SWITCHER SATURDAY 12/23/23 Christmas Holiday Edition

Union Station in New Haven, Connecticut was the 9^th busiest station in the Amtrak system during 2022 when 617,119 Amtrak passengers used the facility. This number does not include Metro-North commuters on the line to New York City, CT Rail passengers to and from Hartford and Springfield, Massachusetts, and Shoreline East passengers to New London, Connecticut.

The station was built by the New Haven Railroad and completed in 1920 following a fire that destroyed the previous station in 1918. It was renovated in the 1980s.

I visited the station recently and took some pictures. During November and December, the station is decorated for the holidays and in past years a band and choir from a local school has given a Christmas concert from the north balcony. A close look at the photos shows glass cases atop the backs of the station benches containing models of famous trains of the New Haven Railroad.

To board the trains, passengers descend stairs or ride on escalators and walk through a tunnel beneath the tracks.

Climbing the stairs to track level, I found CT Rail GP40-2H #6696 ready for its next journey up the line to Hartford and Springfield.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year to all.

MELGAR

Thanks for starting this Holiday Edition of Switcher Saturday. As always your photos are a treat to see.
Here is my K-Line A5 on  the point of a Christmas train at the clubhouse layout. The picture is from the rear because I’m at the controls of the 9 tracks. I’m waiting for Lionel to deliver the Christmas A5.

Switcher Saturday - Xmas Season

My first train, from 1956, a Lionel 1615 and her work train.
Merry Christmas to you all!!!

The New Haven helps get Santa’s reindeer in position for Christmas Eve……

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and safe travels to all!

Peter

Thanks, Patrick, for getting this festive Holiday SWSAT rolling! Seems we have a work train theme going so here's my contribution in that vein with Christmas ornaments being loaded for transport to the tree:

And moving out:

Ah, the joyous sound of Lionel's NYC X-8688 "whistle!" Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all and to all a good time with trains!

Thank you, Patrick, for getting this Switcher Saturday off to a wonderful start.

Today, I will share this MTH PS1 Jersey Central FM Trainmaster, which I believe qualifies as a road switcher:

Here it is hauling boxcars through My Little Town:

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Arnold

Happy SWSAT....Christmas Edition

I have not posted on the forum in quite some time as I have been involved with other activities.  SWSAT is a favorite so I thought I would drop by and wish you all holiday greetings.

This Lionel legacy FM H-15-44 is a recent purchase.  I like the Raymond Loewy design and chose Union Pacific as I had the good fortune to spend considerable time living in Arizona and the UP was prominent in the area.  Some of you may remember my previous postings as having a pre/postwar flavor but it is fun to mix things up a bit with legacy.

SWSAT is in good hands as several of you have taken the lead position to keep it on track.

Again, best regards and holiday cheer,

John

My first switcher, a Lionel postwar #626 Baltimore & Ohio 44 ton center cab diesel, parked on a siding near the Department 56 Shelly's Diner with snow on the roof:

Arnold

Good morning SwSat fans!  Wow, lots of great posts and it’s still early.  Every time I think SwSat can’t get better, it does!

Despite temperatures in the low 20’s (what’s the temperature in TX, Don?)  the plucky rail fans you’ve seen before made their way down to the Worcester, MA yards.  They found NYC 0-6-0 switcher no. 901 shifting a precious cargo that was shipped all the way from the North Pole!

It’s a giant, 35 foot Santa statue!  Special handling is required due to the demands of it’s buyer and shipper.  The name of that buyer has not been disclosed, but it’s rumored to be a wealthy landowner in Southern FL that has to have the biggest and best of everything.

John

Here is my Lionel Dockside Switcher which I bought from Dennys Trains & Things in the mid 2000's. The boxcars are all K-Line traditional size. 1991 the year my wife Ada and I got married,1993 Son Ryan, 1996 daughter in law Emily, 1999 Son Parker and the caboose by Lionel.

Happy Christmas edition of Switcher Saturday!  Here are some tinplate switchers under the Christmas tree - my beloved 256 and her brother the 260 -

I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday!

Great start trumptrain have a Great Christmas Switcher fans Remember your Troops serving overseas God Speed.

Good morning SwSat Team; don’t youze guys sleep? Excited about Santa’s arrival? From a fellow Forumite, Premier PS3 0-6-0

Happy SWSat!

Released by ALCO in 1959, the RS27 (DL640), never amounted to much. Orders for the original 27 is all that were ever made. Timing was not on ALCO's side as the RS27 was up against stiff competition from EMD's GP20 and 30. The first GE U-boats were released shortly after and by 1962 ALCO never built another RS27. The more successful C-liners were released by ALCO around the same time and made the RS27 a distant memory.

