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Passenger Car Interiors

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  • Member since
    March 2021
  • From: Vermont
  • 135 posts
Posted by Ablebakercharlie on Tuesday, October 26, 2021 1:38 PM

York1
Everytime Mel publishes photos of his lighted car interiors, I am reminded just how talented some of this forum's posters are. Mel, you're an inspiration to other modelers!

And Mel didn't even mention the coolest part about his lighting system.  He installed an uninterupted power source on his trains so the lights never flicker.   In other words, his lighting is better than on the prototype!   Big Smile

Maybe he can be coaxed into describing how he does it here on the forum....

  • Member since
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  • 260 posts
Posted by Tin Can II on Tuesday, October 26, 2021 12:11 PM

PM sent to OP.

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
  • 6,526 posts
Posted by RR_Mel on Tuesday, October 19, 2021 8:29 PM

Thank you John

Model railroading has been with me since 1945, HO since 1951.  I love model railroading.

Mel



 
My Model Railroad   
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
 
Bakersfield, California
 
Just turned 84, aging is definitely not for wimps.

  • Member since
    February 2018
  • From: Flyover Country
  • 5,557 posts
Posted by York1 on Tuesday, October 19, 2021 7:05 PM

Everytime Mel publishes photos of his lighted car interiors, I am reminded just how talented some of this forum's posters are.

Mel, you're an inspiration to other modelers!

York1 John       

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
  • 6,526 posts
Posted by RR_Mel on Tuesday, October 19, 2021 5:54 PM

I’m a cheapskate and build up my interiors.



Chairs are Mel castings.



Chairs are from Shapeways.



Mel mold of a IHC interior, casting is from the mold.  I cut up the castings.



Precision Scale passenger seats, made molds of those too.



Chairs are Mel castings, figures too.




More Mel castings.

I've done a total of 27 passenger car interiors, it's a blast!





Mel


 
My Model Railroad   
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Mpls/St.Paul
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Posted by wjstix on Tuesday, October 19, 2021 4:37 PM

willy6

"wjstix" is right. Last year in one of my many projects (which is still in progress) I needed 2 interiors for an older Blue Box passenger car. I went on E-Bay and found some close fits but not what I needed and accidently found a 3D printer MR parts vendor during my search. I ordered the pair I needed and they turned out good. If I remember correctly, they were reasonably priced.

 
The plain gray or white ones can go for as little as $5-10. There are some for around $20 that are pre-painted with details cast in (like plates on the tables of the dining cars). I see there are even a couple interiors available for Athearn cars that have passengers 3-D printed in place in the seats!
 
Note that IHC cars are not identical to the old AHM/Rivarossi cars, so generally the interior of one isn't going to work in the other without some modification or acceptance of things like wall partitions in the middle of a window.
Stix
  • Member since
    March 2021
  • 260 posts
Posted by Tin Can II on Tuesday, October 19, 2021 3:37 PM

Found them; three 20's and one 30.  Of course I forgot to write down what they were.  They are branded IHC which at one time had the Rivarossi molds.  Or vice/versa.  I will try to get information for you tomorrow. 

 

  • Member since
    January 2003
  • From: Ridgeville,South Carolina
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Posted by willy6 on Saturday, October 16, 2021 9:17 AM

"wjstix" is right. Last year in one of my many projects (which is still in progress) I needed 2 interiors for an older Blue Box passenger car. I went on E-Bay and found some close fits but not what I needed and accidently found a 3D printer MR parts vendor during my search. I ordered the pair I needed and they turned out good. If I remember correctly, they were reasonably priced.

Being old is when you didn't loose it, it's that you just can't remember where you put it.
  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: Franconia, NH
  • 3,130 posts
Posted by dstarr on Friday, October 15, 2021 10:08 AM

I make my own seats on the radial arm saw.  Take a piece of reasonbly clear pine, dado out the sitting down portion, saw the "seat stick" off the board, and cut it up into seat size sections.  Paint and glue into the car.  Add passengers.  Paint the inside of the car a light color so people can see in. 

  • Member since
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  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Thursday, October 14, 2021 12:32 PM

I don't get too wound-up about passenger car interiors, as there's not a lot that can be easily seen in a passing train.  I have a few Rivarossi cars that came with interiors (seats and partitions), but the majority of them (Rivarossi, Athearn, and MDC) were devoid of interior details, most of them bought second-hand.

