PRR and UP single window coach

[GhengisKong]

Roberto has been really busy, so I'm not sure how easy it will be to get sides. I tried to get 6 pairs of a UP chair car that he said would be the minimum order to make more, and never heard back from him.  This was back in November, so things could have changed by now.

[CBQ Fan]

Burlington Route please.

[thomasjmdavis]

Roberto has been really busy, so I'm not sure how easy it will be to get sides. I tried to get 6 pairs of a UP chair car that he said would be the minimum order to make more, and never heard back from him.  This was back in November, so things could have changed by now.

I keep hoping he will retire from his crazy job, especially now that I am retired from my own crazy job, and have some time to work on trains.

[draskouasshat]

Adam,
M&R
Don't put Roberto out of business.  The current MT baggage car is the ideal core for M&R baggage car sides (fishbelly and otherwise), and his RPO sides are a good fit over the MT RPO.  Those would be a piece of cake for a guy who can build a 3460 series Hudson out a MP Mogul (I am still have trouble wrapping my head around that project of yours).

That said, Roberto did sides for 3000-3049 chair cars, but not (AFAIK) 3050-3069, so there is an opening there. 

@Shipsure- While for some reason, there are several posters here suggesting things that are not Erie and L&N, keep in mind that Erie remodeled some of their single window coaches into single window diner-parlor (2996) and a diner-lounge (2999)- while retaining the basic windows arrangement and clerestory roof- so by fussing with the interior you get 3 car types for the cost of 1 bodystyle.  And L&N gives you the opportunity to tie up your art department (errr....person) for weeks trying to get the pad printer to knock out flawless Palmer script lettering.

Of course, I know there is no way you will do Erie 2 tone green until the day after the decals dry on my last custom paint and lettering job.

Its not much of a business. I've waited for 3 years to have the rest of my order filled. I've dealt with Roberto for 10 years and its like pulling teeth to get a hold of him.
As a Santa fe modeler, why would we want to depend on one manufacturer for santa fe items?

Drasko

[thomasjmdavis]

Of course you are correct- the more manufacturers, and the more models available, the better.  For instance, glad to see KV models starting to move into doing heavyweight sides for Pullmans.  And it does seem that Roberto has not been keeping up with his customers, although I personally am still working on 20 or so sets I ordered from him several years ago.

Among those never produced that I would like to see would be the ATSF 60' fishbelly baggage/mail storage cars- either as RTR, or sides or shells to fit the MT RPO or the 60' cars coming from Atlas.

[haasmarc]

I'll take Reading and CNJ please.

[GhengisKong]

I keep hoping he will retire from his crazy job, especially now that I am retired from my own crazy job, and have some time to work on trains.

It would be nice to actually be able to get a hold of him. I would imagine it would have to be a $350+ order to get his attention right now, though.

[wm3798]

WM's cars were shorter than the average bear...  I'll have to dig out some articles, but I think they were only 77' across the couplers.

Lee

[jmlaboda - RIP]

Don't put Roberto out of business.

That would be surprising news to me.  People forget that he has a job that takes him away from his home for extended periods of time, which is why its sometimes difficult to get in touch with him.  Last I heard he is still quite active... just needs time to do what he can with his free time.

[jmlaboda - RIP]

WM's cars were shorter than the average bear...  I'll have to dig out some articles, but I think they were only 77' across the couplers.

They were 78' and change which is comparable to the paired windowed coach and soon (hopefully) to be released single-windowed coach.

[Alwyn Cutmore]

Hi Joe,

Just don't stuff around anymore just do the PRR P70 Coach with 2DP5 trucks and paint it whatever. Lima did it with six wheels trucks and sold a guzillion which convinced Model Power to do the same. If you did the 2DP5 truck you would put thousands out of their misery and pick up sales to all those other manufacturers that are using whatever truck they can make through SWs our in metal castings. Just like to stay positive going forward. Then by simply changing the side blocks you have the potential of thirty or forty different variants. 

Regards

Al

[Maletrain]

I'm in for one single-tone green Erie.  I need it for alternate days in the Washingtonian consist between DC and Pittsburgh.

[Mark5]

Hey folks, we already know that this will be the NYC single window coach:

https://www.micro-trains.com/publicfiles/monthly/MTLPG2017.pdf

Mark 

[jmlaboda - RIP]

Hey folks, we already know that this will be the NYC single window coach:

But that doesn't look like any NYC single windowed coach that I have seen...



That looks more like the paired window coach that NYC had and even there it isn't all that close...

Went through all the diagrams on the Canadian Southern website and could not find anything even close to what is shown in the MT .pdf file... I think I am going to be sick...

[thomasjmdavis]

Jerry, they have been working on this since my PhD daughter was in the 8th grade.  Let's not scare them off at this point.

I suppose how much the graphic in the MT brochure @Mark5 linked resembles a NYC is a matter of opinion.  From the resources at hand, I think it looks pretty close, especially to cars with AC and lower density seating for long haul trains. The windows look too small, compared to photos, but that is true of some of the NYC own diagrams. For my purposes, that is fairly academic- as I will probably paint all that I acquire as Erie or L&N cars- and the graphic resembles them enough to keep me happy as they would be stand ins anyway.  That said, I had originally expected a symmetrical car, like the Branchline car (http://www.laserartstructures.com/inst_sheets/bp-pass.pdf.  Of course, in some cases, the car might be symmetrical on one side and have some windows blanked on the other.

I went to the N scale Varnish User Guide, where there is a link to an article by Horvath and Stoving
https://nycshs.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/nycheavyweightcoacharticle.pdf

While none of the cars pictured is an exact match, the drawing in the MT brochure looks much like the diagram views shown in the article- Note the size of windows in some diagrams.  The diagram at the bottom of page 25 (the first page of the pdf is numbered page 18 of the magazine) has a note showing that the two left hand windows were blanked on some coaches when they were air conditioned in the 1930s.  So far all the MT coaches and sleepers are AC'ed versions, so assuming this new model is also, with the windows blanked, the diagram is similar to the graphic representation in the MT brochure.

From what @Shipsure said about schedule, I assume we will see photos of pre-production samples sometime soon, and although unusual for me, I am going to try to hold back from rendering an opinion on appearance until I see a photo.  And assuming it meets the same standards as their other passenger cars, I will more likely be praising it than criticizing.