I recently found a few California Zephyr cars (made by BLI) and that has prompted me to try to build a train that is kind of prototypical in its consist. One of the cars I found is the “Silver Rapids”, the car owned by, and lettered for, PRR. This limits the years I can model and I would guess the train sets I can use as well.
What I am looking for is an exact consist like the “City” consists that Ranks and Kratville published in their “UP Streamliner” book. If that doesn’t exist, I would at least like to know what rules governed the mix of cars from the three railroads in each train (and then, of course, the train must have the PRR car in it).
Microscale Decals has a California Zephyr set 87-108. The instructions list the cars - type, ownership and name. Their web site says it is IN STOCK, but there is also a list on the “calzephyr” site.
The number and type of cars provided by each railroad were by agreement, the cars were built specifically for the train, and placed in a pool. I don’t think there were any requirements about the mix of ownership in the trains themselves.
The normal consists of the California Zephyr was 11 cars. The PRR sleeper was a CZ car and would be included in the 11, placed as indicated in the consist list instead of one of the other railroad’s sleepers.
The listing of the cars in the to set will provide some information (and may be what I have to use). The video is a really interesting one. Thanks for that link.
Yes, that site is the best I have found so far, but it lacks the details.
“The number and type of cars provided by each railroad were by agreement, the cars were built specifically for the train, and placed in a pool. I don’t think there were any requirements about the mix of ownership in the trains themselves.”
I have only dealt with the UP City trains before and they had very detailed agreements with the railroads that pulled the train part way. I was hoping that there would be something similar for the CZ, but if there isn’t I will just copy the Kato or Con-Cor consists and substituting car CZ-11.
The ownership of the cars was prorated based on the mileage run on each railroad. 27 Burlington, 24 Western Pacific, and 15 Rio Grande. Although the train sid not run on the Pennsylvania they provided one 10/6 sleeper to make through service to NDew York possible.
The expences allocated to each railroad were also based on mileage. The transcontintal 10/6 sleeper was the 10th car in the consist. This would seem to be the most logical position for the lone PRR sleeper when it was available, but since there was only 1 PRR sleeper, most of the time one of the other railroads sleepers would be in this position. I don’t know whether or not the PRR sleeper was used only in this position.
The coaches had three different interior color schemes. They were placed in a specific order in the consist. The first coach brown tones, 2nd coach blue/green, 3rd coach reds . The colors are given in the book CZ The Story of The California Zephyr by Karl R. Zimmermann, but there is no info on which car name had which scheme.
Each Vista dome had a different mural portraying the country served by the train.
The rear portion of the Dome-Buffet-Lounge was a 15-berth (5-3 tier bunks) dormitory with shower and toilet facilities and 2 private rooms (1 for the steward, the hostess) for the train crew . This seperated the “low class” in the front of the train from the “elite” pasengers in the rear.
Thank you DSchmitt for a very interesting explanation. It appears that the Kato consist is what I will be using. It also seems, according to the site you referenced earlier, that the foreign 10-6 was always car CZ-11 (10th car).
Some thingsare found more in print than on the web.
Car Names, Numbers and Consists ed. by Robert J. Wayner. 1972, Wayner Publications, New York. 249p.
“This book is a record of the streamlined and lightweight passenger-train cars built and operated in the United States.”
Organized railroad by railroad, listing car numbers and specifications as they were built and the consist where cars were built for use in a specific train.
Has an entire section on California Zephyr.
Limitation: does not cover heavyweight cars operated at the same ime and in the same trains as the streamlined cars. With emphasis on car building and acquisition, does not cover much of changes in usage and consist of cars after the original delivery.
The basic California Zephyr consist starting in 1948 was as follows:
1- Baggage
3 - Dome Coaches
1- Dome/Lounge/Dorm
1 - Diner
1 - 16 open section Sleeper(later converted to a coach)
1 - 6-5 Sleeper
3 - 10-6 Sleepers
1 - Dome/Obs
Total - 12 car train. 6 complete sets were built. CB&Q got 3, WP got 2, and DRGW got 1. The actual division between WP/DRGW was 1 less car for WP, and 1 extra for DRGW. CBQ bought ‘extra’ protection cars for the consist in the basic initial purchase. CBQ later purchased extra cars in the mid-50’s to provide extra cars for heavy seasonal traffic. All cars were built by Budd.
The number of cars in the pool was milaged based which is why the Q had more. As near as I can tell all cars had normal mainenance done on them and were assigned as if they were all owned by all three (other than major mechanical issues). The book Portraite of a Silver Lady is a must have reference if you are intersted in the history of the train.
The east coast pass through car PRR was usually the sleeper right in front of the observation car. As near as I can tell, the reason was that this position made switching in Chicago easier.
A time indicator is if the roof of the Silver Rapids is black or not. I believe it started silver and for an unknown to me reason was painted black later on.
FYI It was not always the silver one that matched the set. I’ve got many pictures of a normal PRR maroon car in the trainset.
All the information needed to figure out which color was in what car name is located below in the table found in the following webpage http://calzephyr.railfan.net/cars/cars.html :
They aren’t prototypic names but the sets are. So I guess they are “kind of” prototypical in consist. I have a few others in the pool that protect the schedule. Baggage - Silver Beaver, 6-5 Sleeper Silver Raven, and Buffet Lounge Silver Cabaret. I need an additional dome coach. They have gotten pricey recently.
With all information I am getting here and a few other pieces I am getting a somewhat clearer picture of what the train might have looked. I recently saw on the Yahoo PCL list that, at least in the beginning, they tried to have the “feature cars” (baggage, dorm lounge, diner, obs) from the same road. If all cars looked the same on the outside, this should not be difficult to do with some new decals.
Am I right in assuming that the cars of the same type, independently of the owing road, looked the same? They ought to since they were ordered in the same batch.
The CZ cars are from the same basic order. They followed standard CB&Q ‘post-war’ design with full skirting over the trucks. Most streamline cars(CB&Q ‘pre-war’ cars were ‘scalloped’ over the trucks. Also, the flutting wrapped around the roof down to though the letter board area(small fluting).
Great story, as I have to deal with manufacturing as part of my daily job, I can appreciate the subtle facts of life regarding the integration of many parts form differnet sources and how one simple part can create such delay and turmoil as time clouds the facts. As part of my dream layout, I am preserving room for the military and its many railroad atributes. thanks for sharing this and I off to find a 6651-25 or replica equivalent for my collection.