When I first entered the HO scale side of the hobby 9 years ago, I bought locomotives and rolling stock that were available without any thought to a specific prototype road name.
However,over the past few years, I have become interested in specific road names to match the prototype that I would like to model. In my case, I am trying to model Dearborn Station in Chicago. The road names that used Dearborn Station included C&WI, Santa Fe, C&EI, Wabash, GTW, Erie and Monon.
I have been successful in acquiring both the locos and the passenger cars for all seven of these road names, but it was no small feat. Most of the road names are not currently available in the form of locos or passenger cars from LHS or on line retail stores. To find them, you have to search sites such as eBay. Sometimes, they are out there. Sometimes, they are not.
I understand the reasons why, but still that is one of the most frustrating aspects of the hobby - - - trying to find locos and rolling stock in the specific road names that you are looking for.
Sorry for the rant, but thanks for listening.
Rich
Alton Junction
I have been modeling Maine Central and Boston & Maine for years, and have the same problem. I used to be able to buy undecorated kits to paint & decal, but those have mostly disappeared from the market as well. I have had to strip the paint off a number of perfectly good models to get to the starting point, i.e undecorated model, to get to the final product I want - a model of MEC, B&M or another road name that is not in the top 10 or 20 road names in popularity.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Hey Rich: I hear you. But on the other hand, the lack of substantial rolling stock and locos in New York Ontario and Western livery forced me to learn to paint with an airbrush and decal.
Two skill sets that I would not otherwise have spent as much time on, so for me, it was a positve thing.
Fact check: I don't paint the loco's for NYOW (the three color job is still beyond me), I send them out.
Joel
Yup, I hear that, hopefully announcements IC&E/DM&E will come true!I will still like my customs!
I am going to model central illinois railroads as they are very diverse i cant find a C&IM for the life of me i have found the TP&Ws in the green and yellow wich i like better then the orange one found some iowa interstate i paid alot for some of these but to me it was worth it
I've been working through the Wabash passenger car problem, myself. At the moment, I really need a couple of 450-series mail-baggage cars for the Detroit trains, but nobody's done them. The good news is that a guy in the Detroit area is working on etched brass sides that should do the trick for those, plus a couple of C&O versions.
The Walthers "modernized" Wabash coaches have been a good stand-in for the '64-era cars, as has their modernized baggage-express car. 'gotta work out some arch roofs for those baggage cars, though.
As hard as the passenger cars are to get, getting reasonably accurate cabooses for the Wabash and the Monon has been an ongoing, expensive nuisance.
Until fairly recently, when some resin kits were offered for both lines, the choice was a heavy kitbash job that kinda, sorta ended up looking like the desired caboose, or you had to buy brass. When we put together the caboose fleet for the Operations Road Show layout, we pretty much depleted the available second-hand Overland and Hallmark Wabash caboose supply for about two years.
I'm still working on the Monon cabooses. We have a couple of old transfer-style wood cabooses that aren't quite right for our Monon locals, but the right cabooses just haven't shown up on the second-hand market and I haven't had the time to tackle a resin kit for this.
-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.http://www.pmhistsoc.org
ChadLRyan
...love the 2-color theme, and the yellow even appears "as mellow" as the lighter blue.
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
Hey, Thanks!!!!
On some DVD's they call it Marigold, but UP Armour Yellow is a great decal accident 'fixer'..These are stock DM&E decals by MicroScale, applied to my Atlas GP40.As you said, they do represent very well, they look good once on the model, but weird/off on the sheet.. These guys are under the ownership of CPRail now, so you may still see their schemes along those lines, as I do not predict any repaint's anytime soon, & i do not hope to see any repaints.When I worked in Suburban Chicago, these guys showed me, & reminded me of Home, so naturally I am modelling them! Although I don't have a rail line near me, I have their DVD's, I watch, & then I model.
Thank you for commenting positively on my model, I do appreciate it!!!!I will share an older pic of another unit for you..
Chad, I've often seen those locos in my former hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. The tracks formerly belonged to the TH&B, which was at one time jointly controlled by the CPR and NYC. It's now all CP track, and consists like this aren't uncommon:
Wayne
Doc, That is awesome!!! Glad they are visiting our northern neighbors!!!the last pic of 6090, was a CP loco, judging from the piping over the radaitors on the long hood, & the wide style pilot grabs on top of the Canadian pilot Plate.. I learned about those when researching B.C.Rail units!I would lke to know more about where that 'Over Radiator Piping' goes, but have never seen a top view of one in action! It is also a later Repaint as the DM&E is spelled out , the real old ones had it spelled in just "DME" in the tail. It also has the Louvers in the rear for their air compressor (i'm told) a feature I placed on a couple of my models thanks to Archer Fine Transfer Decals.
