WHAT TRAINS DID YOU RUN TODAY?

Hey we ran a few today along with running, ya gotta take the lid off and fix a log jam..... cudos to Mitch

And, she’s lost stripes over the years, had grease hard a C-ment in the gearbox, and sticky E unit..... with love , today she is just SMOOOOooooooooth!
just needed a few Vitamins.... and now, stripes! (test run so, pantographs in the box) Running my “Heavy-heavy...” and a toot of that cantankerous HORN!! Lol

New MTH GG1 pulling The Senator westbound.

Another video in my continuing tribute to Lionel‘s  Fundimension/ MPC era.  This time we have a Lionel 8357 GP-9 circa 1973 to 1975 pulling a string of freight cars.  The 8357 was one of their less expensive models but 46 to 48 years  later she still is running smooth.

@John H posted:

I ran em all. Two MUs, two diesels, and a steamer. About 65 cars, 7 engines. I had some cars left, but those were all my engines

Wow, love it, thanks for the video..

The Lionel MPC/Fundimensions parade continues with Joshua Lionel Cowen #8210 small Hudson on the point of a freight  of NYC Pacemaker cars.  Look closely at the still photo and you can pick out a bent marker light on the left as a result of a header off of my 40 inch high layout on to a cement floor.  Hence my plexiglass layout border.  I show this to prove that MPC “junk” is also highly durable.  Additionally, there is a poorly shot video with the Cowen Hudson in action complete with accompanying Sound of steam chuffing and that oh so charming whistle.😜

The last, for this week at least, my favorite engine of the early 1980s. A 3100 Great Northern from Lionel/Fundimensions produced in 1981 complete with smoke deflectors and sporting a spiffy looking green and brown color scheme with white painted sidewalls on the drivers.  In reality it was nothing but a gussied up post war Berkshire with a 4-8-4 wheel configuration rather than the standard 2-8-4 Berkshire wheel arrangement.  Nevertheless, it had a great color scheme and of course our beloved sound of steam and shrill whistle.

After total tear down with assistance from Mr Mitch, the Turbine 681 Smokes and forwards and reverse-es-ssses.... Major Joy!! Love the smell of Smoke in the morning.........

she does not overspeed, guessing it’s part of being a senior citizen??

salute

A Williams by Bachman 44 ton Diesel Switcher in the Southern Railway livery hauls an 11 car mixed freight around the layout.

Double heading with a 2037 and a 2038...

-Mark

@OKHIKER posted:

The Lionel MPC/Fundimensions parade continues with Joshua Lionel Cowen #8210 small Hudson on the point of a freight  of NYC Pacemaker cars.  Look closely at the still photo and you can pick out a bent marker light on the left as a result of a header off of my 40 inch high layout on to a cement floor.  Hence my plexiglass layout border.  I show this to prove that MPC “junk” is also highly durable.  Additionally, there is a poorly shot video with the Cowen Hudson in action complete with accompanying Sound of steam chuffing and that oh so charming whistle.😜

Wow... that is pretty minimal damage for such a fall - a well made engine for sure. I remember that set from the early 80’s. MPC was putting out some nice, colorful offerings. While, in looking back, it may seem rather primitive, at the time (IN MY OPINION!!!), it was head and shoulders above the PW trains I was used to. I remember the first “scale” boxcar I purchased - it dwarfed my PW cars (and most of my MPC cars as well). While I probably would have loved the JLC set, I was a recent college grad (‘78) in my first full-time job, so it was out of reach. And to make matters worse, my mother (who I got my love of trains from) was so against these type of sets - if it didn’t run on a real railroad, don’t buy it (don’t get me started on her tirade about “the Girl’s Set”!!!). I did get the bay window caboose from the set as a tribute to Mr. Cowan. Great to see the engine still chugging along after nearly 40 years... boy - that makes me feel old!!!

@Mark S. posted:

Double heading with a 2037 and a 2038...

-Mark

Wow, i love double heading with steamers, so cool, thanks..

It’s 1957 and this Norfolk and Western 4-8-4 class J Northern has been pressed into freight service for one of its last runs.  This N&W Northern is an early Railsounds issue from Lionel circa 1995 and she is smoking heavily as she pours on the steam heading down a straightaway.

You may find this thread to be therapeutic, for the same reasons it is for me, as explained below. Thanks, Melgar, for starting it 3 years ago.

After a hard day's work, I often come back here.  Why? Because I need to have a little fun and relaxation and, if inspired, post a video or photo.

