I bought a Paragon UP SW7 to do the switching in my yard. I was given a Walthers limited edition Amtrak 737 SW1 for Christmas. They both have full DCC with sound. I have been watching Youtube videos and lots of people pair up locos for switching in their yards.
My railroad is set in early 1960s. Would these two (in my own railroad colours) be used in a consist? If not, I am not sure what to do with the Amtrak SW1.
David
Long Haired DavidA.K.A. David Penningtonmain man on the Sunset and North Eastern R.R.http://www.gmrblog.co.ukfrom the UK
David,
Assuming both are MU equipped, it would have been possible to have seen such a combination on occassion. Some RRs, MILW comes to mind, had MU equipped SW1 for use on branchlines with weight restricted bridges. They frequently MUed four of them together.
Amtrak was founded in 1971...
JW
Edit: Sorry, I overlooked your statement "in my own colors". Thus, please disregard my comment.
More often then not (it seems), diesel "end cab" switchers were used together back-to-back both in switching or serving a branch line. I've seen pics of the MN&S runnign two pair of EMD switchers together on a train. An SW-7 and SW-1 would be fine together...actually, I'd love to get a good deal on an undec Walthers HO SW-1 to decorate for my freelance road, and run together with my BLI NW-2.
Some railroads liked to run them nose-to-nose, that allowed more visibility for the crew when yard switching.
SBX I bought a Paragon UP SW7 to do the switching in my yard. I was given a Walthers limited edition Amtrak 737 SW1 for Christmas. They both have full DCC with sound.
I bought a Paragon UP SW7 to do the switching in my yard. I was given a Walthers limited edition Amtrak 737 SW1 for Christmas. They both have full DCC with sound.
I have the very strong impression that the Walthers SW1 is not available with sound.
That said, I like the look of the two as paired in the photo. I do suspect that it will take a bit of fiddling to get them to run together properly. Or you'll be lucky.
Anyway, looks like a great project.
Ed
Seeing NYC MU'd SW7s with Alco S2s and SW7s with GP7s why not a SW7 and SW1? I'm sure it was done and I would lay odds a short line would do that as needed.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Or, if you really want to weird out, run Baldwin centercab DTs MUed with SW1200s like the EJ&E did.
SBX I bought a Paragon UP SW7 to do the switching in my yard. I was given a Walthers limited edition Amtrak 737 SW1 for Christmas. They both have full DCC with sound. I have been watching Youtube videos and lots of people pair up locos for switching in their yards. My railroad is set in early 1960s. Would these two (in my own railroad colours) be used in a consist? If not, I am not sure what to do with the Amtrak SW1. David
Of course they can.
Switchers where stationed and kept locally where they were used in small switching yards and Industrial Spurs or both, separating railroad cars and delivering them to where they were going.
When Minnesota froze over and the Great Lakes shipping slowed down. Great northern, Duluth missabe, Burlington Northern and all the railroads of the past would lease out their ore cars and the locomotives they were not using. It's not good to let a piece of Machinery sit and it's better to make money than having a dead horse. So you could apply the same principle to a switcher. If another railroad was not utilizing and keeping all their swithers busy they could lease them out. Better than having a dead horse.
So your 737 SW 1 can be run consist with a UP. I think you're 737 looks really cool. I think you should run it and be proud of it. And if anybody asks or says anything just give them the above information. I guarantee you it will fly because it's true.
Track fiddler So your 737 SW 1 can be run consist with a UP. I think you're 737 looks really cool. I think you should run it and be proud of it. And if anybody asks or says anything just give them the above information. I guarantee you it will fly because it's true.
I agree it is true that railroads leased locomotives that were underutilized to other railroads.
But giving them "the above information...because it's true." does't exactly apply. It's also true that UP 1803 was retired many decades before the Amtrak swoosh was used on ANY switcher.
Should the OP also give them THAT information, also?
I also guarantee it will fly because it's true.
