SWITCHER SATURDAY August 12, 2023 EDITION

Thanks to Bob and Patrick for keeping SWSAT functional...

Another western locomotive for me this week.

Union Pacific GP38-2 #2048 is an early MTH model (20-2188-1, MSRP $299.95, 1998) with PS1 and a BCR. Although it’s a Premier version it has molded-in hand-grabs on the hood and lacks tread pattern on the walkways so, in some ways it’s not even up to current Railking standards but still looks well running on my layouts. I used this engine to test the track installation and wiring when building my 12’-by-8’ layout around 1999 but it has been run infrequently since. I don’t recall ever changing the traction tires on this engine.

The GP38-2 is an upgraded GP38 with 2000 horsepower built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. EMD built 2,213 GP38-2s between 1972 and 1986 and UP owned sixty with road numbers from #2000 to #2059. They had a starting tractive effort of 61,000 pounds (continuous 54,700 pounds) and maximum speed of 65 miles-per-hour.

Videos show UP #2048 running at 24 scale miles-per-hour on my 10’-by-5’ layout.

MELGAR

Switcher Saturday.

An early SW1 switcher working at the small lumber mill.

Happy switcher Saturday and thanks to our latest guest host, @trumpettrain, for kicking things off. Here is my little 44 tonner doing what she does best. I love the sounds on this little beauty -

Happy SWSat!

Thanks Patrick for taking on the Yardmaster duties on short notice. Thank you for the kind words as well. I can't take all the credit since the 20 or so regulars that make up SWSat Nation all contribute to make this the best weekly thread on OGR! I'm sure John is checking in each week and keeping an eye on us switcher crazy people too.

I asked for a replacement because it has been a crazy week of cancelled vacations and many trips to the hospital (hence the cancellation). Without digressing from trains too much, my wife's mother called us last Saturday (we were leaving Sunday), that she wasn't feeling well. She had called her Doctor who told her to go to the ER. A pacemaker was implanted on Monday........ My father in law needed to be taken care of as well (they are both in their late 80's). So needless to say, trains were the least important thing in the RSJB house this week. Good news is that she came home yesterday and is doing well.

So back to switchers......just a few quick shots of whats on the layout at the moment. Featured are 2 SW-1's, Boston and Maine, and Reading. And a RS-3 also Boston and Maine. All are MTH Railking models, the B&M SW-1 is PS-3 and the others are PS-2.

I think the new Reading 0-6-0t LionChief may be joining the fleet soon- or the New Haven, or the.......

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Bob

Good morning, SwSat faithful!  Thanks, Patrick, for showing us the green and posting photos of that rare HH660.

Lawn moving duty awaits your Yardmaster today, so it’s a quick run to the archives for today’s post.  He decided to show one of his favorite trains, NH 0-6-0 no. 2334 with a consist of Narragansett Beer reefers.  He does, in fact, have some cold Gansetts in the fridge, so he might treat himself to one after the work is done!

John

Wow, @RSJB18 , glad to hear everyone is ok and you were able to cancel the vacation.  

@Strap Hanger posted:

Wow, @RSJB18 , glad to hear everyone is ok and you were able to cancel the vacation.  

We had first switched to this week (leaving tomorrow), and then had to cancel. The resort was great and offered to let us book another week for up to a year from now and we would not loose the reservation deposit.

Thanks

Thanks for kicking us off Patrick.
Glad things worked out for your and your family Bob.

Great posts so far guys, keep them coming.

Here is #450 placing a couple of hoppers for the Long Island Coal Company.

Andy

@RSJB18 - Glad to hear your mother in law is doing well and recovering, glad Dad is OK as well.  Hope you get to take that vacation you deserve it and so does your family!!

Well here is my offering today.  the Lionel # 8912 Amtrak Industrial Switcher.  Here pictured moving an Express freight car around getting ready to attach it to the Amtrak train headed from Savannah to Washington D.C. 

Best wishes, hope your weekend is going well.  Keep safe and watch the heat!

Don

From the resident train nut (Jimmy Don McCraddon) that lives in the Arkansas Ozark region wherein the Kansas City & Gulf runs through on its way to the Gulf...

Autumn, 1964...

Lately the KC&G has been keepin' a small switcher for the switchin' chores up at Mountain Springs instead of one of them road switchers (like a GP7). I heard from the KC&G crews that given the KC&G's financial straits they's in (bankrupt, tryin' to reorganize) they need their road switchers out on the road and not being used at an outlying town as a day job switcher.

