Switcher Saturday 8-13-22

Good morning JHZ563! That is an interesting Trackmobile.

Union Pacific GP-38-2 #2048 is an MTH Premier model (20-2188-1) with PS1. It appeared in the 1998 Volume 3 Catalog at an MSRP of $299.95 and was delivered in December 1998. I purchased this engine about 24 years ago, shortly after I resumed O gauge model railroading. At that time, I was acquiring locomotives and rolling stock of many railroads and hadn’t yet begun to focus on the Northeastern railroads. I used this engine to test the trackwork and wiring during construction of my 12’-by-8’ layout. I ran it occasionally for a year or two and it’s been on the shelf just above my workbench ever since. Although I’ve looked at it almost every day, I hadn’t run it for at least fifteen years. The traction tires were intact and had no flat spots, so I did not change them. The photos and videos show the engine’s first run after light lubrication and installation of a BCR. When power was applied, the sounds began immediately and the model ran smoothly while pulling three New Haven boxcars and a K-Line UP bay-window caboose. In my opinion, MTH has always made a quality product and still does. All of my old PS1 locomotives run well.

EMD GP38-2 locomotives weigh 250,000 pounds and have a 16-cylinder 2,000 horsepower diesel engine. They have a starting tractive effort of 61,000 pounds and a maximum speed of 65 miles-per-hour. 2,213 GP38-2s were produced between 1972 and 1986.

The model is running at 30 scale-miles-per-hour in the videos.

MELGAR

Is it Saturday already? Here is a hard working 44 tonner moving some ballast loads off the mainline onto a sidetrack -

Have a great Switcher Saturday everyone!

Nice @MELGAR!  I used to have the same engine to shove a UP snowplow.   

Here’s a trackside video of my PRR NW2 pulling a consist of gondolas through town.

   S.I. Action...

                                           New Windows Update

Good morning SWSAT crew!

Penn Central GP38 7692 (K-Line) switches a grain elevator this morning:

Have a great weekend!

Tom

Happy SWSat!

The Rutland is shifting cars this week. Motive power is a WbB 70 tonner. I picked this up at Trainworld in Lynbrook last Fall. It's a nice conventional loco with the Williams Tru-blast sound system. I've discovered that the prime mover sounds don't ramp up and down when track voltage is applied from my KW due to the higher starting voltage that the transformer puts out. I'd also like to add a battery to keep the sounds alive when changing direction if I can figure out where to land the wires. The fixed pilots due cause some issues on my 027 curves with lighter cars, heavy one's are not as much of a problem. I've modified the coupler mounts and removed the centering springs which has helped a little too.

Here we see the crew picking up a couple of B&M loads and pulling an empty Rutland car for the swap at a local factory. The absence of a caboose has given the crew some issues and Management has assured them that they are looking for suitable rolling stock to add to the fleet.

Have a great weekend.

Bob

@MELGAR posted:

I purchased this engine about 24 years ago, shortly after I resumed O gauge model railroading.                                                                Although I’ve looked at it almost every day, I hadn’t run it for at least fifteen years.           

MELGAR

Nice Melgar.

I'll have to try inserting a BCR in my shirt pocket to see if I can run as well as your engine does from 15 years ago.

RSJB, the Public Delivery Track is offering a Rutland caboose in the correct NYC style (Rutland was once owned by NYC).  I ordered one to go with my Rutland 70 tonner.

John

Happy Switcher Saturday from Finland. Today I am posting pictures of the Dv15 series locomotive that served on the Finnish railways between 1958 and 2004. The Dv15 series was the first locomotive to displace steam locomotives from track yard work, and a total of 58 of them were manufactured between 1958 and 1961. The locomotives were manufactured by Valmet and Lokomo here in Finland. The engine is Tampella/MAN W8V22/30 A.m.A. Engine power 840hp. The soundscape in this locomotive is really wonderful, one of my absolute favorites. This #1991 has been put into a museum and is now hauled in museum trains, mainly in rolling stock.

PW GP Burlington moving some freight, Have a good Switcher all.

anyone have a link to a video of a trackmobile in action?

@Steam Crazy posted:

RSJB, the Public Delivery Track is offering a Rutland caboose in the correct NYC style (Rutland was once owned by NYC).  I ordered one to go with my Rutland 70 tonner.

John

Thanks John. I need a Boston and Maine too. I'll check out Beth's site.

Bob

Good morning, SwSat nation!  As I mentioned last Sat, I’m going back to the archives for posts for a few weeks.  It’s been fun looking back and I’m surprised by the amount of photos/videos I’ve accumulated.

