I have to start by saying that the number, variety, and quality of passenger cars is amazing today compared to what is was 20 years ago. I remember all the wall cutting window filling and things that had to be done to get something close to some of the prototypes.
Plus the engineering of the Walther’s cars makes it pretty easy to make new ‘sides’ for the existing frames and just “snap” them on, I cannot complain at all.
As for the lack of heavy weights, the ones that have been produced recently have not been well received. Thinking mostly of the late Branchline models now owned by Atlas. Even the Walther’s runs I’ve been able to pick up in mass quantites on clearance, because apparently no one else wants them.
From the title… cars I want include the Santa Fe mail containers, the NP dome sleeper, the Santa Fe Navajo tail car, the blunt end dome observation used on the Denver Zephyr, and the Pullman Sun Lounge. One can never have too many head end cars of all types and road names.
Walther’s did the 7-4-3-1, 6-5-2, and coach in SP&S (and CB&Q) in their first run of the Empire Builder. I have them. They didn’t do the baggage-dorm or 6-3 lounge though.
As near as I can tell the current run is only painted Great Northern although it looks like the stock numbers remain the same. In the original run the SP&S were 920-9057, 920-9074, and 920-9093.
Walthers made these in their older-style kit, with milled wooden roof, wood floor, cast metal ends and stamped metal sides, but nobody has done these in plastic. The kits surface from time to time, but tend to be grabbed up pretty quickly, since the sides can be applied to more modern core kits.
A few years ago, I assembled one for a friend, I kept the wooden floor, but used a plastic Train Station Products roof and ends and supplemented the cast metal details on the underbody with pieces from New England Rail Services. It turned out pretty nicely.
I want to say that the kits were released in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
That is partly due to proto stuff that is going around, but a lot of us just want the details and roadname and could care less if our road accually had them, after all, they could have if they wanted and could afford. You also have to relise that a lot don’t have room for 22" radius, let alone anything more and even if they run around an 18" curve, they look real funny doing so. That’s why I said 50’ cars. I have a fair size layout but went with 18" min radius because the freight I run and engines look fine on it and I needed a few return loops without using up too much room. MDC made overtons and overlands in this venue (now produced by someone else) but they didn’t do the same with newer cars.
Ah, quite true. I was thinking of (and neglected to say) the ones used on SP&S trackage only. As opposed to cars that were regular parts of the through trains:
#75 baggage-dorm (as noted in quote)
#405 diner
#600-601 sleeper-lounge (as noted in quote)
I also wouldn’t mind ole #31, one of the few baggage-RPO’s lightweights with 6-wheel trucks.
And then there’s the flat-top coaches. I figure those will be taken care of when/if Walthers does the NCL.
I’m opening a “Fund Me” site now… anyone care to donate [:D]
[edit:] Well, you can put your wallets away—they’re sold already[:'(] and I was just dusting off one of my gold ingots to sell!
I’m with others on their suggestions for more “betterment” cars, B&O and PRR especially and for more head-end stuff.
I was lucky to get a few of the Walthers HW baggage and RPOs when they were available back in the day. I like to run mail and express trains with lots of mail storage, express, former troop sleepers and Flexi-Van cars with a rider coach bringing up the rear.
Modern Rio grande ski train cars. I’m talking about the cars built by Hawker Siddley originally for the CN’s tempo cars trains. These are the ones that replaced the heavyweights the Rio grande used for a long time. I keep hoping that Rapido will come out with them since they are a Canadian built car.
I found a good deal on the tail car and I am working on the other two private cars now but I really want a model of them. I have been working on a 3D Cad model of them so maybe I can get it built by shapeways. We will see…
I’d like to see Walthers re-run their HO heavyweight solarium observation car, as a couple of the railroads I like used similar cars.
I’d also like to see heavyweight and streamlined baggage-coach combines that are roughly 1/4 baggage and 3/4 coach. Many railroads had cars like that, but I don’t know that any have been modelled in plastic.
(Many “Top of the line” passenger trains like New York Central’s heavyweight Twentieth Century, or Chicago & NorthWestern’s 400, had combines like that, because they rarely carried express or mail so only needed a small area for the passenger’s baggage.)
First, Athearn streamliners with correct Budd or Pullman Standard roofs. Second, an Athearn streamliner with a Budd short dome. These are for the people who have tight curves where 80’ cars won’t work.
Third, make and sell the core shell and the sides for Walther’s cars a la carte. This would make “exotic” cars - like the 1956 Denver Zephyr sleepers - a more reasonable proposition.
Fourth, make the 1936 Twin Cities (Nebraska) Zephyr in plastic. The Nebraska Zephyr has a following; you’d probably make your minimum run quantity if you sold the cars $ 30.00 each.
Would like to see the WWII US Army Hospital cars produced in plastic. First for my model of the 40’s and 50’s Ringling Bros train as they purchased a number of them for their fleet. Second I would like them in their as built Army colors as they were neat looking cars. Cant afford the brass when they pop up. I do have a nice collection of the final run of wood/metal kits Walthers did in the 80’s. Been working on the under frames and have yet to complete a car.
They have and do. Rapido ran Osgood Bradley lightweights in B&M in both Hunter? green and Maroon. They are for the most part sold out.
Not as well as the Chicago roads, however Atlas is running B&M passenger cars in the next year. Bethlehem Car works makes several different passenger cars, but the kits are somewhat advanced. What I find odd is that the manufacturers could make PRR and DL&W commuter coaches (dont remember which cars exactly) and offer them in Boston and Maine with little or no modification.