BLI PA1's, The New Haven RR And Rapido New Haven RR Osgood Bradley LightWeight Passenger Coaches

Recently I purchased six Osgood Bradley New Haven Hunter Green Lightweight Passenger Coaches and six Osgood Bradley New Haven Pullman Green Passenger Coaches for the "new" JJJ&E. Although I don't model the New Haven Railroad, these cars were a "must buy" because I ran these cars on my Large HO scale railroad many years ago and I was always infatuated with the appearance of these lightweight coaches and how well then ran on my HO scale layout. "In 1934 Pullman-Standard's Osgood Bradley plant in Worcester, Massachusetts began construction of one of the first true lightweight coaches for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. These iconic cars were used on both long distance and local trains and served well into the 1970s." Features Never before available in N Full underbody detail End diaphragms with etched metal end gates New 41-E trucks with metal wheelsets Full interior detail Partial or non-skirted versions "Easy-Peasy" battery-operated interior lighting Metal side grab irons Accurate paint and lettering _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ New Haven Osgood Bradley Hunter Green Lightweight Coach

New Haven Osgood Bradley Pullman Green Lightweight Coach

These Osgood Bradley Lightweight Coaches were also available in the New Haven Osgood Bradley ten window coach.

Other road names include the Long Island Railroad Osgood Bradley Coaches

Bangor And Aroostock Osgood Bradley Coaches

Boston & Maine Osgood Bradley Coaches

Undecorated Osgood Bradley Coaches

Since I model the steam-transition era until the mid 1960's, I decided to head these Osgood Bradley New Haven lightweight passenger coaches with two BLI New Haven PA1's which ran high speed passenger trains until the early 1970's when the PA1's were replaced by the New Haven FL9. "The American Locomotive Company introduced the PA1 locomotive in 1946 to compete with EMD's successful "E" Series passenger diesels. The first PA1 celebrated Alco's 75,000th loco to roll out of the erecting shop. This attractive 2000HP loco was their high-speed passenger diesel. Having more horsepower than their leading competitor, Alco felt that they had a fleet-ready competitive product. PA1's were sleek, stylish, powerful, and were very well suited for America's passenger and fast freight trains. Additionally, their 65' 8" bodies became excellent billboard advertising for the railroads that they served with pride." The features of this sleek diesel include: Paragon2 Sound and Control System Integral DCC Decoder with Back EMF for Industry Best Slow Speed Operation in DC and DCC Precision Drive Mechanism engineered for continuous heavy load towing and smooth slow speed operation Motor Type: 5-Pole Can with Skewed Armature and Dual Fly Wheels Premium Caliber Painting with Authentic Paint Schemes Prototypical Light Operation with Golden White LED Headlight Beautifully Detailed, Accurately Modeled Locomotive Separately Applied Details such as grab irons, steps, and ladders Operating Sprung Diaphragms Constant Intensity Directional Lighting Traction Tire-Equipped for Maximum Traction Locomotive Composition: ABS with Die Cast Chassis A-Unit Length: 5.1" B-Unit Length: 4.9" A-Unit Weight (Powered): 4 oz Couplers: (2) Micro Trains #1015 Recommended Minimum Radius: 9.75" Industry-Leading SOUND Features: Operates in DC and DCC (use DCMaster for DC Sound) Record and Play Operation - Records and plays back sounds and movements once or repeatedly for automatic operation 16-bit Sample Rate for exceptional high frequency sound clarity Playback Whistle for multiple whistle lengths and patterns Choice of 3 selectable Whistles/Horns Alternate Whistle/Horn where applicable for locomotive with air horn and steam whistle - both the main whistle and alternate can be easily played Adjustable bell ringing interval for faster or slower bell Numerous user-mappable functions with available keys Johnson Bar Sound at Direction Change (Steam Only) Passenger Station Ambient Sounds - Controlled with Function Key Freight Yard related radio chatter - Controlled with Function Key Lumber Yard Ambient Sounds - Controlled with Function Key Farm related radio chatter - Controlled with Function Key Crew Radio Communications - Controlled with Function Key Maintenance Yard related radio chatter - Controlled with Function Key Demo Mode for display and demonstrations Grade Crossing Automatic Signal 8 Diesel Motor Revs (Diesel Only) Simple Programming with Integral DCC Decoder Automatic Forward/Reverse Signal - When activated, stopping triggers a stop horn toot. When moving forward from a stopped position, toots twice. When moving in reverse, toots three times. Engine sound intensity varies with load Individually adjustable sound volumes for each effect EZ Reset Button for quick return to factory default settings

Moving A Fully Restored UP "Big Boy" #4018 To The Museum Of The American Railroad To Frisco Texas

Being a resident of Frisco Texas has its rewards. It is the fastest growing city in the United States with a population of over 220, 000 people.

Now for a little bit of history of Frisco Texas. Frisco is located where the Chisolm Trail started in Texas in the 1860's. Cattle drives originated from this point on to rail heads in Kansas and Missouri in the late 1860's. A great motion picture to see about this part of the country is Red River starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift (1948). It is often seen on cable TV.

 In the last two or three years The Museum Of  The American Railroad was built and now resides in the center of Frisco Texas. They do have one of the last remaining Big Boys  #4018 that has been fully restored. It traveled from Lake Park Texas to Frisco in the past 18 months on BNSF tracks where it is on display. It is a magnificent piece of equipment and is fully restored.

                               

                                      

Reverse Loops, Auto-Reverse Loop Modules/Switches and Unitrack

Reverse Loops, Auto-Reverse Loop Modules/Switches and Unitrack

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If you decide to add one or more reverse loops to your Unitrack layout using DCC, One should use one reverse loop module/switch for each reverse loop on your layout. It isn't advisable to piggyback two reverse loops on one reverse loop module/switch.

One might say that I'm only running one train at a time on my layout. However there will come a time when two trains might be running on the same layout at the same time. If both trains enter the two reverse loops at the same time. The result will be a short circuit with a complete shut down of the system. What are the results of such a shut down? In some cases blown out decoders could result.

To avoid this situation, each reverse loop should be wired to its own reverse loop module/switch. The $25+ it costs to buy a second reverse loop module/switch is but a small price to pay to avoid a short circuit and blown out decoders.

On the "original" JJJ&E, I had four reverse loops plus a turntable. Each reverse loop was wired with its own individual reverse loop module/switch. In over nine years of operation, reverse loops never caused a short circuit on the JJJ&E.

Each reversing loop MUST BE LONGER than your longest train or a short will occur.Wiring for the reverse loop was discussed in another article in this blog.

When I built the "new" JJJ&E I decided to forego reversing loops and after almost eight years of operation, I can say that I don't really miss the concept of reversing loops. On the "new" JJJ&E which is a "U" shaped around the room layout, I consistently run trains that are 50-60 cars long which makes using reverse loop on this layout impractical.

However looking back on the "original" JJJ&E, I did enjoy running trains on a layout with four reversing loops. This always kept me on full alert when running more than one train at a time on the layout.

What are your thoughts regarding reverse loops and reverse loop modules/switches? Is the added security of knowing that each reverse loop has its own reverse loop module/switch enough to justify the added cost of these switches on a layout?

Stay cool and have fun with it........

Video's Of UP FEF #844

Below are some videos of UP FEF #844. This is one fabulous steam locomotive which is now available in N scale.