Here is my contribution this evening:

That's a Lionel Postwar Brunswick green Pennsylvania GG1 hauling box cars, and an MTH Railking NY Central Mohawk steamer pulling Lionel Postwar 2400 series passenger cars. Arnold

I ran a Williams by Bachmann UP 4-6-0 with a string of Lionel auto loader cars & rounded out with a Menard’s PRR caboose.

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

You may find this thread to be therapeutic, for the same reasons it is for me, as explained below. Thanks, Melgar, for starting it 3 years ago.

After a hard day's work, I often come back here.  Why? Because I need to have a little fun and relaxation and, if inspired, post a video or photo.

Here is my contribution this evening:

That's a Lionel Postwar Brunswick green Pennsylvania GG1 hauling box cars, and an MTH Railking NY Central Mohawk steamer pulling Lionel Postwar 2400 series passenger cars. Arnold

Thanks Arnold, it takes time to video and post. That GG1 is making up time for sure!! She is my favorite "Heavyweight". I asked my wife how much she thinks she weighs.. " Never ask a woman her age, weight or when she is expecting...."

Yeah, she nixed my painting a background on her wall.. behind my carpet layout,,,, (She used to be alot more fun......) Thanks for the thread and your posts

Nice video RosevilleRR! Reminds me of the Ford plant I used to live near on the far southeast side of Chicago. Used to get stopped by trains there all the time. They were always humping in box cars full of parts and flat cars loaded with car frames.

OKHIKER....nice video. What's that barrier you have set yp on the edge of your table?

Ran my “Cape Cod sand train”.  Yes, that’s real Cape Cod sand in the ore cars.  It’s a heavy train!

John

@Junior posted:

OKHIKER....nice video. What's that barrier you have set yp on the edge of your table?

@Junior, thanks for the compliment re: the N&W video.  The barrier is made  up of plexiglass 1/8 inch thick, 4 inches high and each section is 8 feet long which I cut to size for my 8x20 layout.  It has been up since 1993 and for the most part has withstood the test of time with just a few minor cracks here and there which were caused by careless workmen.  It has saved me from grief on more than one occasion and I feel it has been well worth it.

OKHIKER...really nice implementation of the barrier. My layout is still "under construction"; meaning track is down and operational but no landscaping and minimal accessories. I've been looking for a barrier that's not to intrusive....but keeps hands out and trains safe. This looks like just the ticket!

Junior - The plexiglass is both unobtrusive and serves a very useful purpose but, take it from someone who's experienced this, my only suggestion would be to leave a small length of track (ideally on a straight section) without any plexiglass to facilitate putting engines/cars on the track without the need for a re-railer or similar product.  I don't know how many times I've fiddled around for several minutes - particularly with larger articulated engines - trying to get all of the wheels on the track properly (so as to avoid a short as soon as you turn on the power) and wished I'd done what I'm suggesting to you now.   

Good Luck on your layout!

PS - I'm also living proof that your eyes don't get any better with age.

I tried to run my 4 car pasenger train local (Atlantic heading up a B60, BM70, and two Lionel coaches) but heading into a bridge the aft coupler of the BM70 didn't hold the coaches. Discovered that the GGD coupler was lower than the Lionel coupler. I looked at the truck and coupler arm and tried putting in a 1mm shim between the cupler arm and truck housing. It worked! So I did the same on the other GGD coupler. I will try to post videos I took.

@PH1975 posted:

Junior - The plexiglass is both unobtrusive and serves a very useful purpose but, take it from someone who's experienced this, my only suggestion would be to leave a small length of track (ideally on a straight section) without any plexiglass to facilitate putting engines/cars on the track without the need for a re-railer or similar product.  I don't know how many times I've fiddled around for several minutes - particularly with larger articulated engines - trying to get all of the wheels on the track properly (so as to avoid a short as soon as you turn on the power) and wished I'd done what I'm suggesting to you now.   

Good Luck on your layout!

PS - I'm also living proof that your eyes don't get any better with age.

Excellent point.  There have been many times when placing large engines on my track that I have had to fiddle around some to make sure all the wheels are on the track.  As I do not have any vacant sections for engine placement the plexiglass border I have does make that difficult. And my eyes ain't gettin' any better either.

@pennsynut posted:

I tried to run my 4 car pasenger train local (Atlantic heading up a B60, BM70, and two Lionel coaches) but heading into a bridge the aft coupler of the BM70 didn't hold the coaches. Discovered that the GGD coupler was lower than the Lionel coupler. I looked at the truck and coupler arm and tried putting in a 1mm shim between the cupler arm and truck housing. It worked! So I did the same on the other GGD coupler. I will try to post videos I took.

