Switcher Saturday 8-27-22

Good morning fellow switcher fans!  Thanks so much JHZ563 for notching out the throttle and getting our switcher thread rolling this morning!   Loved your pics of the RR Museum of PA!  Great museum for sure!!

Last week's post featured brakeman, who are an  integral part of any switch crew.  Today's post I expand a bit and feature the locomotive engineer, locomotive service crews, and brakeman.  After all , railroads would not function without the people who operate them.  

I hope you all have an exciting and fun weekend!

It's a hot muggy August day!   Hogger Amos Kingsley leans out of the cab of his Western Maryland BL2 for some fresh air as brakeman Buzz Collier gets ready to throw the switch so the BL2 can lead its' way freight down the 8.5 mile Rock River branch line.  In the background, Patapsco and Back Rivers VO1000 backs it's train into the yard.  

With it's tank and coal bunker topped off, this engine maintenance crew give this C&O 0-8-0 the once over before it goes to the ready track.

PB&R brakeman Ernie Lott will give the oncoming Western Maryland train pulled by BL2 number 81 a roll by inspection.  

Engine maintenance crew getting ready to fill the sand bins and water tank on this B&O dual service GP9.  Water tank will be topped off to fuel the steam generator so passenger cars can be heated.  Later today, this locomotive will pull an excursion train way up into the snow capped Harrisonian Mountain range where cool climate prevails.  

Brakeman Bix Farnmeister rides the front deck of this Washington Terminal RS1

jhz563,

Excellent photos. I too haven't been to a public display in a long time. Would certainly like to visit the RR Museum of PA again.

New York Central System 0-6-0 #231 is an MTH Premier model (20-3281-1) with 3-volt PS2 and a BCR2. It was listed in the 2007 Volume 2 Catalog at an MSRP of $599.95. The photos and videos show it running on the O-54 loop of my 12’-by-8’ layout.

The USRA 0-6-0 light switcher design was developed by the United States Railroad Administration when the railroads were nationalized during World War 1. The engine weight was 165,000 pounds and the tender weight was 144,000 pounds for a total of 309,000 pounds. It operated at a boiler pressure of 190 pounds-per-square-inch on 51-inch driving wheels with a tractive effort of 39,100 pounds.

The Chicago Junction Railway was a switching and terminal railroad which connected the Union Stock Yards with other railroads in the city. In 1922, the New York Central Railroad bought control of the Chicago Junction and leased it to its subsidiary, the Chicago River and Indiana Railroad (CR&IRR), for which the tender of this model is lettered. CR&IRR #231 was one of 14 USRA 0-6-0 switchers in New York Central’s B-62 class which, as best I can determine, were the only USRA 0-6-0 switcher locomotives used on the New York Central System.

MELGAR

TALES OF THE DOCKSIDER

JHZ, thanks for the highball this morning!  Great post!  I agree, ya gotta love the Reading 1251!

Reaching back into the archives again, we find a cousin of 1251, NYC X-8688, on shop duty.  She’s seen shoving B&A 4-6-6T no. 403 into the engine house.

John

Happy SWSat!

Another great start. JHZ- probably the best place in the world to hold a train show (Except York) The Pa Museum is a favorite.

Nothing new this week except that I figured out an issue with my new RS-3 (operator error).

Here's my pair of PRR "shifters", as they were referred to.

Lionel B6 0-6-0 is a Postwar Celebration Series with TMCC

K-line A5 0-4-0 conventional

Have a great weekend.

Bob

Happy switcher Sat and Great picks so far!  I need to put that PA museum on my retirement bucket list, JHZ.  Here’s my RS1 having a run around the layout -

S.S.

B&O S2 excursion run today.

Happy  SwSat everyone!

Weaver-Northern Pacific RS11.

Hello fellow forumites and hail to SWSAT!  You have some great photos from museums and I thought that I might have to add to the collection.  Last weekend the family traveled to St Louis to see our first Indy car race.  But first,  trains always take precedence.  So we stopped by the National Museum of Transportation for a look-see.  There I found the Grandaddy of all the Lionel rod connected internal combustion switchers. She's US Army number 1149, of all things, from the placard hanging on her, an experimental gas turbine engine.

Built in 1952 by the Davenport works, probably around the same time Lionel came out with theirs.

Looks familiar,  mine is Lionel Steel number 57, a TMCC  equipped unit working the Independent Scrap Iron and Steel yard.

Hope you all enjoy!

Good morning SWSAT crew!

Penn Central SW8 8623 (Lionel) does some "Yard Work":

Now, I need to do some yard work.

Tom

The Coca Cola Company has sent their Diesel switcher to the engine servicing facility of the Great Northeastern Railway for some touch-up maintenance.

Another great SWSAT kicked off by JHZ's wonderful picture from the PA RR Museum.

Here's a couple of little guys from my switching fleet.  Both 'Docksiders", the NYC from MTH and the North Pole Central from Lionel.  The NPC has appeared here before but I believe this is my first post of the NYC switcher.

Too many good posts to comment on all of them, but I can't resist making some comments.

Mel, I can tell you must have been one heck of an engineer by your attention to detail and the background research you do but I think you may have missed your calling.  You would have made a great history professor.

