Switcher Saturday Mark II!, 3/21/2020

It's a quiet start to the morning here in the Valley. Our little 0-4-0 is busy switching cars outside Packsaddle Narrows.

Thinking of a Happy and Safe SWSAT for All Here!

Speakina' Switchers, my favorite prototype is the EMD Sw1500 with Flexicoil trucks and Big Brown brought one yesterday to the PER, another  MTH PS3 SW1500:

I'm from the Steel City so I couldn't resist this Beauty:

USS did indeed have an SW1500 which, according to Don Ross was built in 1972 as Penn Central #9542, later Conrail 9542, was sold to Bessemer in 1997 and became USS #150 in 2003. Don hosts a pic of it in Conrail livery on his website:

https://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr1103/cr9542.jpg

Old and older. USS Sw1500 model foreground and Shawmut SW9 pics on the wall behind.

Lew, that's really sharp!! And the black paint scheme really pops against your lighter background,  great photos 👍

Happy SWSat- The Hibernation Edition

The world has gotten a bit crazy.....hope all are well.

So Lew.... If a pair of US Steel SW-1500's had a baby.......

And his friends

On a sad note, I had to send my new to me MTH PC SW-8 back to the seller for repair. It's just not running right and they said they would take a look at it. Hopefully it can be repaired and returned soon. I really like the paint job on this one.

Hope everyone has enough toilet paper......

Stay healthy and safe.

Bob

As always, it is the late 40s on the Pomfret Division and an A5s is moving a couple of H21a hoppers into position at the coaling tower.  On its way it passes an ARS10s pulling some X-29s.  While most railroads got rid of their 0-4-0s in the late 20s and early 30s, the Pennsy kept theirs until the end of steam in 1957.

The A-5 is K-Line.  Everything else is AtlasO.

Switchers on the Seattle & Yakima RR

My Long Island Railroad B6sb #2015 by K-line. I’m staying at home, watching the news and reading the OGR Forum.

MELGAR

Happy SWSAT everyone! Buzz has the day off so enjoy some of his archive pics

Waiting for orders .

Hello All.

I used to be a contributor to the old SWSat. I removed myself and have not posted for a few years now. I do check in occasionally (I am happy to see some familiar faces @MELGAR). Today I felt like posting today after a week of “working from home” and self quarantine with my wife and three kids in New York City. 

I currently don’t have a layout at home. I am a member of NYSME in Carlstadt NJ. So that is my layout. I have transitioned to a 2rail o scaler so that is what I am posting. 

Here is an unrestored Thomas Industries B&O C16a 0-4-0 running light with a bobber. It probably dates from the early 60’s or late 50’s. The bobber is a wood kit someone else did a nice job on. 

The C16a was the modified version of the familiar C16 dockside saddletank engine that is so familiar to all modelers. Remove the tank and add a tender and there you go.

Please notice that the rods are down like @PRR8976 likes them. 

Thanks for letting me post.-Andy

Thomas thought he could handle the local all by himself today:

We'll just let him keep thinking that

Stay safe, everyone.

Tom

Ailing NYC 0-4-0 no. 901 is being towed to the roundhouse by the shop switcher, sturdy little NYC Docksider no. X-8688.

Hi Andy, thanks for posting today!

@Silver Lake

SW-SAAaaaaaaaaT! (Like the old "Wha's Uppppppppppp!" commercial.)

Here's a short clip of a Wienie Train switcher! 

What you're seeing is a brief video that illustrates the nice sounds my DCC/Sound guy was able to pack into a vintage HO Kato NW2. It required milling the frame casting as well as installing some of the configuration (speaker and "Keep Alive) inside the cab.

However, I think the sound results were surprisingly good for such a compact engine.

You guys in big ol' O scale ought to be thankful for the space you have for speakers and components!

Andre

Good to see you post Andy @Silver Lake

Feel free to drop in anytime. All are welcome, old and new.

Hope all is well.

Bob

Silver Lake posted:

Hello All.

I used to be a contributor to the old SWSat. I removed myself and have not posted for a few years now. I do check in occasionally (I am happy to see some familiar faces @MELGAR). Today I felt like posting today after a week of “working from home” and self quarantine with my wife and three kids in New York City.