I had fun hitting play on all three videos at the same time. 👍

OKHIKER & PH1975....all excellent points. That's what I love about the forum....the experiences everyone is willing to share...valuable stuff!

BTW....I suffer from the black-on-black syndrome. If I leave my wallet or cellphone on anything dark or black; I don't see it. Then I'm looking I'm over the house for it .

I've found using a mini flashlight really helps in making sure all the engine wheels are securely on the track .

This thread reminds me of the lyric in one of the great James Bond songs: "All I wanted was a sweet distraction for an hour or two."

Here is my sweet distraction for this evening:

Different from what turned on James Bond, but my 773 is a sweet distraction for me none the less.  LOL, Arnold

@Arnold D. Cribari, you inspired me to run mine today as well! Haven’t been on here for a little while and enjoying all of the new posts.

Awww Yeah Arnold....that's Sweet! What radius curve is your 773 snaken around?

Chris! Holy Cr@p! Soooo nice!

Alright.....you guys got me going...I gotta post a video too! Look for one in a day or two.....

Also ran the Post War Lionel 746. This one is new, to me, and runs like a champ!

@Junior posted:

Awww Yeah Arnold....that's Sweet! What radius curve is your 773 snaken around?

Chris! Holy Cr@p! Soooo nice!

Alright.....you guys got me going...I gotta post a video too! Look for one in a day or two.....

Mostly 031 curves. It's amazing how well such a big engine can handle such tight curves so well. Arnold

I was running these engines today on the Elmira Branch.  Both Engines are leaving Williamsport.  The  Y3B will be going all the way to Sodus Point to drop its Coal load into a Lake Ship.  It would appear that the PRR will be returning an Engine borrowed from the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh RR.

As I was leaving the basement I also snapped a shot of Penn Yan

A battered but beloved Lionel 623 Santa Fe NW-2 Switcher circa 1952-1954 takes the curve hauling a slow freight of mixed box cars.

Williams silvertop stock cars pulled by a Williams B&M GP9 and matching caboose.

@OKHIKER posted:

A battered but beloved Lionel 623 Santa Fe NW-2 Switcher circa 1952-1954 takes the curve hauling a slow freight of mixed box cars.

Thanks for the fine videos..... I sure love seeing a gaggle of "Same Boxcars" being pulled around the bend. Tip of the cap to the Caboose set up like a proper Work Unit, Storage boxes and all

My Chessie Steam Special from 1980.

Cleaned up 981 Turbine pulling the Polar Express cars, one last run...... my first passenger cars, fir the grandkids......

Williams BL2 pulling a Florida East Coast freight while the RGS Galloping Goose is trying to find its way back to Colorado .

There's a very serious situation happening on my layout.

I just shot the video below. It shows a brand new LionChief Plus 2.0 Brooklyn Eastern District Transportation (BEDT) 0-6-0 steam switcher hauling Cola and Ice Dock boxcars and circles the Polo Grounds. The NY Giant baseball fans at the Polo Grounds are going crazy:

The Brooklyn Dodger fans are still devastated because of the home run Bobby Thompson hit off of Ralph Branca, known as "the shot heard round the World."

Those Dodger fans are mad at me. They have seen my Popsicle Stick Yankee Stadium and Polo Grounds, and now they are demanding that I build Ebbets Field on my layout. I would love to do that, but it's impossible because I don't have the room!

Any suggestions as to what I should do?

LOL, Arnold

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

There's a very serious situation happening on my layout.

I just shot the video below. It shows a brand new LionChief Plus 2.0 Brooklyn Eastern District Transportation (BEDT) 0-6-0 steam switcher hauling Cola and Ice Dock boxcars and circles the Polo Grounds. The NY Giant baseball fans at the Polo Grounds are going crazy:

The Brooklyn Dodger fans are still devastated because of the home run Bobby Thompson hit off of Ralph Branca, known as "the shot heard round the World."

Those Dodger fans are mad at me. They have seen my Popsicle Stick Yankee Stadium and Polo Grounds, and now they are demanding that I build Ebbets Field on my layout. I would love to do that, but it's impossible because I don't have the room!

Any suggestions as to what I should do?

LOL, Arnold

The BEDT switcher is great!  Excellent, Arnold!!!

I still think Bill Mazeroski's home run off Ralph Terry in the 9th inning of the 7th game of the 1960 World Series outshines Bobby Thompson's famous home run!!  I guess a New Yorker would have a different opinion, and I can respect that!    Maz's shot is my earliest baseball memory!!