I bought some seats from Pikestuff/Rix...they come in a variety of colours and in blocks of six seats.  Since window spacing on different models vary, I use a utility knife to cut the seats apart, then use solvent-type cement to affix them to the car's floor.
I seldom worry about what colour the seats might be, as it's easy to paint them in colours suitable to your particular railroad. 
The majority of my passenger cars are coaches, even though many were originally Rivarossi Pullmans, as my railroad isn't long enough to need sleepers.  I do, however, have a couple of interchanges with other railroads, so "foreign-road" sleepers do make occasional appearances in my passenger trains.

In addition to the seats, I use sheet styrene to make partitions for the washrooms at each end of the cars, and also add window shades.  Currently, ridership is extremely low.

Some photos...click on them for a larger view...

This is one of the Rivarossi Pullmans, with some added underbody details, and air conditioning ductwork from New England Rail Service...

...and the interior, with custom-cast lead weights in the washrooms...

...the partitions for the car's vestibules are in the roof/window casting, and the diaphragms are from American Limited.

This one is a Rivarossi observation car, but I used NERS parts to convert it into one of my freelanced road's private business cars...

...and a look inside...

...I didn't bother with details for the kitchen (at the left end), as the smaller windows don't allow much to be seen.

This one was originally a Rivarossi diner, but at the time, I saw no need for such a car on my relatively short railroad, so I cut the kitchen area out, re-joined the remaining pieces, then added scratchbuilt baggage doors to make the car into a combine...

...and a view of the interior...

...there wasn't much room in the car for weights (the two small washrooms, mid-car got a couple), but the rest were placed in the roof's clerestory.

Later, I did get another Rivarossi diner...

...and added banquette-type seating and faux tables, made from sheet styrene.  There are no kitchen details, other than some lead weights, with more in the opposite end of the car's clerestory...

This one started out as Rivarossi's combine, with three large windows at one end of the car....

While it was supposedly based on a Santa Fe prototype, I replaced the windows with smaller-sized ones, again from NERS (the windows in the baggage section are from an Athearn passenger car that was converted to a wooden baggage car).

...the interior is rather crowded, with a small "smoking lounge" between the baggage section and the passenger compartment, and the two small washrooms at the right end of the car are always in-use, with lead weights...

I have more passenger cars to show, but between the glitches in this site and the ones in photobucket, I'll close for now.  Back later, perhaps, with a few other photos.

Wayne

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    May 2004
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Posted by 7j43k on Thursday, October 14, 2021 9:25 AM

leewal

I've been searching E-bay for heavyweight passenger car interiors.  99%+ of what is listed are IHC interios for CS and SS cars.  Only 2 for HW.  I did find 2 listings for Rivarossi interions, one 1920 and one 1930. Can I assume 1920 is HW and 1930 is CS or SS. 

In Rivarossi-speak, "1920" means heavyweight, "1930" means lightweight (streamline).

 

 

Can the CS & SS interiors be adapted to HW cars?

 

 

That depends on what you mean by "adapted".  If you mean "with a little work", probably not.  The internal and external layout of the cars usually don't match.  If you mean "cutting up to get lots of little bits and reassembling many of them", then it's a probably.  Sort of.

Take a coach, for example.  To an extent, seats are seats, especially when you're talking about the little blobs that are used in this case.  But you might have too many or too few in a row.  And then there's the remaining interior walls.  It's probably easier to build your own walls out of styrene than to re-use the ones you have. Unless, of course, it isn't.

Sleepers and observations are a LOT worse.  Lotsa walls, all in different places.

 

I suspect that, unless you can find the exact drop-in parts, you'll essentially be building your own.

In that case, check this out:

 

http://www.palacecarco.com/categories.php

 

Ed

 

 

 

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Mpls/St.Paul
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Posted by wjstix on Thursday, October 14, 2021 9:16 AM

If you search on ebay, there are a couple of vendors who make and sell 3-D printed interiors for AHM/Rivarossi, Athearn and other passenger cars.

Palace Car Co. makes kits for passenger car interiors, the 'floor' is a metal weight made to fit in that particular type of car, then you glue the seats, dividers, etc. in place yourself.

Stix
  • Member since
    March 2021
  • 260 posts
Posted by Tin Can II on Thursday, October 14, 2021 9:13 AM

I think I have several Rivarossi interiors packed away in my basement; I think they are HW.  It may take a week or two to find them; when I do I will send you a message.  

 

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 148 posts
Passenger Car Interiors
Posted by leewal on Thursday, October 14, 2021 8:34 AM

I've been searching E-bay for heavyweight passenger car interiors.  99%+ of what is listed are IHC interios for CS and SS cars.  Only 2 for HW.  I did find 2 listings for Rivarossi interions, one 1920 and one 1930. Can I assume 1920 is HW and 1930 is CS or SS.  Can the CS & SS interiors be adapted to HW cars?

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