Western Roads Wednesday

It's been awhile since I posted a photo in this thread!

John WP, love that SP Fairbanks Morse H-12-44 switcher! SP sure loved BIG headlights on their switchers!! I think #1487 still resides at the Niles Canyon Brightside yard.

Here's my Western Roads photos for this fine Wednesday.

Lionel did two versions of the Union Pacific SD-70ACE Western Pacific Legacy paint schemes. The version I have is a fantasy number, 1903, which is the year WP incorporated. The real UP Legacy WP paint scheme is number 1983, the year UP acquired WP. Actually, the acquisition was Dec. 22, 1982, but the merge wasn't complete until 1983.

Happy Wednesday!

@ScoutingDad and others:  THANKS for signing on and keeping this Wed thread alive.  Santa Fe as many contributors this week know is always good!  @trestleking - Handsome gondola, the side exterior detailing is really great. Did you do the coal load or did it come loaded from Kline? @86TA355SR - Great looking Mikado's Thanks for posting.

Thanks for joining!

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

@ScoutingDad and others:  THANKS for signing on and keeping this Wed thread alive.  Santa Fe as many contributors this week know is always good!  @trestleking - Handsome gondola, the side exterior detailing is really great. Did you do the coal load or did it come loaded from Kline? @86TA355SR - Great looking Mikado's Thanks for posting.

Thanks for joining!

Don

Don, glad you like the Burlington hopper. The car came new with the coal load you see.
  The C,B&Q:….”Everywhere West”.

Rich in WV

Well Western Road fans, here is one from my current resident state, Texas.  Its the Lionel #210 Texas Special Alco FA  AA locomotive from 1958 .

Well she isn't fancy but I can tell you that she still operates fine and will pull any consist that works on my little layout without complaint.

Best Wishes

Don

Westbound at McClellan on 2.1% grade.

@Rick Wright - Great picture, thanks for contributing.

Don

Well folks, here I am more or less following myself again.  I know there are more "western road fans" than me, I see Santa Fe stuff for example all the time.  So how about it folks, let's post some western stuff, "wda-U-say"

Here's a little Rock Island for you...the Marx RI Alco S3 switcher from 1962 just exiting my mountain range

Best Wishes, Don

Have always liked this seldom seen D&RG Alco PA set that Lionel did some years ago.  Have the B unit not shown.

@c.sam-Thanks for joining in...that is really a super looking diesel.

Don

Western Roads Wednesday, a great topic like many others, fun to review, and there’s a lot of beautiful trains on these pages…. Happy Railroading Everyone

Okay, here you go ..... SP/UP patch SD-40T2 .... three pics and a short video

@leapinlarry and @Richie C. - Great photos guys, thanks for joining in and posting!

Don

Well going on my continuing position that Texas is a WESTERN state, here is one ... no railroad it just commemorates the Battle of the Alamo..."Remember the Alamo"  Wa-whoo !

Best Wishes, Don

Don, originally growing up on the Jersey Shore, I considered anything west of the Delaware a western state!  Now living in AZ I've modified it to west of the Mississippi

My contribution for this week as I'm running out of western road photos.  I'll need to take some more soon.  In the meantime, some photos of TCA Desert Division cars with a decidedly western theme.

MTH Hot Eddy's smoking Salsa car was designed by the sadly late Marty Wik of TCA Desert Division.  MTH said it couldn't be done, so Marty built a working prototype sent it to them.  Needless to say, this car was possible and ended up in the product line after this car was done.  The other car is a K-Line car specific to the Phoenix Zoo.

One of three beer reefers done by Desert Division all local to the Phoenix, AZ region.  This was the first car done for Apache Beer.  The logo is accurate even if the car it fictitious.  The second car is also a wood sheathed Atlas reefer with a different Apache Beer logo.  The most recent one is an A-1 beer reefer and is a Lionel Scale 50' mechanical reefer based on the Weaver tooling.  The Division has a 4th car that is in production with Atlas for a local brewery that is an Atlas Cylindrical hopper.  Expecting to receive that in the fall.

This is the A-1 car.

GG1 4877 Thanks for posting today.  Great cars and really neat back stories on the Arizona Beer label.  OBTW, I grew up in N.J. more central than the shore, just outside Newark. However we vacationed at the shore almost every summer and eventually the family had a house on Long Beach Island that we finally sold around 2014.  My wife and her family also summered there (LBI) and we took our kids there after we were married.  So we have something in common.

