Switcher Saturday: 2015-Dec-19

p.s.  I asked for this one from Santa, do you think I'll get it?

Lionel Angela Trotter Signature 0-4-0 Steam Engine 6-38692

Found this interesting little spud on the Northeast Railfan site:

I think the model is a DH1 export unit.

Rusty

Hi Rusty, great picture and Merry Christmas to you!  Best...Rich

Hey Bob, great pictures, I hope you have a great Christmas!  Best...Rich

merry christmas greetings to all o-gauge, marx and american flyer runners!...(even the other makes, scales and gauges)...and especially all fans of "switcher saturday"...

rich...hope father christmas brings you the switcher...and a lot of coal in your stocking for it!...

my very best regards...howard...

Merry Christmas guys! Hope you get your switcher Rich. At the Oglebay Park layout, they usually had a 1615 on a work train clearing a rock slide. This year the work train was still there, but without a locomotive.But they have a modern issue 1615 type pulling a log train. After three tries at taking a pic, and getting a blurry mess, the operator offered to stop the train for me. Then he asked if there were any others he wanted me to stop. great guy.

YAY! SWSat is on!

This week spot some cars with your switchers as you sip your Nog under the lights of the tree.

I hope Santa brings you that little switcher AND some coal to run it with Rich.

This week I am posting some images of Alco T-6 switchers. There were only 57 made and NW had 40 of them the second highest owners was Pennsy with 6. Several have gone on to second and third lives. Virginian Museum of Transportation in Roanoke has 2 including an operable one in NW paint.

An easy spotting feature is the notched corners on the edges of the long hood and angled numberboards.

Great pics so far this week keep it up guys!

Howard (SAWDUST43) - thank you for your comments and kind words, Merry Christmas to you and your family (and thank you for emailing me that info)!

STEAMER Dave - Merry Christmas to you too!  And thank you for all your contributions to this little "Switcher Saturday" thing we have going here, you continue to be one of our "Top Supporters"!

Silver Lake Andy - Merry Christmas to you too!  Every week I very much look forward to seeing what you will come up with and post here, I've learned a ton from your posts and very much enjoy them!

All the best...Rich

Rich thank you for making this nice community we have here and for your considered compliments. You make every week fun. Thank you.

Merry Christmas guys.  By this time next week everyone will be showing off the new switchers that Santa left in their stockings, no doubt!  

I{'ve seen OC's T-6.  Not a bad looking locomotive (for a diesel....)

With Hugh at the throttle, Scotty, the fireman standing atop the tender, watches for a signal from the brakeman at the back of the train as 0-6-0 #505 performs a reverse movement in the Maryville yard.  

Merry Christmas!  Bo

Bo - That's a dam fine photograph! 

Pete

Happy Switcher Saturday and Happy Holidays!

Tom 

Texas Pete posted:

Bo - That's a dam fine photograph! 

Pete

Thank you, Texas Pete.  Much appreciated!  Bo

Probably should get rid of the Saturday and move this to the REAL TRAINS category.

Texas Pete posted:

Bo - That's a dam fine photograph! 

Pete

Yes Bo,

  That is very nice.

Tom 

Thanks Tom!  Hugh, Scotty and #505 were really doing all the work.  All I had to do was just click the shutter.  B

I need to figure out where all my switchers went, them yard goats are as lazy as a hog... Er, goat these days. They don't get much action unless I'm laying track or someone is watching the layout in operation.

Friend Silver Lake, forget ye not T-6 MIDH 1016, the next-to-last ALCo ever built - the last was 1017...

SIRT posted:

Probably should get rid of the Saturday and move this to the REAL TRAINS category.

And how!

my two cents, I like the mix of real and toy switchers. 

SIRT posted:

Probably should get rid of the Saturday and move this to the REAL TRAINS category.

You know what to expect by now, so . . .  no likee, no clickee.

Pete

I'm pretty sure SIRT was referring to how realist the picture Bo/RAILHEAD53 posted, SIRT is a regular photo contributor to Switcher Saturday and his pics are mostly model trains, so I'm not so worried about it!

Either way, we'll continue to move forth with this format, a mix of real and model/toy pictures of Switchers/etc.

I hope everyone has an awesome Christmas, all the best from Maryland...Rich

Hey Bob...CNJ 3676....I have a ton of decals for that early Conrail scheme on the Alco you posted. If you are interested...let me know...Tom Shirey

Steamer posted:

my two cents, I like the mix of real and toy switchers. 

Yes, I agree. 

Kind of a unique thread...Rich, thanks for posting every week. 

Tom

Murnane posted:

p.s.  I asked for this one from Santa, do you think I'll get it?

Lionel Angela Trotter Signature 0-4-0 Steam Engine 6-38692

Hey Rich - most people get a present OR coal, you might actually get one WITH coal    

railhead53 posted:

With Hugh at the throttle, Scotty, the fireman standing atop the tender, watches for a signal from the brakeman at the back of the train as 0-6-0 #505 performs a reverse movement in the Maryville yard.  

Merry Christmas!  Bo

  

This picture is really stunning, just plain so fantastic I keep coming back to it to take a peek!  

Merry Christmas and thank you for sharing it...Rich

SW9's, (Atlas)

I confess .... I really have nothing. This is mainly to thank Rich for posting this most excellent topic thread each week. Nice guys like Rich make the hobby much more enjoyable.

I also enjoy the mix of models and real engines .... switchers are cool. Though, my favorite photo from this series is that of Rich's "Helper" with Santa a couple of weeks back.

Anyway, to make this post forum legal lol, I've included a photo of a Weaver O RS3  that has been accredited to modeler Lee Turner. This photo blows me away!

The RS3 is a roadswitcher, right?

Merry Christmas

Matt

This might be a repeat but I will have a fresh new photo next Saturday.  Happy Holidays everyone!!

Rich, 

Thank you for the kind words about the photo of PRR 0-6-0 #505.  Much appreciated!  

Merry Christmas.  Bo

Matt01 posted:

. . . to make this post forum legal lol, I've included a photo of a Weaver O RS3  that has been accredited to modeler Lee Turner. This photo blows me away!

The RS3 is a roadswitcher, right?

Merry Christmas

Matt

Astounding!  I can almost smell the Alco aroma!

And, yes, Matt, an Alco-GE RS3 or RSD5 is a great switch engine.  The performance is terrific, and the audible and visual aspects are a real treat.  I have considered paying the Nevada Northern their fee for "engineer training" if they would allow me to kick some cars in the yard with their RS2.

Speaking of RS3's. My first railfanning attempts (in the early 1970's) took place a few miles away at Mt.Vernon, NY on the Harlem Division. Remotored RS3's, called RS3M's (I think the "M" was for modified if I recall correctly), like this one I found online, did the switching by a potato packing plant off of Macquesten Parkway. 

Tom 

Beautiful modeling.  Excellent skills displayed. You also have to appreciate the research required for this type of detail.     Thank you for posting this picture:

Weaver RS3,  modeler Lee Turner.

RS3m's had EMD diesel engines swapped for the Alco 244 series, so there was no more oily black smoke boiling out of the stack when the engine was revved up.  And, the characteristic Alco odor of raw fuel was gone.

However . . . the same uncomfortable, poorly heated cab; the same rattling and drafty cab doors; the same stiff-riding AAR Type-B trucks; and (here's the best part) the very responsive GE Amplidyne excitation control, so that the Engineer would not forget that the locomotive had been built by Alco-GE.  

Cool thread, thanks Rich! 

Great pics and info, as always!

Peter