Today’s photo was taken on 3/14/20.  D&RG GE 44 tonner no. 42 and Vulcan no. 53  are shown on what appears to be a plow extra.  The snow must be up in the mountains traversed by the D&RG, because it looks summery at the site of the photo!

John

@wb47 posted:

anyone have a link to a video of a trackmobile in action?

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Happy Switcher Saturday from Finland. Today I am posting pictures of the Dv15 series locomotive that served on the Finnish railways between 1958 and 2004. The Dv15 series was the first locomotive to displace steam locomotives from track yard work, and a total of 58 of them were manufactured between 1958 and 1961. The locomotives were manufactured by Valmet and Lokomo here in Finland. The engine is Tampella/MAN W8V22/30 A.m.A. Engine power 840hp. The soundscape in this locomotive is really wonderful, one of my absolute favorites. This #1991 has been put into a museum and is now hauled in museum trains, mainly in rolling stock.

Very nice. Would love to hear that soundset, and, the sliding engine door is something I’ve not seen before, although my knowledge of real trains might fill a thimble.

thanks rsjb18

Good morning fellow switcher fans!  Thanks JHZ563 for getting us rolling today!   Great photos, videos, and information everyone

Today I'm focusing on those small switchers, nicknamed " critters".  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

This Pennsy 44 tonner just set out a reffer of ice cream, a commodity in great demand this time of year.

Plymouth switcher on the Mountain Division.

Plymouth and Docksider.  Docksider on the main of the Mountain Division with a short string of pulpwood cars.

Plymouth takes a siding as Dockside passes on the Mountain Division main.  

When we visited the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad, my friend Joey had arranged a surprise for us, our own caboose on the train. It was amazing to experience what it's like to sit up there in the brakeman's seat. Amazing trip. I could also get myself one Bachmann 70 tonner and paint it in B&ML colors.

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

Happy Switcher Saturday from Finland. Today I am posting pictures of the Dv15 series locomotive that served on the Finnish railways between 1958 and 2004. The Dv15 series was the first locomotive to displace steam locomotives from track yard work, and a total of 58 of them were manufactured between 1958 and 1961. The locomotives were manufactured by Valmet and Lokomo here in Finland. The engine is Tampella/MAN W8V22/30 A.m.A. Engine power 840hp. The soundscape in this locomotive is really wonderful, one of my absolute favorites. This #1991 has been put into a museum and is now hauled in museum trains, mainly in rolling stock.

Johan,

I hope you enjoyed your vacation in Maine and got some ideas for new scenes on your model railroad. The Dv15 locomotive is interesting, and so are the wood-sided passenger cars in these photos. Do you know when these cars were built and retired from service? They look to be in very good condition. Has anyone made a model of a Dv15?

MELGAR

Johan, a Rutland may be a good start.  Just have to change the striping.

Still moving coal on the Utacolzona R.R.

Thanks for looking.     Dennis

Utacolzona Railroad in On30 (2020 - 2022) Update 8/13/22

@MELGAR posted:

Johan,

I hope you enjoyed your vacation in Maine and got some ideas for new scenes on your model railroad. The Dv15 locomotive is interesting, and so are the wood-sided passenger cars in these photos. Do you know when these cars were built and retired from service? They look to be in very good condition. Has anyone made a model of a Dv15?

MELGAR

MELGAR,

The trip was a really wonderful experience and I did get a lot of ideas, as well as, for example, background images. The wooden passenger cars currently owned by HMVY were built in the 1920s-1950s, the last wooden passenger cars were still in active use at the end of the 1980s. At least I don't know that the Dv15 or Dv16 series was made into a commercial series, which is a shame. Instead, the Dv12 series has been made into a very high-quality kit for the H0 scale.

Johan

@BAR GP7 #63 posted:

When we visited the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad, my friend Joey had arranged a surprise for us, our own caboose on the train. It was amazing to experience what it's like to sit up there in the brakeman's seat. Amazing trip. I could also get myself one Bachmann 70 tonner and paint it in B&ML colors.

Johan, I hope you had a great time in beautiful Maine. Love that state. If I lived in the East, that’s where I would want to be with Vermont a close second. I live in California and our natural beauty here is unsurpassed, too.

I have a WilliamsbB 70 tonner in Southern Pacific livery and can vouch for them being very nice engines. Train World in NYC is selling them for $159 and 44 tonners for $149, last I checked. Good value there.
Take care.  

@Dave Warburton posted:

Johan, I hope you had a great time in beautiful Maine. Love that state. If I lived in the East, that’s where I would want to be with Vermont a close second. I live in California and our natural beauty here is unsurpassed, too.

