Will we ever see a heavyweight baggage/coach combine from MTL?

[thomasjmdavis]

That is an interesting car, @Point353 .  From the looks of it, steam ejector AC with a roof hatch AND a heater stove smokejack.  Interesting that the L&N car has vents over the passenger section and the Southern car has them over the baggage section (or were blanked off when AC was installed?)-  if you put models of the 2 on adjacent tracks, people would think one had the roof on backwards.
The Southern car is one window shy of the L&N car but would work for me as a stand in if they opted for that one.

[Mark5]

I'm not too picky so either the SOUTHERN or L&N car would work as a "stand in" for me.

http://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=51604

Mark

[jmlaboda - RIP]

I'm not too picky so either the SOUTHERN or L&N car would work as a "stand in" for me.

http://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=51604

Ah, man... that would be half way to a "Pg" coach for me... would love to see someone do it that way I could get some coaches I want to have...

[JoeD]

Middle Aged Design Engineer seeking advice and suggestions.   

[thomasjmdavis]

Middle Aged Design Engineer seeking advice and suggestions.   

Cool... Now we can all add "Consultant to the Model Railroad Industry" to our resumes.

[DeltaBravo]

Why not just ask for a true prototype B&O version?

I know its not a heavyweight.

 

[brokemoto]

Why not just ask for a true prototype B&O version? I know its not a heavyweight.

Actually, it IS a HW.  B&O rebuilt a few with rounded windows, rounded roofs.

[Ike the BN Freak]

https://lowellsmith.net/product/aft-release-17-tool-car-76/

Well MTL is doing this one...while it is using an MTL car as the core with etched sides.

[thomasjmdavis]

Why not just ask for a true prototype B&O version?

I know its not a heavyweight.

 

That is a great photo- you can see the seam between the original PS car end, and the plate welded above it to extend the car end to the "streamstyled" roof wrapped over the old clerestory frame.  Some other roads that used that roof style just made a new flat end for the car. 

CN, GTW, ACL and I am sure several others had cars with that sort of roof, but I doubt there were many roads other than B&O that went to that much trouble over a combine.

Since we have been invited to offer suggestions, in addition to the L&N car, here is the car I wish Rivarossi had done instead of their rider:


I really don't expect MT to do these cars, but maybe when Roberto retires from this 18 hour a day job of his, we can talk him into doing sides. On the other hand, there are a LOT of Santa Fe modelers out there, just sayin'....

The Santa Fe remodeled 6 or 7 baggage lounges in the late 1940s to use on the Chief (1300-1305 or 06). They used cars from a couple different series for the remodel, and they were serving various functions prior to the remodel, so there are minor differences in window placement and interior arrangement among the group. The numbering on these has always been confusing to me- some of the cars were originally in the 1300 series, renumbered into other series, then renumbered back, but not necessarily to their original numbers- 1306 became 134? became 1301 in 1948.  They were built as buffet-library cars, when prohibition ended became baggage lounges, and in their lifetimes several also served as baggage dorms, baggage-coaches, mixed train combines, work cars and some were eventually made into flat cars for mail containers. And, of course, the rider combine.  Out of all of those, it is the rider combine and the flat car (courtesy of N scale kits http://www.nscalekits.co.uk/SantaFeMailcar.html ) for which models are available.

[randgust]

This is an NYC design that drifted over to the Bessemer, surviving car is the restored combine on the Everett RR, Holidaysburg, PA.

This is a really nice generic design, and I'm not even an NYC fan.

http://www.everettrailroad.com/images/excursionequipment23.jpg

[randgust]

Another case where I should be editing a prior post on their #23 combine instead of a new post...but....

Everett confirmed that there's a sister car operating on the Illinois Railway Museum (B&LE #25?) and sent me an article.
IRM has a full photo gallery of the car here:  http://www.irm.org/gallery/BLE25 

Indiana Railway Museum at French Lick also appears to have the NYC-lettered sister in operating condition. 

Thinks IRM at Union has full drawings of the car as well.    I have a basic dimensioned drawing I can send - att'n Joe, sent email.  It's a 70' car.

Lot easier to pick when there are both drawings and three survivors, eh?

[jmlaboda - RIP]

This is an NYC design that drifted over to the Bessemer, surviving car is the restored combine on the Everett RR, Holidaysburg, PA.

I hope they don't use the Everett car as their prototype... the sides are not a symmetrical...

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4034996
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4324656

But then again if a rare and unique mail - coach combine is desired it could help in developing such a model though the compartment is quite large in comparison to other mail - coach cars, which usually only had a 15' mail compartment.

[randgust]

That's a 2014 shot - way before the car was restored.

Again.... go back to this shot, this is what is there now.   I've recorded #11 hanging out that exact baggage door, I know it's there!

http://www.everettrailroad.com/images/excursionequipment23.jpg

I now have a copy of the B&LE plans on the car and it was most certainly built symmetrical.     I'd never seen it with that mail door that way.

[Maletrain]

Why not just ask for a true prototype B&O version?

I know its not a heavyweight.

 

As already said, it is a heavywieght.  It has just been "stream-styled," "modernized," and converted to a "baggage dormitory lounge" car.  But, it is still really just a ~76' baggage/coach combine with some of the windows removed.  The basic car would be just like the MTL paired-window coach with the vestibule removed on the baggage end (so it is shorter), and, of course, no windows in the baggage section.  That is probably the best way to model it, matching the alrady available coach to maximize sales.  The B&O did run unaltered combines that looked like that. 

For the converted ones, the true B&O affectionados would need to figure out how to blank windows, make Thermopane "modernized" glass for the remaining windows, and make a "turtle" roof and skirts to "stream-style" it.

The B&O also made some longer baggage/dormatory/loung cars that were ~83' long out of Pullmans.  Those were also "stream-styled" and "modernized", with different window arrangements that looked more like converted sections from a sleeper car.  So, chopping a ~76' coach/baggage combine to make one of those is probably not a good start.  Hence, the ~76' combine seems most useful.  I will need to bash multiple MTL or Rivarossi cars together to make one of the longer baggage/dormatory/lounge cars.

[jmlaboda - RIP]

The B&O also made some longer baggage/dormatory/loung cars that were ~83' long out of Pullmans.

For clarification the cars involved were already baggage - dorm - lounge cars... B&O simply streamlined them to better match its trains.  Definitely some classy cars... wouldn't be a bad choice for MT to do the Pullman cars they were based on to fit with other Pullman cars...