Baltimore and Ohio Cincinnatian Project

[chessie system fan]

I decided to take a break from Milwaukee Road modeling to complete a project that's been on my to-do list for many years: B&O's Cincinnatian! I've owned a brass version for a long time, but it's not a runner for several reasons.  First, it's too rare and expensive.  The set only shows up on ebay every couple of years. Not only that, but the cars have high friction (the stock P-7 locomotive can't even pull the five-car train) as well as a very large minimum radius.   

The cars lasted until the very end, so I also need cars without skirting or full diaphragms.  To that end, I've designed the cars with modular components and that design philosophy greatly streamlined the design process.

My sources are my brass set, a Micro Trains B&O coach (which is the starting prototype), Pullman Standard Library blueprints for the National Limited, various measurements and detailed photos I've taken of other B&O heavyweight cars, plus the 1953 Car Builder's Cyclopedia as well as the books "Baltimore & Ohio Passenger Service Vol. 1" and "Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnatian."

[chessie system fan]

Here's my progress so far.  I previewed the coaches on a weekend update thread, but only noticed today that the window corner radius was wrong.     I should have checked my field measurements.  The correct radius is 6 inches. 

Up first are class A-18cg 60-seat coaches 3565-3568 (shown without skirting or full diaphragms). Each train had two of these cars.



Next are A-18ch 56-seat coaches 3572 and 3573.  These had a stewardess/nurse area. Each train had one car.



Shortly after the train was in service, one of the 60-seat coaches was replaced with a 52-seat A-18ck coach that had an enlarged women's restroom.



And finally, the car that took as much time to design as the other cars combined, the Z-2 class observation/lounge/dining cars 3304 and 3305.



(I just noticed I left off the rear marker lights...)

Still to do: the baggage/lounge car, some underframe work, and the full-width diaphrams.

[u18b]

Amazing, Aaron.

Looking forward to seeing these printed one day.
Great work.

[Rossford Yard]

As a kid, from 1960-69, I used to stand on the bridge that crossed Rossford Yard and saw the Cincinnatian go by several times.  I look forward to seeing these, even if they would mostly go on my display shelves and only run a few times on my layout.

[PiperguyUMD]

Looks awesome! Following with interest!

What program are you using for the design? I've gotten pretty good at Sketchup, but I'm really starting to get frustrated with it's short comings - particularly the complex curves like in the rooflines of your cars. I think I'm going to have to bit the bullet at become fluent in something else

[wm3798]

You know where to send your test prints when you're done with them, right?

And don't forget to paint and letter them!
Lee

[chessie system fan]

I'm using Fusion360.  Give it a try! Complex roofs are still a challenge for me, though I'm improving after a bunch of brute-force experimenting. Fortunately, the Cincinnatian has a circular rear, so all I had to do was take the roof profile and use the "revolve" tool.

Decals will be an issue. The train used silver lettering instead of the usual dulux gold. But I believe @SkipGear was working on some a while back.

[chessie system fan]

I completed the full-width diaphragm this evening.  For fifteen years I've been hung up on making working diaphragms, but now I'm just bowing to the inevitable and these are non-functional.... probably.  They will be separate pieces for ease of printing and painting.



The photo also shows my original modular core that I designed the car bodies from.  Only designing a quarter of a car and just duplicating and mirroring the rest saves a bunch of time!