HO Shasta Daylight

[Anonymous]

I have the passenger cars, but need the Diesel engine. Does anyone know where I can purchase the Shasta Daylight in HO? It has the black roof, then red,orange and red again with silver stripes in between.

[twhite]

SP originally powered the Shasta Daylight with EMD E-7's, but very early on, switched to Alco PA's for the motive power. If I remember correctly, the configuration was A-B-A. Both Proto and Athearn make models of the PA and PB locos--Athearn has one in SP Daylight colors, though I don't know about Proto. BLI makes an E-7 in SP Daylight colors also, if you want to go with the earlier, original diesel power. A photo I have of E-7's pulling the train show an A-B-B configuration.
What HO brand of cars are you using for the Daylight? Just curious.
Tom

[jimrice4449]

Tom's question is highly pertinent since most of the Shasta Daylights cars had much larger windows than standard (the last two cars, parlor and parlor observation respectively) were recycled Coast Daylight cars with standard size windows but with the paint on the orange window band expanded to match the newer cars. The only accurate ones ever produced in HO that I know of were brass. If you can't find an appropriatly painted PABA set, Micro Scale makes a decal set that has the Alco style orange band w/ silver stripe which greatly simplifys painting. Of course, you'll still have to put on a snowplow pilot and roof top icle snappers.

[Anonymous]

I have the heavyweight and also the streamline by Athearn. I checked Athearn and I couldn't find the PA of PB. Would like to see the photo. I will also check out Micro Scale. Thank you both for the information.

[twhite]

Tom3P--if you were going to model the Shasta Daylight accurately, Jim's point is right--you'd have to go brass. However, for many of us who have modeled one of the Daylight trains and can't afford brass, the Athearn cars are a pretty fair substitute, even though the windows are too small and the cars are about 5' too short. One thing, though, the SP never ran Vista-domes in Daylight colors--I don't think they even HAD Vista-domes. They did, however, have some homemade 3/4 dome cars manufactured in their Sacramento shops, which were run on the San Joaquin Daylight, and later on the Shasta. But despite the spectacular scenery that most of SP's passenger trains traversed, the railroad was very stingy with dome cars. I know that Athearn has the Vista-dome in SP Daylight livery, and I've seen a lot of model Daylight passenger trains with Vista-dome cars, but in reality they didn't exist. I'm not trying to be picky, but just thought you'd like to know.
Tom

[Anonymous]

I really appreciate the input. I have tried Athearn but no luck. I will try Proto and see if they have it. Thanks . Tom

[fishplate]

Also, I don't think the Shasta cars were corrogated. Definetly [2c] worth!
This may help if you chose to scratch build what you can't buy.

[andrechapelon]

You might want to check out Union Station products. They make etched brass car sides that can be used with Eastern Car Works core kits.

http://unionstationproducts.com/_7568.html

http://unionstationproducts.com/_7571.html

http://unionstationproducts.com/_7571a.html

http://unionstationproducts.com/_7572.html

http://unionstationproducts.com/_7575.html

Andre

[SP4449]

You might attend a trainshow or two and look for a dealer selling old blue box Athearn. I bought a powered A and a dummy B set of PA units by Athearn in Daylight colors a few years ago and run them regularly on my all Athearn Coast Daylight.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all for your information. Not too many train shows here in Southern CA. There is one coming up in Pomona which I will attend. Tom P.

[csmith9474]

QUOTE: Originally posted by andrechapelon

You might want to check out Union Station products. They make etched brass car sides that can be used with Eastern Car Works core kits.

http://unionstationproducts.com/_7568.html

http://unionstationproducts.com/_7571.html

http://unionstationproducts.com/_7571a.html

http://unionstationproducts.com/_7572.html

http://unionstationproducts.com/_7575.html

Andre

The Union Station Products sides are not brass, but styrene. Also, the Train Station Products core kits are a much better "fit" for the USP car sides because of their tighter tolerances. The Eastern Car Works core kits are pretty generic and aren't all that great compared to a TSP core kit. The TSP core kits are a lot more versatile.

The Union Station cars can be a pain to assemble, especially if you are doing a car with fluted sides. I remember the first time I got one of these cars and thought to myself, "Oh great!". You definately will need some prototype pics, a list of detail parts , and a lot of patience. If done right, they are alright cars.

The below link is a consist of the Shasta Daylight along with some other info.

http://espee.railfan.net/shasta-ltd.html

[csmith9474]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fishplate

Also, I don't think the Shasta cars were corrogated. Definetly [2c] worth!
This may help if you chose to scratch build what you can't buy.

Most of the pics I have seen of the Shasta had a corrugated observation bringing up the rear.

[Philcal]

Tom, Athearn made an ALCO PA, and PB painted in Daylight colors for quite a few years. I don't know if they're still in production. The tooling is about 40 years old, so the detail won't be up to current standards. The units are powerful though, and will pull a house. Probably, the best current PA model is the Proto 2000 now sold by Walthers. I believe they are available in Daylight colors. The detail and performance of these models is awesome. Athearn has produced streamlined passenger cars in Daylight colors. These include baggage, RPO, coach, diner, dome, and round end observation cars. As noted, SP wasn't a big user of dome cars with the exception of the 3/4 length domes which were home built cars. The Athearn cars all have the fluted sides which were used in Daylight service. These cars don't look too bad in a Daylight train either. Athearn is currently discontinuing quite a few rolling stock items, and these Daylight cars could become a thing of the past. Better hurry.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by twhite

SP originally powered the Shasta Daylight with EMD E-7's, but very early on, switched to Alco PA's for the motive power. If I remember correctly, the configuration was A-B-A. Both Proto and Athearn make models of the PA and PB locos--Athearn has one in SP Daylight colors, though I don't know about Proto. BLI makes an E-7 in SP Daylight colors also, if you want to go with the earlier, original diesel power. A photo I have of E-7's pulling the train show an A-B-B configuration.
What HO brand of cars are you using for the Daylight? Just curious.
Tom

[Anonymous]

Here are some links to Shasta equipment photos:

Original equipment and paint:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1631/shasta2.html

Repainted right before discontinuance:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1631/shasta.html

Triple unit diner (second photo-the first is a Lark car)
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1631/hofeinz.html

Aside from the large windows, the other distinguishing feature of the original Shasta cars were that they were smooth side, carbon steel--i.e., no fluting, except for the parlor obs which, as has been noted here, was a recycled Coast Daylight car. This lack of fluting will actually make them easier to model. The toughest car would be the three unit diner lounge, and the second toughest is the 3/4 dome that came later. BTW, these cars, having smooth sides, did not suffer the internal corrosion that plagued the Pullman-Standard stainless cars on the other Daylights, so they never routinely got stripped and rebuilt, and a lot of them are still around. A bunch were used on the Louisiana Worlds Fair Daylight (but NOT the LWF OBS, which is ex-GN or the Diner, which is ex-Frisco), and there are lots of contemporary color photos around.

Additionally, the Shasta was the only Daylight that never had steam routinely assigned. It was a baby boomer all the way, born with diesel and died with diesel.

Of course, by those halcyon Biaggini days of the 60's, the train got painted Sunset to match the rest of the fleet, and got a gourmet Russellburger car, guaranteed to leave the exact impression the SP wanted on the few passengers who got past the surly agent that told them the [largely empty] train was sold out.

Hope this info is useful.