Look out for 'em in 2007 from Train Station Products. They are also working on steam ejector AC for streamlined cars (that is about all Santa Fe used). Some great stuff coming from these folks!!!
THE SANTA FE ‘STEP UP’ (or transition) HI-LEVEL CARS allowed Santa Fe crew members access to lower level ‘Dormitory’ or ‘combined’ El Cap - Super Chief’s sleepers.
AMTRAK still uses ATSF HI-LEVEL cars for crew accomodations on the ‘head end’ of their western ‘Super liner’ consists.
Wrong thread??? Oh well, it is still good info if somebody is looking for it.
True
ATSF Hi-Level Lounges and Diners were originally built for the Hi-Level ‘El Capitan’ by Budd, and also appeared on the ‘S.F. Chief’ when it went Hi-Level. AMTRAK’s version was a revised ATSF car with different dimensions, suspension. electrical system, and built by Pullman.
Acording to crew members I talked to, the Budd built cars “rode better” than their Pullman counterparts. They prefered the ATSF Coaches as Dormatory cars for the reclined position and greater leg room.
I.M.'s / Train Station offering is a Diner, not the Lounge. To MY knowledge the ‘Lounge’ was never tooled. One can only hope. I have the Lounge and Diner in brass - as part of a set.
I am quite familiar with the Budd built hi level cars and the former chairman of a museum in San Antonio that I volunteered at (Texas Transportation Museum) was involved with the development of the Superliner equipment.
I recieved a call from Mr Wright of Quality-Wright Products (makers of Train Station Products) in response to a message I left for him last Friday. I asked about the lounge and its release. He said that he was in the process of talking to their mold people, and are also starting to talk to Intermountain about having them sent to China for assembly for the RTR models. I had also spoke with him in 2002 about the lounge, and at that time they were still working on getting it just right. When I spoke to him in '02 he had mentioned they might do a baggage/dorm, but I forgot to ask about it this time.
Also as I stated above, he also mentioned that they were working on the steam ejector ACs for the streamlined equipment, which I can’t wait for (I have a few sleepers with an open spot on the underbody).
I also mentioned in another thread that the hi level step up chair cars were also used as coach dorms. I have a
And also, Amtrak recieved an order of Superliners from Bombardier as well as PS.
I didn’t realize that Amtrak is still even using the hi level transition cars. I had thought they had gone to the Superliner transition sleepers entirely. Oh well, I guess you learn something new every day. I know as of a couple of years ago they were using hi level chair cars on the Heartland Flyer in Oklahoma (are they still in use there?). The lounges are still in use as the “Pacific Parlour” cars on the west coast. I have a pic somewhere of a hi level diner on the Sunset Limited. I will have to find that. It was in phase 3 paint. I was actually kind of surprised to see it.
I also don’t believe that the San Fran Chief ever had the hi level lounges or diners. I would have to look through the consists that I have, but if I remember correctly the San Fran Chief used the budd built full domes or “Super Domes” and standard level diners.
On another note, the Texas Chief also used the hi level coaches. If I recall correctly the Santa Fe only had enough hi level lounges and diners to equip the El Cap and the combined El Cap/Super Chief. I will definately have to research that further.
Smitty, the next time you talk to him, ask him if they’re ever going to bring out an RTR step-down coach. You can’t use the RTR step-up coach for this because the seats are facing the wrong way.
Dick
Texas Chief
They did, after the Superliner II Transition Sleepers came out. There are no more Hi-Level transition cars in Amtrak service. The only Hi-levels left in Amtrak service are the 2 or 3 for Heartland Flyer service and the 5 lounges left in Pacific Parlor Service.
Chris
I think that one would fall on Intermountain. I did my own cars (bought the undec cars and the interiors seperate). I was curious about that with the Intermountain built cars (as far if there was a car with rear facing seats) so I guess that answers that question. From what I understand it is a real pain to get the Intermountain cars open even if you just wanted to turn the seats around yourself.
Bob Wright is a great guy. Just by talking to him you can tell that he is truly interested in the modelers needs. I left a message with him and he got back to me as soon as possible. The frustrating thing is that I just broke down and bought an Overland hi level lounge (I got nervous after seeing that Overland was out of stock and not doing another run), and two weeks after doing that, he returned the call and told me about the lounge. Oh well.
I am sorta holding my breath on the lounge nonetheless since I was told that a release was just around the corner in 2002. It does sound like he is a little more serious about it this time. I know there are a lot of Santa Fe and some Amtrak modelers that have been screaming for a plastic lounge for years (I am one of them).
Edit:
If you wanted I suppose you could purchase an interior and do one yourself. The below is a picture of an interior I did (the seats are forward facing in this pic, but I just turned them around on my step down coach).
The interior is from Train Station Products (made by Palace Car Company). The Walthers item number is 732-9611 and they retail at $23.95. They are easy to assemple. The floor is scribed with lines to assist in the palcement of sea
I really hope that TSP and IMRC do the Hi Level Lounge. I really was tempted to buy the Overland release but it’s very hard to justify 400 dollars on just one car. With the Lounge, all of our Hi-Level sets would be complete and I think that you have to say that the quality is quite good even if the price is a bit high for a plastic car.
I hate to bring this thread back from the dead, but I just ran across this:
http://www.palacecarco.com/proddetail.php?prod=USP9657
Has anyone seed these kits? I looked around online and cannot find them for sale anywhere else.
I found the Palace Car Co/Union Station kit of the lounge on their website while looking for other items. Sure was a shock to me. But I have not seen or heard any other information about it.
But now with the Walthers Hi-Levels (which includes a lounge) in production and planed to be released at the end of this year and into next year, this “new” kit is a bit late in my opinion.
From what I’ve seen of the Walthers pre-produciton samples, they are much better in detail over the Train Station Products (TSP)/Intermountain offerings. So no real reason to get this lounge kit, unless you want to stick with TSP style Hi-Levels.
The Walthers fully assembled and painted lounge MSRP is $79.98 (575-580). Add the lighting kit for another $15.98 (570-1055) . Total MSRP for a fully assembled, painted/lettered, and lit Hi-level lounge is $95.96.
In comparison, the Palace Car Co lounge is a kit that needs painting/lettering for $124.95 (9657) and no provision for easy lighting. In fact it is a major pain adding track powered lights to the TSP style Hi-Levels. Trust me I know because I added lighting to mine.
Once my Walthers Hi-Levels come in, I’ll likely sell off my TSP/Intermountain Hi-Levels.
Can’t say as I have. I’m certainly not shelling out $125 for one.
The problem that I have is that I have a lot of time and money “invested” in the TSP cars (along with other manufacturers) for my model of the consolidated El Cap/Super Chief. I thought about selling off my train and go with the Walther’s cars, but I would imagine the value of the TSP cars will be all but gone. Plus it is a pride thing with basically building this train from the ground up. I am really at odds with this. I am considering just donating my current train to a MRR club and trying to hunt down all the Walhter’s plated equipment that I need.
Last I checked Train World in Brookland still had some of the plated SuperChief cars if you don’t mind paying list price for them. Assuming you follow through with this plan would you consider donating them to a museum rather than a club?
Smitty,
My friend, please DON’T compromise and let your invested efforts and gorgeous work be for naught. Why don’t you just “plate” those TSP units yourself? I realize that they’re already painted but if you’d like to Alclad them, you can PM me and I can share some suggestions that might be helpful. [;)]
