39 - O Scale Trains Magazine Online

Researching the Prototype
A recent passenger car project left me in the mood to start
work (finally) on a set of old Kasiner fluted side passenger cars
that I had collected over the years and stored in their partially
assembled state on a display shelf. It had been my intention
since the start to build and detail these cars to represent the
Frisco streamlined passenger equipment built by Pullman
Standard. Actually the location and purchase of two sets of
Microscale O Scale decal sets for the Frisco E-8s brought this
project from the “Around to it Bowl” to the workbench.
With excuses laid by, it was now time to locate my old
research information (photos, notes, etc.) and start the search
for any new data available. It has been my intention to organize
my magazine and book collections onto an easy to locate
shelving system around the perimeter of the layout. This project
is currently 80% complete and I’m finding books, magazines
and O Scale parts that had become misplaced in the
organized confusion over the years.
Starting the new reference search, Google and the Internet
yielded good results. Some of the web sites appeared familiar
with new information and photos posted. Then, I remembered
looking at a book during the 2007 Indy convention of passenger
equipment of the Southwestern railroads that had builder’s
photos of the Frisco streamlined cars, which I didn’t purchase.
Well hindsight is said to be 20/20 vision, but I will be looking
for the same book at East Wind ‘08.
Getting started, with nine different kits on hand, it was
decided that the streamlined RPO car would be the first project
with a coach and baggage-coach combine to follow. At
least we can operate local passenger service until the crosscountry
train is completed. The Frisco RPO # 251 Normandy
is a Pullman Standard design of the 60 feet plus type (photos
only to work from). With two Kasiner kits to choose from,
the Shorty 56 scale feet or a longer 84 foot version. I choose
to use the Shorty. Although too short to be an exact match, I
believe the completed car will capture the feel and look of the
prototype.
Construction started with the basic assembly of the kit. I
decided to add external details to best represent the prototype
car. The fabrication of new ends from styrene and the
installation of Kiel Line detail parts were a must, as well as
the replacement of the underbody wood parts with scratchbuilt
styrene components. This is where I started running into
problems. The photos I had were not that sharp in showing
the details of the underbody or car ends. Back to the library, I
found several good photographs and drawings of various passenger
cars in many of the 1950’s issues of Railroad Model
Craftsman. This information helped but I was still undecided
as to how everything on the underside of this car worked and
should be positioned.
Time for a change of pace to clear the mind. A trip to the
local Radio Shack for lighting components was in order. The
route to the store just happens to go by a private collection of
prototype rail equipment, including a Southern streamlined
coach, all of which I had forgotten about until I drove by. After
doing a U-Turn on the 4-Lane (no police in sight), I parked
at the exhibit and walked up to the fence around the coach.
Within a matter of minutes of looking at the details of the
coach (no camera or tape measure), I had answers to my problems
concerning the RPO model. When in doubt, there’s nothing
like the real thing to get you going again. I’ll not get into
what problems I encountered as it may create cause for alarm.
The moral to this story would be when building a model of
a prototype, sometimes it helps to see the real thing. Working
from a set of plans or scale drawings is certainly the way to go.
Photographs give us the ability to view equipment that is no
longer around and in certain cases dimensions and other construction
methods can be determined from the photos. Having
access to a prototype car is in itself an opportunity that should
not be overlooked.
By just looking at this Southern coach, it was easy to see
many construction details that you can’t see in photographs or
scale drawings; how the real fluting and panels were installed,
how the ends were assembled and the diaphragms installed
and how they operated. This coach being built by Pullman
Standard, it seemed logical that the underbody compartments
and appliances were standard items used by P.S. and only their
placement varied from car type to special order versions.
My hat is off to the scratchbuilders in O Scale. I only wish
that I had the time to devote to an exact quarter-inch scale
model of a prototype locomotive or car. Until that day we’ll be
content to kitbash and detail, expand and organize our library
and add notes and photos from our travels. You never know
when the urge to build that special engine or car you remember
from years gone by will strike. Until the next time, “Keep
em on the rail.”
u
July/Aug ’08 - O Scale Trains • 27