 steam switcher (my #1 favorite switcher) hauling Postwar Lionel 2400 series green passenger cars.

The clouds of smoke are the product of JT Mega-Steam smoke fluid (now my favorite smoke fluid), which I recently acquired at York. Arnold

@Steam Crazy posted:

Good morning, SwSat Nation!  While at his favorite location on the B&M Ayer branch last Saturday, your Yardmaster swung his camera in the opposite direction to capture D&RGW 44 tonner no. 42 with the milk train seen passing a coal train last week.

Let me “add a voice to the chorus” praising William’s model of the 44 tonner.  It has nice detail, sounds and is a smooth runner.  I also believe it’s still available for only $150 from that big retailer in NYC.

Leroof, love your MEC 44 tonner!  Like MELGAR, I would like to see some details of the build.

John

John, IMO your layout as well as your trains are gorgeous. Arnold

Happy SwSat everyone!  Great posts today! I got this PRR 0-6-0 from a buddy when he decided it was time to dismantle his layout.

Have a great weekend!

This time, the stars of the show are an MTH PS3 NY Central RS3 diesel hauling K Line NY Central Pullman Green passenger cars, and an LC+ Erie Camelback steamer hauling Atlas, MTH and Lionel box cars.

Enjoy:

Arnold

Mel, thank you. I would rather enter some “build experience” with photos in a different location topic not named yet. I feel that the build experience would take up too much valuable Saturday Switcher space “off topic”.
I am happy that you commented. The model project details will arrive.

happy to finally show her off.
happy Saturday Switcher  to all.

Happy SWSat!

Happy Veteran's Day to all who served, and thank you for your service!

This week was another busy one, we are having new windows, siding, and front/ rear steps done. Contractors are doing the heavy lifting but I'm also doing a lot of the work to save $$$$.

Need more trains so......

Hopefully the job will wrap up by Thanksgiving.

Our intrepid rail fan caught a couple of cousins shuttling some hoppers around today. PRR 44 ton # 9331 (Williams) picked up a couple of empties while PRR Boxcab (K-line) is heading to a customer to deliver a couple of loads of coal.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Bob

Arnold, thanks for the compliment!

John

@Leroof posted:

Mel, thank you. I would rather enter some “build experience” with photos in a different location topic not named yet. I feel that the build experience would take up too much valuable Saturday Switcher space “off topic”.
I am happy that you commented. The model project details will arrive.

happy to finally show her off.
happy Saturday Switcher  to all.

Great job on the MEC 44 Pierre. I recall you had posted pix in the past, can't wait to see all of them again.

Bob

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

This time, the stars of the show are an MTH PS3 NY Central RS3 diesel hauling K Line NY Central Pullman Green passenger cars, and an LC+ Erie Camelback steamer hauling Atlas, MTH and Lionel box cars.

Enjoy:

Arnold

Nice scenery work on this side of your layout, Arnold.  The harbor area, roads and construction site look fantastic.  

Hello all you switcher lovers,

It is late 1949 and our intrepid photographer got some photos of one of the yard's two remaining C1 engines.  #6574 was built in 1925 and will be retire in 1950.  These were some of the largest 0-8-0 engines every built.

@Strap Hanger posted:

Nice scenery work on this side of your layout, Arnold.  The harbor area, roads and construction site look fantastic.  

Greatly appreciate your kind words, Strap Hanger, thank you. Arnold

WOW.      Really some great looking scenes  SOOoo EARLY  on SWITCHER  SATURDAY morning

Be safe at RR crossings where switchers roll through ........here comes one now............

Enjoy the weekend and God speed all 

One more thing: to all of you folks, like me, who have layouts with tight curves, IMO you can't go wrong with switchers, those engines that tend to be smaller, which snake through our sharp curves so well.

Do I also get a kick out of running a 773 and other large locomotives? Absolutely, but I am always cautious when I run them on my layout.

I'm much more confident running my switchers. Guess I have a hopeless case of Switcheritis.

LOL, Arnold

@Dallas Joseph posted:

WOW.      Really some great looking scenes  SOOoo EARLY  on SWITCHER  SATURDAY morning

Be safe at RR crossings where switchers roll through ........here comes one now............

Enjoy the weekend and God speed all 

Breathtaking Fall colors, Dallas.

Hey, up on LeRoof!  Great job on No. 11.  You see that's exactly why I could never be a scale modeler.  I could never turn out a gem like that.

Goodmorning everyone...its another SwSat and thanks jhz for kicking us off today.  My posting today is neither prototypical nor particularly realistic.  In the late 20's Hornby decided it needed another line of trains BELOW their M1 line in order to offer a lower price point.  Their answer was the MO locomotive.  They came in both red and green and today's offering is the red version, from 1930.

As you can see, not a lot of detail.  Never had either a front pilot nor drive rods.  Clockwork like almost all Hornby

Here are a couple of pictures with a very short train.  These cars are by another UK manufacturer, Mettoty and are significantly later, being postwar from the 1950's but they go really well with the M0 size loco.

Best wishes for a great weekend.

