I decided to move my projects over here so they don't disappear after a month. Feel free to comment, question, or even show me what you're doing. We're here to learn from each other along with everything else, right?
I have another lot in the paint shop! The baggage dorm and coach you've seen over in the Coffee Shop. The other two are a pair of cars I had temporarily forgotten about. Being an SP fan, you've got to have a Daylight right? I mean it was probably their "IT" train using today's slang. I do have one, a nice set of MTH cars that I use to model the 1941 Coast Daylight. Unfortunately, I became fascinated with these trains and wanted to do a little more with them. Turns out there were several Daylights: The Coast Daylight, which everyone has seen. There was also the San Joaquin Daylight, which ran through the Central Valley. Then there's the Shasta Daylight which ran from Oakland to Portland. That train was different from the others. It had large windows for a better view of the spectacular scenery on that route. Maybe I'll tackle that one someday, but it would be a very expensive project as all the cars are more recent brass models! The Sacramento Daylight ran from Oakland to Sacramento, and was a good short train. At it's most popular, it was only five cars. A coffee shop, a chair car, an articulated chair car (counts as two), and a parlor observation. That's very reasonable for a home layout. It was pulled by a Daylight painted Atlantic on the 1940's and wouldn't you know it, I just happened to have one!
Anyhoo, I've been working on a San Joaquin Daylight, and in the era I'm modeling the train, it didn't yet have the triple unit diner/kitchen/coffee shop car. I found a coffee shop/tavern and a lunch counter/tavern on e-Bay from Trainz. These are old Soho cars, so they weren't expensive, not much more and sometimes less than a current Wally passenger car. They are also correct for the train. They'll take a little more work, but it'll be worth it in the end! They are short on detail, but adequate. The underbodies are spartan but since I don't model train wrecks I really don't care about that much. It'll be easy enough to add that sort of detail later if I decide I want to as the floor is held on with six screws. Here they are:
One thing that has to happen is the factory trucks have to go. Not only to they induce vacuum, but the wheelbase isn't right, they're short on detail, and while they don't roll badly there is room for improvement! I decided to replace them with trucks from D & G Models. D&G makes high quality trucks for UP, SP. Santa Fe, NYC, PRR, ACL and Rock Island. They do have a website, but handle orders the old-fashioned way, so I get mine from The Original Whistle Stop out in Pasadena, or as Sheldon Cooper of BBT fame calls it: "The Good Train Store". They get me my orders in two days. The factory truck is on the left, the D&G truck is on the right. Need I say more?
They are pretty universal when it comes to mounting. I had to drill out the center mounting hole to fit the existing Soho kingpin. A 1/8" drill bit gave me a perfect slip fit. They are made of engineering plastic, and the springs are functional. If you want to light your car, you'll need to add wipers.
The shells will take a trip to the blasting booth as nickel plating doesn't always take paint well. I won't remove it, but I will rough it enough to take paint well. Daylight isn't really hard to paint. It's a three-color scheme, but it's also all straight lines. The painful part is the four stripes that run the length of the car. More to come.
I have another lot in the paint shop! The baggage dorm and coach you've seen over in the Coffee Shop. The other two are a pair of cars I had temporarily forgotten about. Being an SP fan, you've got to have a Daylight right? I mean it was probably their "IT" train using today's slang. I do have one, a nice set of MTH cars that I use to model the 1941 Coast Daylight. Unfortunately, I became fascinated with these trains and wanted to do a little more with them. Turns out there were several Daylights: The Coast Daylight, which everyone has seen. There was also the San Joaquin Daylight, which ran through the Central Valley. Then there's the Shasta Daylight which ran from Oakland to Portland. That train was different from the others. It had large windows for a better view of the spectacular scenery on that route. Maybe I'll tackle that one someday, but it would be a very expensive project as all the cars are more recent brass models! The Sacramento Daylight ran from Oakland to Sacramento, and was a good short train. At it's most popular, it was only five cars. A coffee shop, a chair car, an articulated chair car (counts as two), and a parlor observation. That's very reasonable for a home layout. It was pulled by a Daylight painted Atlantic on the 1940's and wouldn't you know it, I just happened to have one!
Anyhoo, I've been working on a San Joaquin Daylight, and in the era I'm modeling the train, it didn't yet have the triple unit diner/kitchen/coffee shop car. I found a coffee shop/tavern and a lunch counter/tavern on e-Bay from Trainz. These are old Soho cars, so they weren't expensive, not much more and sometimes less than a current Wally passenger car. They are also correct for the train. They'll take a little more work, but it'll be worth it in the end! They are short on detail, but adequate. The underbodies are spartan but since I don't model train wrecks I really don't care about that much. It'll be easy enough to add that sort of detail later if I decide I want to as the floor is held on with six screws. Here they are:One thing that has to happen is the factory trucks have to go. Not only to they induce vacuum, but the wheelbase isn't right, they're short on detail, and while they don't roll badly there is room for improvement! I decided to replace them with trucks from D & G Models. D&G makes high quality trucks for UP, SP. Santa Fe, NYC, PRR, ACL and Rock Island. They do have a website, but handle orders the old-fashioned way, so I get mine from The Original Whistle Stop out in Pasadena, or as Sheldon Cooper of BBT fame calls it: "The Good Train Store". They get me my orders in two days. The factory truck is on the left, the D&G truck is on the right. Need I say more?
They are pretty universal when it comes to mounting. I had to drill out the center mounting hole to fit the existing Soho kingpin. A 1/8" drill bit gave me a perfect slip fit. They are made of engineering plastic, and the springs are functional. If you want to light your car, you'll need to add wipers.
The shells will take a trip to the blasting booth as nickel plating doesn't always take paint well. I won't remove it, but I will rough it enough to take paint well. Daylight isn't really hard to paint. It's a three-color scheme, but it's also all straight lines. The painful part is the four stripes that run the length of the car. More to come.
Some guys have used Pine Sol. That I've never tried.
