Over the years I have developed an affinity for passenger rolling stock on my layouts, and I have alot and I really do admire these traveling coaches as they traverse the railroad. As I have mentioned before it all started out in 1956 when I recieved four beautiful aluminum passenger coaches by Lionel and two Southern F Units in O guage.
In 1959-60 I switched over to HO for the detail and you could fit more into the 4X8 flat table. Over the years as I began to make an income, the more passenger coaches were purchased for my various layouts. Thus far I have built 6 or 7 layouts some very large for me, the biggest 30'X40' from Jackson, Tenn. to Nashville; even a scene crossing the Tennessee River.
I have Rapido, Kato, ( the busines cars), Broadway limited, Walthers, Athearn and some that I built from the ground up. Most of my passenger equipment is RTR, right out of the box and ready to run and highly detailed.
About twenty years ago I found some Eastern Car Works kits that you had to put together. I saw them at my favorite hobby shop in Columbia, SC. Joe told me that there were a lot of parts but when finished they looked really good. He had four P-70 Coaches and a Combine.
I was advised to follow the directions and follow the suggestions while building the coaches. Upon opening the box I saw a lot of pieces, some on sprues and some separate. There were no trucks. I read the directions to get an idea of how it all fits togather, it was advised to wash the part in dish detergent and warm water to remove the oils and releasing chemicals. I did this and let the parts air dry,
While the body pieces were still attached to the sprues I spray painted the body parts with Tuscan Penn Red. When it dried I thought it was too shiny and it didn't have the texture that I had seen in photographs. So I hand painted the same body parts with dull Tuscan Red, let it dry and the parts looked a lot better.
Going through my parts box I found enough truck sets by Rivarossi that I could attach to the floor. I painted the floor Tuscan red, then replaced the wheels with metals wheels. There are coupler pockets build in the floor of the kit and number 5's Kadee fit fine. With some weight added I decided to run the floor and wheel sets to see how they tracked and they worked smoothly. I added some bar weights to bring the coaches up to spec and set that aside.
I studied the body parts removing any flash and sanding the edges to make sure I had a tight close fit with no spaces. Once I was satisfied with the fit I used a tooth pick to apply the glue, very little by the way, and held the pieces together until they attached. I did this with the two sides and ends, then let the glue dry over night. Using the tooth pick I didn't have any glue running down the sides that would look bad and mess up the paint finish.
Once the coach walls were in place I test fitted the roof. I did have to shave just a little bit of the top of the coach sides and remove some flash from the roof and it fit perfectly.
I really like the dull roof and side panels, to me they look much more realistic than the shiny finish I see on so many passenger cars. It really sets them apart from the rest of the coaches; they have the appearance of what I see in the photographs.
I then glued the under carriage detail parts, there was no wiring for piping, that could be added, also for brake lining as well.
After working on each segment I always let the glue set over night. The best advise I can give, make sure the parts fit, sand if you have too, let the glue dry really good and take your time.
The final touch were the diaphragms for close coupling,
The curves on my layout are 28", a little tight, so I have to take it slow, the next layout will have 34" and 36" radius curves, which will allow for better running.
I like close running passenger cars they looks so much better.
Taking your time will produce a nice looking passenger car, my consist is pulled by a Spectrum K-4 Pennsy and it is a nice looking train.
As it passes by and I can look at the coaches and say to myself, "I built those," and they look good.
My other kits are from O.K. Streamliners which I hand paint and screw them together. These are real metal cars and I just bought a new set and added the Precision Scale soft rubber pleated diaphragms with brass stricker plates.
Again, the diaphragms collapse well in the curves and I don't have any derailments.
The contact is good and it allows for close coupling,
If you are ever at a train show and you see any of these kits, Eastern Car Works and the O.K. Stream Liners, pick up a few and try your hand at building these passenger kits, I think you will realy enjoy to projects.
Thanks for letting me share,
Robert Sylvester
Newberry-Columbia, SC