The Pennsylvania RR took the largest order of 15 engines, #2000-2014, which all survived through the Penn Central and Conrail mergers. The original numbers made it to the end as well. Here's a photo of the prototype.

My model of an RS27 has been shown here recently but had been bitten by the dreaded zinc pest. Thanks to Jerry @GGG, a new set of trucks were sourced and the engine has finally entered service on the RSJ&B.
The engine was released by MTH in the early '00's and is a PS/ QSI conventional engine. Now that I've been able to run it a bit, it does need a new speaker which will be ordered and installed.

The rest of the growing PC fleet came out to see the new engine under power.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Bob

PROTO PHOTO TIME...

One of the most iconic railroads from my KC KS/MO days was the "Kansas City Terminal" railroad. Their distinctive black and yellow striped switch engines, proudly displaying their KCT diamond herald on their hoods, were dependable stays in my years as a lad on up until we moved from KC to AR in Jan '69. I would see them all over KC switching the various interchange yards, industries, and what have you.

After marriage, I (we) would often went back to KC (to visit relatives as well as other connections) and when I did, and when I had the time, I would often cruise down Southwest Boulevard and take a gander at the KCT's roundhouse area. (It sat right next to SW Blvd.)

Once the mega-mergers started, and with the continual loss of small industry (requiring switching), I knew the KCT, as I knew it, was on borrowed time.

Hence, one year I shot some black and white pictures of their roundhouse on SW Blvd. This is the result:

The above scene will never be repeated. Shortly after that picture, the KCT sold their roundhouse and it became some type of office complex. (Upside: It wasn't razed to become a fast food joint.)

Sometimes when we visit KC (not very often now), and when passing by the old KCT roundhouse-turned office complex (which is even less often now)... I would have a bout of melancholy upon seeing the loss at one of my childhood railroad icons.

Sometimes progress sucks.

Andre

Happy Holiday Switcher Saturday!  
Last minute tree & package delivery.

Enjoy rime with family & friends!

Bob, RSJB18, I’m sure you meant to say “GE” U-boats, not EMD.

A very Merry Christmas to you and all my other SwSat friends!

John

@Steam Crazy posted:

Bob, RSJB18, I’m sure you meant to say “GE” U-boats, not EMD.

A very Merry Christmas to you and all my other SwSat friends!

John

Yea....what he said.......

*edit complete*

Thanks John

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Thank you, Patrick, for getting this Switcher Saturday off to a wonderful start.

Today, I will share this MTH PS1 Jersey Central FM Trainmaster, which I believe qualifies as a road switcher:

Here it is hauling boxcars through My Little Town:

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Arnold

Wow Arnold, that locomotive puts out some serious smoke!

Merry Christmas to all!

Gene

Merry Christmas, everyone. My 1950s hobo encampment scene was inspired by Yancy’s Hotel. Nicknamed because of the lumberyard next door, these bindle stiffs and knights-of-the-road weren’t hassled by the local small-town Newman police. They lived in cardboard boxes under eucalyptus trees alongside the Southern Pacific track. This camp was located in California’s San Joaquin Valley. I strived for a pleasant vignette instead of modeling where the real homeless live.

Wow!!!  So many wonderful photos, videos, stories, everyone!  Keep em coming!!!

Here's some more photos from the archives of my Patapsco & Back Rivers VO1000 ( from 2016 ) pulling a Christmas train in the then annual Christmas Train Parade sponsored by the Free State Junction Railway and the Patsburg Citizens for Holiday Entertainment Association.  

Back story about adding this particular locomotive to my collection ... As some of you may know my model railroad, The Free State Junction Railway, is comprised of 4 Class 1 and 4 short line/switching roads that operated in or through Maryland during the Transition era.  Having already acquired two P&BR gondolas and all 7 locomotives from all the other individual Maryland roads, I needed the PB&R VO 1000 to complete my collection.  At the time the PB&R VO 1000 was rare as hen's teeth!    Low and behold E Bay had one that came up during the first week of December 2016!  The only obstacle for me was the bidding closed on the evening ( Dec. 5 ) of a recording session and right smack dab in the middle of session too.   Once at the studio, using my cell phone, I placed my bid just as the session was to begin.  I then placed the cell phone ( ringer off )  on my music stand so if outbid, I could quickly place a winning bid.   About 1.5 hours into the session I had won this locomotive!!  YES!!! I was so excited!!   I received the locomotive about 5 days later and immediately put it to work on the FSJR pulling a Christmas train.  

