Easy Sharpening Up of your Passenger Car Interiors.

[AntonioFP45]

O.K Passenger Train Crews, here's another railroad.

I've had the priviledge of knowing Mr. Jim Langston, a well liked, down-to-earth manager at CSX.

According to his info, Seaboard Coast Line streamlined passenger trains typically had Greenish-Blue coach seats. Lounge cars often had tan and red tables and chairs. There were variances since SCL had passenger cars acquired from other railroads, including Chessie.

Good enough for me though as it's difficult to find interior photos of SCL streamlined cars, inspite of their popular New York to Florida runs. I'll be mixing Model Flex Santa Fe Dk. Blue with a color similar to CN Green. Lounge cars tended to have tans and reds on seats and tables. Your basic earth colors.

UP_Santa Fe: Great idea on using mirrors your bathrooms. Even from the outside that's an item that could stand out in a lighted car.

10-4!

[Anonymous]

Antonio

This is my first post so forgive me if this has been discussed.

I too have been detailing the interiors for my IHC Heavyweights, but I have a question regarding the IHC lighting kits and how they work with the IHC interiors! I hope you, or someone has the answer.

As you are proabably aware, these lighting kits come with metal wheel sets to replace the plastic ones along with a bushing, screw, nut and wire mounting post to replace the original plastic pin that held the trucks on originally, and also to help aid in the wire hookup.

I followed the instructions to a tee, inserted the bushing in the truck, then proceeded to insert the screw from the bottom up throught he floor board and and secured it with one of the tiny nuts provided. However, when I went to dry fit the interior the screw was sticking up too far to allow the interior to lay flat. Another problem that arose was the directions call for you to loop a wire connected to the light around the screw, then place the mounting post on top of that and finally a second nut to secure the post and wire.

According to how it lays out now, there is no way to intall the mounting post because that would require the screw and post to portrude through the floor of the interior! If that is the case IHC never hints around to do this in their instructions.

Just wondering if you or anyone may be able to shed some light (pun intended), or may have had a similar experience with these kits. From what I see, they don't look compatible with each other, although they're both IHC products. And it wouldn't make any sense to have an interior if you can't light it up, right?

Thanks in advance!

[AntonioFP45]

Hi Crew,

For you B&O modelers!

Heavyweight coaches: "Cincanattian": Dark red seats, similar to Caboose Red. Tan walls.

Heavy weight coaches: 1948 rebuilt version. Beige seats. Yellow-Beige Walls. Flourescent lights in center of ceiling.

UPChallenger,

I haven't gotten to the point of lighting my Rivorossi cars yet, which are similar to the IHCs, so my info might not be helpful. From what you describe though, I would go ahead and try one car. The screw stud protruding through the floor might not be noticeable because out typical vantage point when running passenger trains is about 2 feet "above" our layout.

For lighting, I don't plan to use the IHC kits though. Miller is supposed to be introducing a flourescent lighting kit in 2006 using diodes. I might not wait that long. With help from a friend, I'm strongly considering installing "blue-white" diodes in my Rivorossi cars as these resemble flourescent bulbs. Since diodes are point sources of light, I'm going to experiment with a piece of mylar to see if the light can be spread.

It will be a while, but when I do it I'll post my results right away, regardless of the outcome.

[csmith9474]

Another great place to look for passenger car interior decor is old magazine ads. Most of the ads are dead on with interior colors, but some are artistic interpretation. But as posted before, don't get too wrapped up in getting the perfect colors, just make it look good for you. One area you may want to try to get right is dome seating and carpeting. This is the only area that I have made a point to get right.

[biggsy]

hi there. painting the interiors is a good idea if you know the colors, i am in Australia and finding out is hard,so what are the interior colors of the union pacific passenger cars, all the photos i have and have found on the net are in black and white,i e-mailed the uphs but never got a reply,so any help would be great. thanks biggsy

[AntonioFP45]

QUOTE: Originally posted by biggsy

hi there. painting the interiors is a good idea if you know the colors, i am in Australia and finding out is hard,so what are the interior colors of the union pacific passenger cars, all the photos i have and have found on the net are in black and white,i e-mailed the uphs but never got a reply,so any help would be great. thanks biggsy

Hello Biggsy,

The photo of a UP passenger coach's interior that I have is grainy. Looking at the photo carefully, here's my best guess:

Seats: Dark Tan, Headrest area Chocolate Brown.
Walls: Greeni***an.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

Perform a web search and contact some of the UP railfan and historian clubs. Since UP still has a set of the passenger cars for use on excursions and officer's specials someone has to have some interior shots!

