Conrail's OCS - Full Train Thread

[Missaberoad]

Side note: can you imagine how amazing the SD80 scheme would look in dark green and imitation gold?

My guess would be something like this, Like Ed said they were hard to photograph until they got dusty...

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/26760/
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/439835/

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Just a quick update. I bought some Modelflex paint online - Brunswick Green, Pullman Green and SAL Pullman Green. After checking paint samples in under incandescent and out door light,  the SAL Pullman Green (16-185) is a perfect match to the green Rapido used on its sleeper.

Two things really surprised me here:
1. How good a match the green Rapido uses to the prototype.
2. The fact I didn't have to mix paints to get such a good match.

The Pullman Green Conrail uses is a bit more brown than standard Pullman Green. One thing I wish Rapido did was make their paint a bit more glossy. These cars were always polished and shiny. Strangely enough, the Modelflex paint has the same sheen as the Rapido paint. I ended up mixing 25 parts paint with 5 parts Microscale Gloss and 5 parts Tamiya thinner for airbrushing.

[peteski]

You mixed water-based paint with alcohol-based gloss and thinner?  It didn't curdle? Good to know.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I have used Tamiya thinner for all of my acrylic paints for years without issue. Mixing Testors Acryl, Modelflex, Tamiya paints has never been an issue. Microscale finishes are very similar to Testors. Polyscale is a bit more challenging. I think all are based on methanol, but can be cut with water.

[peteski]

I have used Tamiya thinner for all of my acrylic paints for years without issue. Mixing Testors Acryl, Modelflex, Tamiya paints has never been an issue. Microscale finishes are very similar to Testors. Polyscale is a bit more challenging. I think all are based on methanol, but can be cut with water.

Isn't Modelflex made by Badger (not Testors)?  I thought that Modelflex paint has some unique chemistry not compatible with many water-based paint thinners.

Um, that was a rhetorical question since you are in fact using isopropyl alcohol (Tamiya thinner) with Modelflex and successfully mixing it with Microscale gloss (also alcohol-based).  I still use mostly the old-fashioned smelly paints and I have never got into Modelflex. When it first came out it had poor coverage and some other weirdness I don't recall.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Correct Modelflex is produced by Badger but can be mixed with Testors Acryl and Tamiya paints a started above. Tamiya thinner is not isopropyl, or has a lot of additives. It does not smell like isopropyl and certainly dissent burn like it (don't ask).

I was a diehard Floquil fan until the supply dried up. Since then, I have slowly converted over to all water-alcohol based acrylics. The vast majority are mixable and compatible with each other with the exception of Polyscale. A lot of the models I have posted on here - the majority in fact - are the products of cross mixing acrylic paints including Quoaboag green, Bay Colony gray, yellow and orange, Guilford gray, P&W brown and orange, and MBTA purple. Many of these mixed paints are still usable 5-6 years after mixing.

Acrylic isn't the best paint - it is not as easy to control as oil based paints and atomization is not as fine making application a bit more difficult. But the benefits (health, cleanup) outweigh the annoyances. This also allowed me to build a cheap paint both without a dedicated exterior vent.

[peteski]

Thanks for the explanation Daniel.

I looked for Tamiya acrylic paint thinner MSDS and at http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139339 I found that it contains:

Water (Purified water) 54.9175%
Butan-1-ol (Secondary Butanol) 19.9700%
Propan-1-ol (Normal propyl alcohol) 14.9775%
3-methyl-3-methoxy butan-1-ol (3-methyl-3-methoxy butanol) 9.9850%
Additives - unknown (Maybe several surfactants) 0.1500%
TOTAL 100.000%

Propyl Alcohol is a derivative of Isopropanol - that is probably why my "smell test" fooled me into thinking that there is Isopropyl Alcohol in there.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Progress on CR E8 #4020.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Now that I am making headway on the locos, I want to start looking at the rest of the train. I want to model the train as seen in the late 90's. This was when its was at its best, with the addition of several interesting cars starting in 1988.

First, lets take a tour of the train:

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This is a great video that not only provides a look at the various equipment used, but interiors as well. Lets start with the consist.

Here is another video that records the entire train. Note the OCS was much shorter in the early 90's before the addition of several cars.

