Switcher Saturday: 2018-Mar-17

I always enjoy this thread, Rich, even when not contributing any content.  Thanks to you and to all who post here!

Here are a couple shots I grabbed last Sunday.  #1160 is one of three “new” Grafton & Upton MP15AC switchers recently purchased from CSX.  It is pictured here at the train-to-truck cross dock in the railroad’s North Grafton, MA yard.

Captured these shots at work this week.  Unfortunately I was in the area while the crew was on break, so even the loco was idling there was no live action.

Plymouth MDT Cow and Calf, Bethlehem Steel:

Rusty

Happy SWSAT everyone!!  Rich I love that SW900!! Great photo JHZ andRusty!!

As I'm out of town working this weekend, I had no time to take new photos before leaving home, so here are some repeats.  It's a Patapsco and Back Rivers ( railroad owned by Bethlehem Steel Corp. severing the Bethlehem Steel plant in at Sparrows Point just outside Baltimore ) V0 1000.  I couldn't resist checking in and taking a peak of SWSAT this morning.  Have a great weekend everyone. 

Yay! SWSat is in the “on” position!

Nice start guys!

A bit of a theme today with one cheat. Shh. One full scale, 2 rail O and 3 rail O. Got some Virginia,and some Brunswick as well as some other shades so nobody can pinch me.

Have a great and safe weekend guys.

Have a great Saturday guys

I wish Lionel or MTH would paint one of their S2's in this demo scheme. IT's quite colorful!

                                                     WRONG ISLAND ........................... 

Yesterday was 3/16 and so I am posting some Marx 3/16 scale stuff today, attached to a Marx switcher of course.

Enjoy!

It is a clear, cold morning and the little A5, affectionately known as the "Tweet" due to its high pitched whistle, is taking some empty cars to the docks.  The little shifter was the only engine that could negotiate the tight turns on the city's streets.  Unfortunately, this is late 1949 and Tweet will soon be replaced by Pennsy's new 44 ton diesels. 

This is K-line's TMCC version of the model upgraded with cruise and 4 cuffs/revolution.

Happy Switcher Saturday to all. Canadian National Alco FA1 #6706 switching at Cape Shark and after switching we catch that beautiful engine with a short train near Morrison where also SOU NW2 working.

After seeing the CSX MP15 above, I remember snapping a photo of one down in Nashville in 2016.

And since it is St. Patrick's Day, here is a green RS-3 from Steamtown in 2012.

BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Happy Switcher Saturday to all. Canadian National Alco FA1 #6706 switching at Cape Shark and after switching we catch that beautiful engine with a short train near Morrison where also SOU NW2 working.

 

 

Very well done scenes, really enjoyed these pictures.

Ron H

briansilvermustang posted:

 

I had done (4) of the Pittsburg and Shawmut SW9 ( My father worked in the diesel shop, Brookville, PA) (Uncle Clair was part of the maintenance of way crew for many years, he often talked about tunnel work)

Also Betsy Ross and Independence.  The one time owner of the railroad was a gun enthusiast.  Browning, Winchester, Sam Colt,.... and some of the other names on the side of the engines all refer  to guns.  

The two Red/Yellow SW9's were as the units were new from EMD, 1953. So this consist is a little off. You would have seen the SW9's Bi-Centennial paint (1976) with a red and yellow paint called the Bloody nose with out the flag front/nose as pictured.  Unit pictures without the names indicated another paint. 

There was also a beat-up Pennsy GP7 that was painted Bi-Centennial. I didn't have the name decal, but at one time the side name was Dan Wesson, another reference to guns.   Also note the number 357 refers to a gun.

Murnane posted:

It's #SwitcherSaturday Time!!!!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

My picture this week is of my Atlas-O B&O SW900, getting ready to move things around in the yard!
I love this little guy, it comes with TMCC and is one of only a couple of command control engines I have.

Another note: There is one on daBay right now which has yellow handrails which look much more "stout" then the flimsy blue ones I have.  I wonder if this engine originally came with these and the blue ones, and the previous owner of mine lost them before selling to me?  The one on daBay is NOT mine, I am not suggesting anyone purchase it and I'm not advertising it, just noting it looks different than mine.

Anyway, it's a great little engine, lots of fun.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, have some switcher fun and when you get a chance - please post some switcher stuff here!

All the best...Rich Murnane

p.s. Miss the post on Saturday? NO BIG DEAL, just keep posting pictures of your favorites until the next #SwitcherSaturday

If you missed last week's SWSAT you should really go take a look, we had a ton of posts and it was a great fun!
https://ogrforum.com/...mar-10-one-day-early

Rich, Thank you again for starting us off!  As to the B&O SW900, yours looks great!  The one on eboay looks really nice too.  In fact, if I wasn't short on money right now, I would seriously consider buying it!  I know advertising wasn't your goal.  I certainly don't know what handrails are original, or could there have been variations.  If it was Lionel, I'll bet someone here would know. 

Here is a K-Line MP-16 I kind of got stuck with due to a misunderstanding.    I didn't get it from a Forum member, so rest assured no one here is at fault.  I'm not a fan of Conrail, and someone did a tacky job changing the engine number and adding white on the running boards.  Well, I decided it will be a donor for a repaint in either B&O or Western Maryland!  Does anyone know if there are appropriate decals available for one of those two roads?

