can any one tell me the first little switcher that happened on the scene at the same time as steam tried to look it up but all they do is spout numbers of locos at me and not being a big RR buff it means nothing to me with out a picture can someone point me in the right direction?
When I read about the evils of drinking I quit reading.
There were a number of one-off kind of affairs built from around 1910 to the mid 1920s as railroads and manufacturers were feeling out the new technology. (Diesel's patent expired in 1912, at which point many began playing with that kind of motor for a number of applications.) Alco (American Locomotive Company) was the first major manufacturer of diesel locomotives starting in the mid 1920s with their "Boxcab" design. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALCO_boxcab By the 1930s, both Alco and GE were producing what we'd consider the first mainstream diesel locomotives.
Later,
K
There were four systems that were mainly in use in the early days of diesel traction. The first used a diesel engine to compress air and then expended it using cylinders and example of this would be the German V3201
http://douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/diesair/diesair.htm
The second was similar and used Hydraulic motors (as system still used today) an example of this would be the LMS 1831 loco -itself built from the frames of a steam loco.
http://www.paxmanhistory.org.uk/paxrailt.htm
The third system used direct mechanical connection via gears and clutches. And example of this would be the LMS 7054 which is the next loco down.
Finally there is the diesel electric system which the most common today.
Several railway companies in the UK and US experimented with small shunting locos and thee was no real fixed design. If you examine the Garden Railway Specialists catalogue (page 6 of Narrow Gauge electric locomotives) you will see examples that you can construct and mangle to your hearts content.
http://www.grsuk.com/
regards
ralph
The Home of Articulated Ugliness
What K said about the Alco boxcab is correct, it was the first dismal loco to appear on American railroads in small but significant numbers starting in 1925, other boxcabs followed from other mfrs.
Alco 600 boxcab
Other early arrivals were the Alco HH switcher in 1931
and the EMD SC1 in 1936
Have fun with your trains
thats what i needed pictures with dummy Ed talk to tie it all together
Thanks Ed
Not completely on topic, but very close. At the close of WW1 a small company “The Electromotive Company” was formed. Gas/Electric had been around for a few years in streetcars and interurban but had never been attempted for freight service. Using a 175 horsepower Wilton marine engine they were able to produce this magnificent failure. This one never made it to market.
It did not develop enough power to pull more than a few empty boxcars. A few years later after the patens on the diesel engine expired numerous variations of boxcabs were produced, much like the Alco 600 pictured by Vic.
This one might be a decent “bashup” for a fantasy line. Vic has come very very close on several occasions.
Tom Trigg
well the reason i asked (i guess i should have said this at first) i want to be able to run a real small gas or diesel switch eng. around my steam eng just around the 50s before steam had been taken over completely.
but i dont want it to be to out of place but im not a rivet counter either . i guess i shouldn't worry about it but i dont want it to be a mish mash of different things when you first see it i want it to look semi right
The catapiller diesel was first made in 1937. here is more info on the build and sale/resale of that loco.
http://www.drgw.net/info/DRGW50
Also known as a davenport
The LGB version is a great pulling little loco. Narrow guage in 1/22.5
Also, there is the whitcomb built in 1929. MRC I believe made a 1/32 version.
Thanks for the history lesson, I know more today then yesterday. Make's my day Thanks
Dave
The head is gray, hands don't work , back is weak, legs give out, eyes are gone, money go's and my wife still love's Me.
Grims well the reason i asked (i guess i should have said this at first) i want to be able to run a real small gas or diesel switch eng. around my steam eng just around the 50s before steam had been taken over completely. but i dont want it to be to out of place but im not a rivet counter either . i guess i shouldn't worry about it but i dont want it to be a mish mash of different things when you first see it i want it to look semi right
USAs S4 Switcher might be a good choice then, it certainly looks the part of an early dismal and would be at home on a 1950's era layout.
The Alco HH would be PERFECT!
Don't believe everything you think!
USA's NW-2 would also look @ home!
Sean
wow!!! lots of choices thanks for the response guys. you see once the engines turned into big cubes i had a tough time knowing what was what
thanx again
Ed
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