Best Wishes

Don

Well Western Road fans, here is my Marx E-7 Union Pacific from 1960. The AB unit is hauling just the Marx #3900 UP caboose, from a much later period (1974-75).

Best Wishes, hope some of you western road fans might post to support this thread.  Hope your week is going well.

Don

GG1 4877 --- As an Arizona resident, I love the Hot Eddy's Salsa tank car and the rattlesnake car! I don't quite understand why MTH at first said it could been one -- it looks like a fairly straightforward matter of pad-printing an existing chemical tank car. I haven't gotten around to finishing my tarantula car -- a modified SP stock car -- but these inspire me!

"... it could not be done ... "  is what I meant to type.

@B Smith posted:

GG1 4877 --- As an Arizona resident, I love the Hot Eddy's Salsa tank car and the rattlesnake car! I don't quite understand why MTH at first said it could been one -- it looks like a fairly straightforward matter of pad-printing an existing chemical tank car. I haven't gotten around to finishing my tarantula car -- a modified SP stock car -- but these inspire me!

The Hot Eddy's Salsa car has a smoke unit in the dome.  Up until that point it had never been conceived before.  MTH did a few smoking tank cars of their own after this car was made. 

I think these cars come up on the auction sites from time to time.  As I recall there were a little over 200 made.  Look forward to seeing your tarantula car!

For my photographic entry this week a photo of part of an old layout with a backdrop I pieced together in Photoshop, plotted on a large format color printer, and spray mounted to a 2x4 piece of sky-blue painted Masonite.  The foreground is Photoshopped in the computer.   

I'd say this is deep faked, but "shallow faked" is more appropriate as I'm not fooling anyone with that foreground!

@B Smith and @GG1 4877 - Thanks for the post's guys , helps keep this thread alive for sure.  Jonathan really super background scene, highly realistic.

Best Wishes

Don

Well we all know about the "west" right !  What do we identify with the west?  COWBOYS !!  and if you are going to have cowboys you need....COW's!  So here are some western stock cars for the post today.

The Marx #59 Union Pacific ... made from 1936 onward, almost to the end of Marx with little change except for using plastic wheels and plastic knuckle couplers post 1953.

For a real "oldie" how about the Lionel 821 stock car from 1915-1916 and 1925-26 another "Union" stock car. The gal about a century old!

The Marx MoPac stock car, this one an operating car when you pull up at the platform a mechanical lever opens the door and a single cow exits.  No electric required but all you get is one cow!

The Marx "scale" ATSF stock car, the dull finish suggests this one is pre war - likely made and released in 1941-42.  However these "scale" cars were made through the 1950's.  By the way they were "S" scale or 3/16" to the foot but remained 0 gauge.

Well that is my "western" post for this week.  Hope your week is going well

Don

Running out of material as I STILL haven't photographed newer trains in a little while.  Still a little hot out at 113 yesterday.  Starting to cool down in the coming weeks though so I can get photos that aren't too hot off the presses. 

In the meantime, another older image but not as old as some I've posted.  The first of the E's are still the most elegant of the E's.

Have been looking for some plated diesels for awhile and came across these beauties recently.

I like these Yellowbonnets and found them at a train show a few years ago at a show but they MTH HO models.

Well I missed last week but here goes to see if we can raise the participation in this thread.

Here is my Marx Kansas City Southern FM AB unit and the Marx KCS 7" caboose.

Best wishes all

Don

Well I don't have too much today but I thought I might post some "K-Line" western rolling stock.  First the Southern Pacific boxcar #5142 from 1/1993.

Next, the Union Pacific double door reefer from 3/1997

Finally, even though not western, the October York TCA meet is coming up and many are preparing to go.  So here is a K-line boxcar commemorating the event.

HOW ABOUT A SOUTHERN PACIFIC BLACK WIDOW COIL GONDOLA MADE FOR THE LCCA

I think this qualifies.

@GGIGUYY and @coach joe -  Thanks for posting guys, great pictures and add's to the thread.

Don

My Lionel PW Lionel 2333 Santa Fe

One of my favorite western railroads is the Southern Pacific. Here’s my SP F unit in Black Widow with its freight train.