Switcher Saturday: 2015-Dec-05

All hail the first Fairbanks-Morse locomotive built:

Rusty

Very cool Rusty!

MTH's custom painted Chicago Great Western NW2. Worked by CJB Custom Painting and Designs.

Yay!  SwSat is on!

This week I am posting some pictures of Steam Dummies. No I'm not talking about posting pictures of you? Instead I'm taking about steam engines that were disguised to look like train cars to not frighten horses (or that is the legend). 

These were often used in crowded urban areas to switch street tracks although elevated railroads seemed to use them as well (How a horse could get up there to be frieghtened I have no idea and really the least of thier problems). Not that many have survived to today.

There were also similar looking inspection engines a handful of which survive today but those were not really used as switchers. 

New York Central even had a Shay Steam dummy that they used to switch the far west side of Manhattan, today's  11th ave before they built the high line which is now a popular park with tourists. 

A lot of street railroads used dummies before they were electrified. After electrification the steam engines were sold and had second careers in industry. They were used in construction, logging and mining. With the rough use most lost thier fancy cabs in accidents and they took on a different look. 

Wow the new forum style on an I pad is really clunky. Not a huge fan.

Baltimore RR Museum

No "toy" train photos to share this week, so here's a 1:1 scale Reading & Northern SW1500 switcher that I captured last week at the R&N's Penobscot Yard in Mountaintop, PA.  This short train was tied-up in front of the yard office, and even had a R&N caboose on the end!

Here's a shot of my Docksider taken when I was putting up v.1 of my garage layout.  It's even got the correct railroad name and everything!

Pete

ps - I notice that some photo sharpness was lost in translation from pc to forum.  Didn't used to happen.

this weeks offerings...

Western Maryland BL 2 hogger leans far out of cab while waiting for at a red signal.  It  seems the fireman had chile with extra beans for dinner last night.

The "BEST" part of any week end is "SATURDAY SWITCHERS" here at OGR.

Dave, LBR

Some of my favorites:

CNJ SW9 #1087 on a good day in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania .....

1087 on a bad day at the Jersey City, New Jersey carfloat pier .....

B&M Alco S2 & countryside scenery.

hard way to give her a bath .....

My helper and I just got home from the Greenberg Show in Timonium Maryland, here are a few pictures we took.

Unfortunately none of these switchers made the ride home with us (Christmas is coming $$$), maybe next time.  The brass PRR A5 was apparently a Weaver with modifications, easily my favorite thing at the show (besides my helper and Santa of course).  It was really well done, it's doing to be one of those engines I think about not getting for the next few years.  

Best...Rich

Alright!  It's SWSAT time, BABY!!

(Insert corny organ music here.)

And now for this week's installment of "As The Switcher Turns"...

(Corny organ music fades into the background...)

Many think (me included) that today's Union Pacific is a booooring railroad.  Cookie cutter wide-cabs, unit trains, et al, ad naseum.

Well, it may come as quite a surprise to learn that the Onion Pacific USED to be a very creative and innovative railroad in regards to their diesel power. It also seemed they just COULDN'T leave their diesels "box stock", instead adding foof and detail, resulting in their motive power fleet being quite distinctive.  For my installment of this week's SWSAT, we'll take a look at yesterday's switcher fleet on the UP and see for ourselves what kinds of antics the Onion Pacific was up to "way back when"...

Let's begin by taking a look at how they modified some of their NW2's.  First up, is an early phase NW2 that the UP added end ladders to the hood, class lights, a gumball up top, some angled number boards above the front headlight, and a winterization window on the Engineer's side...

Then it appears they thought "hey, let's add some tall, fat, stacks to these things and see if we can make it run better"... so they did:

There now, isn't that special?  Tell'ya what, let's make the stacks fatter... and oh... don't mess with those front ladders or some of that other stuff on this one...

Nah... it was more fun with all the ladders and stuff... add the fat stack but keep all the other stuff, too...

And so they did... even modifying their later EMD SW purchases with many of the appliances...

Then someone at the UP said "hey! let's screw with the train goobers heads and put one in service nearly box stock!  That ought'a mess with 'em but good!".  And so it was...

Sure 'nuf... us train goobers have been screwed-up in the head ever since.

So, as you see, Uncle Pete wasn't ALWAYS bland, boring... aka The Borg.  Nope, in their increasingly distant past, they loved to add farkles to their engines and make them their own.  Gotta' love it.

All fer now!

Working the yard...

Weaver Pennsy A5 0-4-0 with TMCC upgrade. 

OK, I am the "cabin car" almost bringing up the rear again! 

Some thoughts...

Laming, yes agree on the UP. Some of my earliest happy memories in railroading were slides of the UP that my parents bought me in the 1960's. I still have them somewhere. You would think think I wouldn't hate diesels, but I do, except for them. 

Rich, You messed up...you should have asked Santa, aka, The Big Cheese, with that sweet PRR A5 switcher.

Dave, Always love your PRR pictures. 

Silver Lake, I liked your steam dummies. My picture is not a steam dummy, but from that same era. It is an early New York Central GE/ALCO tri-power (third rail/battery/diesel) boxcab.

Tom