What is your favorite passenger train from what time period, and what type of loco and passenger cars ?.
Mine is the Santa Fe Chief of the 1940s being pulled by a 4-8-4 Northern hauling a consist of 1920s heavyweights.
Grumblers need not reply…
Tracklayer
I definitely agree with your choice of passenger cars. But A nice high wheeled Atlantic would be better for me in the prairies.
BB
I hate to rain on your parade, but the Super Chief was diesel hauled from its inception. Although it was initially heavyweight, the lightweight consist and E1 A-B units were delivered in 1937.
The Chief (initiated in 1926) , however, was steam hauled well into the 1940’s and did carry some heavyweight cars. However, it was at least partially streamlined in 1938.
Andre
This is not going to answer your question, BUT having my primary interest being passenger trains it seemed to fit here. After 30 years of fighting to get good appropriate passenger trains these last 5 years have been magical. I used to spend $$$$ for brass cars that ran poorly and didn’t look so good, or hour studying window arrangments, and then weeks kitbashing a Rivarossi to make just one car. Then there was the cost of the details and time spent applying them. Now for a much better and overall cheaper price I can go to the hobby store, by the cars, take them out of the box (maybe install hand rails that were included, replace couplers with Kadee) set them on the layout and run.
It is a wonderful time to be modeling passenger trains…
I’m still working on a full set of "Empire Builder"s.
My favorite train to ride ran from Hachioji to Takasaki on the Hachiko-sen, a secondary line of the Japan National Railways. A passenger (ME!!!) could stand at the windowed bulkhead right behind the engineer’s cab of the Kiha17 class DMU car at the head end and see all of the action on a single track line that passed through some fairly rugged terrain, meting other DMU passenger trains and the occasional steam-powered freight. There were interchanges with other JNR routes at both ends and at one point near Hachioji, and interchanges with two privately-owned lines. For a minor route, the traffic was astoundingly dense by comparison with US practice.
I’ve modeled a similar train (three cars instead of the prototype’s usual seven) but it’s not that visually interesting. That honor goes to a string of older, non-air-conditioned cars which come up to the end of catenary (as several different trains during one 24-hour ‘day’) behind heavy motors and leave in back of coal-burning 2-8-2s. The down trains (several numbers, same consist) reverse the engine swap. There is a little additional switching required when the schedule calls for picking up or dropping a mail and/or baggage car. As my wife says, it’s so ugly, it’s cute!
My favorite was the Chief. I remember going from Pasdena ,CA to Barstow, CA on it.
I have always liked Santa Fe as they had great passenger trains.
The Powhatan Arrow with a J on the point would be hard to beat, but a Pocahontas or Cavalier is nice too.
C&O Sportsman with E8’s is nice. Hiawatha behind an F-7 Baltic… there were lots of pretty passenger trains.
Best looking had to be the SP Daylight paint scheme. Favorite trains would be the 20th Century Limited with a streamlined Hudson on the lead, which would put it in the late 1930s.
Consolidated Super Chief/El Capitan of the late 50s pulled by F7s.
I like E units…hard to tell, isn’t it?? [:o)][:P]
The CNS&M Electroliner. Right til the end it was inspiring as I stood on the Wilson Avenue at 8:10 am and smelled the hot motors/ozone as I waited for my northbound “L” and school.
Doug, in Utah
Broadway Limited in two variations:
Fleet of Modernism, GG1’s to Harrisburg, then K-4 up horseshoe curve and onward.
Post-war, with a T-1.
I meant to say “The Chief” Andre. Thanks for catching that… I’ll go back and correct it.
Tracklayer
North Shore Electroliner from Chicago to Milwaukee. I rode on it in the late 1950s. Great experience. Too bad it is long gone.
Texas Zepyhyr, according to GNRHS sources, and other rumors, Walthers
is planning a 1951 or 1955 Empire Builder. (Year depends on what source
you believe.) I’ll settle for either, though I would prefer the '55 version. Apparently,
this is to be along the lines of the Super Chief they marketed a couple years ago.
I, for one, am certainly hoping, and have written to Walthers to express my
support for the project. For now, I have an accurate model of GN’s 1950
International streamliner-an excellent layout-sized train-pulled by a BLI
E7A and built from American Heritage Car Co. (originally Northstar) kits.
Another operation wi***o model is the mid-to-late 50s Cascadian, which
ran with rebuilt heavyweight equipment-called “stream-styled” and also
regular heavyweights. This, plus GN trains 27 and 28, The Fast Mail,
constitutes my needs for passenger service on my upcoming planned
layout centered on Everett, Washington.
Oh my, won’t be hard to guess but if it says New Haven or Pennsylvania on it, I like it.
Anything.
Double headed I-4 4-6-2 PACIFIC’s pulling the Pullman Std. HW Merchants Ltd…
A shiny I-5 pulling the new Pullman-Lightweight Merchants…
Two PA’s on the Clipper…
Two 109’s on a mail/express heavy New Yorker…
A C-liner on a local run with an RPO, and mixed pre-war and post-war coaches…
A Shoreline train with a diner, grill, coaches, parlors, you name it…
The FEDERAL, with a GG1 from WAS and an EP-4 from NYP with mixed NH and PRR cars…
Heck, even a set of P-S Washboard MU’s cruising along with standing room only for commuters…
The possibilities are endless.
When it comes to passenger trains, I am easy to please. [^]
One of my faves, I have many, is the N&W’s Powhattan Arrow. I have a Spectrum J and intend to build a model of the train using Laser Horizons sides, and TSP corekits.
Not sure whether I’ll add interiors and lighting or not.
Alvie
Way to go, Dave. You didn’t miss any of my favorites. I might add an EP-3 Box Cab motor hauling the heavy weight Merchant’s up from NYC.