Switcher Saturday 3-18-2023🍀

New York Central 0-4-0 #901 is an MTH Premier model (20-3261-1) with PS2 delivered in 2007 at MSRP $599.95.

As best I can determine, this model did not have a prototype on the New York Central Railroad. The NYC did have Class-A 0-4-0 switchers but they were built prior to 1900 (with wood cabs) and removed from service early in the 20^th century. By 1890, the NYC was buying more powerful Class-B 0-6-0 switchers.

This model is an accurately scaled Pennsylvania Railroad A-5s switcher with its Belpaire firebox slightly altered to look like a conventional radial-stay firebox. Its oval builder’s plate reads “Juniata Shops – A5 – 1917.” It is a fine O gauge 0-4-0 switcher despite being inaccurate for a New York Central engine. The tether is similar to those on MTH models with PS1. I hope MTH has retained the tooling and will make more of these in the future.

The photos and videos were taken on the O-54 loop of my 12’-by-8’ layout.

MELGAR

The video below shows a K Line diesel (I believe a GP38) hauling a variety of beer cars. The locomotive is very smooth running, an excellent puller, has excellent detail and has provided trouble free operation ever since I bought in the late 1990s or early 2000s for about $300.

Arnold

Happy SWSAT everyone. Yeah I know it’s been a long time but I’m going to try to change that now that life is get into the new groove. Here’s today’s it’s the Lionel NW2 Santa Fe from 1962. Enjoy your weekend.

Yay SWSat is rolling away!
Going great this AM with a nice road switcher from @jhz563 a nice looking albeit fictitious 0-4-0 from @MELGAR and a ubiquitous GP38 from @Arnold D. Cribari. Nice NW2 @lee drennen. Great stuff so far guys.

This weekend I’m showing some of my British tank engines. Some London Brighton and South Coast 0-6-0T class A1 Terriers in “Improved Engine Green” paint scheme. The “Brighton” who won the big prize at the 1875 Paris Expo and the “Thames”. This two are working local freight switch jobs and I am waiting for a rake of four Stroudley varnished mahogany two axel passenger cars which are enroute to me from the UK. So I can run them in some passenger service.
The models are 2 rail O scale from Dapol.

Next up is my Hunslet 0-6-0T made by Ioxon Models. Hunslet was a private builder which specialized in contractor or industrial tank engines as this one is supposed to be. Mine is named “Janice”. My story about it is that “Janice”is being leased to my line because of an uptick in freight traffic. With the upcoming start of more passenger service the LBSCR anticipates a need for more motive power to cover the busy railway.

Today I’ll be running trains at the NYSME open house in Carlstat NJ. It is circus train day so I imagine it will be a popular one. If you find yourself in the area come on by.

Have a great weekend Guys I can’t wait to see what you guys post.

Just in time to catch Strasburg 8618 going by.

Happy Switcher Sat!  Below are some shots of my mta RS3 from a run session on Thursday.  I originally intended to post  them on the  Front end Friday thread., but figured they would be better for switcher Saturday. Fortunately, I  live in the southeast and model the northeast, so Midwest, Monday is out of the question, LOL!

Good morning, SwSat faithful!  Last Saturday your Yardmaster told an unusual tale of public service by railroads, but today he’ll focus on a more mundane, but necessary function, scrapping.

Santa Fe EMD SW2 is seen hauling Santa Fe RMT BP7 off for scrap along with a gondola of steam locomotive parts.  Scrapping is the only part of your Yardmaster’s passion for railroading that makes him sad; seeing once shiny engines, manned by proud crews, looking derelict and unwanted.  A line of steam locomotives, in a scrap line, some partially dismantled, is particularly depressing.

Apologies for posting a somber story in another upbeat SwSat!

John

Happy green edition of Switcher Saturday.  Today we have green cars & a green engine.  Have a great day!

Happy O'SWSat!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! (day late but the corned beef is better the second day, and the Guinness is still cold!)

@lee drennen- Welcome back! I hope that life's detours were manageable.