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At least 2 E8s, usually 4020 and 4021, but occasionally 4022 as well. 4020 and 4021 were equipped with HEP, as was the rest of the train.
No. 9      Theater car. Rebuild from a former VIA diner.
No. 12    Conference car. Formerly a Budd Parlor.
No. 27    Coach.
No. 55    Big Dome coach. Formerly Auto Train and ATSF.
First Office Car.
Second Office Car.
Third Office Car.
No. 8     Executive Sleeper. Formerly a HW coach and before that a Diner.
No. 11   Sleeper. (this is the Rapido model)
Final Office Car.

The orientation and placement of the office cars varied by trip. At terminal points such as Boston South Station, the engines would cut and reconnect at the other end of the train leaving the Theater Car at the end. Office cars varied wildly in details such as window placement and roofs, but the interior was actually fairly uniform. Observation deck opens to a lounge followed by an enclosed kitchen leading to an open dining room.

Here is the interior colors as best I can determine.

OC #4:                 
Beige interior, red carpet, dark green chairs, dark wood dining set.

OC #5:                 
Medium wood interior with brass finishing, blue pattern carpet, white pattern chairs, dark wood dining set.

Sleeper #8:           
Beige interior, red carpet, red blankets and chairs, gray drapes.

Theater #9:           
Tan interior, blue carpet, red drapes and tables, red/blue/gray stripe pattern seats.

OC #10:               
Tan interior, blue carpet, blue chairs, dark wood dining set.

Sleeper #11:         
Beige interior, blue carpet, blue blankets and chairs.

Conference #12:   
Tan interior. dark blue or green carpet, blue tables, red pattern drapes.

Coach #27:           
Beige interior, dark green carpet. Brown seats.

Big Dome Coach #55:
Beige and gray interior, red carpet, blue seats, tan/peach paisley sofa, blue "Conrail" tables.

Will update as I find more info.

[bbussey]

I like where you're going here Daniel, but if I may make a suggestion. Looking at the proto photo's, I would only make two door/panel pieces, an upper and a lower,  and then scribe the center joint where the doors meet. I would also probably use .002 shim brass, which is fairly easy to cut with a sharp  X-acto knife, (although you'll go through a few blades in the process.) I find .005 styrene is just too thick to really replicate something like this and I always have a hard time working with it. If you go the shim brass route, I would probably first try making them in 4 separate pieces like you have already, but would butt the two upper and lowers together, the resulting "seam" would still be noticeable enough to replicate the pair of doors. You could always have them etched too, which in turn would allow you to get that latch detail.

I would actually etch the doors from .002" stainless steel.  Then they would be precise.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I would love etched doors, but I don't have the means to do that (both money and skills). I don't see this as an item that would be in much demand so I don't see anyone making any either.

I did try to use .001" and .002" brass. I was just not able to cut it precisely. I tried an exacto, a curved surgical blade, scissors, and even a paper cutting board and nothing gave me a reliable cut. I'm afraid the styrene door will stay put for now.

[learmoia]

I thought the tables in 55 were blue..?

-Ian

[bbussey]

Big Dome Coach #55:
Beige and gray interior, red carpet, blue seats, white pattern sofas, black "Conrail" tables.

The sofa (just one) was a pastel tan/peach color with a paisley-type print pattern.  Conrail Blue tables with white logos and lettering.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Updated with the new information.

I am trying to get my hands on a superliner coach interior. The Bachmann dome car is really a lounge configuration and I want to get the seats right before adding interior lighting. I'll do a separate post for each car I work on.

Some cars are rather easy: #27 and #12 are almost standard Budd cars, and the CC models will fill in nicely.

Others - the rebuilt #8 heavyweight sleeper. Man, this will be a splice job! Right now I am thinking a Riv or Lima HW ends and under frame with spliced sides from CC smooth side cars and the bubble roof from MTL. I can't use the MTL HW as a core because the prototype was retrucked with two axle Commonwealths, and I would need a centered kingpin.

[peteski]

I can't use the MTL HW as a core because the prototype was retrucked with two axle Commonwealths, and I would need a centered kingpin.

Are you kidding?! Of all the other modifications you've mentioned, moving the kingpin would probably be the easiest one.