Andy,

Thanks for the mention. Happy to see you back and hope we someday have the opportunity to meet in person. I miss your always interesting SWSAT posts from the past. Stay inside. New York City will bounce back and you'll again be able to go out and photograph railroad yards in the Bronx. And, as usual, an interesting train in your post.

MELGAR

Hi fellow switcher fans!  Great pics and videos so far today guys!  Andy ( Silver lake ) it's great to see you post again .... your photos of the B&O C-16 modified look terrific!! 

Today on the Free State Junction Railway we start with a B&O C-16 ( inspired by Andy's post ) steaming it up on the service track with a 0-8-0 directly behind at the sand tower .. the mighty Trainmaster road switcher in Virginian livery, next I've included a photo of my Lionel PW NW2 Santa Fe switcher which I bought with my lawn mowing money when I was in 6th grade ... next is a B&O SW9 on the ready track, 3 short line end cab switchers, 0-8-0 pushes a REA express reffer as a brakeman rides the foot stirrup, and we end with a B&O dockside and SW 9.

Have a wonderful weekend!  Stay safe and healthy!

trumptrain posted:

Hi fellow switcher fans!  Great pics and videos so far today guys!  Andy ( Silver lake ) it's great to see you post again .... your photos of the B&O C-16 modified look terrific!! 

Today on the Free State Junction Railway we start with a B&O C-16 ( inspired by Andy's post ) steaming it up on the service track with a 0-8-8 directly behind at the sand tower .. the mighty Trainmaster road switcher in Virginian livery, next I've included a photo of my Lionel PW NW2 Santa Fe switcher which I bought with my lawn mowing money when I was in 6th grade ... next is a B&O SW9 on the ready track, 3 short line end cab switchers, 0-8-0 pushes a REA express reffer as a brakeman rides the stirrup, and we end with a B&O dockside and SW 9.

Have a wonderful weekend!  Stay safe and healthy!

 

Nice shots Patrick'... The smoke from the steamer looks real'.. Nice work........

                 happy "SWSat" everyone !!

                                            have a great weekend !!

Silver Lake posted:

Hello All.

I used to be a contributor to the old SWSat. I removed myself and have not posted for a few years now. I do check in occasionally (I am happy to see some familiar faces @MELGAR). Today I felt like posting today after a week of “working from home” and self quarantine with my wife and three kids in New York City. 

I currently don’t have a layout at home. I am a member of NYSME in Carlstadt NJ. So that is my layout. I have transitioned to a 2rail o scaler so that is what I am posting. 

Here is an unrestored Thomas Industries B&O C16a 0-4-0 running light with a bobber. It probably dates from the early 60’s or late 50’s. The bobber is a wood kit someone else did a nice job on. 

The C16a was the modified version of the familiar C16 dockside saddletank engine that is so familiar to all modelers. Remove the tank and add a tender and there you go.

Please notice that the rods are down like @PRR8976 likes them. 

Thanks for letting me post.-Andy

Welcome back, SL. Please join us here every week if you can. Even the creator of SWSat, Rich Murnane, stopped by last week!  

Got this Thomas Industries 0-4-0 switcher a few days back. It was missing the tender frame but I had a complete tender so good to go. That said it still needs some work..

Silver Lake posted:

Hello All.

I used to be a contributor to the old SWSat. I removed myself and have not posted for a few years now. I do check in occasionally (I am happy to see some familiar faces @MELGAR). Today I felt like posting today after a week of “working from home” and self quarantine with my wife and three kids in New York City. 

I currently don’t have a layout at home. I am a member of NYSME in Carlstadt NJ. So that is my layout. I have transitioned to a 2rail o scaler so that is what I am posting. 

Here is an unrestored Thomas Industries B&O C16a 0-4-0 running light with a bobber. It probably dates from the early 60’s or late 50’s. The bobber is a wood kit someone else did a nice job on. 

The C16a was the modified version of the familiar C16 dockside saddletank engine that is so familiar to all modelers. Remove the tank and add a tender and there you go.

Please notice that the rods are down like @PRR8976 likes them. 

Thanks for letting me post.-Andy

Would love it if you have a pictures of the motor and out it is installed in your Thomas 0-4-0.  I have one missing the motor...

Hi all,

USMC switcher pulling on track 2 today on the RiCHY RR (Richmond, Chesapeake, and Hudson Yard & Railroad).  

Please pay no attention to that big 'ol Berkshire making all the noise on track 1 :-) 

Dennis Holler posted:

Silver Lake posted:

 

Please notice that the rods are down like @PRR8976 likes them. 

