Model Train Journal

I'm writing an operations scenario for the ops group that meets here every other month, this one to be Harrisburg in the 1960s when PRR was running locals and transfers powered by Alco T6's (because I have two of the Carworks ones I finished up). The other player in town was Reading, and their signature power around town was the RS-3. Fresh off the workbench is this pair, detailed up for Reading, painted, drives geared down with Stock Drive components and NWSL geared wheelsets.

Reading put the Pyle National bug-light markers only on the long hood, rain gutters were a signature, and the headlights differ between the two with 509 equipped with the earlier single-bulb style while 492 had the twin sealed-beam type.








I have to do up a Reading caboose yet, one in the red scheme.

Nicely done. I'm not a big diesel modeler; the pre-1920 era seems not to have had many......but I do tinker about with some just for the fun of it. No real idea what I'll be doing with any of the ones in the project queue. Building another trolley has been more my pursuit. Maybe I can find a photo....but I am working on a caboose, albeit not Reading; PRR that will become CVRR.

They look terrific, Sarge. I never saw much Reading equipment back in the day, but most of what I did see around Hagerstown had the light green/yellow scheme applied. I like this BRG look.

Here are the PRR T-6's I did up, Carworks brass imports, regeared with Stock Drive parts.







They originally lived at Enola and regularly did local work into Camp Hill and around Harrisburg until they got moved to New Jersey in the mid-60s where they remained into Conrail. To stay within that span of years in Enola, the scenario is set in the early '60s, so the Reading power out of Rutherford in Harrisburg assigned the same sorts of work were predominantly RS-3s. Only a couple of them ever were repainted in green and yellow, so that earlier dark green you saw is the appropriate Reading scheme for this scenario, which is intended to represent transfers between the two railroads and the various urban switch-jobs.

Gives me things to build! GRIN!

Very nice; makes one consider modernizing,

Agree, T6's were rare too, only 57 built, PRR (6 units) & NW buying the majority at 39, the rest to shortlines and industrials, 2 to Mexico.
Neat engines, listed as transfer power by Alco hence the "T" instead of "S" due to being equipped with transition, per the Diesel Spotters Guide.
Those sand bunker on the nose certainly suggest road power.

Interesting that Carworks offered the T6, given its rarity.

And I have to ask: What does "equipped with transition" mean?

Transition simplistically refers to the rerouting of power to the traction motors from the generator at different parts of the speed curve.

This is plucked out of memory from fifty years ago now, so hopefully I don't have it screwed around a bit, but you'll get the idea. At starting and slow speeds the motors receive current in series. At a particular speed they get reshunted either automatically or manually to "series-parallel" which my memory is a little hazy, but clear enough to say either the motors on each truck are shunted to parallel but each truck group fed in series or the other way round. The next transition point further up the speed curve and once again the motors are reshunted to all being fed in parallel.

Switchers aren't usually equipped with this simply because they are intended to operate in the speed range before reshunting the current is reached. Road units and road-capable ones benefit from this, I believe pioneered by Alco on the RS-1.

Something silly that I fiddled about with and got running....and was actually a 2 rail version...

I can get very enthused by such things. The one you show was cranked out probably in the hundreds in both HO and O. Yet I have no idea what the prototype was.

sarge wrote:I can get very enthused by such things. The one you show was cranked out probably in the hundreds in both HO and O. Yet I have no idea what the prototype was.

Most that I have seen in O have been 3 rail and not insulated for 2 rail. This one was set for 2 rail. I believe that these were also 17/64th's and a Japanese prototype. KWR Occupied Japan product.

Took a bit of fiddling about, but once the worm gear was properly aligned, it actually runs if you drop enough voltage into the track. Not quite as noisy as a Waring blender stuffed with 8-32 nuts......

Another that I recently pulled out of its box and got running; no idea of the origins (thoughts anyone?) and its gearing is such that the highest speed is a crawl.

No idea who, but very cool!

sarge wrote:No idea who, but very cool!

Indeed it is....looks like someone raided the clock shop for the gears and all!

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:Another that I recently pulled out of its box and got running; no idea of the origins (thoughts anyone?) and its gearing is such that the highest speed is a crawl.

Neat critters Rufus.
David Kingman of Brooklyn NY imported a variety of trolley, freight motors and small diesels under his "David O King" moniker, some of us may recall his ads in Vane Jone's Traction & Models and OGR back in the sixties, many sold in three rail versions which based on the advert verbiage appeared to be the primary market he was aiming for. I recall Maroon posting one of the 2 rail versions of a O' King CNJ Oil Electric here recently. Anyway your "Amtrak #5" appears listed per below.


As an aside, the drive/truck on your #09 looks very similiar to the Walthers MU and Gas Electric truck drives which I also associate with some of those IMP JNR models. I have a few of them under some Walthers 60' MU's and they are noisy, jerky affairs, I'd welcome having some lower geared "slower" versions.