Hello Gentlemen, My name is Carlos and I am search for information to obtain a train to be displayed in a museum in Mexico City, the train in question is "f32 Northern type, Class QR-1, locomotive" with 4 passenger cars, I would like know if any of you gentlemen could point me in the direction of where I could purchase a suitable style scale model train in order to bring it to Mexico and have a Profesional Modeler do the repaint and details, and which scale do you recommend in which this train is available.
The train in Question is called "El Olivo" it was the old presidential train in Mexico for many years.
It can be seen below . . . .http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/el-olivo-el-tren-del-presidente-de-mexico.html
Thank very much in advance!
There are some reference pics of the cars here: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archiveThumbs.aspx?id=89514
A virtual tour: http://www.cfe.gob.mx/mutec/es/Pages/trenolivo.aspx
Pics of the train's 4-8-4 locomotive 3038 and her class sisters: http://www.steamlocomotive.com/northern/?page=ndem
The train cars could likely be represented by Walthers Pullman cars. The presidential observation car has a rather high roof, perhap because of air-conditioning ducts, but doesn't look too unusual.
The Northern locomotives could be represented by a Broadway Limited (BLI) or Bachmann HO model if the budget is tight. I'm not aware of any brass models of this specific loco, but something that is a close enough stand-in shouldn't be too hard to find on ebay.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
mlehman There are some reference pics of the cars here: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archiveThumbs.aspx?id=89514 A virtual tour: http://www.cfe.gob.mx/mutec/es/Pages/trenolivo.aspx Pics of the train's 4-8-4 locomotive 3038 and her class sisters: http://www.steamlocomotive.com/northern/?page=ndem The train cars could likely be represented by Walthers Pullman cars. The presidential observation car has a rather high roof, perhap because of air-conditioning ducts, but doesn't look too unusual. The Northern locomotives could be represented by a Broadway Limited (BLI) or Bachmann HO model if the budget is tight. I'm not aware of any brass models of this specific loco, but something that is a close enough stand-in shouldn't be too hard to find on ebay.
Thank you very much for your time! Excellent Info!!
Actually the generic metal kit 4-8-4 from Bowser might be an even closer "stand in" candidate for this Mexican locomotive, because it lacks all railroad-specific details and seems to have the general heft and outline of the prototype. But Bowser has not made them in years and I don't even see them at swap meets. Anybody got one for our friend from Mexico?
Dave Nelson
The Bowser kits would be your best bet - they have 70" drivers, which, if memory serves, would be the same as the NdeM engines had. They pop up on Ebay at long intervals, but they're not expensive - I've never seen one go for more than $200, and I would think a good builder could get you close enough. I picked up my as-yet unbuilt version for $120. Even if you replace the drivers in the kit with Box-Pok drivers, you would still have a pretty affordable model.
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
Sure- and thank you for posting that very interesting virtual tour. Looks like a beautiful train!