Cab Forwards on the High Sierra Model Railroad

Southern Pacific Cab Forwards 4252 and 4280 take a string of refers around the High Sierra Model Railroad. SP 4252 and 4280 are both Intermountain models. 4252 is from the most recent run and is equipped with LokSound and 4280 is from the second run and is equipped with Tsunami sound. The small switcher in the video is a Baldwin S-12 made by Bowser.

[@drrgperrin]

This is better than great! That there are people today who still remember Cab Forwards is heartening. I grew up with them. No. 4252 has a pre1946 front (no silver), while 4280 has the silver front that was added to Espee steam locomotives in 1946.

[@mikepatrick9957]

Great looking engines running through impressive scenery.I especially like the "twilight" look of the yard scene at about 3 minutes in.Thanks for posting. Mike

[@gunnyusmc8412]

Very nice layout my compliments sir and thank you

[@yehoshuarail4527]

Complimenti!!!😀 great layout! Sono un modellista ferroviario italiano appassionato di modelli americani. Questo Natale arriverà una cab forward AC6 MTH. È bellissima.

[@mroger29sh]

mark r pa wonderful thx so much

[@ByrdMann2010]

Nice video and thanks for posting. I have a fascination with cab forwards. Couldn't help noticing, at the beginning, that the locomotive and tender unit didn't fit on the turntable. Also noticed that 4280 didn't have a road name on the tender. Thanks again.

[@trainknut]

+ByrdMann2010 SP didn't paint road names on Cab Forwards assigned to the Shasta route(aka Donner Pass), since SP4252 is painted in the pre-1946 scheme, it can be assumed she was assigned to a division where they still did need the roadname and hadn't repainted her yet(Most likely Mojave, where they needed roadnames to distinguish from ATSF and UP trains, and they did often put off painting their locomotives to new specs after 1946.) Since SP was the only class 1 railroad to ever use Cab Forwards, and most of the routes they operated AC's on were exclusive SP trackage(such as the Shasta/Overland route seen in the video) They decided to save on paint and just not have roadnames applied to the locomotives who operated there. #4280 was initially assigned to Donner Pass, so for most of her life she bore the unlettered tender. Later in her career I believe 4280 did receive a large letter "SOUTHERN PACIFIC" on her tender, not because of reassignment, but because the regulations concerning lettering and identification changed in accordance to increased safety precautions and the gradual decline of steam usage. Since less locomotives needed the paint for the "Safety Strip"(the big silver band on the pilot of Cab Forwards) more paint could be used as extra identification. one final note, while no official documents exist that state an exact size of the roadname on the tender, the average size of the "SOUTHERN PACIFIC" written on the tender seemed to get increasingly bigger as the years progressed, if you compare for example; AC-11 #4274 in 1952 to 1957. In 1957 the font is noticeably larger, to a point where it almost looks like a completely different scheme.

[@wetdog707]

+The Arctic Gamer dang, thank you for sharing! That was some awesome information. I had guessed the reasoning behind the lack of lettering had to do with that fact that no other railroad used cab forwards but it makes even more sense when they were used on divisions where SP was the only railroad. Thanks again!

[@trainknut]

wetdog707 We SP foamers do like any excuse we can find to nerd out on Cab Forwards.

[@SP9325]

wetdog707, the Shasta Route is actually Roseville to Dunsmuir; Donner is a part of the Overland Route: San Francisco to Ogden. Units assigned to heavy tunnel work did not receive any tender lettering because the level of soot accumulation developed through a Sierra snow shed or Tehachapi tunnel quickly obscures light colors on any class of locomotive (even in the 80s, many SD45T-2 appeared black from soot), making corporate identification moot - this is seen in photos of ACs working the Sacramento, Valley, Shasta, and Portland Divisions. Also, savings had nothing to do with letting: The aluminum safety paint was a system-wide adoption, post WWII - ACs received it on their pilots, and standard steam locomotives received it on the fronts of their smokeboxes. SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES (white paint, not aluminum) disappeared from tenders, system-wide following WWII - Lines would not make a return to corporate letterhead until after the 1988 merger of the Southern Pacific Transportation Co. and Rio Grande Industries. SP valued Safety, but large logos played no part in public or employee safety - that was up to horns, whistles, bells, signs, and the signals department. If you want some good information on Cab Forwards, watch Cab Forward Collection from Pentrex and/or read Cab Forward, by Robert Church. You'll learn about everything from the MCs to the ACs - fun stuff.

[@BP_211yt]

0:16 This could be a beat for a song🚂🚂🚂🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃

[@melperry3576]

what are all those atsf reefers doing on an espee freight? unprototypical

[@edgallegos496]

Thats not all thats not prototypical. Still nice tho and better than what I have.

[@gavinmccreary4873]

Is this club still there? I couldn't find any information.

[@iceeking2006]

Great layout and excellent filming in HD. Nice job. Is this in HO? How big is this layout and does it model Donner Pass? Keep the clips coming on this incredible layout. Do you run the City of San Francisco train or similar trains? This layout is 3D art. Thanks for posting. Subscribe and thumbs up.

[@wetdog707]

Thank you. It is HO. It's a freelance model railroad club depicting a "shortline" through the Sierra mountains. Even though we say it's a shortline there are quite a few large mainline engines that we run on the layout. We don't have any specifically themed trains, I wish we had the City of SF or the Zephyr.

[@iceeking2006]

Yeah, those two passenger trains would look great on your layout. Wish you had more trainmeets in the clip. Kudos on not having noise in the background or people walking around. Have you checked out Bill Roger's clips on his amazing SP in the Cascades HO scale layout? He runs the Shasta Daylight on his layout.

[@wetdog707]

iceeking2006 Thank you very much! It's hard to get uninterrupted shots at a club sometimes. I'll try to add more meets in my next large video I make. I sure have seen his stuff, he has an amazing layout. I would kill to be able to run my cab forward on that layout!

[@colinanderson6421]

Are the Cab Forwards Mallets.

[@truebras]

The cab forward as pusher helper has a punny chuff. That is why I never use Tsunami or TSU 2 for large locomotives:

[@a-dog8075]

What are the names of the railcars?

[@truebras]

Where is this layout located?

[@wetdog707]

This layout is located in Chico, CA. Its called the High Sierra Model Railroad Club. I was a member there when I was going to school. If you're ever in the area check it out!

[@truebras]

wetdog707 Thanks for the info.

[@mattbrinson9950]

How would they get coal to the boiler if the the cab is at the front

[@wetdog707]

These engines were actually oil burners. So instead of shoveling coal the fireman would regulate the flow of oil to fuel the fire

[@truebras]

Very nice video! Where is this layout? You may like this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6vNamSDYseJrdk I agree with a previous comment. The Loksound cab forward sound file is better than Tsunami. The chuff sound of Loksound is much closer to the prototype. The Tsunami just sounds "skinny legged" for the cab forwards and most of heavy and articulated locomotives. There is no comparison that the drive portion on the Loksound, it works. I installed a Tsunami on a Key AC 12 and I was disappointed because when it was pulling a heavy train, the BEMF didn't work well making lurch and slow going up on 2% grades. And eventually, shut itself off. Once I installed the Loksound I never had that problem again. I am surprised that a single Intermountain AC12 cannot pull 20 PFEs going up the grade.