A little bit of everything. K-Line Berk, MTH NS, Lionel Tacoma Rail

Here is a train I ran recently.

                                                MTH , WBB and Lionel

                                                               MTH & MTH

Broadway Unlimited running around the bedroom high line...

This is my second week out working with customers, so I haven't run many trains today.  I do have my old MPC Baltimore and Ohio set running as I type this post...

In times past I bought a Marx Rock Island black and red F3 sort of diesel A-B and another A-B-A. I fished them out and assembled a A- B-B-A set of engines and I have 3 Marx passenger cars. The engines are longer than the cars but I’ll accept that, It’s a good looking train.

The powered A has traction tires that are still there after all this time.

I finally was able to purchase a Lionel PB-1 to go with my NYC PA-1.  I really like the ‘stereo’ effect of the sounds coming from both units.

Today's morning run: an old reliable and indestructable Postwar Lionel 2046 steamer hauling a long gondola unit train:

Arnold

Arnold,

I like it. As you know, I run modern scale-sized trains (mostly by MTH - my favorite brand) but, because I had Lionel trains even before the 1950s, I appreciate your trains and layout too. However, the MTH announcement is difficult to contemplate and makes me pessimistic about the future of both our styles of model railroading. It's surprising to me that a company as successful as MTH just seems to be giving up on the hobby. But you and I will try to persist.

MELGAR

A couple Williams diesels for today.

@Bill T posted:

A couple Williams diesels for today.

Bill, I think your Williams locomotives in the above photos are gorgeous.

Lately, I appreciate Williams locomotives more and more. They tend to be good pullers (the owner of the LHS near me tells me that their motors are big and strong), and they are very reliable, trouble free and affordable. None of my Williams locomotives have sounds (except horn/whistle), which is just fine because they are my go to engines when I run trains early in morning or late at night while my wife is asleep.

In a few minutes I will post a short video of Williams Penn Central F3s that pull a ton.

Arnold

Here are the Williams Penn Central F3s effortlessly pulling a string of Postwar oil tanker cars:

I can imagine seeing the above along the Hudson River in the 1960s. Arnold

Yep, Williams locos are strong pullers and darn near bullet proof. Nice video of the F units.

A K-Line Kennecott Mines RS-3 working the main line.

Sorry for the tardy post on running. Last night I spotted 2 Atlas reefers at the small town ice facility (just 2 cars long) to complete a previous switch order. In the process the B6s 505 was shopped to clean the pickup rollers on the loco and tender (K-Line). The through train orders for mixed freight, fast mail, local commuter, and tanker trains will be run next to complete operating session no. one. After a pause, it's good to get back to running. I made a card system a long time ago with 6 sessions, each involving yard orders, switch orders and through train orders. The first session started with spotting cars and ready to go through trains. At the end of each session, the cars and trains, hopefully, will be in their starting positions for the following session.

                                       I just went a little crazy today!

I received my new MTH N/S F-7 last week. It’s a beautiful loco. 

The Northern Pacific and Kodak running the rails of the S&Y RR.

Ran a RS and a GEEP

@ToledoEd posted:

I received my new MTH N/S F-7 last week. It’s a beautiful loco. 

 Ed, the N/S colors are some of the best in the business'... Beautiful indeed'...'''..😉 👍

Took my 2055 (1503WS set) to the club tonight...

@Steaming Jon- what club do you belong too? That is a spectacular layout and a massive Hellgate bridge.

Milwaukee Lionel RR Club

Very impressive layout!

This may be my favorite thread, especially during these days when I avoid the hard work of "working on the railroad all the live long day."

Running trains on a layout already set up, now that's mostly a purely relaxing experience, except for the occasional derailment.

I almost put the video below under the Real Trains forum. That's because there's a recent topic I started about the real freight trains  the Pennsy GG1s pulled, which I vaguely remember seeing a few times as a child. The consensus is that although Pennsy GG1s mostly hauled fast, long passenger trains, towards the end of their era in the 1950s and 1960s, they were also used to pull mixed freight trains.

Here's a video of my re-creation in O Gauge of those real mixed freight trains:

Arnold

Northern Pacific RS-11 with a load for Weyerhaeuser.

Ran 4 trains and a trolly for a brief time today.

1.) B&O mixed freight with 22 cars.  Headed by a GP9 and F3 B unit.

