UP's TR5 Diesels in Victorville, and Completing the Outer Mainline Wiring in Staging

Our Victorville locomotives this time will be the Union Pacific's EMD TR5 cow-calf diesel pairs.  Then we'll look at my slow progress in completing the wiring of the outer mainline track in staging.

The UP received eight TR5 cow-calf pairs (SW9s) in Sep.-Oct. 1951, and these went to work as helpers on Cajon Pass, replacing the UP steam locos that had been running during UP's 1950-51 return to steam helpers.  The TR5 units were numbered 1870 through 1877, with a B suffix on each calf unit.

Here's an early color photo of D.S. 1870 at Summit, as shot by Chard Walker:

Here we see D.S. 1872 in Victorville when new in Dec, 1951, in a photo from the John D. Hahn, Jr. collection:

Jack Whitmeyer shot D.S. 1872 at Summit, apparently with the UP's local freight, the Leon Turn.  That train used locos from the UP's helper pool:

Sometimes a pair of TR5 sets were used together as helpers, as seen here with D.S. 1874 and D.S. 1873 pushing on the rear of a westbound freight near West Victorville in Oct. 1951, as shot by James Ady:

Here we see D.S. 1871 helping Erie-Built set #701 with an eastbound passenger train on Sullivan's Curve, probably in 1952, thanks to Robert Hale:

In late 1952 to early 1953, they all received large dynamic brake boxes in front of the cab units only, and in early 1953 they lost the "D.S." prefix in their numbers.  These locos then lasted on Cajon Pass into 1954, when they in turn were replaced by GP7 and GP9 units.

Here we see set D.S. 1877 at Summit in Sep. 1952 with its new dynamic brake box in front of its cab but still with its D.S. prefix, as shot by Jack Whitmeyer:

 

Here's a beautiful painting by Gil Bennett, showing #1874 helping a set of E7s with the eastbound City of St. Louis on Sullivan's Curve in 1953.  Note the dynamic brake box and the lack of any D.S. prefix now.  This painting is based on a Robert Hale photo:

Finally, here is #1872 (with its dynamic brake box) helping a mixed set of E units, led by E8 #932, with the eastbound Utahn as they approach Summit, as shot by Don Sims:

As for HO models, I'm lacking a completely correct model.  I have the old Athearn cow-calf set, which is really a TR4 (SW7 cow and calf), but it's a useful stand-in:

I also have a brass TR6 set (SW8 cow and calf) from Trains, Inc. painted for the UP, which is also just a stand-in.  What I need are the TR5 models from OMI (Overland Models, Inc), both with and without the dynamic brake box.

Here's the OMI model with the dynamic brake:

Now let's turn to my slow layout progress.  My excuse (again) is that I had to get the house and yard fixed up before two of my sisters came to visit, and then I spent a week showing them around the region, but they just left yesterday.  That's also why this blog entry is a week late (it's been three weeks instead of two since my last entry).

When we left off, I had wired the first three of the six DC electrical blocks on the outer mainline of the staging deck.  Then I ran the bus wires and two feeder wires for the fourth block and tested my new BLI Blue Goose on that track:

Each week I had only enough time to add the wires for one more block.  Here the loco is being tested after the fifth block was wired:

The sixth and final block was the most work, as the tracks there swing away from the layout edges and around the future turntable area.  The bus wires had to follow the layout edges, but then they had to run under the benchwork to a future local control panel location and then temporarily run back over the top of the layout to where the power pack and terminal strip are currently sitting.

In this area, the feeder wires have a longer run to reach the tracks from the bus wires at the layout edge, so I used 18 ga feeders instead of 22 ga here.

Here's a photo of the loco coming through the sixth block after the wires were in place (note the bus wires and suitcase connectors taped under the edge of the benchwork temporarily):

The loco can now run around the entire outer mainline in a continuous loop.

Just to emphasize the temporary mess of wires I have around the power pack, here's a photo showing bus wires bridging above the tracks on the right to reach the terminal strip and power pack on the left.  This will all need to be corrected in the coming weeks.

In other news, my friend Bill Messecar, an excellent structure modeler, is now starting to construct a model of the elevated fuel oil tank that was inside the Victorville wye, based on the set of drawings that Jim Coady made for us.  This is just the cover sheet for Jim's detailed drawings:

I think I need to make some progress on organizing and labeling my wires and on designing  and building some control panels before I wire the inside mainline.

