Paint Shop

[Rufus T. Firefly]

........those matching dopey Lionel end caps....

Harder to find these days, and pricey they are when you do

Hmmm....and I have 4 lbs of resin in the shop.

[R.K. Maroon]

Here for reference is the train that the new diner is joining:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nah2a5pprhviqlx/20221014_215220.mp4?raw=1

This video was taken on setup night for the Southwest O-Scale Meet in Ft. Worth in October 2022. The PAs are Overland -- one of the few examples of imported brass on my roster. One of the A-units came from Bob Turner as a (extremely generous) gift. The remaining AB pair came from Dennis Mashburn in a swap. It is my understanding that the Pennsy did not have much luck with the PAs in passenger service, but I think they look fabulous on the head end of this consist.

Jim

[R.K. Maroon]

I had a chance to run the Pennsy streamliner -- complete now with Pete's diner in the consist -- on Michael Ross's layout last week. Here is a video of the action:

https://youtu.be/g-NeZnd-gNU

I first saw Michael's layout in 2012. At the time, the mainline trackwork was complete and the line operational, but there was almost no scenery. It's is nearing completion now and, as can be seen in the video, is just spectacular. The layout was featured in the December 2022 issue of the NMRA magazine and will be on the layout tour for the NMRA National here in DFW in August.

Jim

[De Bruin]

Now that the club is in limbo, I've gotten through enough of my CGW Mill Cities Ltd project to share here.

The specific train I'm modeling is the Twin Cities to KC run that hosted CGW's last sleeper and diner (actually a single buffet-sleeper) until June 1950, thereafter becoming coach only until it's discontinuance in 1962. I originally was going to do a later version in the solid maroon dip scheme of the Deramus administration but that was too easy, and this version is unusual; colorful, short lived and quite rare in terms of available photos. The colors and "design" were based on the EMD factory scheme for the CGW's F units delivered in the late forties, however CGW applied it differently to it's rolling stock depending on the equipment and it's assignment, as there are at least three different versions of it relative to the number of stripes and location on the car body.

This 60’ Bag-RPO prototype oddly has (best as I can determine) no equivalent match in the Walthers/AN/JC galaxy of kits, so I trimmed 10’ of the baggage ends of a 70’ Walthers 9128 that I had in my amply nasty estate salvage pile;

not a perfect match as the baggage doors are too wide and the rivet column is now lost on one end, but close enough after completely stripping and rebuilding including a new floor and underbody.

I did put some interior details (pouch racks and sorting table, should have included an RPO crew though.) in the mail section however the baggage space contains the recharge-able battery pack that powers an l.e.d. harness Jim fabricated for the consist.

Paint is True-Color, decals by Champ and I used the left over stripes from the Micro-Scale diesel sets as they match perfectly. Note the road name letterboard font of the Champ sets were too large though obviously I not enough for me not to use them here. #61 appears in this scheme in the Morning Sun CGW color guide by Gene Green which provided a great reference for the finish. More to follow.

[Mitch]

Beautiful! Shows me the difference between a "model railroader" and a "true railroad modeler". Must've taken a lot of time.

[bob turner]

Yes - very nice! Intriguing - I am not at all familiar with the CGW passenger scheme.
I did trek through the CGW yards in Minneapolis on a couple of layovers - just a huge plowed-up field.

[E7]

Great stuff Pete!

Rich

[up148]

CGW is one of my favorite paint schemes. Can't get UP out of my blood, but CGW if right up there at the top. Looks great Pete!

[Chris Webster]

Now that the club is in limbo, I've gotten through enough of my CGW Mill Cities Ltd project to share here.

The car looks great, but I'm not sure if I completely understand how you built it. Does the 3rd picture (the only picture showing the underside of the car) show the salvaged car that you started with?

Also, are the Blomberg trucks (in the background of your 2nd picture) from the F-unit that pulls the train?

[De Bruin]

Thanks for the nice comments guys. Out of habit I tend to go with these “junkers” over breaking open a “new” un-built kit, formerly an economic necessity, now after forty odd years it’s a quirk.

…. not at all familiar with the CGW passenger scheme.

It’s comparatively obscure, this single stripe above the frame rail version is based on the initial EMD designed factory scheme delivered on the first few F3’s, oddly MicroScale’s decal set has the diagram for it but photos of it are rare and subsequent F unit deliveries had a more familiar second stripe added running along the center panel between the portholes similar to the CB&Q’s F unit freight scheme and Frisco’s E units. It took me forever to figure this out.

I did trek through the CGW yards in Minneapolis on a couple of layovers - just a huge plowed-up field.

Very little of the CGW survived, almost like the O&W. They had four yards in the Twin Cities, and I assume C&NW moved the traffic to their own yards over the following decade after the merger in 1968. Now, one has a hard time finding any trace of the entire system outside of a few bridges, some industry leads served from former RI, IC and C&NW lines etc.

