I just bought a new broadway class j and now the next step is a passenger train.I have been looking around the internet and the only streamlined N&W cars I can find are made by IHC. Is this a good car to start with? McHenry couplers makes a coupler replacement for IHC passenger cars,but it is truck mounted is this good for operation? I know very little about IHC so i am hesitent about buying these cars. They seem to be more in the “toy” train business judging from the company website.So basicly my question is are the IHC cars a good choice to start modeling from?
I recommend staying away from IHC. American Model Builders has some Laser Cut car sides for N&W cars. Another option is to look for some of the Overland Models or Soho N&W cars. Also some of the former Wabash and NKP cars will work as well.
Ch
NKP Car Sides offers a N&W 10-6 sleeper. These are brass car sides and are wonderful when assemble with Train Station Products core kits. I think the NKP cars include the TSP core kits. Below is the link to this car.
I don’t know if they offer it in N&W but Walthers has a Pennsy B-60 baggage car that was used by N&W. If you can get Rivarrossi smooth side lightwieghts in N&W they’d work, at least the coach and diner and for the round end observation you could get the kit from Eastern Car Works. It’s an NYC 20th Century Limited (1938) prototype but I’m assuming here that absolute prototypical fidelity isn’t a “must do”. Another option would be to use silver corrugated side cars to represent the Souther/N&W’s Tennessean. If the requisite cars aren’t aviailable in N&W it’s a really easy scheme to do. Solid Tuscan red sides with black roof and underbody and a 2" gold stripe along the floor and roof seam. The only oddity is the ends. Where most RRs painted the ends a solid color, the N&W continued the color separation between the roof and side around the end. Decal are available from Champ and Micro-Scale.
One other thing I forgot. Truck mounted couplers are to be avoided at all costs if you think there might ever be a situation where you want to back the train. It won’t!
Dave, how much authenticity are you seeking to achieve? Dead-on accuracy to preclude criticism of any hyper rivet-counter, or a visual representation to enjoy as it moves around your layout?
If the former, yeah, avoid the IHC-Rivarossi genre. If the latter, then the IHC and Riv cars can be found in abundance on ebay. Even then, they greatly improve with some serious detailing, conversion to body mounted couplers, light weathering.
I mention body mounted couplers when I have both types. But my cars have been weighted and I have no issues with a prototypical speed backing move. Generally though, body mounted is considered better.