Cheers[8D]

[AntonioFP45]

Hey, to UP Modelers! Here's a more encouraging update, I hope.

( I need to buy a digital camera and a photo scanner! ).

I found an excellent prototype interior shot of a yellow, streamlined UP coach. Though smoothsided it has rivets on the body.

I was quite surprised to see that the wall and ceiling color is a very light "Powder Blue" especially since Light Tan was often the favorite with western roads. Basicallly looks like White with a small amount of Blue tint. To get this color, IMHO, it looks like mixing 4 parts Bright white, and 1 part Great Northern Big Sky Blue would do the job .

The seats in this coach are vinyl and the most reasonable color that I found on the model paint charts is SOO Line Red, IMHO.

Remember though, just as with other railroads different color schemes were applied over the years.

Cheers!

[wt259]

Great topic!! Any thoughts on the interior colors for the late ATSF Chief or the ATSF business fleet? The few pics I found on Fallen Flags showed a tan interior with blue seats.

[jimrice4449]

While we're gussying up psgr cars lets do some frosted windows for ltwt cars. Get a piece of clear plastic (enough for a BIG bunch of windows) and lay out a bunch of parallel strips of 2" (scale) masking tape on 2" centers. Spray w/ a mist of white ( a little heavier than you would do Grimy black if weathering). Strip off the masking tape and repeat. The painted side goes to the car's interior.

[Anonymous]

antonio! please help me with some recomendations on reading material which might help me in my scratch building attempts of classic passenger cars.

[e-mail]

[NZRMac]

Antonio, I didn't see Norfolk & Western mentioned anywhere?

I have Bachmann spectrum heavyweight 4 car set and 4 extra coaches.

any suggestions?

Thanks, Ken.

[AntonioFP45]

Hello Ken,

I wasn't slighting Norfolk and Western on purpose. The info I've been providing is based on photos that I've seen in books, magazines, private collections, on the web, and of course inside prototypes like Amtrak or museum equipment.

Good news in your case is that there are still N&W smooth sided streamlined passenger cars in existence, though I don't remember if they belong to a society or a private owner.

My suggestion would be to go to this link:  http://nwhs.org/contacts.html

These good guys have a wealth of information and might be able to e-mail you the details or even some photo shots. Make sure you tell them exactly what you are requesting and that you wi***o share the info with fellow modelers on this forum.

Let us know how it goes.

[AntonioFP45]

C-69

Wow. Sorry amigo, While I may have seen some before I don't know the names of the specific books that deal with scratchbuilding passenger cars. But consider posting a new thread and ask for this info as there are some scratchbuilders on this forum.

Sorry I could not be more helpful.

[Don Gibson]

I find simulating window shades the most 'bang' for the buck., particularly if one treats each window individually. Some passenger's have them all the way up to see the view, some all the way down to block the sun and sleep, and the rest in between. Time consuming, but cheap.

IHC and all cheap lighting kit's suffer from unrealistic flicker. and flicker free lighting cost's more than the car... especially an IHC car.

http://www.richmondcontrols.com/

(signed) fellow passenger nut.

[csmith9474]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Don Gibson

I find simulating window shades the most 'bang' for the buck., particularly if one treats each window individually. Some passenger's have them all the way up to see the view, some all the way down to block the sun and sleep, and the rest in between. Time consuming, but cheap.

IHC and all cheap lighting kit's suffer from unrealistic flicker. and flicker free lighting cost's more than the car.

http://www.richmondcontrols.com/

(signed) fellow passeger nut.

I have been using blank cardstock for shades, but am going to try to use sheet styrene. There are a couple of reasons for this. My first is humidity, shich needs no explanation, and the second is adhesion to the car body. I have tried different methods for sucuring th cardstock to the car body, but none is perfect. I model passenger trains almost exclusively.

[AntonioFP45]

CSmith,

Thanks for the idea on window shades and using sheet styrene. It makes sense that styrene would adhere much better to plastic than cardstock. I've seen white styrene at various hobby shops. I want to try window shades on some of the Rivorossi passenger cars that I'm currently detailing to better match the Walthers Budds.

