Model Railroading > Swifties

Back in the 1990's when my railfan buddies talked about the SP Swift Roadrailer trains, we referred to them as the "Swifties". That train was something to behold when it first started, a long string of gleaming white trailers gliding along the track. I've spent the last two weeks fixing up my roadrailers and finally got to run the train yesterday evening.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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That's quite a train, Ted!
Phil

Yeah, that's awesome! Looks and sounds great. Could have sworn I heard flange squeal before the train entered the scene.

Good stuff!  That thing is haulling a$$!   I think I hear some dynamic brakes kicking in as the SD70M passes...

Thats a great looking train Ted.

That was terrific, Ted.
I'm not familiar with RoadRailer models.  Can you tell me who made these trailers and bogeys?  
Thanks
Tim Costello

Well Im not Ted, but those are Bowser models. Unlike the mark lls that im looking for, those are still avalible.

Good stuff Ted.I remember them on the Dunsmuir cam in the early days of Trainorders.
Regards,dK

Cool. 😊

 Brought back memories of that train slamming through Binney Junction at Marysville, CA. I believe at that time BNSF had the contract so that was the power on the headend. Pretty sure the contract went back and forth between the UP and BNSF (WAF?). I also remember seeing that train near Grass Lake, CA with brand new MK GP40-2 rebuilds.

However, these are out of my era so my credit card didn't melt. 😉

best regards,
Mark G.

SP Started them in 1993, then UP took over in 1996 and ran them until 2000 when BNSF took over and they ran them until about 2004 when they soured on roadrailers after being a big advocate of them.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Cool, Very nice train!  My Swift is 30 RRs long & is provability the best running train I have. I added Trucks & Stuff wheels & tire to them along with painting the roof. I also kitbashed the coupler mate to be more correct (shorter) then the Bowser ones that seem to be a prototype. I have yet to find any pictures of them in service on any railroad.
Are your Roadrailers the RTR version or the kits?  Is this the same train you've posted before? 
Here is a link to other discussions on Swift Roadrailers on TO. 
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1833855,1833933#msg-1833933 
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,1769477,1769477#msg-1769477  

Not a lot of info on this train. I do know it originally carried Volvo's & some have said paper also.
Still looking for a good down on shot of the Logo on the roof. It looks like an old Swift logo. My shots of it are a 3/4 kinda down on, I think that only the originally Swift RRs (Autorailers) had them. 
The best thing about the train is you can run SP, UP, or BNSF power on it. I like SP the most.
Thanks for posting
Tim
Hanesworth
 

sp8234 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cool, Very nice train!  My Swift is 30 RRs long &
> is provability the best running train I have. I
> added Trucks & Stuff wheels & tire to them along
> with painting the roof. I also kitbashed the
> coupler mate to be more correct (shorter) then the
> Bowser ones that seem to be a prototype. I have
> yet to find any pictures of them in service on any
> railroad.
> Are your Roadrailers the RTR version or the
> kits?  Is this the same train you've posted
> before? 
> Here is a link to other discussions on Swift
> Roadrailers on TO. 
> https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,
> 1833855,1833933#msg-1833933 
> https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,
> 1769477,1769477#msg-1769477  
>
> Not a lot of info on this train. I do know it
> originally carried Volvo's & some have said paper
> also.
> Still looking for a good down on shot of the Logo
> on the roof. It looks like an old Swift logo. My
> shots of it are a 3/4 kinda down on, I think that
> only the originally Swift RRs (Autorailers) had
> them. 
> The best thing about the train is you can run SP,
> UP, or BNSF power on it. I like SP the most.
> Thanks for posting
> Tim
> Hanesworth
>  

The funny thing is I have roadrailers from several runs, including the very first run when I bought 12 roadrailers. Unfortunately the early runs used a off-white color where later runs used a plain white color. So I've bought several of the most recent run to go with 12 of a prior run with the plain white color and will be selling off my 22 early ones with the off-white color. I did have to fix up the 12 from the earlier run of plain white roadrailers by painting the roofs and mudflaps, trailer tounges, the under-ride bumper and wheel hubs. But even the latest RTR run I needed to paint the tounges and bumpers. I had 25 roadrailers on the train, and a 26th one on the way. I would like to get about 30 total. Something I realized I still need to do is to tighten up the trucks. Bowser made the bolster collar too long so the trucks have a lot of vertical play, and lean excessivelly on curves on grades. I need to trim the collar so the screw will tighten against the truck bolster and limit the amount of play.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR