50s Commuter Train

[tbdanny]

Hi,

After trying and failing to locate some plain N scale heavyweight coaches for a commuter train on my 1950s N scale layout, I was wondering if smoothside or 'Budd' passenger cars would also be found in these trains?

Thanks in advance,

tbdanny

[dehusman]

tbdanny

After trying and failing to locate some plain N scale heavyweight coaches for a commuter train on my 1950s N scale layout, I was wondering if smoothside or 'Budd' passenger cars would also be found in these trains?

For the 1950's probably no to both.  Most commuter cars are shorter and have more windows (closer seats for higher density seating).  A lot of the "shorty" cars that are too short for full size long distance coaches are perfect for commuter coaches.  For example, in HO the Athearn coaches are too short for heavyweight long distance coaches but are about perfect length for commuter coaches . 

[West Coast S]

Not all commute cars were purpose built, many former mainline car cascaded into secondary service as inter-city patronage fell off sharply or reassignment due to new acquisitions , I suppose you could operate lightweight coaches, perhaps they are prewar examples that were not upgraded to current standards upon replacement by newer cars, to be realistic, heavyweights should form the core of your fleet during your time period. 

 

Dave

[artpeterson]

Agree with what the other posters have said and it also depends on when in the 50s you're talking about.  Certainly by '59, there were more ex-mainline cars to draw from, though roads with big suburban operations, like the CNW or the CB&Q kept their suburban cars in that service.  Both those roads had their gallery cars (or at least the beginings of those fleets by the close of the decade).  The Q also had both railroad- and arched-roofed, single-deck steam generator cars they were running with the gallery cars and would continue to use for several years.

The Rock Island had the order (circa 1950) of Pullman-built, smooth-sided, single-deck cars, though these had quarter-point doorsets, arranged for low-platform loading.  Their suburban fleet also included a large group of arched-roof coaches, which were assigned to suburban services, though they did sometimes get used outside the suburban territory (on weekends, for example) on big group moves, etc.  For a small operation like the GM&O's suburban service, they were using railroad-roofed coaches on these trains, and arched-roof cars moved into the consists as they became available.  Not sure that this transition would have been made by 1959 or if happened later on that road.

Milwaukee did run ribbed-side, lightweight cars in trains with gallery cars on their suburban services (sometimes one of each in the train and that was it), but I think this happened only after the gallery cars had replaced the old, single-deck, railroad-roofed cars the Milw had previously used in suburban service.  So that would be post-1961.  Hope this is of some help, nonetheless!  Art

[wjstix]

Keep in mind the double-deck commuter cars are older than you might think, CNW had some in the 1950's and on occasion they were pulled by steam locomotives!!

BTW in heavyweight days, many if not most coaches were 70' long or thereabouts, like the Athearn HO 72' car or Rivarossi 70' car (which hasn't been made for some time now unfortunately.) 

[BerkshireSteam]

Roundout, IL MILW commuter. Just a neat pic I thought I would share the link too.

[Paulus Jas]

hi,

a very nice pic indeed

Paul

[andrechapelon]

tbdanny

Hi,

After trying and failing to locate some plain N scale heavyweight coaches for a commuter train on my 1950s N scale layout, I was wondering if smoothside or 'Budd' passenger cars would also be found in these trains?

Thanks in advance,

tbdanny

Are you modeling the Santa Fe? If so, I don't believe they had commuter trains.

Wheels Of Time ( http://www.wheelsotime.com/ ) makes 60' Harriman coaches, which are OK for SP, but would look inappropriate on the Santa Fe. They also make bi-levels, but those would be even more inappropriate for Santa Fe.

MicroTrains is starting to come out with N scale heavyweights, but they haven't gotten around to coaches yet.

Your best bet in N would probably be the coaches that used to be made by Rivarossi and were sold at various times by Atlas and Con-Cor and Rivarossi itself. You could probably find those on eBay.

Another possibility might be Model Power. http://store.modelpower.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=205 As I recall, the heavyweights were based on Pennsy prototypes.

Bachmann at one time made some 65' cars in N, but those haven't been available for quite a while. A search on eBay might turn some up.

Hope this helps.

Andre

[Gil Janus]

tbdanny

Hi,

After trying and failing to locate some plain N scale heavyweight coaches for a commuter train on my 1950s N scale layout, I was wondering if smoothside or 'Budd' passenger cars would also be found in these trains?

Thanks in advance,

tbdanny

Well, there was one commuter operation that used FP7s and Budd cars, including a rounded-end observation car. See the The 1952 Reading Crusader This train ran to/from Reading Station in Philadelphia and the CNJ Jersey City station on the Hudson River, with ferry boats to carry the bankers and stock brokers to/from lower Manhattan. This was a train with a rich set of commuters. It had a very nicely streamlined steam loco when it started - see the next entry. See: Wikipedia: Crusader (train) and: The Crusader (RDG) and: A visit to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania for some shots of the preserved Reading Crusader Observation Car and the FP7s - a most handsome FP7, I must say. Hope this helps or inspires you, Gil