The used model locomotives

I bought 3 used locomotives at the annual Waupaca train show.
They didn't cost much since they were over 20 years old,
and some had missing handrails.

They are ok for me because their electric motors have little wear, and the gear drives match what I have,
and they can double head with each other and most of my locos.

Jon asked for pictures of them in use on my model railroad.

Here's Russelville, on the track shelves in the back room of the model railroad.
The right, left, and right locomotive of each set is 'new'.
An EMD SD45, SDP40, and FP45.
The rest are old, and some are dummies, too.
I bought the Tyco CNW GP-20 new in 1972 for $8 if I remember correctly,
when I was usually 'broke' while in school.
It had a single truck drive with rubber traction bands on two wheels;
it burnt its motor long ago and is now a dummy.

The last locomotive that I bought and paid the most for, ($35), was also the most troublesome.
I pulled out green ground foam and hair.
The sale tag said 'runs good', and it did all by itself,
but as soon as I hooked on 3 train cars, the loco went clack clack clack.

The plastic hub of the first axle was cracked all the way across, and through the gear.

Fortunately, I had some matching Athearn parts, and even though mine were 40 years old,
they still fit.

Here's the original sceniced area of the model railroad. It's been like this for 20 years.

As you can see, my model railroad has been changing from Milwaukee Road orange to the yellow that was shared by the Union Pacific and Milwaukee Road when they were considering run-through service for passenger trains. That was long ago.
With those EMD FP-45's in the back row, I have 3 / 5 of all those big units owned by the Milwaukee Road. (one of mine is a dummy loco)
The CNW yellow and green isn't a real match to the UP colors, but I have some because I feel dedicated to that railroad from 50 years ago ago.

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One type of used locomotive that I didn't see for sale was Athearn 4-axle units.
They are handy on my railroad because I have a major siding that has 15-inch radius (this is HO scale)
and 4-axle units negotiate that easily.
The only 6-axle locomotive that can run on it is the SD-7, and even that is risky.
But I didn't see a 4-axle Athearn for sale this year
I bought enough motive power for this year, but, Jon, if you still have the Athearn Baldwin, I should buy it 'next year'.

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This page was filmed in June, 2021