Yup, the KC&G needs new power, but the bucks are hard to come by right now, and what bucks they kin make has to be spent on their track n' stuff.

So here of late, ol'  D-10 has been doin' the chores at Mountain Springs. Ol'  D-10 wuz the first diesel the KC&G ever bought way back in 1939! Who'd a' thought that ol' gal would still be a chuggin'  in 1964! Yup, its 25 year old paint is shore showin' the wear 'n tear... but the ol' girl is still at it pullin' her share of the load fer the KC&G!

Here's a pic I snapped of ol' D-10 as it was puttering about switchin' the town of Mountain Springs up there in the Ozarks of Arkansas...

About the model:

I've been on a painting kick of late, trying to get more of my undecorated, but in-service, Kansas City & Gulf (fictional theme) engines into paint. The D-10 is one of six units I've painted/lettered/weathered in the past 3 months.

The model is an Atlas "Silver" engine that comes DCC-ready. I had a Tsunami 2 sound decoder installed along with a "keep alive". It runs and sounds great.

It's been mighty slow going, but I'm trying to stay at it with the paint work so I can make a dent in the undecorated in-service, engines at work on my KC&G Ozark Sub layout.

Andre

It's been awhile since checking in on Switcher Saturday but thought I'd add my photo of #84 MA&PA in York

@RSJB18 posted:

Happy SWSat!

Thanks Patrick for taking on the Yardmaster duties on short notice. Thank you for the kind words as well. I can't take all the credit since the 20 or so regulars that make up SWSat Nation all contribute to make this the best weekly thread on OGR! I'm sure John is checking in each week and keeping an eye on us switcher crazy people too.

I asked for a replacement because it has been a crazy week of cancelled vacations and many trips to the hospital (hence the cancellation). Without digressing from trains too much, my wife's mother called us last Saturday (we were leaving Sunday), that she wasn't feeling well. She had called her Doctor who told her to go to the ER. A pacemaker was implanted on Monday........ My father in law needed to be taken care of as well (they are both in their late 80's). So needless to say, trains were the least important thing in the RSJB house this week. Good news is that she came home yesterday and is doing well.

So back to switchers......just a few quick shots of whats on the layout at the moment. Featured are 2 SW-1's, Boston and Maine, and Reading. And a RS-3 also Boston and Maine. All are MTH Railking models, the B&M SW-1 is PS-3 and the others are PS-2.

I think the new Reading 0-6-0t LionChief may be joining the fleet soon- or the New Haven, or the.......

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Bob

Wow, you have had your hands full! Believe me, been there, done that. It is really draining.
i hope that you are able to reschedule your vacation or at least have a getaway. Best of luck. And improved health for your folks, too.

@Don McErlean posted:

@RSJB18 - Glad to hear your mother in law is doing well and recovering, glad Dad is OK as well.  Hope you get to take that vacation you deserve it and so does your family!!

Well here is my offering today.  the Lionel # 8912 Amtrak Industrial Switcher.  Here pictured moving an Express freight car around getting ready to attach it to the Amtrak train headed from Savannah to Washington D.C.

Best wishes, hope your weekend is going well.  Keep safe and watch the heat!

Don

Those little Vulcan-type switchers that Lionel made in the early 1990s are just for fun. Man, they can fly, too. Gotta be careful with the juice. They’re a great inexpensive choice as an add-on to starter sets or for running around the Christmas tree pulling a couple of 027 cars. Because they can also run on AC electricity, they are useful on a regular layout, too. I have one to this day.

Had this custom  painted. I like local railroads. This was a nice train ride in Schenley Pa. About  15 miles from my home.Now gone. They had some passenger cars a open  car also.Sad that it is gone.  Still alive in my basement. Might have the other cars done someday.

@Dave Warburton- Dave thank you for your comment.  I really didn't know much about this little gal, just picked her up at a train show for fun and yes she was inexpensive.

Best Wishes Don

Here are two pics from my newly-acquired Lionel set. Mid-1960s promo set as you can see. Lionel #19333 for JCPenneys. It came with the very basic 027 cars from that genre but sports an 0-4-0  version of the #1062 Scout loco. However, it is paired up with the scarce Southern Pacific #1130-type tender. Also a somewhat hard to find #6076 Hopper in ATSF livery.
I include the loco here since as an 0-4-0 it kinda qualifies as a switcher. Right? Anyway, a rare and fun little set.

