Santa Fe Surfline E1

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed Keith Jordan's articles on the Santa Fe Surfline in Trains and Model Railroader. For those of us on a budget, could Walther's Budd cars be used to model the San Diegan? How close is the E3/E6 to the E1--is it an easy kitbash?

Gary

[Sperandeo]

Hi Gary,

I'm glad you liked the Surf Line stories. Keith is a good friend of mine and I encouraged him to write those articles.

Unfortunately, the E1 is quite a bit different from the E3 and E6. The E1 was built before Electro-Motive really got into "mass production" of locomotives, and its nose, side panels and roof were all different. Some of the Walthers Budd cars would be quite appropriate for 1950s and 1960s "San Diegan" consists, but they don't really look like the prewar Budd cars. You can always choose an era to suit your budget, and there are plastic F units and PA-1s you can use to pull 1950s "San Diegans."

So long,

Andy

[Anonymous]

Andy--

Thanks for the info. I was afraid it would be brass or nothing for the pre-war surfline. My wife and I vacationed in the San Diego area this spring, and walked on the beach at Del Mar while the Surfliner passed by. What a beautiful spot to model! I remembered Keith's layout from Model Railroad Planning and dug that issue out just for the San Diego pictures, so I was glad to see more about the Surf Line.

Gary

[andrechapelon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Sperandeo

Hi Gary,

I'm glad you liked the Surf Line stories. Keith is a good friend of mine and I encouraged him to write those articles.

Unfortunately, the E1 is quite a bit different from the E3 and E6. The E1 was built before Electro-Motive really got into "mass production" of locomotives, and its nose, side panels and roof were all different. Some of the Walthers Budd cars would be quite appropriate for 1950s and 1960s "San Diegan" consists, but they don't really look like the prewar Budd cars. You can always choose an era to suit your budget, and there are plastic F units and PA-1s you can use to pull 1950s "San Diegans."

So long,

Andy

Yeah, and thanks a bloody lot, Andy. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the article. I recently acquired a basement of similar overall dimensions to the one shown with the track plan. However, it's enough different where I'd have to move Oceanside to the long side of the basement which changes the perspective (upper left on the plan in the Augus issue) from looking in from the Pacific to looking out toward it. This changes north from being to the left to being to the right when facing the wall(s). Personally, I think that I'd eliminate San Clemente and San Onofre and expand San Juan Capistrano a bit. As a scenic feature, I regard SJC as more important than either San Clemente or San Onofre (or both) and the latter are also not particularly operationally important, either. Reorienting the plan also allows for a slight expansion in the length of Oceanside although it does put the station and a number of other buildings between the viewer and the track. It also has the drawback that the Fallbrook line would technically have to come out into the center of the basement to be totally accurate. However, having Fallbrook come from the wall side is a minor compromise in this situation.

OTOH, all this may be moot. I made the mistake of getting a copy of Herron Rail Video's "New England Glory: Maine Central Mountain Division - 1950". It's awfully tempting. Modest length freights powered uphill by light Mikados fore and aft. Pike sized (3-5 cars) passenger trains (B&M's seasonal E-7 powered Mountaineer) and MEC 162/163 powered by light Pacific. A mixed train with a wooden combine dispatched out of Bartlett, NH, behind a 4-6-0 (occasionally running heavy enough to require a Mike helper). Lower quadrant semaphores. Enough traffic to be interesting without requiring the cast of "Lawrence of Arabia" to run it, yet probably capable of being a one man operation in a pinch. I calculated that it would only take a half dozen Mikes, a 4-6-0, a 4-6-2, a 2-8-0 and a single B&M E-7 to cover all the trains and the helpers. What more could one ask?

It's a tough one. Especially since I'm drooling at the thought of BLI's upcoming 2-10-2's. Then again, they're doing USRA Light Mikes too, and MEC had a half dozen of those. That's a lot fewer than 140 3800 class 2-10-2's (plus the #3829 oddball).

You're quite right about the F's and PA's in the 50's (even the late 40's for that matter. There are pictures of FT's pulling San Diegans http://www.snowcrest.net/photobob/sfa31.jpg ). I would think that even with the wartime changes Santa Fe made to the line that Keith's trackplan could be used for a postwar pike with some updates (e.g. a new Oceanside station). Bigger steam power than in the prewar era could also be run.

Oh yeah, Keith's articles in both MR and Trains were great. Please extend my compliments.

Andre