2.) Ma & Pa milk train with 3 reffers and caboose.  A SW1 was the power.

3.) Logging train on the Mountain Division.  The power was a B&O Docksider.

4. ) Local switch job.  The power was a C&O ... 0-8-0 

Sorry I did't get photos, but I had lots of fun!

This time of year, I run trains in the morning before it gets too hot in the attic.  Today it was my Reading GP9 (a Reading shell on a newer PS3 chassis).  GRJ rewired this one after the shell swap so it started up with short hood forward.  I also dusted off my trusty 2010 vintage Railking K4s and matching Madison cars.  This loco has 1370 scale miles on it.  From the old to the new, I got the LV RS-11 in April.  Lastly B&O F7 AB.  GRJ also had his hands on this one to fix a balky switch and install a sound file that didn’t have obnoxious blower whine.

Today I shot some video to share with my Father while he is in the hospital.  My 1950 vintage #736 Berkshire pulled a consist from 1938. 

Get well soon Dad.

Ran my Lionel 225 with Menards Boxcars and a empty Lionel Flatcar 

Loved the Lionel 736 Bill!

Prayers for your Dad!

Tacoma Rail seeing action today on the S&Y RR

Good morning Dad.   #252 pulled a fast freight last night.

Bill

@Odenville Bill posted:

Today I shot some video to share with my Father while he is in the hospital.  My 1950 vintage #736 Berkshire pulled a consist from 1938. 

 

 

Get well soon Dad.

Amen!

Thank you Mark and Brian.

Bill

I ran my Atlas Pennsy B-4.  I was/am checking my power to the new Blocks and I am establishing Routes to Run my Locomotives on and off my expansion.  I will later run my Articulated Locomotives to check clearances.

@Odenville Bill posted:

Good morning Dad.   #252 pulled a fast freight last night.

 

 

Bill

 

Bill, looks like a fun track plan!

Don

Had two of my electrics out on the rails. The Great Northern Y-1 and the Milwaukee EF-3.

Test ran my new Weaver RS-3 

Lionel Texas Special SD-70ACe and Railking imperial Dreyfuss Hudson

I have a single track bridge that has a slight curve (1/3 O-81) right before it. I know that is sacrilege in the RR industry but I had no alternative in laying out track for this expansion. I thought I better check clearances and took my BR&P Articulated out to test it thinking if that makes it all the remaining Locomotives in my fleet should be fine. Wrong! Yesterday I noticed that my PRR Y-3 looked a little wider. Took it on a test run and sure enough missed it by a 1/16 of an inch to clear. I adjusted the bridge and all is well. Oops! This morning looking over my layout, I noticed my PRR M-1 in obscure area of my layout and since it is long, I am now wondering if it will not take the approach to the bridge correctly. All this to say, I will be running my PRR M-1 today. 

I ran the Pennsy M-1A into the approach and it cleared with no problem so it ran around my layout for 30 minutes and then I ran my other Articulates just to see them run.  I did find a few electrical problems so i will be adding more drops and reversing wiring into a switch machine so that it aligns with what my remote says is happening.  I thought I tested all my new switches on my expansion but apparently missed one.

I also ran my PRR M1a around the layout with a mixed freight of reefers, tankers and boxcars. Before that I ran my mail/express train for several minutes with recently purchased GGD B70 baggage car and New Haven B60b.cars. 

I ran this Nickel Plate with a Western Manifest of returns to St.Louis where they will be handed of and continued westward 

The MTH US Army ammunition train made a rare appearance on the S&Y RR.

Wow, that`s a very cool Army train, love it. Who was the manufacture ?

@WM fan posted:

Wow, that`s a very cool Army train, love it. Who was the manufacture ?

MTH, a few years ago.

That`s the first one i have ever seen, thanks for posting..

MTM B&O 0-8-0 and track Cleaning cars.

@WM fan posted:

That`s the first one i have ever seen, thanks for posting..

It is a MTH Tinplate reproduction of the Lionel original that was made in the early 1900's.

I only have a small train of tinplate and got the urge to run them but didn't really feel like swapping out trains on my (modest) layout. So I drug out the Christmas Tree loop and got to it. 

I've had my Lionel Lionmaster Challenger running much of the day today. For some reason, household chores are more enjoyable with the trains running in the background.

