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Southern Pacific Passenger Stock
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Stephen-- <br /> <br />I have good news and not-such-good news. The good news concerns the locomotives, so we'll start there. Several of the mass-produced models are appropriate for the Daylight trains: <br />--The streamlined GS4 steam engines pulled all of the Daylight trains in the 1930s, and continued in service until the early 1950s. <br />--Alco PA and PB diesels were assigned to Daylight trains, but not until the mid 1950s. They worked on both the valley route and the coast route, so they might have been found on any of the Daylight trains then running. <br />--EMD E7A and E7B, E9As and (the sole) E8A were assigned to Daylight trains from the time they first arrived. However, they were not assigned to the Valley route due to the steep grades found there. <br />--Dual service F7As (Nos. 6186-6239) and F7Bs (Nos. 8086-8139) also were assigned to Daylight trains--but for the most part these units were found in freight or secondary passenger-mail-express service. The San Joaquin Daylight was the most likely of the Daylight trains to have F or FP units assigned. The only F unit on the SP system to be painted in Daylight colors was Cotton Belt FP7 #306. All of the other F units were delivered in the Black Widow scheme, and many were repainted in the red and gray schem during or after 1958. The just-released Genesis (single unit) F7A is from this number series; the A-B sets are freight service-only units. <br /> <br />Now for the not-such-good news. The Daylight passenger cars were unique, and the only accurate models of them in HO have been made in brass or in the long-discontinued Limited Edition kits. The readily available and nicely painted AHM/Rivarossi cars are unlike any aof the Daylight cars. <br /> <br />In a pinch, however, Athearn cars should do. While most of the Daylight chair cars (or coaches) were articulated in 2-car sets, there were about a dozen Pullman-Standard single unit chair cars with fluted sides and window arrangements quite close to those of the Athearn streamlined cars. Likewise, while the Daylights were known for triple-unit articulated dining-kitchen-coffee shop cars, there were 2 single-unit dining cars and 2 single unit coffee shop-diners in Daylight service which bear a reasonable resemblance to the Athearn streamlined diner. <br /> <br />SP also had 2 streamlined, fluted baggage cars which were not too different in appearance from the Athearn streamlined baggage cars. Finally--in terms of streamlined cars--the Daylight parlor observation cars are pretty clopse in appearance to the Athearn streamlined diner. <br /> <br /> All of these cars are available factory painted in Daylight colors and ready to run, and a few kits of these cars in Daylight colors may be found as well. <br /> <br />Heavyweight diners were regularly assigned to the San Joaquin Daylight in the late '40s and early '50s, and the Athearn standard diner--available in Daylight colors--is reasonably close in appearance to at least one of those cars. A few heavyweight baggage cars and Railway Post Office cars also were painted in Daylight colors. The Athearn standard baggage and RPO cars differ in a number of respects with to actual cars, but are as close as anything available in plastic, and painted in Daylight colors. <br /> <br />Model Die Casting also makes Harriman Baggage, RPO, Combine and Coach cars based on Southern Pacific prototypes. They are not currently available in Daylight colors, and only a couple of the prototype baggage and combine cars ever were painted in that scheme. An olive green Harriman baggage car might infrequently be found at the head end of a Daylight train--and might be worth considering. <br /> <br />Using the models listed above, one might create a plausible San Joquin Daylight from the late '40s or early '50s with this consist: <br /> <br />Athearn standard RPO <br />Athearn standard baggage car <br />3 Athearn streamlined coaches <br />Athearn standard diner <br />Athearn streamlined diner <br />2 more athearn streamlined coaches <br /> <br />This train might be powered by a GS4 or an F7ABB combination. <br /> <br />A plausbile Coast daylight from the same period might be modeled with <br /> <br />Athearn streamlined baggage <br />4 Athearn streamlined coaches <br />2 Athearn srtreamlined diners <br />Athearm streamlined coach <br />Athearn streamlined observation car <br /> <br />Appropriate locomotives would include the GS4, combinations of E7s, E8s and/or E9s in ABB or ABA formation or Alco PA/PB locos. <br /> <br />Hope this gives you a start. Kind regards-- <br /> <br />John <br />
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