....not sure if I completely understand how you built it. Does the 3rd picture (the only picture showing the underside of the car) show the salvaged car that you started with?

The two unfinished shots are of the car after it had been stripped and rebuilt prior to paint and decals.


It looked like this when I started, again amputated some 2 ½ inches of off the baggage door end to get the 62’ length of the prototype. The hand brushed paint job, buckeye three-axle trucks, pinned sides and barely seen Astrac electrical coils and resistors are typical of the collection it came from.

Also, are the Blomberg trucks (in the background of your 2nd picture) from the F-unit that pulls the train?

https://www.modeltrainjournal.com/phpBB ... 60#p405046
Yep-per! Good eye, I’ll post that up soon; it started as an All Nation F7 veteran from the Smokey Mountain Club, its appearance has been similarly altered as well. 8^)

[Chris Webster]

It looked like this when I started, again amputated some 2 ½ inches of off the baggage door end to get the 62’ length of the prototype.

Thanks - now I know that the reason why I couldn't figure out where the 2 ½ inches had gone was that the first set of pictures were taken after the 2 ½ inches were already gone.

barely seen Astrac electrical coils and resistors

ASTRAC was before my time in the hobby, but I find it interesting because it was manufactured at the GE plant in my hometown. I assume those coils and resistors were part of a constant lighting circuit -- am I wrong to assume that?

[E7]

Talk about a making a silk purse from a sow's ear, you and brother Jim have served me many portions of Humble Pie over the years!

The car is striking!

Rich

[bob turner]

Delighted to see that there is life here!

I have been reluctant to deal with used All Nation/Walters sides, because they are usually buckled where the nails have been hammered home.

That said, a new 9000 series kit is relatively inexpensive, and in my opinion can be made into a very credible model.

I am intrigued with Pete’s success with the new paint - I looked them up, and I guess seven bucks an ounce isn’t bad. Combine that with shipping and the high cost of thinner, and I think I am stuck, for a while at least, with nine dollar cans of Dupli-Color.

My Paasche model H is feeling neglected. I truly miss Scalecoat.

[De Bruin]

Thanks again guys, I’ll make these photos a little more sequentially logical too. Here’s the “matching” coach, another “sow’s ear” from the salvage pile, albeit this one will become a more “mystery sausage” version of the intended prototype rather than “silk purse.”


CGW had a small nine car fleet of 75’ HW coaches (PS 1911) which, after having their arched window sash plated over in the 1930’s at Oelwein, became an exact match to the Walthers #4757 paired window coach. Unfortunately I didn’t have a 4757 in the pile, so I compromised with this #4803 80' coach. I should’ve expected the litany of assembly failures/disasters/queer surprises etc that followed, as if it didn't want to be restored but rather get parted out, or it sensed it wasn’t an exact match for CGW's 270 series. (.....$#%&*!!!!) Nevertheless if I had a therapist, they’d assure me this is “progress.”


I plated over some of windows and modified the roof with an AC duct on one side to match the few photos I found of the 270 series. The actual cars having 20 paired coach windows per side, evenly spaced while the 4803 sides had 19 windows not all paired either despite the extra length (more.....$#%&*!!!!) Again I replaced the floor stock but was able to re-use the underbody components. Also I try to clean up and flatten out the pin holes as best I can by first back soldering some fill and cleaning up with OOO abrasive cloth and steel wool.


Therefore I gave it a sequential albeit fictional road number, which is how I now roll over a lot of my “inner rivet counter” issues these days. The 270 series were largely off the roster by the early sixties, partly replace by second hand combines from the C&O and two pre-war Hiawatha coaches. Frankly because I perversely enjoy tedious decal work this was actually fun and a good diversion from getting the flu but all the fit issues with the floor, roof, cast ends, stamped sides.... ugh.


The second stripe along the window piers matches the revised factory F-unit scheme albeit the lower height across the windows suggests it was originally applied to match the Chicago-Oelwein run’s EMC gas-electric. Note, as was common with the application of a/c to these older coach fleets, the ducting is applied to one side of the roof only while the other side has the vents plated over, also the lavender window shade here takes some getting used to, I just went with the MS color guide photo, it's not quite as "loud" as my phone camera has it here either. In contrast the upcoming sleeper will have tan shades.


Some views with Jim’s light harness on. Hmmmm......my bad should've put some head cloths on those coach seats.


Opinion but getting "scale-ish"people to actually fit into the old school crude furniture is an underrated skill I'm still working on.
Whew, exhausting, I'm doing the interior of the buffet sleeper now and it feels like it'll never end.

[bob turner]

Commendable. Paint and decals are superb!