Question about body for n scale Centralia 18 Roomette sleeper

[Maletrain]

Is the body for those Centralia 18 roomette cars made by somebody else, or is it exclusive to Centralia?  I want to modify one, and am trying to find the best starting point.

[ncbqguy]

A whole range of plastic and also etched car sides were packaged with American Limited core kits by Centralia Car Shops.  A few of these made it into the decorated and assembled range and some new ones were made with InterMountain but all of them are Centralia.  Check with Des Plaines Hobbies for availability.
Charlie Vlk

Rest In Peace, Dear Friend Ron Sebastian....  You touched many lives and Barb and I think about you frequently about the ways knowing you improved mine.

[thomasjmdavis]

Edit - oops, sorry. I should have read all the way through Charlie's post when it came up on the "warning" screen telling me someone else had posted.  Anyway, here is what I had to say....

I think it may depend on which generation of Centralia sleeper you have.  If my recollection of the history is correct (or just the examination of an early Centralia 6-6-4 in my collection), early Centralia cars were not much more than assembled and painted Des Plaines Hobbies kits.  Which are still available from Des Plaines hobbies http://www.desplaineshobbies.com/store/product/26791/N-PS-18-ROOMETTE-SLEEPER/ (2nd edit- hopefully fixed the link per messages below) .  I have found the Des Plaines kits easy to work on- since the parts are flat on sprues, rather than trying to chop parts out of a shell. The DPM smooth side cars have injection molded sides, DPM corrugated cars come with M&R sides. The other plus is that you get a complete ALM core kit as part of the Des Plaines kit.

I don't have any of the most recent Centralia cars, so I can't comment on what improvements or other changes have happened in the interim.

I don't know how similar they are dimensionally to Kato, or perhaps others, 18 roomette sleepers that are out there.

[thomasjmdavis]

Rest In Peace, Dear Friend Ron Sebastian....  You touched many lives and Barb and I think about you frequently about the ways knowing you improved mine.

Amen to that Charlie.  I did not know him well, but Ron was a big help to my early modeling in N scale.  And he built a great company- it is the best hobby shop I've ever visited.  I left the Chicago area in the late 80s, but do try to get to DPH every once in a while when I am in that area.  And have bought a bunch of those kits over the years.  Also met you there, once, about 15 years ago.  And it has occurred to me that you might also be the same Charlie that answered a bunch of questions for me at the All Nations Hobby Shop about 50 years ago, when I was building my first HO layout.  Sorry,  bit of nostalgia....

[nickelplate759]

...
Which are still available from Des Plaines hobbies http://www.desplaineshobbies.com/store/product/26791/N-PS-18-ROOMETTE-SLEEPER
...

The link needs a "/" at the end:

http://www.desplaineshobbies.com/store/product/26791/N-PS-18-ROOMETTE-SLEEPER/

[Maletrain]

Thanks for the link to DesPlaines Hobbies.  BTW, it comes up as "Page not found" unless you add a "/" to the end of that link: http://www.desplaineshobbies.com/store/product/26791/N-PS-18-ROOMETTE-SLEEPER/

If this is what Centralia started with, then that is what I need. I really wish they had some pictures available for their kit sides.  There are probably some other things I would buy if I knew what they looked like (e.g., window arrangement).

[ncbqguy]

I worked at All-Nations on Saturdays starting in the mid-sixties and as far as I remember there weren’t any other Charlies hanging around so you’re probably correct!
I guess I really anticipated my second career in the Model Railroad industry when I wrote a letter to A.C. Gilbert when I was maybe 10 years old making product recommendations, many of which happened (0-6-0, Franklin 4-4-0, F-7 (ugh!), 0-6-0T).  Wish I had a copy of my letter and the response (along with a American Flyer Boys Model Railroad Club certificate!).
Charlie Vlk

[thomasjmdavis]

Sorry about the missing "/".  Edited, and now it works (at least for me).

[OldEastRR]

Early assembled CCS cars were empty shells, no interiors. Second iteration they came with detailed interiors and a lighting kit like an EasyPeasy. I bought one of the first CCS Pennsy P85s and found that the windows on both sides didn't match up -- one side was 4' off from being perfectly aligned with the correct side.

[Maletrain]

Thank you all for steering me to Des Plaines Hobbies for their 18 roomette kit.  It arrived today, and is a much better (and much cheaper) starting point than the Centralia version of this car, especially because I would have needed to strip and disassemble the Centralia car before I could start modifying it into the "Roaring Camp" 17-1 car that I really want.

I would not have known that this car type had the same window arrangement as the car I really wanted without first seeing the Centralia version in pictures on eBay.  And that brings up the point that Des Plaines has no pictures available for their car listings.  And, they really don't have much info about their models at all.  Looking up B&O, the two other cars that came up seem to be either MTL models or at least kits for2 cars that MTL already sells as completed models. 

So, does anybody have any suggestions about how I can actually see what the various Des Plaines offerings look like?  I may be able to identify other kits that would make good starting points for some of those eclectic passenger cars that the B&O used to cobble together for even its named trains in the 1950s.