As I mentioned last week, I'm switching up the equipment on my layout to run B&O, WM, etc. The plan was to do that during the week but........so I did a quick swap of some rolling stock and engines this morning for a few new photos.
Western Maryland 196 is an ALCO RS3 model from MTH equipped with loco-sounds. These are basically glorified conventional engines with some features operable by transformer button sequences. They are good runners and have nicer detailing for the period.
Here's the prototype

Next is a B&O GP-9 # 5616 by Lionel with TMCC. This engine has not been on the layout since I added my
Cab 1L last year so I need to program it into the handheld later today. This model from 1998 is equipped with a pullmor motor and has a rooftop strobe which is a nice added feature. The stamped one piece frame and handrails are not my favorite but was a very common design from Lionel for a long time. The paint on this model is very nice though.
A brief search shows that 5616 was actually a GP7 in the plain blue paint scheme.

Have a great weekend!

Bob

Happy Switcher Saturday.The construction of the new module is progressing, but not very quickly.

Johan, life has a way of slowing us down.  Believe me I know.  3 years later and still no closer to a layout.

Joe,

I know my friend. I now have about 200 pieces of 3D printing parts to paint and after that I will start assembling the factory building and the bridge, among other things.

Johan

Good morning SWSAT crew!

Penn Central GP9 7180 (Atlas O) does some industrial switching:

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tom

Hi everyone,

Our intrepid photographer caught some Pennsy switchers doing what they were designed to do while waiting to talk to the yard foreman about taking photographs.  The foreman was not happy when he heard pictures were taken without his approval.  The Berlin blockade was just lifted and something called NATO was formed, and everyone was concerned about Russian spies.   The foreman was relieved when he saw that the photographer was an old friend and switcher enthusiast.

K-Line B6, Lionel NW2, MTH H10-44

Great looking engines/scenes/rolling stock! On this beautiful rainy Saturday in Florida I am switching with the MTH proto 3 SOU high hood SD35. She is shoving an inbound all door Thrall boxcar. The car is Atlas and I think it’s a cool car for us who model 80’s stuff. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

@MELGAR posted:

New York Central 0-4-0 #901 is an MTH Premier model (20-3261-1) with PS2 delivered in 2007 at MSRP $599.95.

. The tether is similar to those on MTH models with PS1. I hope MTH has retained the tooling and will make more of these in the future.

Easy to understand your appreciation of this switcher Melgar.     Great looking 0-4-0 .

Good afternoon fellow switcher fans!  Absolutely wonderful pics, videos, and info everyone!!  JHZ563 thanks so much for notching out the throttle to get us rolling today!   I love the Southern ALCO RS all decked out in green!   I, also tried booking some Leprechauns to make an appearance here on SWSAT only to find out they preferred to work from home.   Have a great weekend everyone!  Don't drink too much green beer

This week a Reading F 3 ( my latest acquisition ) is at the point of an Alpha Jet locomotive consist.  Trailing the F3 is a Western Maryland BL2 followed by an ALCO FA 1 on the Alphabet Route.

The Alphabet Route was a coalition of 8 different railroads connecting the mid west with the northeast US.   Those roads were the Western Maryland, Reading, CNJ, Nickel Plate, Wheeling and Lake Erie, Pittsburg and West Virginia, Lehigh & Hudson River, and the New Haven. The Alphabet Route was formed to give the New York Central, B&O, and Pennsy, competition.  The fast freights of the Alphabet Route were called Alpha Jets.  

Here's a photo of the consist moving through Patsburg on the mainline.  The BL2 follows the F3.

The BL2 digs in with all 1,500 horses.

An ALCO FA 1 brings up the rear lot the consist.