I have been collecting cataloged and especially cheap-o promo sets from the sixties of late. Big fun!  Very colorful, for sure. I even put together an all-unlettered freight set (including the tender) I call it "The Erehwon Local."

@Don McErlean posted:

@Dave Warburton- Dave thank you for your comment.  I really didn't know much about this little gal, just picked her up at a train show for fun and yes she was inexpensive.

Best Wishes Don

Don, I believe that these babies were catalogued around 1991 or 92? As I recall, they were made in Rio Grande, CSX, Union Pacific, and your Amtrak liveries. Priced at $35 or so, I think?  Never catalogued again in this configuration.

@Dave Warburton posted:

Here are two pics from my newly-acquired Lionel set. Mid-1960s promo set as you can see. Lionel #19333 for JCPenneys. It came with the very basic 027 cars from that genre but sports an 0-4-0  version of the #1062 Scout loco. However, it is paired up with the scarce Southern Pacific #1130-type tender. Also a somewhat hard to find #6076 Hopper in ATSF livery.
I include the loco here since as an 0-4-0 it kinda qualifies as a switcher. Right? Anyway, a rare and fun little set.

I have been collecting cataloged and especially cheap-o promo sets from the sixties of late. Big fun!  Very colorful, for sure. I even put together an all-unlettered freight set (including the tender) I call it "The Erehwon Local."

Hi Dave - thank for posting and telling us about the 0-4-0 set!   For some reason your second photo is not showing.  

@Dave Warburton - Just so you know you are not alone ...I am also fascinated by the "low end" sets that I collect just for fun.  I have a Lionel set (engine, tender, gondola and caboose - all unmarked) that I believe sold for $9.95 and was the lowest price set Lionel ever produced - sadly I didn't have a picture of that.  However, all the toy train manufacturers did similar things.  Shown below is the Marx version of the low end set...Set 1479, a "Marlines" set with all the cars so marked.  I imagine that when Marx wanted a low end version he used "Marlines" vice a real RR to (perhaps) save on licensing fees?  All 4 wheel plastic single mold cars including the tender, plastic 0-4-0 engine is forward only and not even a headlight...this set from 1952.  However, in what represents good value I suppose, she runs fine after 71 years.

Best Wishes

Don

@trumpettrain posted:

Hi Dave - thank for posting and telling us about the 0-4-0 set!   For some reason your second photo is not showing.  

Yeah, I just saw that just now. i think I got it added OK now.  Thanks!

@trumpettrain posted:

Hi Dave - thank for posting and telling us about the 0-4-0 set!   For some reason your second photo is not showing.  

@Don McErlean posted:

@Dave Warburton - Just so you know you are not alone ...I am also fascinated by the "low end" sets that I collect just for fun.  I have a Lionel set (engine, tender, gondola and caboose - all unmarked) that I believe sold for $9.95 and was the lowest price set Lionel ever produced - sadly I didn't have a picture of that.  However, all the toy train manufacturers did similar things.  Shown below is the Marx version of the low end set...a "Marlines" set with all the cars so marked.  I imagine that when Marx wanted a low end version he used "Marlines" vice a real RR to (perhaps) save on licensing fees?  All 4 wheel plastic single mold cars including the tender, plastic 0-4-0 engine is forward only and not even a headlight...this set from 1952.  However, in what represents good value I suppose, she runs fine after 71 years.

Best Wishes

Don

Don, yes it sure take me back to a simpler time with lots of good memories. My first train at age four in 1952 was a Marx tinplate AA diesel set. My mom liked to say (to my irritation) that I got more enjoyment out of it than my later Lionel acquisitions. Maybe she was right; I sure can't remember. Even now I have a couple of Marx sets for old-times sake. I have quite a few of their trackside accessories and use a couple on my layout still. Plus both the large Glendale (a beauty!) and the smaller tinplate stations.

My New Haven at the club and Morgan's NH diesal at the club.

WTG Trumptrain great photos, Thanks for stepping in

A "group" video for this SWSAT:

These are in the order that I've acquired them and will be featured in the weeks ahead. Thanks to Patrick for rolling us out today, and all of you SWSAT'ers who make SWSAT possible on OGRF and inspired me to acquire my switchers.

