Switcher Saturday- Mark II, 6/20/2020,

Happy SWSat!

Great info and pix of those Republic switchers. Nice to see someone is still building little guys.

A little guy is shifting cars on the RSJ&B this week. Chessie S-2 #2314 (K-line) picked up two REA boxcars from the new business in town (gotta get a name on the building), and spotted a covered hopper and gondola. The REA cars were then spotted on Team Track # 2 waiting to head out with the next outbound freight.

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads!

Good morning fellow switcher lovers!  And what a good morning it is with JHZ 563's post of Republic Locomotives manufacturer of industrial switching locomotives.  Great info JHZ!  

Here is a photo of my K line end cab switcher and my Williams by Bachman center cab switchers.  Also up is a video clip of the WM center cab in action on the Mountain Division as is pulls a milk train and the Canton Railroad SW 1500 and calf by MTH.   I sure like i that MTH produced switchers in obscure short line liveries.    Have a wonderful and safe weekend everyone!  

Hey everyone, just checking in to say "Hi" and I hope you all are doing well. 

Best...Rich 

Phooey!!!  I just realized I posted the photos of my NW2 that I was going to use here on Weekend Photo Fun.  I hate getting old.

Anyway, for those who haven't seen the others posts yet, here are some more photos of my PRR ES10 (EMD Shifter 1,000 hp).

Pennsy bought 32 ES10 shifters, one in 1941, a Phase 1 engine, and the rest between 1945-48, all Phase IV engines. 26 of them, including cab # 9171, were bought in 1948.

The problem is the Lionel model is a model of a Phase V engine.  Unfortunately, the most visual change to the engine was done between IV and V.  Phase IV had a stepped transition to the cab windows while Phase V had a smooth transition.  Below is what would need to be done to make this a Ph IV engine - cut out the smooth transition and build a new stepped transition (in red).  I probably will leave the engine as is.

I hope everyone has a great SWSat.  Stay safe and healthy. 

                                 NYS&W "Class Unit" GP18 #1800 at Little Ferry, NJ- Sept. 86' 

                   Susquehanna GP18s #1800, 1802 & 1804 are now owned by East Penn Rwy.

                                                                           MY PHOTO

Switcher action on the S&Y RR

Heading East & heading West.

JHZ563, thanks for sharing the video, photos and information about Republic Locomotives.

Now, in view of the news about MTH, we need to convince Republic Locomotives to manufacture switchers in O Gauge!

LOL, Arnold

Another resident of the Mad River & NKP Museum in Bellevue, Ohio:

Tom

Hi SwSat folks...Big News at the Leonardtown and Savannah...NEW DIESEL ON THE PROPERTY!  Management, generally incredibly cheap, finally found an acceptable engine that could transit their atrocious track and super tight curves and be efficient at the same time.  It was used of course (note- L&S news clip says "previously owned") and by the mighty PRR!  However now she will earn her keep running between Small Town and the Port of Savannah and with some Port switching duties.  The L&S got this one after tracing some leads by other forum members on the Bay but the delivery costs exceeded all expectations.  Luckily another member volunteered that he had one he was not using and gave me an excellent price.  It just arrived last week and it was finally running this morning as I have been busy with other business before today.  So here is the "new" L&S Switcher (still in PRR livery) on her first day at work.

Here she is spotting an empty gondola on the infamously tight curves of the summer house front porch loop.

Here is the trackside view of her coming at the photographer.  Still showing her "keystone" but earning revenue for the L&S moving cars to the port for loading.

Happy SwSat everyone...have to run now, the L&S is finally "mov'n freight and mak'n money!"

Don

@jhz563 posted:

Hello again Switcher Saturday Mark II faithful!  Here we celebrate little locomotives that do big things.  While large locos can of course be used in switching service, and road switchers are a truly big deal, this weekend we will be focusing on the little guys that do the work at the end of the line.  Lets talk about the switchers at the chemical plants, coal yards, automotive facilities, mining operations, grain mills etc.  Now we all know all about EMD, Porter, Vulcan, Alco, etc; but today I want to make sure you are all aware of a newer and truly different breed of switching Locomotive.

With direct permission from the Hugh Hamilton to use the photos, I want to introduce you to Republic Locomotive. https://www.republiclocomotive.com/index.html

Since 1990, Republic Locomotive has been building all new switching locomotives from the ground up in Greenville SC.  And not just new on the outside, these are AC traction switching locomotives, using Cummins Diesel gensets and  joy stick controls, these machines can be modified for use on common carrier rail, but are usually meant for work at customer site and would never leave the customer location.  The current model is the RX500.  I can tell you there is one in service at the power plant I work at, and it has provided years of reliable, heavy duty service.  They can be equipped for remote control operation, are delivered in two parts by low boy truck, and use about 1/3 of the fuel that an older switching diesel would use.  They are said to be equivalent to a SW1200, and are tier 4 emissions compliant. Check out these photos:

Here is a RX500 in Russia!

