Switcher Saturday - September 30, 2023

My Penn Central work train now has a New York Centeral Legacy Geep for power…..

Have a great and safe weekend, folks!

Peter

Good Morning SWSAT people. Mel thanks for kicking us off this morning. Here’s some of my Lionel NW2 I’ve collected over the years enjoy your weekend.

Happy Saturday SWSAT Folks. I see some good looking switchers there.
Today I’m posting a NJT NW-2 in honor of the 40th anniversary of NJT. Here is NJT #500 at the point of a work train  

Greetings, SwSat nation!  Mel, you got us rolling with a good head of steam!  I’m off to a train show this morning, so a trip to the archives is in order.  Maybe I’ll find a new switcher to show next Saturday!

There’s a lot of interest among the faithful about Beeps, so I decided to post my NYC model no. 5903 today.  She is shown double heading (real railroaders, in a recent post, said they never heard the term “lash up”) with “Docksider” star NYC shop switcher X8688.

No. 5903 is equipped with an ERR sound kit.  I bought the kit with the intention of installing it in a Williams engine, but soon realized it was “over my head”.  The ERR instructions, however, had detailed instructions on a Beep installation (as an example) so I was able follow it and add it to my engine successfully.  Also note how painting the “chrome” handrails on the Beep really improves it’s appearance.

John

Happy last day of September Switcher Saturday. Our newest switcher still dominates the rails for this week  -

Amazing how busy we get running our families around to various events on the weekends!

CN 70 switcher moving more grain cars in anticipation for the Fall harvest.

Happy SwSat everyone!

Happy SWSat!

Thanks for getting us started this week Mel. Crazy weather here on LI yesterday. We had about 5" of rain in 12 hours. Lot's of street flooding, the NYC Subways were underwater. Crazy day!

I'm also having fun running my latest.
Penn Central SW-1200 (Lionel Legacy/ BT), has been busy in the yards and on locals shifting cars. The crew's first job this week was to drop a Merchant's Despatch Lines refer at the factory in Rochester NY, for some repairs. Here we see 9020 dropping the car for pick up by the MDT shop switcher.

The MDT shop switcher # 15 is also a EMD SW. This one is a SW-8/9 by MTH with loco-sound, and manual couplers. I bought this from Trainz a couple years ago. It runs well but stalls on a switch or two. I have to swap the single roller pickups for dual roller.

While # 15 took care of business, 9020 headed back to the yard to grab a REA load and an empty gondola.

Heading out of town back to the interchange.

Finally, after a hard day's work, the crew heads back to tie down and hit the bar for a few cold ones!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Bob

Good morning SWSAT crew!

This morning we find Penn Central RS-11 7608 (Lionel) spotting a hopper full of coal at a customers siding:

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tom

@Ron045 posted:

My latest custom-made engine is finally finished.  At Atlas SW9 converted to an SW1200 with lots of extra details.

Scale Pilots

Scratch built handrails

Custom Horns

Window frames

Sun Shades

Custom paint and decals to match a one of a kind prototype.

I modeled the SMS Railroad SW1200 #104. DeadRail with Blunami.

A clinic in model railroad custom painting and detailing, Ron. Superb! And looks like you didn’t drop anything!

This is the result of Ron045 painting and detailing the exact same B&M 44 tonner that Mel opened with. Thanks for cranking it up, Mel.

Happy Switcher Saturday!

Early Railking 0-6-0 PRR switcher w/PS-2, Still runs great!

Mel, Love that B&M 44 tonner.

Boston & Maine 44 tonner 115 brings 2 Boston & Maine “PURE FRESH POND ICE COMPANY” woodside reefers into the yard on their way home to Brookline.

The 44 tonner is by MTH. It has had all traction tires removed as have all my MTH 44 tonners. This eliminates loss of ground and unwanted stalling.

The B&M reefers are Crown Model Products. The B&M Woodside caboose is MTH.

When would these cars likely have been retired from Pond Ice Service?

Every time @MELGAR posts his 44-ton switcher, I have to post the one I photographed down at the Savannah Roundhouse Museum from 2011. The Western Maryland #76 is my only 44-ton switcher.