Roger that.

[Rotorranch]

Any color suggestions for my passenger trains? Chicago & Alton, Great Northern Empire Builder, Southern heavyweights, and Chessie Steam Fan Trippers? Also early AMTRAK?

How do you guys find all this stuff?

Rotor

[Anonymous]

Great thread this. Antonio mentioned that the California Zephyr Dome cars had yellow and white seats, did these colours apply to the other cars in the consist.?
What other colours were employed, for the walls, floor etc? There are only black and white photos in the books I have and I have not found any colour pictures on the web.
william

[AntonioFP45]

Will,

I'll look through my photos. I'll come back and edit this post with info. Hopefully my photos will show the details you're asking about.

Peace!

[Anonymous]

Thanks Antonio, look forward to seeing the photos.
This morning I got a book called Streamliners by Mike Schafer and Joe Welsh.. There were a number of photos of interiors in coulor, but not from the California Zephyr. Otherwise it's a lovely book with lots of great pictures. Makes you dream.
William

[csmith9474]

I just spent last night building an interior for a Santa Fe 4-4-2 Regal sleeper. Looks alright. I also recently built an interior for a P/S baggage dormitory. I found that .020 styrene works fairly well. I am about to do a Palm interior which is a 10-6 (which equals a pain in the behind). Is Red Cap still doing interior details?

[AntonioFP45]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Rotorranch

Any color suggestions for my passenger trains? Chicago & Alton, Great Northern Empire Builder, Southern heavyweights, and Chessie Steam Fan Trippers? Also early AMTRAK?

How do you guys find all this stuff?

Rotor

Rotor,

I may be able to help you on the Chessie steam trip cars as I rode them in 1981 and took some photos. I'll post the info later along with Will-O after I look at the photos. I wish I had a scanner so I can post them on this forum.

As for how we find this stuff, it's easy. Looking through personal photos, visiting musuems or tourist lines in any town I stop in (my poor wife puts up with it), looking at photos on websites and in books. I was amazed at how many streamlined and heavyweight passenger cars are preserved in Florida and Georgia alone. Many times they're in tiny out of the way towns on the map. Anytime I hear of passenger equipment present near a town I'm visiting, I'll take a "little detour" to check it out.

I just found out yesterday that there are two ex-Seaboard Airline passenger cars preserved at Boca, Raton Florida. So next time I go to Miami to visit my cousin, "I'll likely take a little detour!".

What got me started on this thread is that years ago I saw a Marklin HO passenger car with a beautifully detailed interior, complete with colors! I stared at this car for the longest. It dawned on me years later that painting the cheap IHC kits would make a big difference.

Peace!

[Rotorranch]

Cool, Antonio! Looking forward to getting this info, as I'm about to commence building my IHC interior kits for "The Kid's" Chessie Fan Trip train. It'll be cool to do it in the correct colors!

Rotor

[AntonioFP45]

Hi Guys!

Had to dig through my photos.

California Zephyr -
A Zephyr dome-observation car was brought to Tampa back in 1981 and was opened to the public. Sorry, but I must make a "Correction" on my earlier post regarding the California Zephyr car that I shot. The seats have a yellow cloth placed on top of the back sections , (I assume to protect the seat backs from hair sweat.) The seats themselves are actually a light green.

I looked at my model paint charts.
No exact match in Floquil, but Badger ModelFlex #16-47 Light Green is almost right on the mark.
Now, the head/back cloth section cover (which would require a very tiny paint brush) would be Erie Lackawanna Yellow. (available in Floquil, and Model Flex).

The interior walls are the typical light beige found in many streamline era cars. Floquil and Model Flex have the colors. A mix of 3 parts Antique White and one part Reefer Yellow would be close.

The skeletal framework walls in the glass dome,however, are white! That threw me for a loop. As always, use flat not gloss.

The floor is carpeted. Dark Gray with swirl patterns of green, black, and light gray. Looks like typical office carpet. Floors usually can't be seen, so I don't bother painting mine. For a dome section, however, it might not be a bad idea.

Chessie excursion cars.
I took an interior photo of car #5 which is a smooth sided heavyweight coach that I rode in when the #614 steamer came into town.

The seats are a dark Red/Brown. In Floquil the closest color appears to be #60163 Santa Fe Mineral Brown. In ModelFlex it would be #16-14.