This is a great performing locomotive and does not overpower my modest layout. It looks good with my fleet of postwar and MPC era freight cars. I just ordered the new Lionmaster SP Cab Forward in the fantasy "Daylight" paint scheme - it should make a good stable mate for my colorful Challenger.

Another UP Day

Today i ran my 3rd Rail Pennsylvania 1990's vintage 2-10-4  J1 with some eighteen MTH coaches. She ran great. I reciently converted the electronics to an ERR control and sound system.

pennsylvaniaJ1. After some quick maintenance i put her on the track with some eighteen inch coaches.

Pulled out my Lionel Vulcan switchers the past few days to give the little guys some running time. Pretty easy to switch these guys out on one of the main lines.

I've plastered this all over the forum over the past couple of days. Why not one more since I did run it today.

Bob

Did a lot of running of my latest purchase a postwar Lionel 2032 Erie Alco set that was a basket case. It is now a nice running engine with the help of this forum. A big thank you to you guys again!

My new to me K-Line K2488-0309 SP RS-3 Diesel.

 It has TMCC and railsounds and a fan driven smoke unit! I think it looks and sounds great!

Thinking a CCM might help the low speed performance, I like my trains to crawl along on the small layout.

I ran all these guys today. All recent legacy models with Bluetooth.

BNSF Dash 9, BNSF SD-70ACE, BNSF ES44AC, BNSF patched Santa Fe Dash 9

CSX AC6000 and SD-70ACE

Still running my  Lionel 6-18071 SP Daylight that I recently installed a Timko motor and ERR Cruise Commander. I am also running the Lionel SOUTHERN PACIFIC "DAYLIGHT" LEGACY A-6 ATLANTIC #3001

I love to periodically re-visit this topic started by my good Forum friend, Melgar, a few years ago. After all, don't we all love to run our model trains every day if we can?

Now, I'm going to share with you my #1 favorite locomotive that I ran last night. About 9 months ago, I bought it from one of our Forum Sponsors, JR Junction Train & Hobby ("JR"), from Syracuse, NY. When I visited JR's website looking for this particular locomotive I'm about to share with you, I was very impressed. As stated on JR's website,  this particular NY Central RS-3 smoking diesel was made exclusively for JR by MTH based on the real thing that ran in upstate NY, and JR was donating 25% of the sale proceeds to a railroad historical society in the Syracuse, NY area. What a great idea!

I was also very impressed with the owner of JR (whose name escapes me at the moment). When I called and spoke to him on the phone, he answered all my questions about this locomotive, I expressed my passion for model railroading and this Forum, and he was a pleasure to speak to and do business with.

Enough of the build up. Drum roll please! LOL. Here is this MTH Railking PS3 RS-3 smoking diesel in action, cruising at prototypical slow, smooth speed around my sharp 031 curves:

If you like what you see, and if JR has any of these locomotives left, which I doubt, you just might want to give them a call. You will not be disappointed if you buy one.

Arnold

Lionel NYC Empire State and Lionel  Southern Pacific Lines LEGACY A-6 Atlantic

Ran my Steamer the other day with some of my Lionel milk cars 

Very early this morning I was in Postwar Paradise running my 3 Lionel 736 Berkshires and Lionel 2046 Hudson. Those locomotives run great on my 031 curves and through my 022 switches. They are also a little bigger and have a little more detail than most other Postwar steamers.

I may post photos or videos of them later.

I love both Postwar Lionel (late 1940s through mid-1950s) and modern MTH, Lionel, K Line and Williams O Gauge.  If I had to choose one to be my favorite, I wouldn't be able to do it. 

Arnold

For the last several days I've been running these PA1s by Williams.  I love the look of the PA1!  I especially love the livery of the D&H .... one of my favorite liverys!

                           CR week...

I just received my Lionel 4-6-6T locomotive in the NYC livery and also a Lionel SP S-4 switcher in the Bloody Nose livery, can't run them as of just yet, need to go down to the LSHR's club layout in a Baggage car and learn how to run their Legacy system so I can see them run.  Hoping to do that possibly tomorrow or maybe one day next week.  Really looking forward to being able to finally get to run something.  Will report back later with some pictures or videos.

Williams D & H Berkshire pulling 5 MTH D & H 60 foot aluminum passenger cars.

With the Williams Berkshire, a Lionel Berkshire with a set of original Lionel 60 foot aluminum  passenger cars.  The two Berkshires run on 2 parallel loops. Looks great when the 2 Berkshires are side by side. 

