shorty HO scale ATSF streamliner passenger cars

[Flying switch56]

Hello everyone! This is my first post so I ask if you'll please bear with me.

I felt obliged to join this forum to thank everyone for their suggestion to shop ebay for Athearn Santa Fe passenger cars.

I'd been building HO layouts since 1969 and due to space limitations I was constantly forced to use tight radius curves. Because of this my passenger fleet almost entirely consisted of Athearn passenger cars. They always looked and ran great on my minimum 22" curves.

About 21 years ago I made the decision to switched over to N scale (a decision I've never regretted BTW) and sold most of my HO collection.

However, for the past 5 years or so I've had "feelings of nostalgia" for my HO trains, especially my Athearn passenger gear. Last year I tore down my 9' x 12' N scale layout and began construction on a new 10' x 14' N scale layout with a simple 4' x 10' HO layout underneath.

To make an already long story short, while doing a search on Athearn SF passenger cars I came upon this forum. I checked ebay and not only did I acquire 14 Athearn passenger cars, but two Athearn PA-1 engines in very good condition.

So once again, thanks for the great suggestions.

Happy railroading!

[dknelson]

Not 100% accurate for Santa Fe perhaps but don't forget the Herkimer line of metal Budd steamline cars in both full and shorty lengths.  These classic kits have been available from about the time the prototypes were built!   They have also been known as Kasiner and OK.  Here is the website of the manufacturer which has a PDF catalog 

 http://www.okengines.com/products.shtml

I took this picture

 

from this website, where you can order the cars.  They are actual metal and can be polished and buffed.  When assembled with care they build up into nice looking cars, possibly heavier than NMRA standards.

http://www.nancystrains.com/okenginesstreamliners.html

Dave Nelson

[wjstix]

I know the Athearn heavyweight cars are based on ATSF prototypes. The baggage, RPO and coach cars are all the same lenght as their prototypes, (IIRC 66'-70'); the diner, sleeper and observation cars are 70' long models based on 80' long prototypes.

The streamlined cars are from what I've heard more "generic" than the heavyweights, but have been used by many folks to model ATSF trains for many decades now.

BTW I think Athearn did a limited run of some trains that were in the Walthers catalogue for a few years, that may be what was discontinued. (Athearn doesn't list their stuff in the Walthers catalogue, since they are owned by Horizon, a rival distributor to Walthers.) The Athearn website still shows the cars as being produced from what I can see....

http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=Streamline+KIT&CatID=THRP&RN=SF

[jeffers_mz]

Noticed last night that the 2007 Walther's catalogue shows both the Concor and Athearn streamlined ATSF passenger cars still offered for sale. Worth a shot.

You didn't ask about heavyweights, but the catalogue does have a Rivarossi ATSF set for sale, "limited supply" or something similar, and these are very nice models, and very short, about 60 scale feet. If interested in these, say something here before ordering I may know of a steal price on these cars, need to make sure the deal offers the same set. Talking about a price drop from $140 for 4 cars to $29.99.

Edit, I can't tell if the Rivarossi heavyweights are the same as the ones I have or not. I called them and they don't know how long the cars scale out to be. Here's the ad:

http://www.trainworld.com/2007_ho_scale.htm

About halfway down, the heavyweights are described as "1920s 4 Car Set A". The baggage car pictured does not match the one from the shorty set I have, no descending grab irons visible (mine have 8 sets) and they show double doors, where mine have singles.

[tarhawk]

 Hi Matt and thanks very much. I thought I was a decent ebay searcher but you are a champ! Never tried searching under Athearn etc.. This is very helpful. Thanks for taking the time for such a thorough reply. I will definitely follow up on some of these!

HR

[Southwest Chief]

Even though it does seem (at least from the website) that Athearn has "discontinued" their classic Santa Fe streamlined cars, you can still find them all over the place.  And these are the cars I would highly recommend.

I have a set dating to the early 1970s.  They go around any radius and look good doing it.  Over the years I added Kadee couplers, metal wheels, interiors, figures, and lighting.  Using coaches as sleepers I relettered them and made a make shift Super Chief.  Although I don't use them regularly anymore, on occasion I'll pull them out and run the train.  Sure are nice cars.

If you are having trouble finding the cars from vendors, try train shows.  These cars always seem to show up at train shows.  eBay is another good place to find these cars. 

Doing a quick search here is what I found:

RPO

Baggage 

Coach 

Dome

Dining

Observation

Don't get discouraged.  I'm sure you'll be able to find a good set of these cars in no time if you look in the right places.  You might even try various hobby shops.  They might have a bunch sitting around with no where to go.

[don7]

There have been ads for the new Riverossi/Hornby 60 foot coaches being re-released again. I am not sure which era or roadnames will be offered but I am defently interested

I would also like to see the Roundhouse Harriman 60' re-released as well, I have a couple of sets of these put away for now.

[tarhawk]

  Thanks for the continuing assistance. The search will go on. I have a set of ATSF round top standard steel coaches (green) never yet out of the box. They are a sl bit long for the layout but I am going to give them a go. Interestingly they were $4.40- $5.50 per car with couplers etc when I bought them!

[NeO6874]

  Could someone please tell me the length in scale feet of the Walthers 52 seat passenger coach , Walthers # 932-6762. Thanks very much.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say 85'.  I have some of the Walthers NYC cars, and they're all that long. 

[mobilman44]

Hi,

I am an ATSF modeler, and have most of the scale sized lightweight and heavyweight Walther's offers, as well as Bachmann Spectrum heavyweights.  But before I got these, I put together two large consists of Athearn cars - heavyweight & streamline. 

With the addition of proper couplers, and American Limited diaphrams, some decal changes and repainting, and light weathering, the sets came out nicely.  The 13 car heavyweight is really a favorite, although even it is way to big for my 11x15 layout.

To get to your question........ Get to know Ebay, and you will find whatever cars you are looking for sooner or later.  Note that some are reissues with new numbers/names, so you should have a lot to choose from.

ENJOY,

Mobilman44

[tarhawk]

  Could someone please tell me the length in scale feet of the Walthers 52 seat passenger coach , Walthers # 932-6762. Thanks very much.

[tarhawk]

Thanks very much. Will keep my eyes open. Looks like Athearn discontinued the ones I was after.

[jeffers_mz]

The shortest ones I know of are the Lifelike  cars with the white film and passenger silhouettes in the windows.

The next longer are the Concor cars, and the next longer than those are the Athearn Blue Box/Horizon RTR models.

We got some Lifelikes from the LHS before they ran out and finished the train from the Walther's catalog, while they were iffy.

We got a set of boxed Concors at a small town LHS that were in on consignment. The boxes look circa 1965.

We built a train from Blue Box kits beginning with a feew from a train show, added some from the LHS as they trickled after production stopped, and finished up  with RTRs from the new Horizon run.

You're probably going to have to hunt and scratch to find what you're looking for, but they're out there.

 

Hope this helps.

[tarhawk]

Sorry if this is repetitive. Trying to find short ATSF streamliner passenger cars without any success. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Maybe they are "goners". Thanks!