your favorite loco from your favorite railroad(s)..


When it comes to real and steam ones I have to say the "BIG BOY" ;) Love watching the drivers working!
 
I would have to say I'm a big fan of two famous SP steam engines, the cab forwards then their daylight express 4-8-4. Both awesome steam engines.
 
SpaceMouse said:
Jim, It's an Atlas and I used a very fine paint brush and a lot of time. I mix a lot of acrylic colors.
Click to expand...
Ah, OK, I have both the Atlas and Bachmann GP38-2 and find that externally, the level of detail is almost exactly the same. It almost looks like they came from the same mold. Do you have any of the Bachmann variety. I frankly wasn't expecting much when I bought mine but it runs at least as well as the Atlas and is a little quieter. I think the Atlas was about $35 more without DCC so the Bachmann seems like a good deal.

I'll have try an acrylic mix with the GP35 I'm working on now for the grills and radiators. Black doesn't look quite right but they aren't the color of the rest of the engine either. Seems like some sort of dark grey would be about right.
 
Rex, I want those SD-24's. :) The only Southern power I have now is an F3 A-B set and I need something a little more modern. A question, since I'm a newbie to the south, did the Southern run mostly long or short hood first? I notice a lot of NS trains here still run long hood first and I don't know if that's a holdover the N&W or Southern.
 
UP2CSX said:
Rex, I want those SD-24's. :) The only Southern power I have now is an F3 A-B set and I need something a little more modern. A question, since I'm a newbie to the south, did the Southern run mostly long or short hood first? I notice a lot of NS trains here still run long hood first and I don't know if that's a holdover the N&W or Southern.
Click to expand...

Why something more modern Jim? The SRR upgraded their equipment internally for years and even had some of the later FT's upgraded to F-7 standards, and was able to run them up to the early 1970's. The F-7's and 3's lasted slightly longer.

Just about all SRR hood units had the long hood designated the front and ran them that way. Felt it was more of a safety issue than anything else. SRR ordered the last high hoods from EMD several years after N&W stopped.:)
 
Cjcrescent said:
Why something more modern Jim? The SRR upgraded their equipment internally for years and even had some of the later FT's upgraded to F-7 standards, and was able to run them up to the early 1970's. The F-7's and 3's lasted slightly longer.

Just about all SRR hood units had the long hood designated the front and ran them that way. Felt it was more of a safety issue than anything else. SRR ordered the last high hoods from EMD several years after N&W stopped.:)
Click to expand...

I meant some thing like maybe a GP-9. :) Looks better doing switching than an F unit but I still think F units are the classic diesels. Actually, they are the only locomotives non-railroaders ever recognize on my layout, probably because of their long life and all the F units that got sold by Lionel.

So I still don't get it. Long hood, which is obviously already high, is designated front. So why have a high short hood if you never run it short hood first? Seems like a waste of money compared to buying the standard low nose and running it long hood first. I've noticed the low nose NS units running long hood first a lot down here so it's apparently feasible.
 
Jim, thanks for the compliment. These two are really sweet runners. They are the Atlas Gold models (sound) and when you have the "regulated throttle control" set (DCC), they will Mu together perfectly without any adjustment. They sense the pulling/pushing of each other.

Carey, we have had this discussion many times and as I have said, Southern did not always run there diesels long hood forward. I forgot exactly which year (long ago) they started, but I will for sure do my research again and make sure that information is credible.

Jim, think about it: Tanker truck in the crossing, do you want a long or short hood for protection as an engineer?:eek: :D This has always been the story I've heard and I have just assumed safety for the reason.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As if I could pick one favorite! So, here is my favorite SD70MAC. Favorite because it runs so well and looks good doing it. It was 9526 when I got it and had a squeak I traced to the brush holders in the motor. I swapped motor parts from a scrapped 1980s ConCor loco and now the 9568 runs so quiet the only sound is the wheels on the track. I was amused ConCor used the same motor Athearn does now.

9568-3.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
RexHea said:
Jim, think about it: Tanker truck in the crossing, do you want a long or short hood for protection as an engineer?:eek: :D This has always been the story I've heard and I have just assumed safety for the reason.
Click to expand...

I think they eventually switched operating ends because, in addition to the better visibility, the crew is in front of the fuel tank runnning short hood first.
 
RexHea said:
Carey, we have had this discussion many times and as I have said, Southern did not always run there diesels long hood forward. I forgot exactly which year (long ago) they started, but I will for sure do my research again and make sure that information is credible.

Jim, think about it: Tanker truck in the crossing, do you want a long or short hood for protection as an engineer?:eek: :D This has always been the story I've heard and I have just assumed safety for the reason.
Click to expand...

