Model Train Journal

November Has Begun

Good morning to y'all, a new month has begun,
May the sun shine on your face with joy and fun.
Now leave all your worries from yesterday behind,
Embrace this new start and watch what you can find.

Poem by Catherine Pulsifer (modified for this thread).
https://www.stresslesscountry.com/awakeup/

I found this custom-made track-cleaning car on eBay years ago. Lynnette just found it again in one of the many boxes from my July 2020 move from Tucson.

Custom Track Cleaning Car image by Wayne Benda, on Flickr

Reference: https://www.ebay.com/itm/147157262904?_ ... R6S0_r-3aA

When I click on this image, it opens on Flickr as a video. The video shows the weird lights coming from the nuclear reactor.

OakPoint by Wayne Benda, on Flickr

Given the family involvement with the nuclear industry, it would be fun to have something on the train table. That Menard's version looks pretty neat, Wayne, especially as it includes the cooling tower. I looked at the Lionel reactor, but it's a bit more fantastical and I've read it can be problematic. The workbench is already stacked to the ceiling...no need to clutter it up with fuel-rod issues

I came home from York with a couple hundred bucks in my pocket (very unusual); the Vienna Station train list hit the inbox the next day. This Lionel 97E set from 1928-1929 made quick work of the surplus:



Haven't had it on the track yet, but the 251E looks good. Re-wheeled and new pick-ups, I'm hopeful the pendulum reverse-unit works as it should. Everything needs a good cleaning, but otherwise pretty good. Lots of scratches and a few dents from trips into and out of the attic or hall closet, I suspect.

Nice looking set, Healey, scratches and all. No dents? I kinda like the way used equipment looks when it is not "like new." It wears its history.

I have always wondered what those things that look like tiny pantographs were used for.

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylva ... _(electric)#/media/File:PRR_BB2_3914_3915.jpg
Public Domain

I know that the B1s with tiny pantographs were used in yards with an outside third rail (no overhead wire).

Oh, there are a few dents in the roof of each, some worse than others. I skillfully photographed them so they're not too obvious These are definitely well loved, but then they are 98 years old, so one might expect a bit of wear and tear, if only for the annual packing/unpacking ritual. The handrails atop the motor are pretty tarnished...I'm hoping a cloth and a bit of Brasso will clean them up.

It's always fun to try and pick out what prototype might have influenced the Lionel designers...I always thought the 251 looked a bit like the NYC's T-motor (sort of):



But who knows...artistic license and all that.

As far as those mini pantographs go, the NYC S motors had them as well, and a number of toy trains were modelled after those. As to how they worked, not a clue. Wasn't the GG1 set up for third-rail as well? I think I read that somewhere, but may be balled up on that.

Nope, a bit of reading says the GG1 was exclusively designed for overhead catenary operation...

healey36 wrote:As far as those mini pantographs go, the NYC S motors had them as well...

Your hint is how I found the answer.

"There were still gaps, however, in the electricity at slip switches and crossovers. To remedy this issue, the NYC employed short sections of overhead catenary where appropriate, and the locomotives featured small rooftop pantographs to capture this 'juice.'"

Reference: https://www.american-rails.com/nycs1.html

I love it when teamwork leads to fixing a problem or finding an answer that stumps everyone.