SBX I was given a Walthers limited edition Amtrak 737 SW1 for Christmas I am not sure what to do with the Amtrak SW1. David
I was given a Walthers limited edition Amtrak 737 SW1 for Christmas
I am not sure what to do with the Amtrak SW1.
I don't know sometimes I just read between the lines and kind of go from there
Hi David:
The bottom line is that it is your railroad and you can run what you want!
To me, it looks like a great consist. Personally I like running my switchers nose to tail but that's just me. The suggestion of running them nose to nose for better visibility makes sense too.
Do what looks good to you!!
Cheers!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
7j43k Track fiddler So your 737 SW 1 can be run consist with a UP. I think you're 737 looks really cool. I think you should run it and be proud of it. And if anybody asks or says anything just give them the above information. I guarantee you it will fly because it's true. I agree it is true that railroads leased locomotives that were underutilized to other railroads. But giving them "the above information...because it's true." does't exactly apply. It's also true that UP 1803 was retired many decades before the Amtrak swoosh was used on ANY switcher. Should the OP also give them THAT information, also? I also guarantee it will fly because it's true. Ed
Guys,David said in his own railroad colors and his railroad is set in the 60s.
And Ed is correct..Those two paint schemes is to far apart to be correct --unless the UP switcher is a heritage scheme locomotive.
Ya, I assume "in my own railroad colours" means the OP intends to repaint both units into his railroad's c.1960's paint scheme. He was just asking if an SW-7 and SW-1 could realistically be used together during that time. He wasn't asking if running UP and Amtrak engines together was correct.
They are fine together. I would turn one around so that there is a cab at one end. The design strength of this locomotive is the high visibility that the no-nose design allows.
Lone Wolf and Santa Fe They are fine together. I would turn one around so that there is a cab at one end. The design strength of this locomotive is the high visibility that the no-nose design allows.
The way a brace of EMD end cab switchers was operated varied from road to road..NYC favored cab to cab operation as did the PRR and several other roads while other roads favored hood to hood operation.
Single switchers operated in the direction of the switch stands-a right hand yard ladder had the switcher facing long hood toward the switches since this put the engineer on the same side as the switch stands where the switchmen would be located.A left yard ladder would see the switcher cab toward the switches again placing the engineer where he could see the switchmen's signals.
BTW.Running cab forward was not the best idea on a urban local because you had no collision protection but,it was done at least one way because there was no where to turn the switcher.. A 0-6-0 or 0-8-0 on a urban local had the boiler as proection or when returning to the yard the tender was collision protection.
Industrial roads did this all the time. For example, the Conemaugh & Black Lick RR served steel mills in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and frequently operated SW1's and SW7's together.
The orientation of MU'd switchers varied from railroad to railroad. Some roads, such as the Akron & Barberton Belt, kept all switchers facing the same direction; some preferred cab to cab; I understand some preferred nose to nose, although this could cause overheating problems with both engines trying to pull cooling air from the same source. Many switchers had no MU capability, and many had MU connections on one end only (generally the cab end).
A few switchers were built as "B" units without cabs, and could be operated with any other unit as the controlling unit. These were usually called calves, with the controlling unit being the cow. I understand some Midwestern roads operated their calves in yard service with larger controlling units such as GP9's.
As Larry suggests, the location of switchstands could be a factor in determining which direction the loco faces.
Tom
Then there was always the Burlington Route, which often (at least here in the Twin Cities) ran transfer drags using three end-cab switchers all nose-to-tail 'elephant style', just like they usually ran their E-units on passenger trains.
You can run them back to back, even though one is silver and one is yellow. but you can still use them to pull a short train around the yard.
Pretend AMTK just purchased the yellow unit second hand from UP to add to thier fleet.
SBX My railroad is set in early 1960s. Would these two (in my own railroad colours) be used in a consist?
My railroad is set in early 1960s. Would these two (in my own railroad colours) be used in a consist?
Note the phrase in parentheses.
It is significant in the conversation, don't you think?