@trumpettrain posted:

For the last several days I've been running these PA1s by Williams.  I love the look of the PA1!  I especially love the livery of the D&H .... one of my favorite liverys!

Trumptrain,  beautiful ALCO PA's. I wished the CNW had some so I could add it to my roster,  but the closest thing to it was the ugly duckling DL-109 .

Trains running on time today in Patsburg.  

@third rail posted:

Trumptrain,  beautiful ALCO PA's. I wished the CNW had some so I could add it to my roster,  but the closest thing to it was the ugly duckling DL-109 .

Third rail - thanks for your compliment!  

I think the PA locomotives are strikingly  beautiful passenger locomotives, although they are presently hauling freight trains on my layout.    Certain liveries like Santa Fe and D&H really highlight  the fine lines of these locomotives.   The Pennsy livery allows for a more subdued look, however the beauty of line is still retained, just not as pronounced as SF and D&H IMHO. 

The D&H does not fit into my modeling scheme ( Pennsy does ) , however, I've always found their PA1locos  ( formerly Santa Fe PA1s ) to be absolutely beautiful IMHO.  Prototypically speaking ... Even though those PA1's came to the D&H after the period which I model ( 1946 - 1960 )  ... I imagine that they came to the D&H much earlier ... say 1950's ... and they run on my railroad, as leased power,  during heavy traffic periods.    If my imaginative story can be adapted, perhaps you can run some PAs on your layout .... during heavy traffic demands or a washout on a neighboring road .... just sayin 

MTH Pennsy 13 1/4 inch O-27 Madison- first time running it as a full “set”(all 7 cars, but consist is a full Baggage/RPO, RPO/combine, Baggage combine(no RPO lettering), 2 coaches, Diner car, and observation. Led by MTH S-2 with Proto 2

Found this old thing in the bottom of a closet, so I threw a BCR2 in it and ran it around the table a bit :-)

@trumpettrain posted:

Third rail - thanks for your compliment!  

I think the PA locomotives are strikingly  beautiful passenger locomotives, although they are presently hauling freight trains on my layout.    Certain liveries like Santa Fe and D&H really highlight  the fine lines of these locomotives.   The Pennsy livery allows for a more subdued look, however the beauty of line is still retained, just not as pronounced as SF and D&H IMHO. 

The D&H does not fit into my modeling scheme ( Pennsy does ) , however, I've always found their PA1locos  ( formerly Santa Fe PA1s ) to be absolutely beautiful IMHO.  Prototypically speaking ... Even though those PA1's came to the D&H after the period which I model ( 1946 - 1960 )  ... I imagine that they came to the D&H much earlier ... say 1950's ... and they run on my railroad, as leased power,  during heavy traffic periods.    If my imaginative story can be adapted, perhaps you can run some PAs on your layout .... during heavy traffic demands or a washout on a neighboring road .... just sayin 

I think that th PA was the best looking diesel designed.  I have an issue of Trains magazine from of all dates September 2001. It has a feature article on the ALCO Locomotive Company.  On the cover is a photo of the ATSF PA in a publicity shot. 

Now that my layout is finished, I’m spending long hours running all kinds of trains. Like Arnold, I enjoy both my postwar trains from when I was a kid, as well as the realism of the modern command equipment. Here is a Lionchief Plus Hudson pulling some passenger cars past the depot and up the grade. Enjoy!

Decided to run my PS3ed Williams GG1s.  The Tuscan 5 stripe is pulling a 5 car Madison set plus a 2 car add set on from 2003.  The Blackjack is pulling a 5 car set from 2014 plus an R50B express reefer.  For a few weeks, I’ve been looking for some MTH 18” streamlined cars to go with these motors.  I haven’t found anything I liked with detailed interiors yet at a price I was willing to pay, but I’m sure something will turn up.

I painted o scale sitting figures for my passenger cars, male, female, and kids. Also found plates, cups, and dinner ware for the tables. Also added some standing figures, looks really good, found all of the things on ebay.

Have fun..

Ran both of my MTH PS3 Alcos at Rick Thomas's big layout on Sunday.  The first, away in the distance, is #1606, a CNJ RSD4/5 pulling it's freight up the 2% grade.  Second is #859 Erie PA from a Mr Muffins custom run, it was not in the train budget, but I had to get one.  It is bringing the same train downgrade later in the day.  Both PS3 engines ran perfectly - out of their boxes- on Rick's DCS layout.  Now I need to get building on mine !