Rex;

Southern, designated the long hood as the front on the vast majority of their engines. (With that little white "F", on the sill by the steps.) The control stands were originally set up for long nose forward running, but there was no hard and fast policy that said long nose forward was the only way to run.

There were some locos that came from mergers that had the short nose designated as the front, but whether or not this was changed depended on the engine itself. When the original NS merged with the SRR, their GP-38's that were low nosed, got rebuilt with hi noses. Don't know if the control stands were changed, but when they came out in the tuxedo scheme the "F" was moved from the short nose end to the long nose end. The Carolina and Northwestern's only RS-11 #11, had the short hood as the front. When the engine was repainted into the tux, after they merged with SRR, the short hood was still the "front".It stayed that way until it was sold to the Chicage and Northwestern.

Many locos were delivered with dual stands starting in the 60's-70's so they could be run bi-directional. Like you, (esp. growing up in Selma,) I saw many a SRR hood unit running short hood forward, but long nose forward running was such a "standard" that, by this time, it was one of the trademarks of the Southern.

Used to, you could tell whether the loco was set up for long nose running by locating the bell. If it was on the long nose, that was the way the control stand was set up for. If it had 2 bells, one on each end, it generally had dual stands and could be run short nose forward. But until the merger the long hood was generally designated the front.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
hey KJD, is that SD70 MAC slightly weathered? Looks as if it has some dry brushing done to the trucks and the lower side of the cab has alittle dirt. If so, it looks great! I have always wanted some like that to run some prototypical modern coal trains...I see them all the time through here with 2 MAC's on the point, about 100 or so bethgons and one MAC bringing up the rear! Nice locos everyone! Lets keep 'em comin!

-Rich
 
ATSFCLIFF said:
One of my favorite engines is the GE C44-9W. SP is also one of the railroads I like.
Cheers,
Click to expand...

Yeah me too! Never did get the chance to see them when they were still just SP, but I have seen a few SD45's and SD40-T2's in their old livery come through here! Anyways, are those the only SP's you have on the roster? They look great...Although alittle coal dust and exhaust wouldn't hurt....;)

-Rich
 
Ah, favorite loco from my favorite railroad? That would have to be my Atlas MP15DC after I relettered it from GWRR to WPRR...
IMG_0398.sized.jpg
 
wongsing said:
hey KJD, is that SD70 MAC slightly weathered? Looks as if it has some dry brushing done to the trucks and the lower side of the cab has alittle dirt. If so, it looks great! I have always wanted some like that to run some prototypical modern coal trains...I see them all the time through here with 2 MAC's on the point, about 100 or so bethgons and one MAC bringing up the rear! Nice locos everyone! Lets keep 'em comin!

-Rich
Click to expand...

It has a little chalk on the body and airbrushing and washes on the trucks. I didn't like the color, I thought it was too much and usually when you add Dullcote most of it disappears. It doesn't really on white, it just gets sealed. There are a couple more photos on my website of it compared to a new clean one.
 
Nice looking model, Jeff. It looks like you have plows on both ends. Must have been fun adding those. :) The MP15 was always a good looking engine. I guess it's the later day cross between an SW9 and a GP9.
 
Hello all,

My favorite locomotive(s) are the Rock Island Alco C-415's. #424 being my most favorite since it was the first Rock Island locomotive I was given a ride on way back in 1974. I will not repost a picture of it though, as a picture is in the October photo contest.
 
I lived close to Taylor Yard in LA in the 70's and the SP had quite a fleet of C415's that had the complete SP light package and were used mostly for transfer service to other yards. They'd commonly MU'd 3 or 4 together and drag cuts of 100 or more cars. They were typical ALCO's though - the cloud of smoke made you think the 4449 was coming at you. :) The Air Pollution Control District kept giving the SP citations for all the smoke and one day, all the C415's were cone. This was about 1977, when I moved to northern California. I never did find out if they got scrapped, sold, or what exactly happened to them.
 
Hello Jim & all,

Did you's know that there were only 26 C-415's built? The 26 consisted of 1 demonstrator unit (medium height cab, AAR-B trucks), 1 to Monongahela Connecting in Pittsburgh, PA (low cab, Hi-Ad trucks), 1 to Chehalis Western in Washington (High cab, Hi-Ad trucks), 1 to Columbia & Cowlitz in Washington (High cab, Hi-Ad trucks), 2 to Spokane, Portland & Seattle (Medium cab, Hi-Ad trucks), 10 to Rock Island (Medium cab, AAR-B trucks) and 10 to the Southern Pacific (High cab, AAR-B trucks). So as you can see, the SP & RI had the most of them. I understand the demonstrator is still alive in Australia. Just a little history.... :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top