UP's Unusual Diesel Helpers in Victorville & A Feed Store for the Layout

I'm running out of the locomotives most commonly seen in Victorville in the postwar years, so I'm beginning to cover the ones that only worked there for a short time.  

This time we'll see some rare Union Pacific diesel helpers -- the RSC-2, the H15-44, the H16-44, and the SD7.  Then we'll see a new Victorville building model (the feed store) and some minimal layout wiring progress.

The UP received an Alco RSC-2 road switcher as a demonstrator in UP paint, #1190, in Feb. 1947.  Then they bought ten more, #1180-1189, in March-April of 1948.  Two of them show up as helpers in some photos in 1948-1949.

Jack Whitmeyer photographed #1184 between helper assignments in Victorville in July of 1948:

Stan Kistler found #1185 in San Bernardino in Sep. 1948:

 

Here we see #1185 helping a set of Erie-Builts with the eastbound LA Limited at Pine Lodge in June, 1949, thanks again to Stan Kistler:

But the RSC-2 locos were not satisfactory as helpers on Cajon Pass.  

Another loco type they tried was the FM H15-44 switcher.  They acquired five of them, #1325-1329, in April-May of 1948.  Here's a UP photo of #1325 when new:

The only Cajon Pass photo I've found of one of these, #1329, shows it at the UP engine terminal in San Bernardino, hiding behind some steam helpers, in May of 1951, thanks to Steve VanDenburgh:

The UP also tried the FM H16-44 as a helper on Cajon Pass.  They bought three of these, #1340-1342, in Aug. 1950.  Jack Whitmeyer shot #1340 in San Bernardino in Oct. 1952 (helpers were also used to pull the Leon Turn to the cement plants):

The final UP loco type I've found in short-term helper service on Cajon Pass was the EMD SD7 roadswitcher.  The UP acquired ten of these in June, 1953, numbered #775-784.

Here is Jack Whitmeyer's color photo of #783 in San Bernardino in Aug. 1953:

Chard Walker shot the same loco in San Bernardino, maybe on the same day:

As for HO models of these four loco types, I'm not sure what I have stashed away in my garage, but here are some models I've found on the Web.

Proto 1000 made an HO model of an Alco RSC-2 (but with the 1955 renumbering into the 1280 series):

Atlas made an HO model of an FM H15-44:

Walthers also made an H15-44 (this one has no number):

Atlas also made an HO FM H16-44 (this one also has no number):

Proto 2000 made an HO model of an EMD SD7 (this is just the shell):

And later Broadway Limited also made an SD7:

This concludes our coverage of the Cajon Pass diesel helpers that UP tried out but used only briefly.

Now it's time for a layout progress report covering the last two weeks.

I didn't make a lot of progress on the wiring diagram that I set as my first goal, but I did mark in pencil on the large lower-deck trackplan where all the insulated rail joiners are, and then I made a rough ink drawing of the trackplan with all the block boundaries marked.  

Then I finished a 2nd, better ink drawing of the mainlines and block boundaries, including where the four mainline control panels will go, with notes on the colors of the four bus wires for the two mainline tracks:

 

The block names, like L1-A and L1-B are marked beside the tracks.  There are a couple of notes saying "ignore these," referring to insulated rail joiners that are installed but will not be used as block boundaries after all.  Note the mainline reversing block marked as "Rev L2-D" in the upper right.  There was still more to do to document which bus wires will run to which panels.

There was big news last week, as Craig Wisch in Victorville was completing his wonderful cardstock model of the Peterson Feed Store (compressed in length to fit my layout).  Here are some photos he sent me then.  Here is the front and left side:

 

 And here is the front and right side:

 

Note the interesting cupola on the roof peak.  Here is the model's right side and rear:

 

I was so excited to finally see this wonderful model come together!  Many thanks to Craig once again.  He is now advising me to buy some HO hay bales to stack along the right side of the building.

Part of last week (and some previous weeks) was spent slowly moving my hundreds of model trains out of the garage and into the layout room, hoping to make room for our newer automobile to get into one garage stall this winter, for the first time in years.  

 

Some of the boxes contain diesels, which are being logged for the first time as they are newly uncovered. My freight and passenger cars were already logged as they were acquired.

Here's one view of some models still waiting to be moved out of the garage:

 

 

And here's one of the piles of models being created under the layout:
 

I didn't manage to get much done on the layout this past week, as often happens.

I did add some red ink lines to last week's initial mainline wiring diagram, showing which block's bus wires will connect to and be controlled by which mainline panels:

 

 

The interesting part of this is that the long block L1-A will be controlled by Turntable Tower (which a right-hand running train will pass as it enters that block), while the adjacent long block L2-A will be controlled by A-B Tower (which a right-hand running train will pass as it enters that block).

All of the panels will also control various staging yard blocks, which are not yet shown on this diagram, and they will also control the mainline turnouts, as well as the yard turnouts that are not easily reached from the aisles.

As I returned to the basement to begin connecting the feeder wires for the inner mainline to its bus wires, I discovered that I'd forgotten the state of progress since I had worked on that.  It turns out that the feeder wires for both mainlines are already connected to their bus wires in the main layout room, but almost none of the wires in the adjacent staging room have been connected for either mainline.

So I began working in the staging room, having to relearn how to use the suitcase connectors to connect the feeders to the bus wires.  Here's a photo of me working on the suitcase connectors (the small, red objects beside me on the benchwork), but there are many more to do next week:

 

Meanwhile, back in Victorville, my helper Craig Wisch has been putting some final touches on his cardstock model of the Peterson Feed Store before he mails it to me.  Here's a different photo (a rear view) from a week ago, showing how the cupola is propped open to expose an air vent on its side:

 

I enjoy exchanging daily emails with Craig about various models he's considering building.

Bill Messecar reports that he's begun working on the second section house that stood in front of the two water tanks in Victorville.  That's exciting news!

If you can help me by visiting my layout or by building a model remotely, please let me know.