Great looking fleet of switchers this weekend! PW Lionel 0-4-0 meeting MPC 0-4-0 along with Lionel HO 0-6-0

Sally the Yard Goat (Lionel Legacy 0-6-0 Steam switcher) with a special cargo from the Bronx Zoo, heading for the ballpark previously referred to as the Bronx Zoo (when Billy Martin was the manager):

LOL, Arnold

@trumpettrain posted:

Good afternoon fellow switcher fans!  Absolutely wonderful pics, videos, and info everyone!!  JHZ563 thanks so much for notching out the throttle to get us rolling today!   I love the Southern ALCO RS all decked out in green!   I, also tried booking some Leprechauns to make an appearance here on SWSAT only to find out they wanted to work from home.   Have a great weekend everyone!  Don't drink too much green beer

This week a Reading RS 3 ( my latest acquisition ) is at the point of an Alpha Jet locomotive consist.  Trailing the F3 is a Western Maryland BL2 followed by an ALCO FA 1 on the Alphabet Route.

The Alphabet Route was a coalition of 8 different railroads connecting the mid west with the northeast US.   Those roads were the Western Maryland, Reading, CNJ, Nickel Plate, Wheeling and Lake Erie, Pittsburg and West Virginia, Lehigh & Hudson River, and the New Haven. The Alphabet Route was formed to give the New York Central, B&O, and Pennsy, competition.  The fast freights of the Alphabet Route were named Alpha Jets.  

Here's a photo of the consist moving through Patsburg on the mainline.  

Great photos, as usual, Patrick. We went out to a church fish fry yesterday and I was hoping for green beer but alas, it was the normal yellow. Enjoyed it all nevertheless. I always love seeing your BL2 diesel. I have the GM Demo BL2 unit by Williams and it is a favorite!

Ran across this switcher thread today, so:

Recently I did a quick paint job for a friend (don't know him) of a friend over in Louisiana. Just a Lionel NW-2 turned into a NASA switcher.  White dip and decals that he provided. Painted the frame, too.

I have no idea if NASA locos ever looked like this, but it's what he wanted.  The bell was a surprising heavy brass casting.

Photos taken outside the Works, loco resting on a set of shop trucks; to be forwarded to another shop for re-engining and re-trucking:

"... heading for the ballpark previously referred to as the Bronx Zoo ...", I like what you did there Arnold.

"I have the GM Demo BL2 unit by Williams and it is a favorite!", me too Dave.

"I have no idea if NASA locos ever looked like this, but it's what he wanted."  I've never seen a picture of one painted like that.

Happy SWSAT! As always the photos and videos are great to see. Here's a video of my contribution to the  color of the day (green). It's my cnw lionel legacy s2 I purchased from a friend a few years ago.  She's hauling a cut of slab and billet carriers from the mills to a metal fabricator. Each car was kit bashed from O27 flats. The steel loads are real.

Hope you enjoy it.

@Dave Warburton posted:

Great photos, as usual, Patrick. We went out to a church fish fry yesterday and I was hoping for green beer but alas, it was the normal yellow. Enjoyed it all nevertheless. I always love seeing your BL2 diesel. I have the GM Demo BL2 unit by Williams and it is a favorite!

Dave - thank you so much!   I also love the GM demo BL2!  It's on my wish list    Yes beer tastes good no matter what the color

@trumpettrain posted:

Dave - thank you so much!   I also love the GM demo BL2!  It's on my wish list    Yes beer tastes good no matter what the color

Here you go Pat... This is the early MTH version. There's a PS3 model around too.

@trumpettrain posted:

Thisweek a Reading F 3 ( my latest acquisition ) is at the point of an Alpha Jet locomotive consist.  Trailing the F3 is a Western Maryland BL2 followed by an ALCO FA 1 on the Alphabet Route.

The BL2 digs in with all 1,500 horses.

An ALCO FA 1 brings up the rear lot the consist.

Like your new acquisition Patrick.

Your different RR lines are great .      I've also really enjoyed seeing all the different WM offerings in your photo scenes.  Nice stuff.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Like your new acquisition Patrick.

Your different RR lines are great .      I've also really enjoyed seeing all the different WM offerings in your photo scenes.  Nice stuff.

Thank you very much Dallas!

