Micro-Trains June 2017 Releases

[EspeeGoldenState]

How many roads were running observation cars when they started modernizing their heavyweight fleet though? Give me a modernized coach and I will be all over that, especially with a rounded roof. Otherwise, this will make a nice business car for me and my execs.

Union Pacific, and possibly Southern Pacific?. I know Selma and Shoshone for the UP were modernized heavyweight OBS.  UP still has quite of modernized heavyweight OBS, and have the roofline has been redone a few times to some so the non obs end is more flat and round from side to side anymore.

Chris

[jmlaboda]

How many roads were running observation cars when they started modernizing their heavyweight fleet though?

Are you speaking of revenue cars or business cars?  Revenue car use of open-platform cars was real low, with solarium observations becoming popular during the '30s with a lot of roads receiving this type of observation car to operate on their trains from Pullman.  In the early 40s many were sold to railroads before divestiture ('48) which were used to build newer business cars for execs... Milwaukee Road and Wabash used open-platform cars (MILW retired them as newer observation cars were built while WAB rebuilt their parlor cars to Modernized cars) but hard to say without searching consists who else was also still using such cars.

[cjm413]

Have I been missing something or is this a new model??  I see Union Pacific 50' PS boxcars with low mounted brake wheels, short ladders and dorrs corner gussets.  If these drawings are indeed accurate for N-Scale,I'll be in for a bunch.

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=40925.0

[Ngineer]

Observation cars always remind me of the movie Double Indemnity from 1944.

Sorry for that, it just crossed my mind.

I guess that riding the open deck on an observation with high speed is rather uncomfortable. Unsafe, too?

   Javier

[jmlaboda]

I guess that riding the open deck on an observation with high speed is rather uncomfortable. Unsafe, too?

Depending on the car (specifically a four-wheel truck equipped one) the ride could be a bit rough... six-wheel trucks on the other hand (combined by the weight of the car) provides an absolutely fantastic ride, even at high speed... nothing compares to the ride of six-wheel trucks (which was why Gulf Mobile & Ohio ordered six-wheel trucks on their coaches and parlors and why New York Central ordered some early dining cars so equipped)...

Unsafe?  Never have heard of anyone who was injured or killed riding the platform and it use to be an option for "first class" passengers.  Even today there is some ops that allow for such riding... just not on Amtrak's North East Corridor which could be a bit rough because of the tail winds.

[Mark5]

I guess that riding the open deck on an observation with high speed is rather uncomfortable. Unsafe, too?

I found it quite comfortable and safe (and fun!).

I wonder where the Lookout Mountain (SRR) is today ...

Mark

[Point353]

I wonder where the Lookout Mountain (SRR) is today ...

In Colorado providing "Open Standard Class" service on the Rio Grande Scenic RR:
https://www.coloradotrain.com/about/classes-of-service/
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3040855

[James Costello]

"Interesting" decision by MTL to double down on the wrong color for the CRLE to NOKL patched Husky Stacks this month.

In better news, the Hercules 48' X-Post looks spot on.


http://www.matts-place.com/intermodal/part3/images/hrcu160114b.jpg
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=963169
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4348678

I wasn't too familiar with Hercules and these 48'ers don't appear on my rosters (HRCU), but they appear to be patch jobs. I'm not sure who the original owners were, but the photos date them from mid-00s onwards, the twilight of the 48' age. Looking into their website a little, I realize I have seen their logo on trailers (HRCZ), so I assume their equipment is primarily on the BNSF between LA and Chicago and into Canada from there.

Trailer with logo:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3993184

http://www.herculesfreight.com/CMS/CompanyOverview

[Paradise275]

I found it quite comfortable and safe (and fun!).

I wonder where the Lookout Mountain (SRR) is today ...

Mark

Depends on where you rode on the platform, Mark. In the East along the Montreal Toronto line, trains could reach 100 MPH.

Rick

[JoeD]

I don't know since I haven't been able to find a shot of this side of the model.  The vestibule makes me think that this isn't the Ferdinand Magellan which doesn't have one and the dining room area windows are not like on the Lowell Smith model.  Will be a great addition for the Z-scale folks... just don't recognize what the prototype is.

It's based on the Kansas City Southern Prototype...

Joe

[basementcalling]

"Interesting" decision by MTL to double down on the wrong color for the CRLE to NOKL patched Husky Stacks this month.

In better news, the Hercules 48' X-Post looks spot on.


http://www.matts-place.com/intermodal/part3/images/hrcu160114b.jpg
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=963169
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4348678

I wasn't too familiar with Hercules and these 48'ers don't appear on my rosters (HRCU), but they appear to be patch jobs. I'm not sure who the original owners were, but the photos date them from mid-00s onwards, the twilight of the 48' age. Looking into their website a little, I realize I have seen their logo on trailers (HRCZ), so I assume their equipment is primarily on the BNSF between LA and Chicago and into Canada from there.

Trailer with logo:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3993184

http://www.herculesfreight.com/CMS/CompanyOverview

Wonder how common those are today?