A question for the train buffs

**Tako_Kichi** · April 4th, 2010, 20:34

I am working on a major airfield rebuild project for FSX that has been on the go since before Xmas last year and could do with some advice from the train buffs in here.

It's a USAAF training base in New Mexico and the site was HUGE. The apron has parking for 70+ B-17's and I am reworking the airport to tie in with the A2A B-17 A-S release so that people have a period airport to operate from.

The base had it's own railyard and I am currently modelling and painting all the rolling stock (box cars, flat cars and tank cars) and I have been wondering about what was likely to have been used as motive power for moving the cars around the yard (i.e. a shunter). I am not really interested in the heavy power units that probably hauled the main trains in and out as I just want to represent something that might have been kept on-site for shuffling a few cars between the various spur lines.

Time period is 1943, location is southern New Mexico and the railyard was probably supplied/serviced by the Santa Fe railroad company. So does anyone have any ideas on what I should be looking at in terms of a shunting power unit? Steam? Diesel? (were diesel powered units even available in 1943?)

If anyone can come up with a type (model name and/or model number) and if possible a photo or line drawing I can use for modelling purposes I would really appreciate it as my knowledge of US railways of the period is less than nil!

Thanks for looking.

***Gramps*** · April 5th, 2010, 16:10

I've been tryin to find some info for ya, but been comin up empty.

I'm sure it would've been a steam engine, but just not sure what size it would've been. In major yards there would've been some 040,060 and some 080 configurations, an some older road engines in some cases.

I think it would depend on how big a yard they had. They might not of had a switch engine at all, the road engine that delivered the cars might ahve done all the switchin.

***Henry*** · April 5th, 2010, 18:13

43 would be steam
where in NM
my wifes family was there
maybe 53
H

**Tako_Kichi** · April 5th, 2010, 18:32

Thanks for the info guys. I was chatting with CrashAZ on Skype earlier and we think we may have found a suitable option. I know the lines were operated by AT&SF and this page shows a diesel power unit that fits the time period....

http://www.sdrm.org/roster/diesel/d-2381/index.html

Quote:
AT&SF units were purchased from August, 1942 through December, 1949.

So that would certainly fit for the time period of 1943 and it will be easier to model that rather than a steam loco.

As to the size of the railyard there were four double-line spurs feeding the base that ran off the mainline.

Originally Posted by Henry

43 would be steam
where in NM
my wifes family was there
maybe 53

The nearest town (now city) was Hobbs, NM and most of the town was employed at the base at the height of it's operations. They even built a housing complex just off the airfield to house all the civvies they brought in to help build the place. The base held 5,000 USAAF personnel plus 3,000 civvies and had it's own on-site hospital, two churches and a movie theatre!

More info can be found here if you are interested...........

http://www.hobbshistory.com/haaf3.html

...and my progress report on the airfield project can be found here....

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...ad.php?t=24783

**Snuffy** · April 5th, 2010, 18:35

Mebbe something on the order of this? :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0-6-0

***Gramps*** · April 5th, 2010, 18:42

That would be a good one!!

***Henry*** · April 6th, 2010, 06:18

Originally Posted by Tako_Kichi

Thanks for the info guys. I was chatting with CrashAZ on Skype earlier and we think we may have found a suitable option. I know the lines were operated by AT&SF and this page shows a diesel power unit that fits the time period....

http://www.sdrm.org/roster/diesel/d-2381/index.html

So that would certainly fit for the time period of 1943 and it will be easier to model that rather than a steam loco.

As to the size of the railyard there were four double-line spurs feeding the base that ran off the mainline.

The nearest town (now city) was Hobbs, NM and most of the town was employed at the base at the height of it's operations. They even built a housing complex just off the airfield to house all the civvies they brought in to help build the place. The base held 5,000 USAAF personnel plus 3,000 civvies and had it's own on-site hospital, two churches and a movie theatre!

More info can be found here if you are interested...........

http://www.hobbshistory.com/haaf3.html

...and my progress report on the airfield project can be found here....