This boxcar was later set out by the VO 1000.  

Merry Christmas and Happy Switcher Saturday, I am posting several different Christmas themes I have had in the past and present.

RayK

.

Wow!  What a lot of great early entries!  I had to take Bentley for his daily walk and ride in the car first!  😃🐶

Here is my Lionel North Pole Central A5 on the Christmas layout.  It is pulling a mix of Lionel and MTH Christmas cars followed by a Lionel North Pole Central caboose.

Next is Bentley with the LGB 0-4-0 and German train.

Have a Blessed Christmas one and all!

SWSat folks,

Merry Christmas everyone. 

Lionel's Little Red 0-6-0T #25 with a Jolly Old Elf at the throttle seems to be very popular here.

That Jolly Old Elf is pretty spry too.

Although not a Christmas or Holiday scene, I figured a little green and red would be appropriate colors for this week’s SWSat!

@CNJ #1601 posted:

Although not a Christmas or Holiday scene, I figured a little green and red would be appropriate colors for this week’s SWSat!

Joe, that looks great !  What’s the rest of your layout look like ?

Rich

@CNJ #1601

I really like your SW1! Nice work!

Fret not Joe, I didn't have any "Christmas" type pictures that I could post either. My digital "Christmas Cards" I created all may have some copyright issues, so I didn't run the risk of posting any.

Andre

I had the same idea as Joe. Nothing specific the Christmas, but red and green Christmas  colors.

The green is an MTH Premier PS1 Burlington Northern diesel switcher and evergreen trees in the scenery and backdrop, and the red is a postwar Missouri and St. Louis boxcar in the video. Arnold

Thanks for getting us started Patrick. Great pics and videos guys. #447 pushing a CMX track cleaning car to get the hard to reach spots on the layout. Getting ready to run some trains for my grandson on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas to all.
Andy

I don't have a Christmas switcher. I do have an MTH ES44AC diesel and a Lionel 4-6-0. Here's my MTH SW1500 Canton switcher pulling my Lionel Christmas passenger cars. I wish Lionel would run these again. I would like to have a 4-car set.

Charlie

P.S. Merry Christmas everybody!

@Dave Ripp. I like your idea of the yearly cars based on the kids birth years. I might steal that idea.

Charlie

@cpowell posted:

@Dave Ripp. I like your idea of the yearly cars based on the kids birth years. I might steal that idea.

Charlie

Thanks Charlie, feel free.

CHRISTMAS  HOLIDAY  SWITCHER  SATURDAY.........

.......switcher 6220 finally under a Christmas tree after 70 years.   

...........and lastly the MTH switcher pulling the Nativity Train on the latest version of our Polar Express layout.

( A half dozen more snow covered pine trees and a Christmas Carousel this year. ) 

Have a peace filled  week ahead all......God speed.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

CHRISTMAS  HOLIDAY  SWITCHER  SATURDAY.........

.......switcher 6220 finally under a Christmas tree after 70 years.   

...........and lastly the MTH switcher pulling the Nativity Train on the latest version of our Polar Express layout.

( A half dozen more snow covered pine trees and a Christmas Carousel this year. ) 

Have a peace filled  week ahead all......God speed.

Not sure which one I like better Dallas. Both layouts look great. Something about a loop of track under a tree I guess.....

@Steamfan77- Have fun with your grandson Andy. May all your trains run smoothly.

@cpowell- I like those cars Charlie. I'm with you on a re-issue.

@Arnold D. Cribari @CNJ #1601 @laming It's the thought that counts.

Bob

@trestleking posted:

Joe, that looks great !  What’s the rest of your layout look like ?

Rich

Thanks for the kind words, Rich!  Shhh…don’t tell anyone my secret, but that’s not a layout.   It’s a diorama that I built to photograph my weathering and custom-detailing work.

@RSJB18 posted:

Something about a loop of track under a tree I guess.....

I guess it kinds takes us back to a simpler time Bob.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

I guess it kinds takes us back to a simpler time Bob.

Boy do I miss those days........

I had a Rivarossi HO Virginia and Truckee 2-4-0 set with woodside coaches that used to reside under the tree every year. Even with a 12X8 HO layout in the basement, I'd still lay on the floor for hours watching it go round and round.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Boy do I miss those days........

I had a Rivarossi HO Virginia and Truckee 2-4-0 set with woodside coaches that used to reside under the tree every year. Even with a 12X8 HO layout in the basement, I'd still lay on the floor for hours watching it go round and round.

Bob

😍