Picture shows my recently purchased Lionel New York Central S-2 electric “S-motor” #3207. It runs very smoothly and has the interesting sounds of an electric locomotive as well as the Lionel swinging bell – which is nice but an unnecessary gimmick which just adds to the model’s cost. This is a heavy, die-cast model with excellent detail, especially on the trucks and their third-rail pickups.

The S-motors were the world’s first mass-produced, main-line electric locomotives. Built between 1904 and 1909, they were used for passenger service into Grand Central Station beginning in 1907 to comply with the ban on steam locomotives which went into effect in 1908. The S-motors were never fully satisfactory pulling long heavy passenger trains at high speeds and after 1913 were assigned to short local commuter trains and empty equipment moves for more than sixty years. They finished their careers in switching service at Grand Central Terminal.

The S-2s weighed between 224,000 and 228,000 pounds and operated at speeds up to 60 miles-per-hour on 660-volt DC current. Their starting tractive effort was 37,000 pounds at 2,200 horsepower.

MELGAR

                                  Love the MA & PA SW9 #82  

o

The switcher in the foreground sitting on the bare benchwork of my new under-construction layout started out as an MTH Alaska 0-6-0  (PS3) which is being transformed into a U.S. Army switcher consistent with my layout's planned Army logistics base primary theme. My friend and train dealer Dave Minarik stripped the Alaska road name and number off the tender and painted the sides a gloss black. Dave is also making U.S. letters for the sides and, once applied, the tender sides will be given a spary of Dull-Cote. Will also strip the "Alaska" off the locomotive cab and likely apply an engine number of my choice. I'm a happy camper!

The locomotive behind the switcher is a new MTH Premier model Heavy Pacific in U.S. Army Transportation Corps livery. It's a real beauty and a smooth runner.

My B6 switchers.

Brian...Mustang: Thanks for that neat video post. I run steam only (for now) but I have always had a sweet spot for the alco S1 and S2 switchers. 

Happy Switcher Saturday everyone & Happy St. Patrick's Day, too. 

In honor of St. Patrick:

“There was an old man who loved his trains,

Who dreamt he was always derailing on the main.

He awoke in a fright

In the middle of the night

"Hurry up and call the cranes!”

My contribution this week are a few photos that I may have posted a few days ago about a switching layout concept I had using faux brick building fronts (copies). I wanted to test how they would look and so far have not added track yet. 

Tom 

Kennecott Copper Mines

   Bill T

Tom that looks great....now get off the dang 'puter and lay some track!! We expect an update by next week....

RailKing B&M 0-8-0 and Reefer

Steamer posted:

Tom that looks great....now get off the dang 'puter and lay some track!! We expect an update by next week....

Ha! 

Thanks for the moral support. Don't forget I still need to epoxy the marker lights on my last switcher project. Sadly, things move slowly here in my pre-retirement life! That thing called "work" seems to restrict my train time... 

Tom 

Ron H posted:

BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Happy Switcher Saturday to all. Canadian National Alco FA1 #6706 switching at Cape Shark and after switching we catch that beautiful engine with a short train near Morrison where also SOU NW2 working.

 

 

Very well done scenes, really enjoyed these pictures.

Ron H

Ron H: Thank you. I am glad you like it.

Johan

Give em a break! G&W MP15 #45 and Trackmobile 4850 take a break at the local service area on the industrial section of my layout while the fuel tank gets a fresh load. I spent the last week sprucing this scene up as it remained untouched for well over two years. I think I’ll hit the sand tower and fuel stands with a little oily black once I get my air brush out.

Anyone know  now anything about WM #193 pictured above?  One WM roster calls it an FCM, and another says it is a rebuilt RS3 Hammerhead.  I understand it was equipped with a steam generator, but many RS3s were and didn't have the high hood.

I see the picture of #7 very clearly says #7, but that is not listed on the WM rosters I have come across.

For a plethora of wild-looking switchers, try

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/416442296777302385/

Thanks.  I note they also extended the exhaust pipe

briansilvermustang posted:

Briansilvermustang  Wow loving the Ford locomotive you think there's a chance there is a mustang locomotive some where ? 

MNCW posted:

Steamer posted:

Tom that looks great....now get off the dang 'puter and lay some track!! We expect an update by next week....

Ha! 

Thanks for the moral support. Don't forget I still need to epoxy the marker lights on my last switcher project. Sadly, things move slowly here in my pre-retirement life! That thing called "work" seems to restrict my train time... 

Tom 

tell me about it...my shop track is full, and for some morbid reason I started messing with my Royal Blue (got it running..gets hot, but at least it's running.)Hope to be headed to my retirement in a few years.

What's retirement? I'm not sure my wife will ever let me get there!

Spanky had the right idea: 

(Anonymous)

Briansilvermustang, Thank you for all the WM examples!  I think you hit the nail on the head for my repaint of the MP16.  I also have an MTH Southern RS1 that I got for a bargain, but it has chipped paint various places.  I want to do the MP16 first, then tackle the niser RS1.

Good stuff this week all, I hope everyone enjoyed the posts as much as I do, have a great Sunday and see you all next week!

Day late and a dollar short but Happy O'SWSat to everyone.

Great posts this week folks. We were out and about all day yesterday so I'm just catching up over coffee this morning. Hope to have some new stuff to share next week.

Lot's of talk about ALCO's and Mustangs this week.

Bob