Switcher Saturday: 2016-Feb-27

Nothing on the layout for me this weekend.  Instead here's a favorite switcher photo.

Hi Rich 

  I checked the steam roster of the PRR. I see a #268 as a B6/0-6-0. Looks like there are 4 drivers showing, which would make this an 0-8-0, as you mentioned, and I could not make out the classic Belpaire firebox...so not sure what we have here, still interesting though!

  My picture is of PRR #5244, last operational Pennsy switcher, under lease to Union Transportation, NJ in the late 1950's. Photographer was Aaron G. Fryer.

Tom 

Hey Tom, I had a feeling you'd figure that one out, if not you then maybe Steamer Dave or Andy SilverLake.  Do you have a good website you use for the PRR roster?  This is the one I looked at and it doesn't have the #268 B6 you mention on the page: http://www.northeast.railfan.net/prr_steam1.html

Hey Mike, great picture, thank for sharing it!

Best...Rich

Rich,

 From the angle we are seeing your picture, the tender, to me, looks too small to be a typical PRR slope-back tender. 

  The website Keystone Crossings has lots of good Pennsy-related stuff including this steam roster:

  http://pennsyrr.com/kc/data/steam/

 Tom 

Keep them coming guys! This is one of my favorite recurring posts.  I am working on a special post about the switchers at the power plant where I work, but I  need a few more weeks to gather the pictures. 

John Z

Long Island C-51s 0-8-0 #251 very similar to #268.

Rich,

  I will put my bet on CNJ 3676/Bob! However, maybe Paul Moore already has the answer.

 Tom 

Thanks for sharing Paul,

According to this site (which I think is where you found your picture), the LIRR had 0-8-0 Numbers: 251 thru 269, inclusive (Class C51s, C51sa), so maybe we have our answer since LIRR was owned by PRR at the time of the picture.
http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/lirrengines.htm

John Z, looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Here is another LIRR 0-8-0, #262, so I think Paul is "on the right track!" Note that there is no distinctive PRR Belpaire firebox.

Whew! Too much thinking for a Saturday! 

Tom

This has been really fun, I feel like we're all detectives on the hunt.   I just noticed the LIRR logo was a "keystone", just like PRR back then, so I was likely wrong about calling the car a PRR car.  "tomayto, tomato"?  :-)

I guess I'm going to have to go out and buy some LIRR switchers after this, my wife's gonna kill me...

Rich, 

  I think you were originally right on the (PRR) gondola. If you look at what is visible in your picture of the logo on the gondola, you will see 2 curved images of the letters, like this.Compare the 2...it can only be PRR.

Tom

Murnane posted:

This has been really fun, I feel like we're all detectives on the hunt.   I just noticed the LIRR logo was a "keystone", just like PRR back then, so I was likely wrong about calling the car a PRR car.  "tomayto, tomato"?  :-)

I guess I'm going to have to go out and buy some LIRR switchers after this, my wife's gonna kill me...

Hi, Rich.

The LIRR was under PRR control at the time.

Bob

Bob,

  Welcome to "Switcher CSI." 

 Tom

MNCW posted:

Bob,

  Welcome to "Switcher CSI." 

 Tom

This kind of stuff helps keep my brain sharp!

I sent an email to Steve Lynch to see if he'd be interested in this thread or the picture, no idea if he's into "hey, check out what us Switcher Saturday guys figured out" emails though!

Here is the original link to the picture: http://digitalcollections.nypl...71-e040-e00a180654d7

I am a fan of the long gone New York Westchestern & Boston RR.....it started as a teenager when I road on it's Bronx remnant, the Dyre Ave line of the IRT.

It was a heavy electric commuter RR that served the Bronx and Westchester....and was way ahead of its time. 

It had an electric switcher engine. While looking online for a picture, I found pictures of the switcher engine in a S scale "might have been" pike.

Looks like New Rochelle Jct.....

Peter

Here's a nice color picture of LIRR 0-8-0 #257 that I stumbled upon on the bay:

Two more Birmingham Southern photos for thois week.

Don

Locomotives: BS 302(SW7) BS 213(SW1000)

  BS #296

great pics guys. love the PRR and LIRR talk.

not sure if these big boys are switchers, but no trail or pilot trucks.

good morning to all "switcher saturday" fans...

here's my humble contribution this week...the image quality is not perfect...i took this picture somewhere in alabama back in the late 1950s or very early 1960s with my ansco 127 box camera...i can't remember the exact location...probably around birmingham or bessemer... 

my very best regards...howard...florida...USA...

Steamer posted:

great pics guys. love the PRR and LIRR talk.

Love the pics Dave, even the "giant switchers"! ;-)

I googled around a bit, looking for the Queen Annes RR #3 you posted above since QA county isn't far from me, found a video from 1993 of it pulling some passenger cars and found that it was at some restaurant in Delaware which has apparently since closed, wonder if it is still around?

Yay Sw Sat is on!

Week 53!

Great pics so far guys and it seems like the mystery is solved. Great sleuthing.

 Rich I love the 1939 NY Worlds Fair construction image. Very Cool. 