Brand new used diesel on the Utacolzona Railroad.  Bought from the Midwest Q&M Co.  Utacolzona was in a hurry to get it on the job they did not get a chance to patch it.  The UR WILL be on the cab!

Thanks for Looking.        Dennis.

Utacolzona Railroad in On30 (built 2020 - 2022) Last Update 3/18/23

Here is one of my engines running at today's club layout. New Haven did not have this engine but they do now.😁

Hello SwSat fans, I have been busy with my wife's illness but I couldn't let another Saturday go by without reviewing the posts and sticking something in myself.  jhz - great locomotive as usual and its GREEN...St. Patrick's day was yesterday but who's counting...it's the luck of the Irish that gets us goin' today.

Here is my post...The American Flyer #3110 locomotive in GREEN naturally...This gal stems from 1928-29.  She came with a pantograph, headlight, but no reverse ( so i guess its going to be a hard life as a switcher ) It has the number in brass oval number plates, type 2 handrails, red pilots, and gold trim...  So here she is!

Yes she has certain led an active life!  She suffers (as do we all) the scrapes and scratches of old age, but she still works and at 95 years old, I hope I can say the same.

Fellows, many of you have commented with good thoughts and wishes and prayers for my wife.  I want you to know that I really appreciate that and it gives me joy.  Thank you.

Don

@Tom Densel posted:

Good morning SWSAT crew!

Penn Central GP9 7180 (Atlas O) does some industrial switching:

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tom

Great pic Tom thanks for sharing

@Don McErlean posted:

Hello SwSat fans, I have been busy with my wife's illness but I couldn't let another Saturday go by without reviewing the posts and sticking something in myself.  jhz - great locomotive as usual and its GREEN...St. Patrick's day was yesterday but who's counting...it's the luck of the Irish that gets us goin' today.

Here is my post...The American Flyer #3110 locomotive in GREEN naturally...This gal stems from 1928-29.  She came with a pantograph, headlight, but no reverse ( so i guess its going to be a hard life as a switcher ) It has the number in brass oval number plates, type 2 handrails, red pilots, and gold trim...  So here she is!

Yes she has certain led an active life!  She suffers (as do we all) the scrapes and scratches of old age, but she still works and at 95 years old, I hope I can say the same.

Fellows, many of you have commented with good thoughts and wishes and prayers for my wife.  I want you to know that I really appreciate that and it gives me joy.  Thank you.

Don

Great post Don on the Switcher and were all here for you.

@D500 posted:

Ran across this switcher thread today, so:

Recently I did a quick paint job for a friend (don't know him) of a friend over in Louisiana. Just a Lionel NW-2 turned into a NASA switcher.  White dip and decals that he provided. Painted the frame, too.

I have no idea if NASA locos ever looked like this, but it's what he wanted.  The bell was a surprising heavy brass casting.

Photos taken outside the Works, loco resting on a set of shop trucks; to be forwarded to another shop for re-engining and re-trucking:

Nice pics I like that Engine House

@trumpettrain posted:

Good afternoon fellow switcher fans!  Absolutely wonderful pics, videos, and info everyone!!  JHZ563 thanks so much for notching out the throttle to get us rolling today!   I love the Southern ALCO RS all decked out in green!   I, also tried booking some Leprechauns to make an appearance here on SWSAT only to find out they preferred to work from home.   Have a great weekend everyone!  Don't drink too much green beer

This week a Reading F 3 ( my latest acquisition ) is at the point of an Alpha Jet locomotive consist.  Trailing the F3 is a Western Maryland BL2 followed by an ALCO FA 1 on the Alphabet Route.

The Alphabet Route was a coalition of 8 different railroads connecting the mid west with the northeast US.   Those roads were the Western Maryland, Reading, CNJ, Nickel Plate, Wheeling and Lake Erie, Pittsburg and West Virginia, Lehigh & Hudson River, and the New Haven. The Alphabet Route was formed to give the New York Central, B&O, and Pennsy, competition.  The fast freights of the Alphabet Route were called Alpha Jets.  

