Are the 34’ passenger cars offerd by MDC realistic for a small railroad, or are they something that MDC came up with for someone to use on tight radius track? Thanks for the help guys.
Dave
the 34’ cars (called Overton by MDC) were used by one railroad only (maybe the Sierra RR , my memory is hazy on this) , but they did exist so using them on your railroad isn’t totally out of line . more realistic would be the 50’ cars that MDC called Overland
Ereimer is correct, they were built for the Sierra Railway, as anything longer would not work on a short switchback tail on one particular branch. They only built a combine and a coach - I don’t know how many of each.
MRs have always been fascinated by the Overton passenger cars - the “cute” factor most likely. Ulrich made Overton model kits in die cast metal many moons ago (I have a set partially built). The Overtons do look pretty nice on period model railroads that have space and curve crunches. The Overton models are also easily adapted to HOn3 with a little narrowing of the body.
Most all railroads used longer passenger cars, including the Sierra Railway on other sections of their line.
Fred Wright
CEO, President, Janitor and Jack of all Trades for the
Picture Gorge and Western Railway
where it is always 1900 in foggy coastal Oregon
I am currently using the “cute” ones on my layout for a couple reasons.
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They are availible in my road-name. Southern Pacific.
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The small 1880s steamers can get them up my 3+% grade.
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They’re just as cute as a little button.
Common sense and a sense of propriety will set in eventurally and I’ll strip a set of Grande Overlands and paint them for SP Sunset.
They are cute and they let you run “long” passenger trains on small layouts. I had some when I was in HO.
Enjoy
Paul
mine are in the sante fe scheme
Maybe I am dreaming but in one of Signor’s SP Shasta division books there is a post card picture showing an old CP 4-4-0 pulling a group of very short CP coaches looking just like the the MDC’s. Of course, old post cards can be deceiving. Any SP fans out there know if this was possible? When I get back home from Chicago, I wil check the refererence again.
Peter Smith, Memphis
Probably fifty footers in the photo - most of the coaches in old CP/SP photos I’ve seen look like they’re roughly that length.
In real life pictures the 50 footers look small. I have several pictures of passneger cars that look really short until I compare them with a known size object. (like a window on the car).
Just wanted to share some pics of these 34’ Overton passenger cars I own. Although not part of my railroad’s official roster, they do hold a special place in my collection. BTW, These cars are ideal for smaller layouts having 18R or sharper curves.
Bob, as usual awsome work. I love those little stubby cars. I am going to add some to my layout. Thank you for sharing you work with all of us.
Dave
Incidentally the prototypes for both MDC’s 34 foot “Overton” combine and the coach still exist, on display at Railtown U.S.A. Undoubtedly, the models were created by MDC (nearly 50 years ago?) because they were easily available for measurements. The MDC models turned out to be close but still not exact to the prototype. LaBelle also did these cars long ago, both in diecast and in wood, as I recall. Further, I believe MR published scale drawings of the Sierra cars way back when.
At any rate, as others have already indicated, they were unique to a single railroad and even then used on only one or two small branchlines. While perhaps “cute” they are highly unprototypical of the period for virtually any other existing rail line or for the period in general.
CNJ831
The reality is that rarely will the prototype police come into your basement and arrest you for 34 foot cars. If you have a reason for including them, and it may just be that you think they’re cute, go ahead and get them. 50 foot cars are availible on eBay, but chances are you will have to paint them.
Here’s a shot with an 1880’s passenger train with the SP Sunset colors. I’ll try to get a better one of the cars tonight.
LaBelle makes a 50’ coach , and a number of 58’ cars . has anyone here build any of their kits ?
Nice looking coaches. A little late for me, but let us know how they turn out. [;)]
I’ve built several in O scale, they are a true craftsman kit requiring traditional wood working skills, they make a fantastic model when completed, my local S community is trying to get a run for our chosen scale…
Dave
thanks Dave , maybe i’ll try one when my building skills progress a bit
Chip, just started work on a 40’ LaBelle boxcar last night and I have a 60’ wooden baggage car in a box on my shelf. The closed platform coaches are a little late for your era, but the 58’ cars are just right. This is the first wood kit I’ve built, so the biggest differences so far are that nothing’s predrilled or even marked - you need to be good at reading the enclosed plan and transferring the plan measurements onto a piece of bare wood. Having the right tools helps a lot, and so far the mitre box, scale rule and square, saw/mitre box and Chopper have all been very useful.
I just got back from Chicago and checked out Signor’s SP Shasta Division book. He shows four old postcards on page 39. One shows a passenger train pulling what sure looks like MDC shorties . ( Not more than 10 windows long). This is probably a retouch or an original artist’s imaginative painting but it sure makes me wonder ?
While in Chicago, I picked up 3 old Mantua 28 ft 1890’s box cars at the Great Midwest Train Show so I can finally get started reworking them to SP as outlined in an article in the April 99 issue of MR.
Other than that, I now must make a final pu***o get my layout ready for the June SER NMRA layout tour.
Peter Smith, Memphis
I just looked at “SP’s Shasta Division” - if you’re talking about the train in the bottom picture, it looks like it was drawn in when the photo was retouched - look at the engine. All of the other passenger cars in the other photos look like they’re much bigger (the space between the trucks is a more reliable indicator, particularly if the cars have the double-sized arched windows).