Steam Crazy, Bob, nice posts.

Sirt, I'm running out of superlatives to describe your posts.  I do love that building.

Don the old girl just keeps doing her job and got that Amtrak train under way right on schedule.

Strap, lots to see and do in Amish country in addition to the RR Museum and Strasburg RR.  Not a bad vacation from the summer heat down in FLA.

One other thing, while driving through Conway, SC yesterday I saw what i believed to be an RJ Corman end cab switcher, however, as I drove passed I saw the cab end actually had a "low hood" very low and very short on the cab end.  I wish I could have stopped for a photo.  Not doing any railfanning I hadn't seen anything like that before.  Any one know what type of engine that may have been?

@coach joe posted:

Here's a couple of little guys from my switching fleet.  Both 'Docksiders", the NYC from MTH and the North Pole Central from Lionel.  The NPC has appeared here before but I believe this is my first post of the NYC switcher.

Too many good posts to comment on all of them, but I can't resist making some comments.

Mel, I can tell you must have been one heck of an engineer by your attention to detail and the background research you do but I think you may have missed your calling.  You would have made a great history professor.

Joe,

Thanks for the compliment. Your MTH NYC "Dockside" switcher is very nice. I've been wanting to find one for my collection.

If you think about it, many of our favorite O gauge icons - are models of steam, diesel engines and cabooses that date back 75 to 100 years or more. So, the hobby itself is rooted in history. Consider how many O gauge enthusiasts are interested in "Pre-War" and "Post-War" Lionel from the 1930s and 1950s. We are living in the past! In my case, whenever I buy a model, I am inevitably curious about the history of its prototype to find out when, where, and how it was used. For me it's a part of model railroading. As we become older, we naturally become more interested in the past. And - I definitely fall into that "older" category...

MELGAR

Hi everyone,

Caught a 44 tonner as it was passing a Centipede.

Lionel and WbB

NEW HAVEN 0-8-0 switch engine #3400 picks up  some NEW ENGLAND COAL & COKE loads.

The engine is by MTH.

The 55 ton two bay hoppers were an Atlas-O special run for Norm’s O Scale. They had severe zinc pest but were rebuilt using replacement parts supplied by Atlas.

The NEW HAVEN NE-6 caboose is by Atlas-O. ( Were these run in the steam era?)
The 3 NEW ENGLAND COAL & COKE 2 bay hoppers in the back, are Weaver.

I am always looking for information about NEW ENGLAND COAL &  COKE.

@coach joe posted:

Another great SWSAT kicked off by JHZ's wonderful picture from the PA RR Museum.

Here's a couple of little guys from my switching fleet.  Both 'Docksiders", the NYC from MTH and the North Pole Central from Lionel.  The NPC has appeared here before but I believe this is my first post of the NYC switcher.

Joe- I have 3 of the MTH 0-4-0's. 2 B&O and the same NYC. They are great engines, heavy for their size. They have scored drivers which help with traction, but make them sound like washing machines on the rails.

Bob

From running a few weeks back

A NYO&W GM switcher in authentic livery and Thomas running a mixed passenger- freight consist.

Have a great weekend folks!
Peter

Bob, I got that MTH docksider from Nassau Hobby.  They did a set break-up and the engine was available.  They even gave me the manual.  When I read the manual it had a section about sound, I thin it mentioned a steam whistle.  My docksider made no sounds and I couldn't find any switches to turn the whistle on.  Next day back to NH at lunch, related my issue and found out the docksider was so small that the whistle was in a piece of rolling stock, the caboose I believe, so alas poor docksider no whistle for you.

@coach joe posted:

Bob, I got that MTH docksider from Nassau Hobby.  They did a set break-up and the engine was available.  They even gave me the manual.  When I read the manual it had a section about sound, I thin it mentioned a steam whistle.  My docksider made no sounds and I couldn't find any switches to turn the whistle on.  Next day back to NH at lunch, related my issue and found out the docksider was so small that the whistle was in a piece of rolling stock, the caboose I believe, so alas poor docksider no whistle for you.

One of my B&O's is part of a work train set. The caboose has what I thought was a smoke unit.....wrong. Maybe it's a whistle. I'll take a look and let you know.

@RSJB18 posted:

One of my B&O's is part of a work train set. The caboose has what I thought was a smoke unit.....wrong. Maybe it's a whistle. I'll take a look and let you know.

Yes indeed the work caboose has a digital air whistle which sound much like the post war Lionel whistling tenders.  I have one of those work cabooses.  I will try to locate a video of it sounding and post here.  

Here you go guys ... the MTH work caboose with air whistle from the MTH Docksider work train set .  Sounds just like a  Lionel post war steam locomotive whistle.

Yep..

Patrick beat me to it.

Switcher Saturday!!!

I always enjoy all the photos people post of their layouts and railroad equipment. While I love steam the most, there are many diesels that I also like. Here’s a Lionel ATSF NW2 switcher on our small 4’ x 4’ layout in the 1956 era style.

I've got a MTH ARR work caboose.  I never thought about it before but now I've got to checkand see if it's air whistle equipped.