Here's a photo of the consist moving through Patsburg on the mainline.  The BL2 follows the F3.

The BL2 digs in with all 1,500 horses.

An ALCO FA 1 brings up the rear lot the consist.

Patrick always glad to see your stuff

@jhz563 posted:

Good morning Switcher Saturday faithful, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In this weekly thread we celebrate the smaller locomotives that do the big work of railroading.   From ancient steamers and first generation diesels,  to modern road switchers,  hybrids and everything in between, we love 'em all.

The guidelines of this thread are simple; keep things somehow Switcher related,  follow the ogr tos regarding pictures,  and have fun.   Switcher Saturday is always open to all scales and gauges.

For today's kickoff image we have Lionel Southern RS-3.   I tried to schedule a Leprechaun for this picture but they were all booked this weekend!  This engine is from the end of mpc era, making it a fairly attractive and sturdy piece,  but equipped with a single motor and no horn. It has always been a reliable workhorse.

So please share your photos, videos and stories.   Have a great day everyone!

John thanks for kicking us off today the RS-3s are one of my favorites of the Switchers.

@MELGAR posted:

New York Central 0-4-0 #901 is an MTH Premier model (20-3261-1) with PS2 delivered in 2007 at MSRP $599.95.

As best I can determine, this model did not have a prototype on the New York Central Railroad. The NYC did have Class-A 0-4-0 switchers but they were built prior to 1900 (with wood cabs) and removed from service early in the 20^th century. By 1890, the NYC was buying more powerful Class-B 0-6-0 switchers.

This model is an accurately scaled Pennsylvania Railroad A-5s switcher with its Belpaire firebox slightly altered to look like a conventional radial-stay firebox. Its oval builder’s plate reads “Juniata Shops – A5 – 1917.” It is a fine O gauge 0-4-0 switcher despite being inaccurate for a New York Central engine. The tether is similar to those on MTH models with PS1. I hope MTH has retained the tooling and will make more of these in the future.

The photos and videos were taken on the O-54 loop of my 12’-by-8’ layout.

MELGAR

Mel. Great pics and videos always a pleasure to see you posting and the History behind it. Hope you are well sorry I haven’t been here especially on Saturday I work at a Feedstore on Saturdays till noon.

@RSJB18 posted:

Happy O'SWSat!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! (day late but the corned beef is better the second day, and the Guinness is still cold!)

@lee drennen- Welcome back! I hope that life's detours were manageable.

As I mentioned last week, I'm switching up the equipment on my layout to run B&O, WM, etc. The plan was to do that during the week but........so I did a quick swap of some rolling stock and engines this morning for a few new photos.
Western Maryland 196 is an ALCO RS3 model from MTH equipped with loco-sounds. These are basically glorified conventional engines with some features operable by transformer button sequences. They are good runners and have nicer detailing for the period.
Here's the prototype

Next is a B&O GP-9 # 5616 by Lionel with TMCC. This engine has not been on the layout since I added my
Cab 1L last year so I need to program it into the handheld later today. This model from 1998 is equipped with a pullmor motor and has a rooftop strobe which is a nice added feature. The stamped one piece frame and handrails are not my favorite but was a very common design from Lionel for a long time. The paint on this model is very nice though.
A brief search shows that 5616 was actually a GP7 in the plain blue paint scheme.

Have a great weekend!

Bob

Bob. Thanks glad to be back and I think things are getting back to a new normal for the better.

The internet never ceases to amaze.

Here we have a Lego 10 stud wide Davenport.  The model is considered a work in progress.   The photos are shown here with permission of reddit user u/TheKnowItAll5, who also built the model.

This thing looks great!  It's basically G scale in size, and I love the color. 😃

I forgot the BL-2 is considered a switcher.  I have one my son gave me last year.  I upgraded it to RailPro powered by battery.

I did a six part video series on the conversion.  Here is the last part with it running.  Start the video at 3:20.