# 6090 is worth researching & modeling!
Thank you for sharing these unique pix!!!
I want one of those black and blue Pan Am boxcars. No joy.
NittanyLion,Those cars are out there, I recently got the one with the larger logo, as there are a couple versions of the car. Try some online retailers or the auction sites, they will turn up.I have been doing the onezy - twozy thing with some grain hoppers, & have a suprizingly large collection now. Best of luck!
Chad:
Your paint jobs are really amazing. Everything is so crisp and clear. May I ask what you use to mask your models when you are applying the second colour?
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I'm modeling two lines, both circa early/mid 1950's: The Bangor & Aroostook and The Aroostook Valley Line. I've run into a similar situation. A variety of BAR rolling stock is available enough, but the availability of locos in the 1950's colors of blue, gray & yellow striping is another story. You can find Baldwin BL-2 easy enough and the occasional GP-7, but little else. Try to find an EMD F-3 in 1950's BAR colors. Just about impossible. There was a Proto 1000 one on Ebay awhile back. I put in a very healthy bid, but still didn't get it. Have yet to see a single RS-3 in 1950's BAR colors. There's a fair supply of BAR diesels out there, but 90% of them are in either late 1960's solid blue or the even later Red/Gray/Black scheme with the later style logo.
BAR steam locos seem to be virtually non-existent on the market. I ended up buying a Bachman Classic Series Consolidation 2-8-0 in ATSF markings & will redo her as BAR #400, the only BAR steam loco to actively survive in the fleet until 1956.
Aroostook Valley line stuff is non-existent. Fortunately this shortline only ran GE 44 Toners & I bought a Spectrum un-decorated example to paint up in their Blue and yellow striped colors. AVR rolling stock is virtually non-existent on the market, so I've had to buy un-decorated kits.
"I could never belong to any club that would have me as a member."
Update Just found the peoria and western F9 i did buy it Woo hooimr 49983 02.htm
richhotrain In my case, I am trying to model Dearborn Station in Chicago. The road names that used Dearborn Station included C&WI, Santa Fe, C&EI, Wabash, GTW, Erie and Monon. I have been successful in acquiring both the locos and the passenger cars for all seven of these road names, but it was no small feat. Most of the road names are not currently available in the form of locos or passenger cars from LHS or on line retail stores. To find them, you have to search sites such as eBay. Sometimes, they are out there. Sometimes, they are not.
In getting all that equipment for the Dearborn Station have you watched the video of Railroads of Chicago? There are some great shots in there. Also Santa Fe Odessy Part 1 has a section on Dearborn.
Also by the way did you get some Pennsy and NYC transfer sleepers to add to the Santa Fe Chiefs' for service to the Pacific coast?
Texas Zepher richhotrain In my case, I am trying to model Dearborn Station in Chicago. The road names that used Dearborn Station included C&WI, Santa Fe, C&EI, Wabash, GTW, Erie and Monon. I have been successful in acquiring both the locos and the passenger cars for all seven of these road names, but it was no small feat. Most of the road names are not currently available in the form of locos or passenger cars from LHS or on line retail stores. To find them, you have to search sites such as eBay. Sometimes, they are out there. Sometimes, they are not. And all of those are fairly well known roads. I have always felt sorry for the people modeling a bit more obscure roads like M&StL, T&P, Great Northern International (GNI), Central of Georgia, and the like. In getting all that equipment for the Dearborn Station have you watched the video of Railroads of Chicago? There are some great shots in there. Also Santa Fe Odessy Part 1 has a section on Dearborn. Also by the way did you get some Pennsy and NYC transfer sleepers to add to the Santa Fe Chiefs' for service to the Pacific coast?
Yep and yep, I have seen the videos, and I do have PRR and NYC transfer sleepers for the Chief.
I only wish that there were an entire full length video out there devoted to Dearborn Station.
Whether available or not I have found and enjoyable part of the hobby is to buy a cheap car off of Ebay, strip it, repaint and decal it for the line I desire. I don't know if the lines you listed are readily available from decal providers but this would be one option. Painting two or three color bodies is a challenge I have not tackled yet but with good masking should be feasible.
I have several Corinth & Counce cars around my layout...
I'm not sure how rare they are as I seem to have a supply around here....
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Rich,
We have found from experience, if you see a loco or car with the road name that you are modeling, buy it because it will soon be gone forever.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
Have yet to see a single RS-3 in 1950's BAR colors
Maybe that's because BAR never had RS-3's. Maine Central did (#556, 557). MEC also had RS-2's.
Both Intermountain and Athearn have done BAR F3's in BAR 50's colors, but they are really hard to come by.
