Reason I stared this post is I am new and most of the RR initials or Engine model numbers mean nothing to me.
I have picked up on some of the terms, I think a S-1 is a switch engine, Challanger besides being a Mopar Car is a Big Nasty 4-10-4 steam engine and way to big as of now for my bench. I know that B&O stand’s for Baltamore and Ohio but the other initails mean nothing to me.
Now I am not to worried about the little things, like a Dash 9 has a shock in the center of the trucks and a Dash 8 does not. Just like a idea of what some of the engines look like.
I sort of know what the following are.
F-7 (MRC mag has a geart review on the F’s)
FP-45
E-6’s Well still don’t know what makes the driffrent from a E-7 and E-8 and what the heck is a PA?
Erie Bulit
BL-2 (PA Fan Belt sorry but I love it and looking for more Monon’s)
Not worried about the how makes what engine. (Proto, Bachman, Kato or what ever)
Just looking to learn a little more with out buy the stuff so I know what it looks like. It was T-stage I think that showed me what a S-1 looked like.
My favorite steam locos are my Kato Western Pacific Mikado and Spectrum Consolidation. My least favorites are my Bachmann Santa Fe Northern and Norfolk & Western J…
My favorite diesels are my Atlas Southern Pacific GP-40s and Kato Amtrak P-42s. My least favorites are anything made by life like…
Well, I never really cared for diesel boxcabs like the one Roundhouse makes (made). However, even that has its exception as I really liked the “Vest Pocket Turbine” kitbash that featured the Roundhouse boxcab.
I’m an Alco-holic so my favorite diesels are Alcos:
Front left - Delaware & Hudson RS3 - Lighting Stripe
Center Back - Delaware & Hudson RS11 - Yellow Nose
Right - Delaware & Hudson C424 - Solid blue
And here’s a Reading C424, although in real life only Readings six axles had the Bee Line logo:
My favorite steamer is the Norfolk & Western J Class 4-8-4:
My favortite on my layout… It’s a PRR L1s 2-8-2 Mikado I built using parts from a Kato N scale USRA 2-8-2 and a GHQ cast pewter and brass conversion kit. It took several months to build (and still needs the occasional tuning). It’s still DC (bummer) but I plan eventually to convert it to DCC. In the meantime, I reserve the old analog 00 address in Digitrax for this engine and run my diesels in DCC. In fact, I have this steamer “MU’d” with an MRC Synchro Sound Steam box (which may eventually give way to a stationary Tsunami decoder).
Looks to me like you need to buy a couple of books. One on steam locomotives and another on diesels. Kalmbach has a good book on each. Other than that you can go to the Fallen Flags web site and find lots of pictures of all the locomotives you mentioned… BTW the challenger was a 4-6-6-4.
My favorite locos in order are PRR B6s 0-6-0 switcher; PRR K4s 4-6-2; PRR M1a 4-8-2; PRR Decapod 2-10-0; PRR Mikado 2-8-2; Santa Fe F7 ABBA and Climax geared loco.
Since the subject originator is new to the hobby, I’ll point out that not all articulated engines were Mallets, although it appears that the inverse is true (all Mallets are articulated).
So, strictly-speaking, a Mallet is a compound, articulated steam locomotive (compound means that the steam is used twice, once straight out of the boiler at high pressure, then using the exhaust of the high-pressure engine in a second, low-pressure engine). Cool (or is that hot…) idea, tough to implement well.
Of course, as noted in the article, the term is frequently used to describe all articulated engines with one fixed and one articulated engine. That isn’t accurate as well, although this probably isn’t the time to get into Shay (and other geared designs) vs. Mallet vs. Garrett vs. Fairlie vs. Meyer…
Have you been introduced to that this syntax (the Whyte notation) means? Best learn early- we all use it regularly!
Least Favorite: dunno- while I can’t say that “I never met a locomotive I didn’t like”, no particular one pops into mind. I considered a Garratt, but I can’t honestly say I “don’t like” them, just find them “unusual”.
That is cool, many people don’t. Even those who do still keep learning more about them. It gets to the point we through terms around like everyone knows what we are talking about, of course this isn’t unique to model railroading, every profession, industry, and hobby has their own jargon. I get the impression you are wanting to learn, so I’ve answered some of your questions and thrown in a few comments. If I’m wrong you can just skip the rest of this post.
Correct. Alco (American Locomotive Company) builds them. They are small and have eight wheels.
Just as a note the F series was made by EMD and technically there is no dash in the designation. So they would be F7, FP45, E6, E7, E8, and BL2 respectively. Alco did use dashes, so the S-1 above is correct. Other Alcos are like RS-3, RSC-2, FA-2, PA-1.
The E units are built by EMD (Electro Motive Division). The E5 and E6 are easily distinguished from their later versions by the sloped almost pointy nose (That is an E5 in my avitar under my screen name). The E7, E8, and E9 are bull dog nosed like the F units. All E7s (except for Mopac) had square windows in the sides like the E6, while the E8 and E9 had portholes (once again like the F units). There is only one minor external difference between an E8 and an E9. A PA is the competing product built by Alco for passenger service. Its body is shorter but it has a really long nose. A set of PAs are shown below.
4-8-4 Northern (Especially the GN and UP versions!)
Heislers!!! (any truck combination!)
Favorite diesel:
H15 (or 16) 44
As for learning about trains, there is a great book called Vintage Diesels that explains the diesels VERY well… easy read and cheap. As for steam, well, lots of books there too… Good luck!
Trix Lima-built 2-8-2 Mikado
Proto 2000 Alco S1 switcher