Charlie

Concord & Claremont RR #119

  MTH 20-20467-1 from 2015 Volume 1

Great posts guys as always guys. Bob is right, it was crazy with the rain here yesterday. Thanks for getting us started Mel. From the Oyster Bay yard…

Andy

Howdy, folks. As promised two weeks ago, here is my Lionel postwar #617 NW2. This is quite hard to find these days as it was only produced one year as part of a set. 1964, I think? It had added trim pieces which were not commonly used by Lionel at that point and unlike the common and o/w identical #616 ATSF.
I added the antennae, bell and horn using repro parts.

The other pics here are from our visit this week to Yosemite National Park. Just south of the park entrance on SR 41, the “Yosemite Mountain  Sugar Pine” excursion railway is a fun place. We didn’t get to ride the train since our stop didn’t coincide with any runs that day. Still fun to see. And me with a 44-tonner!  The #15 Shay was in the barn so all I could get was a front shot.

Oh, and me with El Capitan in Yosemite Valley behind yesterday morning  

Stay dry, East Coast switcher friends.

WTG Melgar great start! Here is a 0-8-0 AHM/Rivarossi sitting on a siding awaiting to go in the shop.

It is late 1949, and a couple of shifters are working the yard.  The yard foreman told his crews not to speak too loudly around the C1, 'Big Daddy'.  He did not want the big engine to know its days are numbered.  Unfortunately, the BS10 heard about it in the shop and told the old workhorse "Hey boomer, you're gonna be scape metal soon."  Big Daddy left that day and was not seen again.

The C1 is Weaver, the Baldwin Switcher 1000 hp (VO-1000) is MTH.

Have to resort to a file video.........can't ignore switcher Saturday.........

......closing down summer and preparing to enter the winter ......have to repair the lawnmower ,  replace light switches ,  worked on the fireplace insert , Judy wants a new vanity top for one of the bathrooms , etc. , etc. 

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Have to resort to a file video.........can't ignore switcher Saturday.........

......closing down summer and preparing to enter the winter ......have to repair the lawnmower ,  replace light switches ,  worked on the fireplace insert , Judy wants a new vanity top for one of the bathrooms , etc. , etc.

Nice, smooth switching action! Have fun and good luck with your pre-winter projects.

Gene

Been a while for me. Prewar Walthers scratch built boiler and tender shell for the walthers polydrive  PRR 0-6-0 switcher. Just got the boiler and tender but had a few walthers polydrive switcher parts. Yes I know the tender is not correct , for PRR it would be a slope back, but that is how the guy built it 70-80 years ago so it will be ok.  Still need to track down some polydrive details but generally I should be able to put this little guy back together.

Wow, times flying and Switcher Saturday will be over until next week. Today I’m showing a picture of an Atlas O switcher, (to me it’s beautiful, but I have no clue what model it represents) it’s been on my shelf for years, however it runs slow, smoothly and sounds cool. Happy Switcher Saturday and thanks @Melgar, Mel for keeping the thread alive and Wow, that’s a beautiful Boston and Maine 44 toner… Wow..

@Genemed posted:

Nice, smooth switching action! Have fun and good luck with your pre-winter projects.

Gene

Thanks Gene..........and maybe this year I'll be able to be ahead of the home owner surprises.!?! 

@CAPPilot posted:

It is late 1949, and a couple of shifters are working the yard.  The yard foreman told his crews not to speak too loudly around the C1, 'Big Daddy'.  He did not want the big engine to know its days are numbered.  Unfortunately, the BS10 heard about it in the shop and told the old workhorse "Hey boomer, you're gonna be scape metal soon."  Big Daddy left that day and was not seen again.

The C1 is Weaver, the Baldwin Switcher 1000 hp (VO-1000) is MTH.

Nice , I keep wanting to pick up a Weaver C1. One day!!

@Dennis Holler posted:

Been a while for me. Prewar Walthers scratch boiler and tender shell. For the walthers polydrive  PRR 0-6-0 switcher. Just got the boiler a d tenderbut had a few walthers polydrive switcher parts. Yes I know the tender is not correct , but that is how the guy built it 70-80 years ago so it will be ok.

Repurposing material and not going into landfills...............guy was way ahead of his time ! 

Love the 44 tonner focus of this Switcher Saturday, which Melgar so artfully and insightful lyrics began.

One of my first locomotives I got as a child is this Lionel Postwar B&O 44 ton center cab diesel:

It has always been a very peppy runner, which was just fine with me when I was a kid

Next, is this MTH PS3 NY & Ontario 44 ton center cab diesel, which I purchased from Forum Sponsor JR Junction Hobby for approximately $400. Here it is hauling Lionel Postwar operating milk cars to the ball park.

