I am working on furnishing rolling stock/locomotives for a 1955-1960 era N Scale model railroad. I have the Bachmann Spectrum Santa Fe Doodlebug (which is in the dark green sides/dark red front color scheme). I am now looking for one or more cars to pull behind it.
My questions are:
A) Would more than 1 heavyweight car be pulled behind a doodlebug?
B) I do not want to buy a $50 set of cars for this, so right now I am looking at Model Power’s Santa Fe heavyweight cars (items 8620, 8625, and 8630 on Walthers). Are these what my doodlebug would pull? They appear to have a different paint scheme. Are Model Power’s products any good? They seem kind of cheap. What brands would they compare with?
C) Of the 3 cars stated in B, which should I purchase? If Model Power isn’t very good quality or these cars just aren’t right, what do you recommend?
a) usually not. Some doodlebugs could prototypically haul 2-3 passenger cars or up to five 40-foot boxes, but most could barely lug one additional car behind it. I’d stick to a single extra coach, combine, or baggage/RPO/smoker.
b) trainworld has the Rivarossi heavyweight three car sets for $20 (the old stuff; not the $50 sets now marketed by Arnold).
c) If you go with the Model Power cars, I’d go with the combine, 8625.
Santa Fe typically hauled one heavyweight coach behind the doodlebug. Very rarely did the doodlebugs run in mixed train service. If you plan on using the combine, I recommend using it in mixed freight service and use a couple of GP7s. An excellent source for information is John McCalls Coach, Cabbage and Caboose
Ch
Most trailers hauled by doodlebugs were specially built lightweight cars that looked like heavyweight cars. Most doodlebugs were less than 300 hp. and only had traction motors on the front truck so they couldn’t pull much, especially at passenger train speeds.
Dave H.
Is Model Power a quality name? Are the cars that I recommended in the right color scheme to run with the doodlebug?
I have a link to the heavyweight observation (only one Walthers had a picture of ) to make it easier for others to reply:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/490-8630
As you can see, this car appears to be dark red, while my doodlebug is dark green with a red front. Did these run together?
Again, is Model Power a quality name? Are these cars worth my money?
To me, the car looks green…
As for quality, it all depends on how much work you’re willing to put into the car. The basic body/roof/underframe is sound, but the wheelsets might not roll very well. If you’re using Micro Trains couplers, you’ll have to replace the Rapidos. And a subtle weathering job can’t hurt ANY model. But none of these projects are very hard or take much time, and are all part of the hobby. So long as the car you’re looking at looks like what you’re seeing in your mind’s eye, I say go for it!
So, if I buy new wheelsets/couplers, then would these cars be right?
Does anyone know if these cars are the right color scheme to use with the dark red front/dark green bodied Santa Fe doodlebugs???
If you haven’t done so, see if you can find a copy of the book Coach, Cabbage, and Caboose. It is an in-depth study of this type of service on the ATSF. IIRC, it has color pictures.
Hope this helps.
work safe
What is trainworld’s website? I trield www.trainworld.com and it said that the page was currently unavailable.
Some Santa Fe doodlebugs pulled non-powered passenger cars that were called “trailers”, because they were specifically for haulage by the motor cars. Bachmann’s old 60’ coach looks very much like the prototype, if you can find one of these old models.
One Santa Fe doodlebug once hauled a stainless steel streamlined round-end observation coach, (very similar to Model Power streamlined obs) operating out of Clovis New Mexico to Carlsbad I believe, but it was a bigger doodlebug than the Bachmann model. Still, the streamlined obs behind the doodlebug is more prototypical than a person might generally believe.
Hey, leighant. Haven’t heard from you in a while. You helped me get some Super Chief info. and some stuff on 1950’s hopper cars a few months back. I’m glad that someone knows which Bachmann Doodlebug model I’m talking about.
Unfortunately, if you’ll remember from way back when, my layout is set in the midwest, so this stainless steel car would probably look out of place.
Does anyone know if the Model Power cars are prototypically correct? If not, is there anything on the market (besides the stainless steel cars) that would be?
(Insert little “bump” smilie here)
The Model Power heavyweights are the old Lima design, and represent PRR prototype. I can’t tell if the color matches the green on the Bachmann car. I’d only add 1 coach. The Bachmann car has a RPO/baggage section. A heavy mail day would have a locomotive hauled 2 car train. Then you could run a combine/coach combo pulled by a small steamer or a GP.
Some modelers seem to have found Bachmann bugs very cheap & cut them up to make a trailer. The front section becomes a little boxcab switcher. The Bachmann shorty heavyweights may be another choice, if you can find any.