Santa Fe's 3751-Class 4-8-4s in Victorville, and Continuing to Wire the Outer Mainline in Staging

This time we'll take a look at Santa Fe's first 4-8-4 steam locos, the 3751 class, which ran through Victorville, and then I'll show a little more progress on wiring the outer mainline track in staging.

The Santa Fe acquired their first fourteen 4-8-4 locos during 1927-29 and numbered them in the 3751 class as #3751-3764.  They went through quite a few modernization steps over the years, but I will be looking at them as they were during their final postwar years.

Here we see #3755 leading Alco PAs and a passenger train eastbound into Victorville, as shot by Chard Walker.  It had probably helped the train to Summit and then stayed on for another helper assignment in Victorville:

 

Stan Kistler shot the first loco in the class, #3751, with the first section of the westbound Grand Canyon train at Frost, just after leaving Victorville in Dec. 1951:

Three locos in the class were never fully modernized and retained a distinctive Elesco feedwater heater in front of the stack: #3753, 3756, and 3757.  Here is #3757 pulling the 2nd section of the westbound Grand Canyon toward Summit, thanks to Chard Walker:

Here's a magnificent view of #3758 helping F-units with the eastbound Grand Canyon at Sullivan's Curve, as shot by Robert Hale:

Chard Walker shot #3759 with a westbound passenger train in Victorville (note the covered hoppers from the local cement plant):

Here we see #3758 helping F-units with an eastbound passenger train at Summit in June of 1952, as shot by Jack Whitmeyer:

Jack Whitmeyer also shot #3759 as it was serving as a helper and a pilot engine for the SP's detouring eastbound Golden State at San Bernardino in June, 1953:

Chard Walker shot #3760 as it helped F-units with an eastbound passenger train near Summit:

 

During 1952 and 1953 these locos were only rarely used over Cajon Pass.  On Feb. 6, 1955, there was a final use of #3759 as it pulled a "Farewell to Steam" railfan special from LA to Barstow and back.

Here is #3759 eastbound at Blue Cut on that final run over Cajon Pass in Feb. 1955, as shot by Robert Heuerman (note the railfans in the baggage car):

Now let's look at some of the HO models.  There were many variations among the actual locos of this class, and many variations among the HO models, so I can't cover them all.

Key made a brass model that was not modernized:

And Key also made a mostly modernized version but with a top-mounted Elesco FWH, like #3753, 3756, and 3757 had:

And Hallmark made a number of Super Crown models, like this one:

But I don't have any of the brass models.  Instead, I have three of the Broadway Limited models from various runs (they kept improving the details on each run):

Now it's time to look at my slow layout progress.  I'm in the phase of wiring the outer mainline in staging, which I don't enjoy, but it's rewarding to see a loco run over each track block as it comes online.

Last time I had wired the first block, so I continued on with the 2nd block, which continues around the main peninsula.  I received the new BLI Blue Goose model (1950 version), so I ran it all the way around the peninsula, with smoke puffing out:

 

Then I wired the third block, which is near the throat of the future A Yard.  The bus wires temporarily run up onto the benchwork there, where they connect together with a terminal strip before attaching to a power pack.

I tested the Blue Goose on the third block (now with its the smoke turned off), as seen here:

The power pack and terminal strip and wires can be seen behind the loco.

Besides the expensive new loco, I also received an expensive, ready-built model of a Southern California concrete bunkhouse (with outhouses), as Victorville and some other stations had.  The model came from Right On Track Models, and it's beautiful:

Last time I failed to mention that a Santa Fe friend who visits the Seattle area once in a while, Richard Mukai, has volunteered to help me build my control panels when he's in town.  So he and Tim Fisher are both advising me on my wiring now.

Today I added some red ink notes to a photo of my staging deck track plan, to help identify the locations of my mainline blocks, my staging yards, my probable control panel locations (ABC Tower, Reversing Tower, and Turntable Tower), and a proposed location for my power packs under the layout:

Each power pack will also sit beside an Aristo-Craft radio receiver and a Kato Sound box, and the trains will be operated by using walkaround Aristo-Craft throttles.

My goal is to get the entire outer mainline running before two of my sisters arrive here two weeks from now.  I'm very busy getting the house and yard fixed up, and watching football and now the baseball playoffs too!