Arnold

@ctr posted:

Boston & Maine 44 tonner 115 brings 2 Boston & Maine “PURE FRESH POND ICE COMPANY” woodside reefers into the yard on their way home to Brookline.

The 44 tonner is by MTH. It has had all traction tires removed as have all my MTH 44 tonners. This eliminates loss of ground and unwanted stalling.

The B&M reefers are Crown Model Products. The B&M Woodside caboose is MTH.

When would these cars likely have been retired from Pond Ice Service?

CTR, Here's your answer:  https://brooklinehistory.org/h...rker-ice-harvesting/

Good evening fellow switcher lovers!!  I'm late to this totally terrific party, celebrating the unsung heroes of rails,  that has been going on since this morning!    Thanks so much MELGAR for getting this party going today!!  I love your handsome B&M  44 tonner too!  

This evening I present switchers in the role of supporting actor ...

Folks at the switch tower ... MOW worker Ludwig Reich stands by his B&O MOW Dept. pickup truck.  Tower operator Hector Higgins gives a hardy wave from the top floor entrance.   Carpenter Johnny Crouch is seen on his hands and knees replacing some rotting planks on the tower's walkway.  Charlie Krauss must be practicing his lantern waving skills during daylight hours.  Young skinny Lumpy Larson likes hanging out at the tower where he can see lots of rail activity.  

Barrels to be unloaded.

Downtown Lower Patsburg ... Clark Kent steps out of a  phone booth, Wilber Creech is running like mad. Must be late for the train yet again!   Harry Huffnagle sells his hotdogs from his hotdog cart ... been doing this for 16 years now.  He inherited the cart from his father who sold hot dogs for 28 years before Harry took over the business.  

After dumping a load of sand at the sand house, the air dump car is being pushed back to the yard on the engine service track.

Patsburg Power Company's new promotion slogan " More power to YOU!" as they promote the upgrade project of their local power grid.  Here BIG HOOK lends a hand, or boom, to transferring these transformers onto the waiting flatbed trailer.  

@leapinlarry posted:

Wow, times flying and Switcher Saturday will be over until next week. Today I’m showing a picture of an Atlas O switcher, (to me it’s beautiful, but I have no clue what model it represents) it’s been on my shelf for years, however it runs slow, smoothly and sounds cool. Happy Switcher Saturday and thanks @Melgar, Mel for keeping the thread alive and Wow, that’s a beautiful Boston and Maine 44 toner… Wow..

Larry,

Your engine - Belt Railway of Chicago 534 - is an MTH Railking model (30-20972-1) of an Electro-Motive-Division (General Motors EMD) MP15DC diesel switcher. The model was delivered in February 2023 with PS3.

MELGAR

@Melgar, Mel thank you for your thoughts on the engine I posted. I was hoping to see if it was a MP15, Sw1, NW2, etc., however, I’ve had this diesel since 2007 and it is made by Atlas 0, I will look up the box this week. I do think Atlas made one of these models for MTH. I, as of today, have no MTH steamers or diesels do to my love for TMCC/Legacy. Happy Railroading Everyone

@leapinlarry posted:

@Melgar, Mel thank you for your thoughts on the engine I posted. I was hoping to see if it was a MP15, Sw1, NW2, etc., however, I’ve had this diesel since 2007 and it is made by Atlas 0, I will look up the box this week. I do think Atlas made one of these models for MTH. I, as of today, have no MTH steamers or diesels do to my love for TMCC/Legacy. Happy Railroading Everyone

Larry- It's definitely a MP-15DC

Found the Atlas listing.

https://archive.atlasrr.com/HOLoco/arc-homp15dc.htm

I have a bunch of K-line models.

@RSJB18, Bob, thank you so much for clarifying the type diesel my little switcher is, the Belt Railway Co. of Chicago, it runs in TMCC really swell. Have a great weekend…

@Dennis Holler posted:

Been a while for me. Prewar Walthers scratch built boiler and tender shell for the walthers polydrive  PRR 0-6-0 switcher. Just got the boiler and tender but had a few walthers polydrive switcher parts. Yes I know the tender is not correct , for PRR it would be a slope back, but that is how the guy built it 70-80 years ago so it will be ok.  Still need to track down some polydrive details but generally I should be able to put this little guy back together.