 

Republic Locomotive has also rebuilt locomotives of all sizes and vintages.  Check out the gallery on their website to see some of the machines they have worked on.

 

The standard color is a form of safety yellow.  Below is the one from my employer.  This beautiful beast is even equipped with an air powered whistle, not just a horn!

When this engine is not in use, it is usually parked in the thaw shed.  The four lights on the corner of the handrail support are indicator lights related to the remote control operating system.  I know some have you have seen my pictures of this engine before but today I wanted to use it to high Republic Locomotive. 

Special thanks to Mr. Hamilton, President and Owner of Republic Locomotive, and also  Peggy Hayden, Director of Marketing.

And with all that said, lets see what you got!  Please share a picture, a story, a video etc, of a switching locomotive doing what it does best.  

A quick reminder of the Switcher Saturday Mark II guidelines:

- Everybody be nice. Enough said.

- As this is the OGR forum, the focus is of course on 3 rail O gauge.  However, Switcher Saturday Mark II has always been open to all sizes, scales, and gauges of switching locomotives. 

- In keeping with the terms of service for the OGR forum, if it's your picture, or a photo you have specific permission to use, then please post/share it here. If it's just something cool you want to share online but can't in touch with the owner, just post a link, you know we will check it out.

So that's the intro. If you like what you see with Republic Locomotive, then maybe we can petition Lionel or whoever takes over MTH to make some new molds, and give us a truly modern locomotive to switch, sort and deliver on our own RR's.

High Greens to All! - JHZ563 

 

Lionel or Williams  or RMT should make this model. Too late for MTH. Something new and up-to-date that hasn’t been modeled yet. If priced right, it would be a big seller for them.

TALES OF THE DOCKSIDER

DOCKSIDER fans will recall NYC shop switcher X-8688 is assigned to the Worcester, MA roundhouse.  The only foreign roads also serving Worcester in the transition era were NH and B&M.  Today the city is served by CSX and Providence and Worcester.

Your author, having been granted artistic license, has decided to expand the definition of “foreign” roads.  Some of you may see this as a shameless ploy to display more of my collection.  My reply is hey, we’re all playing with toy trains!  No offense intended to purists.

A Santa Fe F3 ABA led by no 2343 has stalled at the East end of the yard.  Switcher X-8688, being closest to the scene, is sent out to investigate.  Having learned to respect and get along with foreign railroaders, the crews got along fine.  X-8688’s crew did find 2343’s crew talked funny and it’s reported 2343’s crew had trouble with the Yankee accents of the other crew.

When X-8688 reported the situation to the Yardmaster, he advised them to wait until another engine could be dispatched to assist.  X-8688’s crew, taking this as an insult to their engine, insisted they could complete the retrieval move alone.  The Yardmaster grudgingly agreed and told them to report back. 

Was x-8688 able to move the three big EMDs?  You’ll have to log on next Sat to find out!

Great Switchers shown here today, one amazing puller shown by Steam Crazy, just above my post. I’ll tune in next Saturday to see if the X-8688 can move those beautiful ABA 2343’s..... Great thread as usual, hope everyone is having a great weekend, CAPPilot, your not getting older, there’s just a lot going on in the world today, I’m waiting on my City of Angel cars from Lionel for my little army Switcher to take them to their possible new home.... Happy Railroading 

Looking good everyone!  

While my tiu is out for service,  I am rediscovering what conventional engines I have in the stable.   One of those many of us have is the K-line KCC MP-15.  I just wish this loco had come with a horn!

Just added my first switcher to my collection. It started life as an MTH Chessie SW9, but now it's a Raritan River Railroad SW900 (with the state mandated spark arrestors). The RRRR was a 12 mile short line that ran between South Amboy and New Brunswick, NJ from 1888 until 1980, when they were absorbed into Conrail. These particular units were purchased in 1954, and the one modeled here may actually be in use somewhere in Pennsylvania. Last definitive sighting of it was in 2016.

Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there!

Same to you JHZ!

Thanks for keeping SWSat going!

I have 4 loops on my layout.  Each week I try to swap out all the engines for new ones.  There's no great thought or meaning the goes into this. I simply take the next four names on my list of engines (I keep a list: when I acquire a new diesel or loco it goes onto the top of the list ).  The ones that are removed from the layout go to the bottom of the list.  Usually this results in one switcher on the layout at any one time...maybe two.  By a strange coincidence a few weeks ago I wound up with a rare quadruple-switcher week!  I know, I should've alerted the media.    Well here's what it looked like.  Better late than never.