Trestleking, you ran your nice trains on a really nice layout, and they look fine. Thank you for posting the pictures. I ran this train today, finally have the Observation Car finished. Happy Railroading Everyone...

@N5CJonny posted:

Did a lot of running of my latest purchase a postwar Lionel 2032 Erie Alco set that was a basket case. It is now a nice running engine with the help of this forum. A big thank you to you guys again!

@N5CJonny: did you refinish the exterior of those with new decals? They look like they're in excellent shape on the outside, but from your description I guess they were a "basket case" on the inside.

I, too, recently purchased the same item from the auction site, and although they were pretty rough looking outside, they were in really good shape internally. Although I had to source a new whistle since the other user for whatever reason removed it but left the solenoid!

It's a great PW piece. And I run it a lot! Just wish it looked as nice as yours in the outside.

Ran this guy a bit. Nothing as fancy as what you guys are showing off, but it's a few minutes of therapeutic clickety-clack:

That's a fun layout, Jeff!

I love that MPC caboose - one of my favorites!

I bought these NYC coaches recently from a forum member. They are from O-line reproductions based on the K-line 13" passenger car tooling. I have several sets of the K-line cars and they are nicely detailed and I can run them on 027 curves. They have full interiors so I will need to add some passengers one day. I ran them with a couple of switchers last night but I have a nice set of Williams A-A NYC Sharks to unpack and make a proper consist.

Bob

On WVRR's upper level I'm now running my PostWar 2365 Illinois Central A-B (dual Pullmor motors and Magne-traction), a matching PostWar SP type Illinois Central caboose (one of my custom paint projects), all 16 of MPC's Liquor reefers and a MPC Beer reefer. Overall 18 and a half feet in length.

More NYC with a short freight.

From yesterday. Ran the MTH Ives 1134 Circus engine on the Main Floor Layout to verify and ck the smoke output.

@Lionelski posted:

On WVRR's upper lever I'm now running my PostWar 2365 Illinois Central A-B (dual Pullmor motors and Magne-traction), a matching PostWar SP type Illinois Central caboose (one of my custom paint projects), all 16 of MPC's Liquor reefers and a MPC Beer reefer. Overall 18 and a half feet in length.

Oh man, i love that layout....

Here's a quick video of my very first original AF Wide Gauge set running on the Upstairs Layout. I purchased this Sunday Oct. 4, 2020 :

"Oh man, i love that layout...."

Much thanks WM fan. You can see more pics and an "About Warrenville" description/history on my website.

My web designer daughter has a bunch of stuff for a update, but not much time to do it. Maybe soon.

The Northern Pacific Terminal Co with every freight to the port.

Lionelski, Wow, I love your amazing layout and that Illinois Central freight set. A really cool, fun looking model railroad. Place a few more pictures on the forum.

Ran this train late last night.  

Much thanks Leapinlarry, yours is amazing too, thanks for your pics.

It goes to show that even with differences (Yours is more realistic/scale like, mine is dressed up PostWar style) trains is trains and appreciated and enjoyed by many.

Here are a couple more pics of the WVRR as you requested, more are on the website below. The last 2 pics are of Cape Warrenaveral.

Having located today my MTH O Gauge AT&SF engine that I had recently repaired and thought I had waylaid- I temporarily set it up using a MTH Z1000 transformer on one of the loops on my new Upstairs O Gauge Layout. Ran great on the Fastrack and with this transformer. Pulling my two older Lionel Halloween cars. This engine and it’s 605 tender have not had run time in probably ten years. It was unearthed recently, covered in dust and dirt. It needed a good brushing up.

Was doing some work in the basement today, and heard the call of the layout... my new Pennsy FM pulling a short freight circles the Denali Star and a short NYC Harlem line commuter train.

Sharp NYC Coaches Paul. 👍

@RSJB18 posted:

Sharp NYC Coaches Paul. 👍

Thanks Bob, they are a pair of GGD cars. And I believe I recently saw you have a new set of spiffy NYC cars as well... No sharks in the lead, but spiffy none the less

Gave this a test run the other day with some Custom painted / decaled rolling stock I did

Lee, your custom cars look great running in that train