The interior walls and ceiling: Light beige colors, almost identical to the Zephyr car though. I would go with the same or similar color mix.

Again guys, these are only my opinions based on photos taken with a 35mm, no flash during daylight hours. Continue to do your research as well and if your results are different, by all means post them here. Sometimes thumbing through old issues of TRAINS or other magazines will yield results.

Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Thanks a million Antonio. As soon as the postman brings the interiors I ordered I'll get painting. If I do a good job I'll take some photos and post them here.
Thanks again
William

[AntonioFP45]

Looking forward to it, William!

[Anonymous]

Since this topic keeps getting brought back to life...

Here's some questions for you:
Colors of objects if possible:
Walls, Seats, Floor, Vestibule

New York Central Heavyweight interior colors?
For the long distance heavyweights, I was told dark gray carpet with light gray seats and a red stripe down the center of the carpet. Walls and vestibules were a beige color. What about the commuter cars? I remember someone telling me the floors were lineoleum(what color is that?) and red seats...but unsure of shade.

Southern Two Tone Green Crescent?
I was told a dark green floor with a pullmanish/light green seats

Pullman (or Nickel Plate Road) Heavyweight Combine and Diner Lounge:

I have the interior colors for N&W's Powhattan Arrow at my house. I am currently in my dorm, but when I return I will give you the specs that I have for each type of car that I got from the Purple Norfolk and Western Handbook.

A website I just came across tonight had color interior pictures of cars from: Canadian National, CB&Q, Milwaukee Road, and Southern Pacific.

http://www.jerryapp.com/arcv_idx.html

I also have some random interior colors I got from a few books that I was trying to research interio colors from at the NCSU Library:
-Southern Railway:
Coach...outside seat red, inside seat gray, walls a medium jade green

-Empire State:
colors used...but on what? mullberry, evergreen, brown, and marine blue

-20th Century Limited:
clublounge car: walls - gray leather, couches blue leather and the shades match the exterior, them being light shades

-Southern Pacific Daylight:
SP had special names for their colors: Russian Tan, Broken White, Nantes Blue, Cocoa Beige, Jonquil Yellow; each car had six basic colors, darkest on floors, medium at walls, and lighting on cieling

-B&O's Royal Blue:
light color walls, chromium tublur furntiure and linoleum
chairs in lounge: red, brown, and green frieze
coach and parlor: rust and red frieze with neutal ivory seats

-Santa Fe's Super Chief:
observation lounge: turqoise cieling, red chairs w/ blue and white patterns
diner: chairs - red -orange leather; carpet was same color but with black accents
also each car had its own little theme

-M-1000 City of Saline:
chairs - golden brown

-Pullman (not sure of what car tho...possibly Mainline Coach):
beige/yellow walls, maroon floor in vestibules and bathroom, myrtle green seats, white sinks and toilets

-L&N's The Georgian:
upholstery shades of browns and reds, maroon rugs, ivory walls and cielings
diner/parlors #2800-2801:red booths, black counters, blue/grey floor

-Clinchfield:
obs/lounge: grey floor, walls are beige, blue and maroon seats, white table tops w/ silver sides, white walls

Those are just some tidbits I was able to scan from about 10-20 different books. No one really seemed to keep tabs on or care about the interior colors.

Thanks for the tips and ideas.

[sebamat]

Any idea of the interior colours of Heawyweight Pullman sleeper cars?

Specially walls enf floor.

And did someone try to build from scrap (cardboard/stirene sheets) the interior of MDC 50' Overland sleeping/businnes cars? Any suggestion?

Thank you

sebastiano

[jecorbett]

The trouble with detailing the interiors is that it will draw the eye the which almost requires the addition of passengers which can add a lot of expense, even if you start with unpainted figures. Otherwise it will be obvious that your passenger trains are running empty. Sometimes, you can add too much detail. My rule of thumb is to detail those elements that I want to draw attention too. I don't want to draw attention to my empty passenger cars.

[AntonioFP45]

Jecorbett,

You make a valid point.

For me the problem is that when I look at the beautiful Walthers Cars, those plain "mono-colored" interior seats, tables, and partitions drive me nuts! That's distracting. I've found that with painted interiors, passenger cars look so much more realistic, even if empty.

But for those that don't want to paint their interiors, tinting the windows and adding window shades may work quite well.

High Greens