ERA ISSUES!!

[Anonymous]

arg. i'm havin problems right now. my era right now is 1950's to 60's, cause i really, REALLY like the heavyweight passenger cars. what sparked my interest in mrr was from seeing an add for the walthers ones back in march. but the problem is, alot of my favorite freight engines are of a later or modern era.( SD40's and others) and i'm probably going to have alot of freight activity on my layout. but i want to have an era specific layout because my layout is freelanced, and i want some prototype stuff in it.

does anyone know of a list, or somthing, where i could find out which PRR, NS, and D&H were made in the 1950's and 1960's?

[jimrice4449]

First, there was no NS. That era saw the end of EMD F unit production, with GP-7s and GP-9s and SD-9s being the mainstay frt power W/ GP-35s and GP-30s coming on line. If you're intereted in hvywt psgr go w/ Pennsy as they continued using P-70 coaches in commute service until the local transit authorties took it over.

[nbrodar]

Best place to start are the historic societies:
D&H: http://www.bridge-line.org/
PRR: http://www.prrths.com/
Not sure about the NS one.

PRR merged with NYC into Penn Central in 1968.

D&H was bought by Guilford in 1984, but was quasi-independant. Canadian Pacific bought it in 1991.

Norfolk Southern (as we know it today) didn't exist until 1981, when Norfolk & Western and Southern merged..

Nick

[Anonymous]

thanks

[wjstix]

Oddly there was a "Norfolk Southern" back then but it was just a little shortline RR. it was merged out of existence in I think the 60's, only to have it's name reappear from the N&W / Southern merger.

You could build a layout where you rotated eras between say 1955 and 1975. Heavyweight cars were still around in the sixties but more and more were being retired every year, since lightweight cars (which were introduced in the thirties) were being bumped off of the top trains and working there way down to local trains. Probably c.1965 most of the heavyweight cars around were RPO and baggage cars.

[davekelly]

Of course you can always take the approach of "I like 'em, I run 'em."

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by davekelly

Of course you can always take the approach of "I like 'em, I run 'em."

good point. i guess really since my layout doesn't really have a prototype i could run whatever stuff i want. maby even steam( doubt i will though)

[dehusman]

Heavy weight cars were very common on trains through the 50's and 60's. No problem there. Especially on the secondary and commuter type trains.

Dave H.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Composite freight cars, although uncommon, were still in service into the 1960's. Many were built during World War 2 due to materials shortages. Fairly well known were the outside-braced box cars of the Wellsville, Addison & Galeton.

As mentioned above, heavyweight passenger cars were still fairly common, including more than a few which were rebuilt and streamstyled. GM&O ran heavyweight dining cars on its trains right up to April 30, 1971.

[pcarrell]

The Indiana Transportation Museum runs F3's, SD 7's, an old 2-8-2 Mikado, and a mix of lightweight and heavyweight passenger cars past my house all the time. I also have more modern freights running those tracks too. It's on an old part of the Monon line.

[wjstix]

BTW several railroads kept steam engines into the 1960's to use on excursions / fantrips, CB&Q for example. UP never actually retired 844 (a 4-8-4) and kept using it up to today for such trains!!

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by pcarrell

The Indiana Transportation Museum runs F3's, SD 7's, an old 2-8-2 Mikado, and a mix of lightweight and heavyweight passenger cars past my house all the time. I also have more modern freights running those tracks too. It's on an old part of the Monon line.

Actually, they have F7s, GP7s, a 44-tonner, and a 2-8-2. And the line was the old Nickel Plate Indianapolis-Michigan City line. The active freight part of the line is actually operated by a different shortline, since the state actually owns the ROW. Both rail operators have rights to use the line.

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by orsonroy

QUOTE: Originally posted by pcarrell

The Indiana Transportation Museum runs F3's, SD 7's, an old 2-8-2 Mikado, and a mix of lightweight and heavyweight passenger cars past my house all the time. I also have more modern freights running those tracks too. It's on an old part of the Monon line.

Actually, they have F7s, GP7s, a 44-tonner, and a 2-8-2. And the line was the old Nickel Plate Indianapolis-Michigan City line. The active freight part of the line is actually operated by a different shortline, since the state actually owns the ROW. Both rail operators have rights to use the line.

See, shows how much I know about the D word loco's! [:o)]
I was told by one of the engineers that those were F3's.

And you are right about the Nickle Plate, not Monon. The Monon line was a few miles west of here, through Carmel, not Fishers.

Wow, am I embarrased. The thing runs right through my back yard, and I'm apparently clueless. [:I][B)]

[BRJN]

QUOTE: Originally posted by prr67
since my layout doesn't really have a prototype i could run whatever stuff i want.

Why not a "tourist train" or a railfan trip using the old heavyweight passenger equipment and a modern locomotive pushing a just-warmed-up 0-6-0 ? [:)]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by davekelly

Of course you can always take the approach of "I like 'em, I run 'em."

Then again, you could take the Erie's approach: "we bought and paid for them. We're going to run them into the ground."

Erie only streamlined their Pullman heavyweights and really didn't changed over coaches, sleepers or diners ... at all really, come to think of it ... up until they stopped passenger service in the 1970s.

Take a look at the scads of 50s, 60s photos of Erie Lackawanna equipment on fallen flags.

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/el.html

SMS

[Philcal]

Let me throw in the Southern Pacific's often maligned commuter service from San Francisco to San Jose. This service utilized Harriman coaches, and Fairbanks-Morse Trainmasters, and ran well into the 1970's. The service in it's later years also ran galley style coaches built by Pullman-Standard. The bottom line here is, it's your railroad, you run what you want. It wouldn't be too far out of the ball park to run heavyweight passenger cars with your 1st and even early 2nd generation diesels.