Don

@Dallas Joseph posted:

WOW.      Really some great looking scenes  SOOoo EARLY  on SWITCHER  SATURDAY morning

Be safe at RR crossings where switchers roll through ........here comes one now............

Enjoy the weekend and God speed all 

Nice looking switcher the rug looks good for your road nice fall colors! God Speed Dallas

PW Lionel #624 dropping of materials enjoy your Saturday. Shake a vets hand

Thank you Coach Joe.
and Yes You Could if you had the free undistracted time, inclination, research, and had a plan B ( always have a plan B) slow motivation did it for me. One thing at a time and focus helped.

Hey Bob, thanks. Working on gathering some historic photos of the model process.

Have a bit of a plumbing job with a stubborn old corroded bathroom sink which has to go! . My modeling skills have improved but my plumbing skills are questionable! When it’s all done I will try and add more #11 photo process.  
best of luck with your house renovations! Cool man. Dig that layout of yours, thx for the pics.

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

I'm much more confident running my switchers. Guess I have a hopeless case of Switcheritis.

LOL, Arnold

Sounds like this Switcheritis is really hard on you Arnold.

(  I wouldn't want the side effects from the medication though )

Keep on switching sir. 

@Sitka posted:

Nice looking switcher the rug looks good for your road nice fall colors! God Speed Dallas

Thanks Mark.

@Sitka posted:

PW Lionel #624 dropping of materials enjoy your Saturday. Shake a vets hand

One of these days I would like to be able to make working scenes on the RR like this .   Nice.

@Don McErlean   They came in both red and green and today's offering is the red version, from 1930.

Here are a couple of pictures with a very short train.  These cars are by another UK manufacturer, Mettoty and are significantly later, being postwar from the 1950's but they go really well with the M0 size loco.

Best wishes for a great weekend.

Don

Where do you find all these things Don ?         From the look of your photos that you have posted ,one would think you have deliveries by RAIL instead of box trucks !!!

Another unique offering........nice.

This Switcher Saturday seems particularly infused with enthusiasm from all of us who have contributed.

Let's keep adding to the fun.

Imagine hearing the hit song: It Was a Very Good Year sung by Frank Sinatra (another O Gauge train lover).

This time, the song starts with this line: "When I was 11 years old, it was a very good year . . ."

It's the Summer of 1963, and it has been been a very good year for me, so far. My Little League team won the Mt. Vernon, NY City Championship, and I pitched very well in the Championship game. My father was very pleased. (I truly was a very good 11 through 14 year old pitcher, but not that good, if you know what I mean, and I wasn't that good in gym; thank God I never tried to make baseball my career, I would have starved in the minor leagues, LOL).

Getting back to a Saturday during that Summer of 1963. After my Little League baseball season was over, my dad and I had breakfast at a local diner, sitting at the counter, eating scrambled eggs with ketchup, which I still love, and then we dropped by Telly Electric, a local hardware store. I was having a wonderful day, tagging along with my dad, and after we arrived at the local hardware store, the day became a lot more wonderful for me.

It was no special occasion, and yet my dad bought me at the local hardware store my very first Lionel diesel locomotive, which was the blue Lionel #628 44 ton center cab switcher. I still have it, it still runs just fine, and here it is in action:

The above trip down Memory Lane, which I share because I believe many of you have had similar wonderful childhood experiences with your own dads and grandads, helps explain why I have such a hopeless case of Switcheritis. LOL, Arnold

Arnold, I really like your trains and layout too, especially your creative theme and scenes. 

My favorite trip down memory down memory lane is opening up a Lionel freight set, Christmas 1955, headed up by Santa Fe no. 2343.  I still have it and it runs well, despite having been run more than any engine I own!

John

@Don McErlean posted:

Goodmorning everyone...its another SwSat and thanks jhz for kicking us off today.  My posting today is neither prototypical nor particularly realistic.  In the late 20's Hornby decided it needed another line of trains BELOW their M1 line in order to offer a lower price point.  Their answer was the MO locomotive.  They came in both red and green and today's offering is the red version, from 1930.

As you can see, not a lot of detail.  Never had either a front pilot nor drive rods.  Clockwork like almost all Hornby

Here are a couple of pictures with a very short train.  These cars are by another UK manufacturer, Mettoty and are significantly later, being postwar from the 1950's but they go really well with the M0 size loco.

Best wishes for a great weekend.

Don

Don, beautiful engine. Stop teasing us and post a video of it running. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do, LOL!

This superb piece reminded me that we haven’t seen @Fatman yet post any of his nice clockwork/tinplate switchers.  Hopefully, he stops by and posts some nice pics as well.

The quick photo story of MEC switcher #11.

custom made decals and other applications

@Leroof posted:

The quick photo story of MEC switcher #11.

Leroof, you are an artist when it come to your modeling. Bravo, Arnold

Nose heralds and placement.

then complex striping of the front and back. Measured early before painting and had custom decals made.

Some cab detail painting

Lighting  for static model or with activity (3volt) via Evans designs LEDs and mini switches. Head lights, cab lights, and On when needed. managed to place some classification lights with correct housing.