Thanks for letting me post.-Andy

Would love it if you have a pictures of the motor and out it is installed in your Thomas 0-4-0.  I have one missing the motor...

Dennis, no offense intended, but do you know how to "reply with quote" with editing?

Pingman posted:

Dennis Holler posted:

Silver Lake posted:

 

Please notice that the rods are down like @PRR8976 likes them. 

Thanks for letting me post.-Andy

Would love it if you have a pictures of the motor and out it is installed in your Thomas 0-4-0.  I have one missing the motor...

Dennis, no offense intended, but do you know how to "reply with quote" with editing?

Dennis, I actually have two of these Thomas Industries C16a units. They are both quite different. One has probably an after market open frame engine. It has a manual reverse. The other has the original custom Pittman that was made to fit in the engine box and boiler. I have heard that some of these had tender mounted engines so maybe that is an option. These were also made as three rail O scale engines.

There is a pretty good timeline and history of TI on the Western TCA manufacturer’s webpage.

Good luck in your restoration. 
Here is my other one. You can see the tail of the motor sticking out the firebox.

Happy Switcher Saturday.

IMO, johan, you are as true model railroad artist. Beautiful scenery along your track. Looks so real. Great color too. Arnold

BAR GP7, really like your ME RR layout.  I'm from MA, but have vacationed in ME for 35 years and my daughter and family now live near Augusta.  I'm looking forward to increasing my collection of ME RR stuff.  Nice work!

Hi Switcher Saturday Folks...I had a couple of entries for today. 

The first is the Marx Cape Canaveral Express...NASA did have a railroad at Canaveral (Kennedy today) but the locos were much more conservative than this one.  This is a "just for fun" Marx invention.

Here is a much closer to prototypical, Lionel GP-7.  In Lionel world, at least postwar era, if the loco had a dynamic brake blister it was a GP-9 and if not it was a GP-7.  This is interesting since according to a recent article on the development of the GP locomotive in  "Classic Trains"  dynamic brakes were available for either model.  Oh well, such is our little world.

K

Keep healthy everyone...stay home - play trains !!

Don McErlean

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

IMO, johan, you are as true model railroad artist. Beautiful scenery along your track. Looks so real. Great color too. Arnold

Arnold. Thank you very much. I'm just trying to do something I really like.

Johan

Steam Crazy posted:

BAR GP7, really like your ME RR layout.  I'm from MA, but have vacationed in ME for 35 years and my daughter and family now live near Augusta.  I'm looking forward to increasing my collection of ME RR stuff.  Nice work!

Steam Crazy. Thank you very much. I live about 6000km from Maine here in South Finland. South Finland looking quite same than Maine, expect we dont have the mountains here in South. 

Johan

Here’s my Atlas GP15-1 that I acquired earlier in the month.  I have the three horn chime and bell from Atlas to replace the ones missing.  Just waiting for some Harbor Mist gray paint to arrive to paint them before installing.   Someone converted it to MTH PS1, my plan is to eventually convert it to PS3.

Larry

A great SWSAT this past weekend.  Regulars like Johan, Pat, Mel and Arnold, old friends like Andy and Rich making a comeback.  Thanks JHZ for keeping us going.

Andy I really miss the photos of you wandering around Manhattan and the Bronx.  Stop by more often.

@Dennis Holler posted:

Would love it if you have a pictures of the motor and out it is installed in your Thomas 0-4-0.  I have one missing the motor...

Here's a photo of the motor in one of mine with the shell off. These motors are pretty unique, especially with the reverse switch underneath the motor.

And here's it removed... The piece sticking out the front is actually the spring for the front drivers.

I actually have a parts motor for one of these, it's missing the original brush plate, brushes, and springs though, and it needs a new commutator (I've actually got a replacement on the way right now). It might be possible to source those parts off of other Pittman motors from the time.

Here's my two Thomas 0-4-0's, one has the older sand cast cab and the other has the diecast cab. I got the unpainted one in a partially completed state, I had to completely go through it and finish it, there were a lot of problems with it. Both have their original motors and run, I had to rewind one of the motors and even 3D print a new brush plate (on the motor above).

@Silver Lake Sorry to say, but that first 0-4-0 is not Thomas, at least the engine. The tender is though. Not sure who made it.