Incidentally, BAR had a couple of ex New York, Ontario and Western Y-2 4-8-2's (NYC L-2 design) they biought in the late 40's. Not available in plastic, but brass models occasionally show up on eBay.
Andre
I know how you feel. When i am running with my dads n scale group, i could not use BNSF because they wanted me to have different road names to tell the equipment apart. So i started to get canadian railroads. You might think finding canadian stuff is easy but it alot harder in n scale. I had to prebook most of the cool stuff or it would be sold out before i could buy it.
On anouther note i am glad kato brought out metra trains in ho scale. now as i am planing my layout i know i can have them running once i get a mainline up and running.
I feel that some of the railroads of the SOUTHEASTERN US that are now part of CSX and NORFOLK SOUTHERN such as GAINESVILLE MIDLAND, PIEDMONT & NORTHERN, NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA & ST. LOUIS AND DURHAM & SOUTHERN (all CSX fallen flags) and TENNESSEE, ALABAMA & GEORGIA, and ATLANTIC & DANVILLE (all NS fallen flags) can be and are hard to find or are non existant in HO scale.
DavidBriel I feel that some of the railroads of the SOUTHEASTERN US that are now part of CSX and NORFOLK SOUTHERN such as GAINESVILLE MIDLAND, PIEDMONT & NORTHERN, NASHVILLE, CHATTANOOGA & ST. LOUIS AND DURHAM & SOUTHERN (all CSX fallen flags) and TENNESSEE, ALABAMA & GEORGIA, and ATLANTIC & DANVILLE (all NS fallen flags) can be and are hard to find or are non existant in HO scale.
NC&StL lettering was available from Champ, and all of the other roadnames listed, with the exception of "DURHAM" were available in their Original Private Name decals. "DURHAM" would have needed to be made-up from "DURango" and "HAMilton". All the more reason to mourn the passing of Champ.
Unless those roads used an unusual font-style, they could still be done with decal or dry transfer alphabet sets. For those requiring heralds or logos, some imagination might be required, and perhaps some skill with a paint brush, too. It's easy to understand, though, why rolling stock with most of these roadnames would be difficult to find, as most were fairly small and localised lines.
fmilhaupt,
Sorry I'm late to reply. What scale might these 450 series Wabash car sides be? Hopefully N scale? Could you provide more details?
Thank you,
Bob
Modeling in N scale: Rock Island freight and passenger, with a touch of the following; Wabash Cannon Ball, CB&Q passenger, and ATSF freight and passenger. I played in Peoria (Heights).
I haven't posted in this thread I think... but anywho why not custom paint and decal stuff for hard to find road names, I personally am trying to find an AB F3 unit pair that I can repaint for SP&S. I think that decals need to be available in large amounts as well as paint, but that's just my . I enjoy painting and decaling my stuff it gives me a sense of accomplishment.
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
Burlington Northern #24 I haven't posted in this thread I think... but anywho why not custom paint and decal stuff for hard to find road names, I personally am trying to find an AB F3 unit pair that I can repaint for SP&S. I think that decals need to be available in large amounts as well as paint, but that's just my . I enjoy painting and decaling my stuff it gives me a sense of accomplishment.
Easier said than done. Even if you have the right tools and supplies, custom painting locos requires a fair amount of skill that many of us lack.
expensive ta462 isin't for the intermountian stuff although very nice but ONR is special. I have gp38 1800 from pr0to 2000 and love it and intemountain box cars again love the road. rambo1..
richhotrain Burlington Northern #24 I haven't posted in this thread I think... but anywho why not custom paint and decal stuff for hard to find road names, I personally am trying to find an AB F3 unit pair that I can repaint for SP&S. I think that decals need to be available in large amounts as well as paint, but that's just my . I enjoy painting and decaling my stuff it gives me a sense of accomplishment. Easier said than done. Even if you have the right tools and supplies, custom painting locos requires a fair amount of skill that many of us lack. Rich
I forgot that I would like more undecorated locos.
Burlington Northern #24 richhotrain Burlington Northern #24 I haven't posted in this thread I think... but anywho why not custom paint and decal stuff for hard to find road names, I personally am trying to find an AB F3 unit pair that I can repaint for SP&S. I think that decals need to be available in large amounts as well as paint, but that's just my . I enjoy painting and decaling my stuff it gives me a sense of accomplishment. Easier said than done. Even if you have the right tools and supplies, custom painting locos requires a fair amount of skill that many of us lack. Rich that was just my personal opinion, but you're right it does require a lot of skill my first time around when I painted my dash 8 was terrible but I've repainted it and it looks much better. it may also be patience too. I have terribly unsteady hands for some reason, I don't know why though. I forgot that I would like more undecorated locos.
I will say this though about custom painting locos. If you can pull it off, then the undecorated locos are clearly the way to go. Same for passenger cars.