This week I am posting images of Conrail Bug shop switchers. Last week my first post was of new switchers from RPT that were based on reused SD-40 three axel trucks. I spent some further time looking into switchers built on pre-existing trucks. Conrail made three battery powered shop switchers on frames of older EMD Blomburg trucks these were referred to as "Bugs" by the crews. They worked in Selkirk Yard, Conway and Collinwood yards. Apparently one unit #0 is still in Conrail Blue and still in use in Collinwood. While they look similar one had a little porch for the operator to stand on and the others just had control tethers and the operator walked along side.

One unit is now in preservation Beaver Lawrence Railway Historical Society.

Here is a current mystery of mine, a little reused truck based shop switcher in use by Metro North at the shop at Crotan-Harmon. 

And finally a follow up to a post from SWISE last week regarding switchers that bring their own engine house with them like Turtle or snail shells.  These keep gravity loading gravel from fouling the vents and fans. This one looks like an Apache Railroad Baldwin S12 with a full cover and home built handrails.

Had this Weaver 0-6-0 sitting in a drawer for years. Was always a good runner. Even installed command without sound and working coil couplers for while. In the latest version it got ERR products command, sound and Kadee's. I had removed the lettering on the tender at one time and pretty much had a blank canvas to work with. The tender wasn't much of a match for any road. The engine though was close enough a few prototypes.Thought of doing it up in Rutland till I saw this photo. Being a B&A guy this was a no brainier.

The firebox on the LIRR 257 and her sisters looks more like a Wooten than a Belpaire.  The Belpaire is fatter at the top and the Wooten fatter at the bottom.  "Fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin' world go 'round!"

The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad - Standard Railroad of da Ant'racite Region.

Silver Lake posted:

Yay Sw Sat is on!

Week 53!

Great pics so far guys and it seems like the mystery is solved. Great sleuthing.

 Rich I love the 1939 NY Worlds Fair construction image. Very Cool. 

This week I am posting images of Conrail Bug shop switchers. Last week my first post was of new switchers from RPT that were based on reused SD-40 three axel trucks. I spent some further time looking into switchers built on pre-existing trucks. Conrail made three battery powered shop switchers on frames of older EMD Blomburg trucks these were referred to as "Bugs" by the crews. They worked in Selkirk Yard, Conway and Collinwood yards. Apparently one unit #0 is still in Conrail Blue and still in use in Collinwood. While they look similar one had a little porch for the operator to stand on and the others just had control tethers and the operator walked along side.

One unit is now in preservation Beaver Lawrence Railway Historical Society.

 

Here is a current mystery of mine, a little reused truck based shop switcher in use by Metro North at the shop at Crotan-Harmon. 

 

And finally a follow up to a post from SWISE last week regarding switchers that bring their own engine house with them like Turtle or snail shells.  These keep gravity loading gravel from fouling the vents and fans. This one looks like an Apache Railroad Baldwin S12 with a full cover and home built handrails.

Those little BUG shop switchers are really cool! Jim Policastro had some pics earlier in the week with some units he made on trucks with couplers mounted to both ends that these reminded me of. It seems there's a prototype for just about anything.

Don

The photos of the switcher at the World Fair is really cool. You always see photos that show the finished product, but not too many while things are under construction.

Here's a few more Fair photos I found with trains, although not necessarily switchers.

CNJ 3676 posted:

Murnane posted:

I googled around a bit, looking for the Queen Annes RR #3 you posted above since QA county isn't far from me, found a video from 1993 of it pulling some passenger cars and found that it was at some restaurant in Delaware which has apparently since closed, wonder if it is still around?

The original Queen Anne's Railroad was formed in 1894 and ran between Love Point, MD and Lewes, DE. A ferry connection for Baltimore was made at Love Point. It later added Summer service to Cape May, NJ, again via a ferry connection. The railroad subsequently became the property of a PRR subsidiary. The Delaware Coast Line Railroad, a short line formed in 1982, operates freight trains over existing segments of the line.

Built by Vulcan Iron Works at Wilkes-Barre, PA in 1943, former US Navy 0-6-0T number 3 powered tourist and dinner trains over the line during the early 90s.

 

Bob

I grew up in Wilkes-Barre, but never saw anything produced by The Vulcan Iron Works in my time. This loco looks like a steam diesel hybrid, (in appearance only). Almost looks like a diesel rammed a steamer from behind, and the two became one!

Don

Putnam Division posted:

I am a fan of the long gone New York Westchestern & Boston RR.....it started as a teenager when I road on it's Bronx remnant, the Dyre Ave line of the IRT.

It was a heavy electric commuter RR that served the Bronx and Westchester....and was way ahead of its time. 

It had an electric switcher engine. While looking online for a picture, I found pictures of the switcher engine in a S scale "might have been" pike.

Looks like New Rochelle Jct.....

Peter

Peter listed this picture but I didn't see the web address....here it is:

http://sscale.org/1159/volume-...-westchester-boston/

The website had this neat, kit-bashed 0-6-0 camelback. Check out the realistic catenary, too.

Tom

When I was a kid in1956, Santa Claus brought me a Lionel 1615 O-4-0 switcher set for Xmas. I have loved switchers ever since!