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...ad.php?t=24783

you could check with Milton he lives there
H

**txnetcop** · April 6th, 2010, 07:13

Originally Posted by Tako_Kichi

I am working on a major airfield rebuild project for FSX that has been on the go since before Xmas last year and could do with some advice from the train buffs in here.

It's a USAAF training base in New Mexico and the site was HUGE. The apron has parking for 70+ B-17's and I am reworking the airport to tie in with the A2A B-17 A-S release so that people have a period airport to operate from.

The base had it's own railyard and I am currently modelling and painting all the rolling stock (box cars, flat cars and tank cars) and I have been wondering about what was likely to have been used as motive power for moving the cars around the yard (i.e. a shunter). I am not really interested in the heavy power units that probably hauled the main trains in and out as I just want to represent something that might have been kept on-site for shuffling a few cars between the various spur lines.

Time period is 1943, location is southern New Mexico and the railyard was probably supplied/serviced by the Santa Fe railroad company. So does anyone have any ideas on what I should be looking at in terms of a shunting power unit? Steam? Diesel? (were diesel powered units even available in 1943?)

If anyone can come up with a type (model name and/or model number) and if possible a photo or line drawing I can use for modelling purposes I would really appreciate it as my knowledge of US railways of the period is less than nil!

Thanks for looking.

Larry you are DA Man! That would be awesome!!!

**Tako_Kichi** · April 6th, 2010, 09:44

Originally Posted by Henry

you could check with Milton he lives there
H

Thanks for the suggestion H but I have been working very closely with Milton on this project from Day 1.

**Tako_Kichi** · April 6th, 2010, 09:46

Originally Posted by txnetcop

Larry you are DA Man! That would be awesome!!!

Thanks Ted. I assume you have seen all the pictures in the progress thread above (hint hint

).

Not only am I modelling the main airfield, including over 200 custom built models, but I have also created, from scratch, the two auxiliary airfields which were used to practice T 'n' G's during crew training on B-17s and AT-11s. As an Easter Egg I have also placed the 7 precision bombing targets out in the desert at their correct locations so that users can go and hunt them down. I will not say where they are in the 'read me' but will give a clue to their approximate heading(s) and distance.

**traindriver98** · April 7th, 2010, 12:54

Based on what in know of railroad operations, an older steam loco would have been used in Hobbs. The newer steam and diesel locomotives would have been used on the main line and in the bigger switch yards. If the base did not have a crew to do their own switching, a local crew (a switch crew from the local RR) would have done the work. Most of the time an older road unit was used in these cases. These could be anything from a 4-4-0 up to a 2-8-2, most likely an older 2-6-0 would have been used. Here is a scan on an 0-6-0 USRA that was used by the US Military as well as most US railroads, though not the ATSF. I don't have a very good scanner, but this will give you an ideal.

Attachment 4173

**Tako_Kichi** · April 14th, 2010, 12:37

After some research I decided to go with an Alco S2 diesel switcher (shunter) as I found that AT & SF bought 70 of these units in 1942 and it's possible one could have found it's way to Hobbs by 1943 which is the period for the airfield.

It uses far fewer polys than an equivalent steam loco which helps with FPS considering the amount of buildings in the area.

**Snuffy** · April 14th, 2010, 15:11

Welll that's good and bad I suspect.

Its good you found something ... (frankly I'm surprised they had diesel systems back then ... )

And its bad cuz I would have loved to see a steamer. Oh well.

As you said though, the diesel is definately less poly so that should be a good thing.

***TARPSBird*** · April 15th, 2010, 21:18

An Alco S2 is a good choice, some of the first assignments for the early diesel switchers were busy military yard jobs. Back in 1943 it would've been overall black with safety stripes on the front and back but I'm not a Santa Fe geek

so I prefer your blue and yellow. Since it's an Alco you might want to include a smoke effect over it. :d

**traindriver98** · April 22nd, 2010, 14:43

Here are pictures of an Alco S-2 and RS-2 I found on RailPictures.net. The S-2 has the newer paint of blue and yellow that was used upto the BNSF merger. The RS-2 has the older pant that should be used in your addon.

Attachment 5345
Attachment 5344