Been checking model train forums on line and like this one. Lotsof smart discussion and data. Getting back into trains and changed to 1:87 ho but still prefer passnger trains ovr freight. I like New York Central and the Burlington. In o scale we could get plated passenger train cars with chairs inside. I looked at the Walthers catalog. The streamliner cars look very nice but theyre silver. Saw pictures of plated ho passngr trains on here that look like the kind Burlington and York Central had around 1955. They had chairs. Who makes those cars?
If you looked at the Walthers stuff you probably noticed they’re currently doing a run of the New York Central Twentieth Century Limited in the dark/light gray scheme.
Except for Walthers recent Amtrak Superliner cars I don’t know if there are any HO passenger cars that are actually “plated”, most are just plastic cars painted silver to represent the stainless steel Budd cars used by many railroads. Well except for OK Streamliner cars which are actually made of shiny metal…
The gray century is nice looking and might like a couple of those cars. I like the plating on the ok trains and am thinking about it, but the bodys on Walthers streamline trains look just like the expresses I rode on years ago. I’m thinking to buy Walthers cars and painting them to something looking like the shiny steel on the Burlington Zephyrs. Does Testors chrome spray go on smooth and look good?
Broadway Limited makes plated Zephyr cars. I am not certain I understand the other question(s) but.
Walther’s is currently running a 20th Century Limited set. They are two-tone gray. The only stainless steel cars I know of on the NYC were run through cars from other railroads like the Santa Fe.
For Burlington Zephyr cars in HO scale you want the BLI California Zephyr cars. They are plated, and in my opinion they are the best HO passenger car that has ever been made. A couple other companies have made plated cars but I don’t remember who and when.
A few of us got many of our Zephyr cars together for an operating session last fall. One can contrast the color of the silver painted E units on the left to the plated passenger cars.
You’ll find some fellow passenger train fans here! You’re modeling the mid 50s, from what you’ve stated. Great era to model for passenger trains.
The BLI California Zephyr cars are works of art. Unfortunately, BLI is currently out of them but announced that more will be available by this mid-summer (hopefully). On the plus side, Cal-Zephyr cars show up on ebay, new and used.
New York Central had a mixed fleet of heavyweights, smooth siders, and stainless steel equipment from Budd and Pullman Standard. I don’t know if some of the BLI Zephyr cars are identical or similar to NYC’s. Someone can correct me if I’m mistaken, but the Walther’s Budd Diner and Dormitory-Baggage cars are based on NYC prototypes.
Saw Zephyr cars on the ebay. Keeping my eye on them. I remember New York Central passenger trains Wolverine and Henry Hudson running with heavy and streamline cars together. The Empire State Express ran all streamline cars with E class locomotives. I will get Walthers cars in New York Central and chrome them
New York Central’s “Empire State Express” used stainless-steel cars beginning in 1941, originally pulled by streamlined Hudsons whose tender had stainless-steel corrugation to match the cars. An interesting trivia point is that they chose a Sunday to unveil the updated train, figuring since Sundays are traditionally slow news days and they’d get better coverage in the papers. So the first publicity trip of the train with press and dignitaries took place on Sunday Dec. 7th, 1941. Unfortunately they didn’t get the amount of coverage they had hoped for… [:O]
The Testor’s works pretty well, but you do have to be careful as it’s easy to get it on too thick. Still I’ve had pretty good luck with it on my RDC’s. Some people have found that silver painted cars sprayed with gloss finish give a lot of the look of stainless-steel. I guess it’s up to you if silver paint or Testor’s chrome paint is good enough, or if only metal or metal plating will do.
Much appreciation for the information. I looked at the double decker cars from David. They look like real metal. The Empire State Express was a good looking train and with Walthers streamline cars I can model 1955s style with the general motor E diesels from Pproto. I found a store selling Testors, Aclad, and a good looking chrome paint called Spaz Stick. I’ll figure out which to get after buying my streamline cars. Did New York Central use the same kind of cars as on the Zephyr?
The NYC didn’t use dome cars on the Empire State Express or 20th Century. I’m not sure how similar the NYC cars and the CZ cars are. I think the CZ cars were by Budd - certainly the Burlington Zephyr cars were Budd cars - but the NYC stainless steel cars may have been by Pullman-Standard(??)
(The California Zephyr of course was a joint operation of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy / Denver and Rio Grande Western, and the Western Pacific.)
In case you are a newbie like me you should be aware of the radius these passenger cars require. They surely look good running on long sweeping curves. Unfortunately my layout rules out all of the “modern” cars. The 1930 era and before are the cars that work for me.
You’re right New York Central didn’t have domes. But what about the Zephyr coach and sleeping cars? I will check my old magazines that show pictures of New York Central trains. How do you tell budd and pullmans apart since they look alike? My 1:87 curves are 18 radius but I’ll change my trackage so the Walthers streamline cars will work on it.
There is an article in the May/June '08 issue of N Scale Railroading on simulating Stainless Steel using the silver Kato passenger cars as a base. Looks pretty convincing to me… I’m guessing it’ll probably work on HO too… [(-D]
24"R is what Walthers gives as a minimum, but that’s a bare minimum. I’d try for “as large as possible” for reliable operation with body-mounted couplers on passenger cars. Many people would consider 28-30"R the real minimum for reliable operation.
CB&Q had the first dome cars right after WW2. Generally railroads in the East didn’t use dome because of issues with clearances in tunnels and bridges etc. From Chicago west that generally wasn’t an issue so many roads used domes.
The NYC’s lightweight fleet consisted of cars by ACF, Budd and Pullman. The fleet consisted of painted smooth side cars by ACF and Pullman and fluted cars by Budd and Pullman. Walthers makes a Budd diner that is an NYC car and a fluted Pullman 64 seat chair car that is an NYC car. The western roads in conjunction with NYC and PRR would have run through sleepers.