My son has always loved trains, and he rebuilds and restores steam locomotives. He owns his own locomotive that he rebuilt and restored, and this is his occupation now. 
His locomotive is a 1909 0-4-0 tank engine, built by Porter Locomotive Co. (H. K. Porter, Inc.). It weighs 45 tons and was #2 of two built for the Santa Cruz Portland Cement company at Davenport, California.
His engine, SCPC 2, is being run by him for the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, Washington, where he is the Curator and is rebuilding/restoring their 0-6-0 switcher, Northern Pacific 924.

mike.caruso posted:

Nothing on the layout for me this weekend.  Instead here's a favorite switcher photo.

Mike - Wow!! What a great quartet!!!  Music to my eyes  Bravo!!

Steamer posted:

not sure if these big boys are switchers, but no trail or pilot trucks.

Steamer - sometimes railroads used the 0-8-8-0 articulated locos either in pushing operations or switching operations/hump yard service.  Thats alot of switcher!!! Thanks for posting these photos!

Steamer posted:

not sure if these big boys are switchers, but no trail or pilot trucks.

Those are the N-U1b class of 0-8-8-0 locomotives. There were two, 9090 and 9091, and they were built by ALCo in 1916 for the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie.

Bob

WP posted:

When I was a kid in1956, Santa Claus brought me a Lionel 1615 O-4-0 switcher set for Xmas. I have loved switchers ever since!

My son has always loved trains, and he rebuilds and restores steam locomotives. He owns his own locomotive that he rebuilt and restored, and this is his occupation now. 
His locomotive is a 1909 0-4-0 tank engine, built by Porter Locomotive Co. (H. K. Porter, Inc.). It weighs 45 tons and was #2 of two built for the Santa Cruz Portland Cement company at Davenport, California.
His engine, SCPC 2, is being run by him for the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, Washington, where he is the Curator and is rebuilding/restoring their 0-6-0 switcher, Northern Pacific 924.

That's a great looking little engine. The car it is pulling is pretty sharp looking as well. Nice stained glass. They don't build them like that anymore. I was reading today about the NP 0-6-0. They have the jacket off and are removing the Asbestos. 

CNJ 3676 posted:

Here's the material I had ready for this week. As Brother Patrick (trumptrain) has been kind enough to share pictures of his O scale Western Maryland BL2 with us, I thought I'd post some pictures of the prototypes during the later stages of their careers. WM's two BL2 units were built in 1948 and used in a variety of roles including road and pusher service early on; however, in the late 60s, they were semi-permanently mated to trailers (slugs) and reassigned to yard service at Hagerstown. They even served long enough to receive Chessie System 7100 series numbers although never repainted in Chessie livery. Both WM BL2s have been preserved.

Bob

Thanks for posting the proto WM BL2 photos Bob!!  I love em!!!  Number 81 and trailer is in the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, as I'm sure you know.  I always check it out whenever I visit the museum.  I think the BL2 is one of the most interesting diesel switcher designs ever - IMHO.   I wish though, that the Western Maryland would have at least painted them in the circus paint scheme.  I'm not a big fan of the WM black livery ... however I do enjoy being true to the prototype on my Free State Junction Railway.  Someday I may become adventurous enough to paint a BL2 in WM circus colors ... just as a 'what if' kind of thing.

In road freight service, the WM BL2s could not be used as lead units in lashups due to a weak frame.  They had to be used as trailing units only in this situation.  

Many of the other roads who purchased the BL2 were really able to show off the sleek curves and features of the BL2 due to those road's paint schemes.... i.e. Chesapeake and Ohio, Florida East Coast, Monon, Bangor and Aroostok ( sp? )

I'm glad that both WM units are preserved.   Thanks so much for posting!!

Thank you! That is neat that you know about the NP 924  

There has been much more done to NP 924 (Northern Pacific 0-6-0 switcher) since the asbestos removal, including newly built slope back tender cistern, repairs to firebox, new safer steam dome, new capstack smoke stack, tube sheet repairs, and during just the last few days the new tubes (flues) have been added, rolled, beaded, and the backhead end welded. 

You can follow progress through the NWRM (Northwest Railway Museum) blog or on facebook. 

If you love switchers, I have to tell you, this one is absolutely classic!!

John

rail posted:

Those little BUG shop switchers are really cool! Jim Policastro had some pics earlier in the week with some units he made on trucks with couplers mounted to both ends that these reminded me of. It seems there's a prototype for just about anything.

Don

Beat me to it, Don!!  LOL  That was the first thing I thought of when i saw "the bug," Jim's thread of how small can you make a freight car.  I think it would be fun to see one of these bugs pulling a three- or four-car consist made up of Jim's one-truck freight cars!!!  

My contribution...sticking with the LIRR theme. Mismatched numbers and all.

Hey there switcher Buds - great photos and information as always!  Here's some from Patsburg  home of the Free State Junction Railway. 

The band members in the photo are all switcher hoggers who get together on the roof of the old firehouse and rehearse.  The name of the band is:

" Son of a Switch (er)"  There is a 7th member of this band but he's out making a beer run!