Passenger train dilemma: your opinions please.

[Flying switch56]

riogrande5761

Regarding the ski train from Denver to Winter Park...  it was the ex-Northern Pacific Heavyweights that ran from the 1960's to 1988.  In 1988 the Tempo cars were acquired from Canada to re-outfit the ski train going forward.  So the modeling period is 1988-2000, FYI.

Unfortunately, ski trains are largely going to be fantasy as far as modeling goes.  If you want to see someone who has actually modeled the Tempo cars in HO, check out James Griffin's Action Road website:

http://www.actionroad.net/LaPlataDivision/LPD.htm

Here is a photo showing his post 1988 ex-Temp ski train cars.

http://www.actionroad.net/LaPlataDivision/LPD/SkiTrain_1994_T29.jpg

 

That's some impressive modeling James has done with those cars. I'm definitely not up to the task of building from scratch now, since I've yet to start on my new layout.

What I would like to do, however, is find trucks to approximate those on the Tempo cars.

 

[riogrande5761]

I'm think Jim Griffin had to fabricate the trucks too.  Never seen them in HO but could be wrong.

I deal with the problem by modeling the day to day operations of the D&RGW from the mid-60's to about 1990 (minus the ski train).  I can fairly accurately model the regular passenger operations via the California Zephyr (until 1970), the Rio Grande Zephyr (until 1983) and the Amtrak California Zephyr after 1983.  That can be done with Broadway Limited CZ passenger cars and Walthers Superliner I cars.  I use a brass PCC Pullman Standard combine for the RGZ combine and Intermountain sells the transition Ex-Elcapitan bi-level cars for Amtrak era.

[CP guy in TX]

Everybody NEEDS at leat one steamer on their layout :-), even if it's just on static display in a park.

Honestly, there'd nothing like a steam engine to bring a railroad to life. Along with the train rolling, you get the bonus of side rods moving and all that monkey motion of the valve gear movement...

[Juniatha]

Hi folks

 

Since you're still ventilating all sorts of possibilities – here's a suggestion that may sound outlandish , slightly , yet I invite you to read to the end - you might be surprised :

Reset your mind for a trip to Europe for this , have Scotty beam you to a city to which more than any other the Pink Floyd monumental music piece applied : 'The Wall' - or it's coming down actually .  

Once The Wall had come down , it wasn't before long extensive revamping and rebuilding started on Berlin's old Stadtbahn that had so far remained much as the former Prussian State Railways had built it before the turn of the century – the former turn of the century , I mean .  Now , with all the up-grading , realigning and making new , electrification came upon the Stadtbahn , spanning over what old tracks of the Reichsbahn had still remained and with wires under tension , soon there appeared an all new white .. uhm .. giant snake-like something of a train sporting a downward pointed nose and a pinky-red stripe that formed kind of a smiling mouth around the front .   It was an ICE (DB for InterCityExpress) that had ventured into the re-united city to introduce modern high speed rail , if slowed by existing worn jointed tracks , sneaking it's way over aching-old switch work alongside Charlottenburg station .   I was a teenager back then and used to talk quite frankly or straight-from-the-shoulder – if I were to try and repeat my comment when I first saw this unspeakable white .. uhm .. giant spe******** the posting would simply go *beep* *beep* *beeeeeeeeeeeeeee…* .  Next time I saw one at platform one in Zoo (Zoologischer Garten , main station of former West-Berlin) .  

That was a time when at the East Side on many weekends there were usually one or two of the notorious 52-80 class Decapods of nine lives running some regular passenger trains and some steam specials would even travel the Stadtbahn full length from East to West , stopping at Zoo along the way – plus there were several ‘Plan-Dampf’ events calling Pacifics to run regular express trains to schedule between Berlin and the former West – as for power it didn’t make any noticeable difference if a regular 132 class Co-Co diesel was up front or one of the Pacifics that DR had kept in full running condition as ‘traditional power’.   However , while these Pacifics were specially ‘preserved engines’ the last few of 52-80 class engines in (East-)Berlin were remnants of regular steam and for some years seemed to deny to abdicate – so , the unthinkable happened :  in preparing for merger of DR and DB , the latter – after having extinct steam once and for all thirteen years ago – got some steam locomotives back on the roster and duly renumbered them into their system as '052' class , a somewhat tongue-in-cheek choice steam fans soon argued :  this had formerly been renumbering class for DB class 50 of 2xxx serial numbers – i e not 52 class engines .  As it was , only very few engines actually got new number plates , for the rest of the lot the order was simply ignored .

One evening , the unspeakable had happened and renewed bright lamps of Zoo train hall shed light on an encounter of the strange kind : an ICE standing at the platform with a 52-80 having come to a halt right across to its head end , returning from a day’s tour that was to finish with an all-length trip over the Stadtbahn .   It was like Yesterday had met Tomorrow , skipping Presence altogether .   In turning to the somewhat unreal white wonder , the slightly absurd situation prompted me to comment like : “Well , if it won’t start for some obscure electrical defect , a 52 can always hook up and tow it away !”   There was some discussion about actual probability and it was finally agreed it should be possible , after all couplings were fully standardized :  the white Virtual could have been towed by a 52 .   There was some laughter and bright smiles on people’s faces looking at the quietly humming ICE across and the warm , simmering 52 next to us .   That tells you what a hopeless steam partisan I was and why I better don’t start modeling :

If some electric high speed network presently discussed will ever come to be realized in America , I might propose a rare scene such as this :  UP’s lively spirit 844 coming to rescue , taking an immobilized latest craze Bombardier Amtrak silver stream line train set over the mainline – not quite as fast , yet reliably sure enough .

 

Regards

        Juniatha

 

[hobo9941]

I run whatever trains I want, from various eras, and security keeps out the rivet counters.