Dennis,

  Even I came out of the woodwork for that one. Very nice purchase. There were plenty of PRR B6 switchers that did not have the "Standard" slope-back tenders and had instead, boxy ones they inherited...so you are historically safe. i noticed what looks like a piece of a Lucky Strike cigarette carton (maybe holding in a coal pile?

Tom

@leapinlarry posted:

@Melgar, Mel thank you for your thoughts on the engine I posted. I was hoping to see if it was a MP15, Sw1, NW2, etc., however, I’ve had this diesel since 2007 and it is made by Atlas 0, I will look up the box this week. I do think Atlas made one of these models for MTH. I, as of today, have no MTH steamers or diesels do to my love for TMCC/Legacy. Happy Railroading Everyone

@RSJB18 posted:

Larry- It's definitely a MP-15DC

Found the Atlas listing.

https://archive.atlasrr.com/HOLoco/arc-homp15dc.htm

I have a bunch of K-line models.

Larry and Bob,

I stand corrected...

Have fun with your MP15s.

MELGAR

@PRR8976 posted:

Dennis,

  Even I came out of the woodwork for that one. Very nice purchase. There were plenty of PRR B6 switchers that did not have the "Standard" slope-back tenders and had instead, boxy ones they inherited...so you are historically safe. i noticed what looks like a piece of a Lucky Strike cigarette carton (maybe holding in a coal pile?

Tom

The Lucky Strike is tin I assume from a tobacco can and it was part of the tender shell, so he built it with the litho to the inside.  And the litho is about perfect too lol.  That is the only piece though the boiler/cab seem to not show any history like that.  I have a couple of Walthers catalogs, it's a Walthers boilerfront, domes etc and again the tender trucks and bronze frame are Walthers as well. The way the catalogs depict it, Walthers did not necessarily sell completed super structures, the catalog gave a table of dimensions for various USRA boiler section lengths and also referenced past MR loco drawings for dimensions of the specific railroads loco.  You know I end up with some pretty ratty stuff, but this one is clean, square and fairly well built.  I am impressed with it honestly.  I'm not sure if I will try and put together a Walthers poly drive for it or not, those are really iffy and not known as great runners. These are a couple of piles of Waltehrs polydrive parts I have to play around with.

@Dennis Holler posted:

The Lucky Strike is tin I assume from a tobacco can and it was part of the tender shell, so he built it with the litho to the inside.  And the litho is about perfect too lol.  That is the only piece though the boiler/cab seem to not show any history like that.  I have a couple of Walthers catalogs, it's a Walthers boilerfront, domes etc and again the tender trucks and bronze frame are Walthers as well. The way the catalogs depict it, Walthers did not necessarily sell completed super structures, the catalog gave a table of dimensions for various USRA boiler section lengths and also referenced past MR loco drawings for dimensions of the specific railroads loco.  You know I end up with some pretty ratty stuff, but this one is clean, square and fairly well built.  I am impressed with it honestly.  I'm not sure if I will try and put together a Walthers poly drive for it or not, those are really iffy and not known as great runners. These are a couple of piles of Waltehrs polydrive parts I have to play around with.

Quite a rust bucket Dennis

And I'm stressing over a broken handrail.......

Here are some that run from an older picture lol

Yours looks great even without the handrail!

The last few years that I worked at the electric power generation plant we re-powered two 295MW steam turbines with two circulating fluidized bed boilers. Initially they used trucks to remove used limestone. There was quite a bit of it. Shortly thereafter they decided to use rail cars (covered hoppers) to remove the used limestone. After some discussion they decided to use a Track Mobile as switcher, pulling or pushing the empties in and removing the filled ones out. I decided I needed to have my own Track Mobile.

Sadly, just as I retired it was decided to paint the Track Mobile pink, but it once looked like my model.

@TM Terry posted:

The last few years that I worked at the electric power generation plant we re-powered two 295MW steam turbines with two circulating fluidized bed boilers. Initially they used trucks to remove used limestone. There was quite a bit of it. Shortly thereafter they decided to use rail cars (covered hoppers) to remove the used limestone. After some discussion they decided to use a Track Mobile as switcher, pulling or pushing the empties in and removing the filled ones out. I decided I needed to have my own Track Mobile.

Sadly, just as I retired it was decided to paint the Track Mobile pink, but it once looked like my model.

TM that is so neat to have a model of what was on your job. Is that a static or operational model? Who makes it?