GEC's Layout Progress

[Green_Elite_Cab]

I made some more progress with my passenger core kits.

NJ DOT commuter cars-

4437 Snack Bar Lounge, ex New York Central:

this was a union station products car-side. I actually mostly finished the sides a while ago, but only now did I build it up into a body. I have the trucks for it, but I'm still looking for the right roof-vent details, as well as trying to figure out what the right underbody parts might be. I have a diagram that came with the car-side, but the parts I have don't necessarily match what I've seen.

The roof part is giving me trouble as well. As usual, its not perfectly flat. Still, it is removeable, and hopefully I can add an interior and lights to show it off!



The prototype 4437 currently resides at the Cape May Seashore Lines-



Some interior shots of a restored car of the same class at Grand Central Terminal. Unfortunately, the car was packed with people, making it difficult to get a photo. The "snack bar" end was a fenced off area next to a small kitchen, on the vestibule end. The lounge section was opposite the vestibule end.






PC/NJ DOT 2167, ex Louisville & Nashville fluted side AC&F 60 seat coach-

NJ DOT bought a few of these unusual coaches to help keep the PC's commuter trains running. These were unusual in that AC&F produced few fluted-side cars. They were also unusual in that at least one of them was painted in PC Dark Green (I suspect some others were silver). 2167 is one of those green cars. I figure that will make things interesting.

The car sides are Laser Horizons, but the fluting is special made from Union Station products.



Here is a prototype photo, this is probably the best close-up shot i've seen of one of these cars. I spot them in the background frequently enough, but its difficult to get pictures. I'm also hunting for the underbody layout so that i can try to accurately model it.



NJ DOT 1500 series coach, ex PRR 21-roomette sleeper.

The PRR transformed a lot of these cars into high-capacity coaches in the late 60s, and almost all of them were assigned to the NJ DOT for a time before being dispersed to several other commuter lines. Many of these are still rolling around.

The car sides are by NKP Car Co. The one pictured below is my second car. The first one was pictured above, but I had to demolish it. Fortunately, it came apart easily and no parts were permanently damaged. I had tried to make it so that the body shell screwed into the floor, but this wasn't working out. I'm rebuilding it so that the floor, ends and sides are one piece, and the roof is removable instead.

The Train Station Products "sub-sides" are also very useful for these kits, and so I will use one of those as soon as I order an extra for it.



Here are some prototype photos of 1547, a car currently owned and restored by the URHS at Boontoon, New Jersey.







Last but not least, an Amtrak car i'm working on, the "Nutmeg State", an ex New Haven Pullman Sleeper-lounge. I've spotted this car, and cars like it, on the Broadway Limited occaisionally in photos and other reccords, so I figured I'd model it. Besides, there does not appear to be a readily available quality Sleeper-Lounge type car, so this was pretty much my only option for this class of passenger car.

The main challenger here will be removing the skirts. These car sides are by NKP Car Co, and they're a little tough to work with when it comes to curving the skirts. In any event, Amtrak removed the skirts anyway (but kept all the name boards, fortunately), so I'll have to remove these skirts some how as well. I think I'll make a rough cut with a dremel tool, and then use a big file to take it down.

I'll use masking tape as a guide to prevent me from cutting to close to the side, and so that should keep everything smooth. Luckily, this car is in my Amtrak Plan and Data manual, and so I can not only build the interior properly, but I have a good diagram of the underbody locations of various parts and things.




The prototype still exists as a business car, currently for sale-




I still have a few more car-sides to do, and I'll probably post them shortly.

As a final bit of news, I finally finished that Arrow I mold using JWB's loaned Arrow. I'll pull it out tomorrow, clean it up, and get it ready to ship back to its home. It only took me 2 years finish it! I'll try and make a few more MUs, but i think I'll try to use the mold to make the Comet IB cars as well. Only time will tell how well the casts will come out of this mold.