Hey guys,
I am screwing around for the first time in my life with model/toy trains. Got some things going on in mulitple scales as I figure out what interests me most.
He is a picture of my first train with both of my interests. The Navy, since I am in it, and the Browns, my hometown team, even though I live in Reading, PA now.
One big question which way is the front on my Navy switcher, lol.
Thanks,
Ed
Great set Ed! Looks like Ready Made Toy’s Beep. Well, to answer you big question, the first picture is that way its supposed point. One thing of confusion is that on most of those engines, there is no true “Front”. The reason they sometimes run “Long hood forwards” is that engines with Hi-Noses were bought by the Southern Railroad. They believed in crew safety so they put the crew in back, thus long hood forward. These engines were built this control stands that are comfortable to operate in both long hood and short hood. You will notice that just about the only railroad today you will see hi-nose engines are on Norfolk Southern, since those were derived from Southern before the Norfolk & Western merger.
You nailed it. She is a RMT Beep. She’ll be a great yard bird if I decide to ever build a shipyard in O. Thanks for the help.
Where do you get these NFL themed cars? I would go nuts over such things (as if the regular ole chessie purring along doesnt make me gah gah anyhow…).
The two I have are both MTH. MTH does a bunch of different sports team cars in their Rail King series. I am holding out for a Dash 8 like they did for the Steelers or even a 2-8-0 they did for the Giants and Eagles.
Sorry Grayson, you missed it on this one, if you look at the side sill just behind the steps on the long hood end you will find a small F, that designates the long hood end as the front of the locomotive. There is actually an FRA (federal railroad administration) regulation requireing all locomotives to have that F, to designate which end is the front, your confusion is the perfect example for the reason behind this rule. It is extremely important for train crewmen to KNOW which way the locomotive is going to move when giving the engineer instructions. As far as running long hood forwards VERY MANY of the early Alco Rs’s such as the RS1,2 &3s were built to run long hood first, it did seem safer, and also the crews were used to Steam Locomotives having the cab at the back of the locomotive, so this just seemed “Natural” to orient the locomotive that way. The Southern was just one of many to run their hi-hoods long hood first, the Norfolk & Western was another, and in western railroading the Great Northern comes to mind, they ran their GP 7/9s long hood forward. This Navy Beep could be run either direction, but the long hood is the “front” of the locomotive.
Very nice set! However, given the Browns recen history, you may have a long wait before anyone manufacturers a Browns locomotive. [;)]
Regards,
John
Nice catch on the “F” I never noticed it on the long part of the Beep until you pointed it out.
As to the Browns. MTH is putting out a Browns Ore Car this year, to be released next month. So I will have at least one more car on my train soon.
Now I need to find a place to put them. Currently I have more track than I can fit on the floor in my office and my 5x9 table is being used to create an HO layout in the basement. I got more room down there but I am planning on using some of it for a play area for the kids.