I have a WilliamsbB 70 tonner in Southern Pacific livery and can vouch for them being very nice engines. Train World in NYC is selling them for $159 and 44 tonners for $149, last I checked. Good value there.
Take care.  

Dave,

The trip was really successful and the rent car's odometer must have accumulated more than 2500 miles. We even went right to the Canadian border and it was great to photograph the CN freight trains on the other side of the river. It's unbelievable what a hobby can lead to. I really appreciate how much the guys I've met before only on Facebook had gone to the trouble of organizing memorable experiences for us.

I have previously ordered a 44-ton one from Trainworld, but now I have to put a 70-ton one on the purchase list as well.

Johan

@Dave Warburton posted:

Johan, I hope you had a great time in beautiful Maine. Love that state. If I lived in the East, that’s where I would want to be with Vermont a close second. I live in California and our natural beauty here is unsurpassed, too.

I have a WilliamsbB 70 tonner in Southern Pacific livery and can vouch for them being very nice engines. Train World in NYC is selling them for $159 and 44 tonners for $149, last I checked. Good value there.
Take care.  

https://youtu.be/fO3qrGxvzGQ

Johan! Thank you, Fantastic footage! Happy you had a great time!
sorry I could not attend any of these happenings. Due to prior hospital coverage  commitments I was engaged for many shifts. Would have enjoyed meeting you.
always happy to see your modeling work. Thanks for all your contributions.

Speaking of California, here's some switching going on at the intermodal facility on my home layout. Next is some real switching going on not far from my home in nearby San Francisco.

@Leroof posted:

Johan! Thank you, Fantastic footage! Happy you had a great time!
sorry I could not attend any of these happenings. Due to prior hospital coverage  commitments I was engaged for many shifts. Would have enjoyed meeting you.
always happy to see your modeling work. Thanks for all your contributions.

Leroof.

Glad to hear you liked the footage. Maybe we'll have another chance to meet sometime.

Johan

Well SwSat Fans, its late and I just finished the 2nd day of 10 hrs of driving to get back home from vacation.  So I am just going to grab some photos and hope that those who follow this thread will enjoy them.

First, I am going to follow Patrick and show my WbB Southern 44 ton switcher pulling a refer full of "Blue Bell" ice cream into town.  Good for all those weekend picnic's and ice cream cones.

Next a KLINE UP MP-15 moves a short load out of the industrial wharf area and towards the yard.

Finally just for fun, since it is brutally hot here in Central Texas, everyone needs ICE to cool off and to keep that Ice Cream frozen at the Church Picnic tomorrow.  So here is the local ice truck.

Best wishes everyone.  Great pictures all.

Don

Johan, It occurred to me that the many times I came across nearly the same trackage as you filmed I never saw a train in action! It looked like you had the schedules arranged! Great footage.

I can offer you two interesting photos here in Rockland  yard.

new switcher/ branch line from New York finger lakes region specifically for coastal Maine. Did you see this one?

See you on the forums until sometime in the future.

Switcher Saturday is my favorite weekly meeting place here on OGR!

Leroof - Is there some NYC connection with your Midcoast Rail Service switcher, can't miss the "lightening stripes" livery?

Don

Don, Not wanting to go off topic. Will start a different topic  related to the photos.

Johan! These O scale switcher photos are specially for you!
Note: they are a friend’s  modeling on his home BML layout!

Johan, You may have seen my HH MEC switcher on his layout possibly on other forums.

It is here for all Switcher Saturday friends!

Leroof-understand copy

Don

@Leroof posted:

Johan, It occurred to me that the many times I came across nearly the same trackage as you filmed I never saw a train in action! It looked like you had the schedules arranged! Great footage.

I can offer you two interesting photos here in Rockland  yard.

new switcher/ branch line from New York finger lakes region specifically for coastal Maine. Did you see this one?

See you on the forums until sometime in the future.

Switcher Saturday is my favorite weekly meeting place here on OGR!

Leroof,

We didn't manage to see it during our trip. When we visited Rockland, CP was still there once, and the other time was on the return trip to Boston, and only CP GP38-2 was there then. I especially would have liked the pictures of the train on the banks of Wiscasset, where there were amazingly beautiful landscapes, but even the locals had no idea when those trains run.

Johan

@Leroof posted:

Johan! These O scale switcher photos are specially for you!
Note: they are a friend’s  modeling on his home BML layout!

Leroof,

Nice 👏. Looking so good and the details of the locomotives are apparently just right as are the differences in the headlights.

Johan

@Leroof posted:

Johan, You may have seen my HH MEC switcher on his layout possibly on other forums.

It is here for all Switcher Saturday friends!

Leroof,

Probably Facebook Maine Central modellers group. Beautiful Switcher.

Johan