Have a good weekend and Father's Day everyone.

Happy Father's Day to all you SWSAT dads - my Dad's boxcab got on the rails this morning for a run, probably more of a critter than switcher, but still awesome....

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there!!

Rich Murnane - Loved that video!  It allowed me to access that young boy within which loves the "magic " of toy train layouts.  The background music you chose was perfect IMHO  Brought to the forefront of my own mind the wonderful times I had with trains, both 1:1 scale  and toy,  with my own father.  Thanks for the memories!

Jhz563 Happy Father’s Day to you too. Thanks for Switcher Saturday  love to both see and post. Rich Murne. Great video. Thank you. 

Don

Happy Father’s day to all who raise and mentor children.

@Magicland posted:

Just added my first switcher to my collection. It started life as an MTH Chessie SW9, but now it's a Raritan River Railroad SW900 (with the state mandated spark arrestors). The RRRR was a 12 mile short line that ran between South Amboy and New Brunswick, NJ from 1888 until 1980, when they were absorbed into Conrail. These particular units were purchased in 1954, and the one modeled here may actually be in use somewhere in Pennsylvania. Last definitive sighting of it was in 2016.

Yes #4 was prior to 2016 at the Philadelphia Electric Company's Eddystone Power Plant. However us interested in preserving the Raritan haven't been able to track it down. As a New Brunswick resident, my family remembers seeing these switchers running through town. More recently the freight station in Milltown NJ has been in the process of being preserved and in Boonton NJ caboose #10 is undergoing a repaint. 

I have two Atlas Raritan SW's of my own. I painted the stacks black. What did you use for your spark arrestors? Thanks!

Thanks for the Father's Day wishes everyone!

While certainly not train related,  here's how I spent some of my day with my "littlest critter." This was her first day on a big girl bike!

And some switchers...😁

@RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

Yes #4 was prior to 2016 at the Philadelphia Electric Company's Eddystone Power Plant. However us interested in preserving the Raritan haven't been able to track it down. As a New Brunswick resident, my family remembers seeing these switchers running through town. More recently the freight station in Milltown NJ has been in the process of being preserved and in Boonton NJ caboose #10 is undergoing a repaint. 

I have two Atlas Raritan SW's of my own. I painted the stacks black. What did you use for your spark arrestors? Thanks!

Those Atlas SWs are really nice. Couldn't find any of their RRRR units anywhere, or any of their TMCC units in my price range, so I grabbed this MTH PS2 unit and painted it. The spark arrestor is just a piece of sheet styrene, bent gently with a pair of pliers. 

@CAPPilot posted:

Phooey!!!  I just realized I posted the photos of my NW2 that I was going to use here on Weekend Photo Fun.  I hate getting old.

Anyway, for those who haven't seen the others posts yet, here are some more photos of my PRR ES10 (EMD Shifter 1,000 hp).

Pennsy bought 32 ES10 shifters, one in 1941, a Phase 1 engine, and the rest between 1945-48, all Phase IV engines. 26 of them, including cab # 9171, were bought in 1948.

The problem is the Lionel model is a model of a Phase V engine.  Unfortunately, the most visual change to the engine was done between IV and V.  Phase IV had a stepped transition to the cab windows while Phase V had a smooth transition.  Below is what would need to be done to make this a Ph IV engine - cut out the smooth transition and build a new stepped transition (in red).  I probably will leave the engine as is.

I hope everyone has a great SWSat.  Stay safe and healthy. 

Arched front window NW and early SW7,  was straight across SW9's  Head/tail light also slightly different.   Very nice model, thanks for the pictures.    

@jhz563 posted:

While my tiu is out for service,  I am rediscovering what conventional engines I have in the stable.   One of those many of us have is the K-line KCC MP-15.  I just wish this loco had come with a horn!

 

The following strikes me as being a low cost solution to the lack of a horn. Personally, I have one of the RMC sound modules, so I can sounds with anything.

          happy SWSat !! ... Monday !

                 hope everyone had a good weekend, and a great Father's Day !!

Hey there SWSAT crew, can someone else cover getting us going tomorrow?

               happy "SWSat" !          I've been late here the last couple weeks...

                                so I figured I'd get a head start this week...

                      Marci's photos...            doing some switching in Maumee Oh.

                                         have a great weekend everyone !!

@jhz563 posted:

Hey there SWSAT crew, can someone else cover getting us going tomorrow?

@jhz563 - I'll be happy to pinch hit for you & get SWSAT rolling tomorrow!