Union Pacific has two theater inspection cars in its current heritage fleet of passenger cars. The 'Fox River' and 'Idaho' are produced in brass but no one produces the cars within my budget. After talking with an eBay member by the username of mrw87 after purchasing some decals, he told me he had a friend who was making car sides for the theater cars. I ordered one set for each car and here is the result.
I took two Walthers sleeper cars to use for the framework. I tried to match the prototype underbody detail using Train Station Products parts. The roofs we detailed using plastic strips and brass pieces. The interior was kitbashed to match the drawings Union Pacific has on its website. The window ends were made using a Train Stations Products end, MV lenses, Details West headlights, and a scratch built end of train device.
http://www.haworthengineering.com/
~Excellency in the Details ~
UPP 420 Fox River
UPP 203 Idaho
Wow! That is really cool. And I didn't even know about the theatre cars. Do these run with the 844?
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
awesome cars, are these N or HO.
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
Great Job. Just love them. I do like the Idaho slightly better.
Derek
Thanks! These cars are HO scale.
Today, these cars do run with the steam excursions as well as may other specials. Here is a bit of history from UP's website:
http://www.up.com/cs/groups/public/documents/up_pdf_nativedocs/pdf_fox_river.pdf
http://www.up.com/cs/groups/public/documents/up_pdf_nativedocs/pdf_idaho.pdf
Boy, very nice models.
Could you share the supplier of the sides?
Thanks.
Jay
I knew about the theater cars as I have seen them in several videos featuring UP 844 and 3985. I even looked into building one or the other as a part of our UP Excursion Consist to run with our Challenger, but I couldn't figure our where to start.
Thanks for the pictures and the idea. I would be interested in learning the source for the car sides as well as a tutorial on how your cars were built.
Great modeling! Truly outstanding models. Thanks for sharing.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
Tinted windows would improve the realism immensely. Very nice models and I'm sure these didn't cost $500.
I got the car sides from the following eBay member. He may still have some left:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Union-Pacific-Promontory-Baggage-Car-Flag-Decals-UP-UPRR-Heritage-Fleet-5779-/190889686241?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2c71e974e1
As far as the process of how to build the cars:
I started with two Walthers cars that would be the base for the new car. I detailed the underbody by adding Train Station Products details following prototype pictures.
Then I built the interior.
Then the roofs.
Then the car sides.
And finally, the ends.
Really nice cars!
I also am modeling UP's Heritage Fleet, focusing first on the cars most used on public excursion runs. 16 cars have been completed so far, which have all been highly modified Walthers cars. I chose to tint the windows so you can't see the inside of the car. Nice to see what they look like with people in them.
Will eventually get to both these cars you have modeled here (have a core already for the Fox River), but am starting to scratch build the water cars Jim Adams and Joe Jordan.
Are these cars for track inspection or actually stuck on the end of real trains? just what is their purpose?
tatans Are these cars for track inspection or actually stuck on the end of real trains? just what is their purpose?
From what I can tell, these are usually on the back of excursion trains or employee specials.I don't believe they have any inspection equipment aboard.
Neither car was designed for mechanical track or right-of-way inspection when converted into the current configuration. The term inspection is used loosely. The only "inspection" is done by VIP's or shippers enjoying the view out the back of the train. One or the other is quite frequently used on excursion runs or business specials.
southern154Where did you get the ends? I am looking to do NS' Buena Vista and Conrail's theater car too.
The theater ends are produced by Train Station Products. I modified the ends with bits of styrene and brass as can be seen in one of the pictures above. The kit from TSP includes the plastic theater end, the glass, and a piece of plastic that can be used as a roll up door, although I decided to build my own instead.
Those sure turned out nicer than my attempt at creating a Pennsy theater car. Nice job, And I will have to order that end and sides from that site...I am planning to do a creation of the Wheeling's car.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).