@Dave Warburton posted:

Here are two pics from my newly-acquired Lionel set. Mid-1960s promo set as you can see. Lionel #19333 for JCPenneys. It came with the very basic 027 cars from that genre but sports an 0-4-0  version of the #1062 Scout loco. However, it is paired up with the scarce Southern Pacific #1130-type tender. Also a somewhat hard to find #6076 Hopper in ATSF livery.
I include the loco here since as an 0-4-0 it kinda qualifies as a switcher. Right? Anyway, a rare and fun little set.

I have been collecting cataloged and especially cheap-o promo sets from the sixties of late. Big fun!  Very colorful, for sure. I even put together an all-unlettered freight set (including the tender) I call it "The Erehwon Local."

Cheapo? Dave, I would have DIED for a set like this as a kid! All I ever got from Penney's was underwear and socks!

Hello fellow SWSAT posters!   Thanks so much for another great edition of Switcher Saturday!   As always, all of you have maintained this thread's rich history of wonderful photos, video, and information about our beloved switching locomotives.     Please continue to post your photos throughout the week!  

JHZ563 - John I hope you got a chance to check in and take a peek of today's SWSAT!   We look forward to your return

Bob - I am happy to hear your mother-in-law is feeling better!  May she continue to improve.  I hope you and your wife get at least a bit of down time to recharge your batteries.  

Here's a photo of my Lionel postwar NW2 switcher which I bought with money earned from cutting lawns when I was in 7th grade.   She's doing business on the Mountain Division and so is the guy in the outhouse.  

Patrick “Trumptrain,” thanks for stepping up today and moving the consist along!  Great job. See you all next week. Stay safe, everyone.

A big thanks Patrick.

Another Switcher Saturday brings out another switcher shot.

Patrick, your story about the purchase of your NW2 reminds me about my postwar No. 736 Berkshire.  I bought it in 1960 from Madison Hardware with the money I earned cleaning my friend’s father’s shop.  I believe the cost was $50.00.  I remember being so excited because it was my first smoking, whistling steamer!

John

@trumpettrain- Thanks for taking over this week Patrick. Things are settling down around here just a bit so I should be good to start us up again next week. I had a NY Daily News route and cut lawns for a lot of the people on my route. Bought me a lot of trains, and other toys in my youth.

Thanks to all for your well wishes for my MiL. She's like the energizer bunny at 88 so when she goes down it's a surprise.

@Bill Swatos- A cautionary tale from a current Switcher-a-holic.....

I said the same thing about how SWSat got me going on my switcher addiction....

Bob

Switcher Saturday!…I so look forward to this topic (and a couple of others) every week…wish I had something to post that was meaningful…but don’t…however I will continue to be an avid follower!…

Howard…sweltering here in the record setting Florida heat and humidity…

Howard, if you have a switcher (or close facsimile), you have something to share!  The SwSat crew is one of the most inclusive and non judgmental groups I’ve ever been associated with.  Sometimes I get the most likes on posts that I thought weren’t so good (and vice versa).

Give it a try.  There’s no such thing as a bad SwSat post!

John

Here's another view of my switcher for this week - UP #2048 - and its train...

MELGAR

On30 Utacolzona Railroad sitting quiet and ready for Monday morning work to begin.

Utacolzona Railroad in On30 (built 2020 - 2022) Last Update 7/30/23

Happy Switcher Saturday,

This weekend I'm posting from my archives. Pics taken at Essex Steam Train & Riverboat, Essex CT.

@trumpettrain Patrick, wow, beautiful pictures, great write up, and your starting Switcher Saturday this weekend was fantastic, thank you, @RSJB18 Bob, thank you very much for your kind help to, and Jhz563, we miss you, thank you for keeping this great thread alive, it’s so much fun to review. Happy Railroading Everyone

@Bill Swatos- What a collection of BEEPS, I stopped at 3 but I do love them.  In regards to your Christmas gifts from JCP...well at least certain key parts of you were warm and clean !

@RSJB18- What a collection!  Now you have to get them movin' on the layout!

@sawdust43 - Howard - pictures or not we love having you along.  Welcome!

@Dallas Joseph - That is really a beautiful switcher, detail is really well done, who did that?

@leapinlarry - Love that green "Safety First" switcher it runs so smooth and quiet...great video's friend.

Best Wishes everyone, Its 107 here is central Texas today am staying inside in the AC.

Don