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April 2004 Newsletter
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The last two months have seen a blizzard of passenger car activity. First, Branchline has now gotten their excellent N.Y.C. style coach onto the market. It is a great kit; well worth the wait and the time you will put into assembly. I expect their heavyweight Pullman cars will begin to appear in late May or June. Many have asked if we would do windows so that these cars, too, could be kitbashed as we now do with the Rivarossi and other cars. I have met with the folks at Branchline on this several times and the issue is being studied at this time. It is probable that we will produce such windows but read on and you will understand why their introduction needs to be very carefully planned.
As if the Branchline Pullmans are not enough, Walthers has also announced more heavyweight Pullmans!!! Beginning next December Walthers has announced they, too, will be introducing their own series of six heavyweight Pullmans. These will include a 14 sec. sleeper, an 8-1-2 sleeper and still another 12-1 sleeper. These three are three of the same types also expected from Branchline so one has to ask why, particularly with regard to another 12-1. The other three, however, may be of far more interest. These will include a paired window coach, a heavyweight diner and a 3-2 observation, all of which make a great deal of sense. In our case, with so many new cars being introduced it would appear that it would also make sense to let the dust settle a bit before contemplating more windows for the conversion of any of these new introductions until we see determine what is really needed.
Walthers/Rivarossi 60 ft. Cars
Walthers previously announced 60 ft. heavyweights have also arrived. These new 60 ft. Rivarossi cars arrived late in February in N.Y.C. paint. Other roads have arrived as well and undecorated cars should follow. My initial thoughts are that the cars are very nicely done and are a good buy for the asking price. While it was disappointing to find a four car set packaged in one box, rather than individual boxes shrink-wrapped, that is a marketing issue. The cars are nicely done and include full interiors. It was surprising to see how complete the interior was even where it cannot be seen through the windows. The R.P.O., for example, has mail sacks suspended from the pipe frames and even has a letter case, complete with pigeon holes, at the opposite end of the car where there are no windows through which to see it! How do I know it is there? I removed an end to look in. The only thing lacking are Preiser mail clerks to work the car! One blessing with these cars was noted with regard to grab irons and hand rails. Rather than mold them on, Rivarossi has provided pilot holes that can be drilled out to mount the preformed wire grab irons and hand rails that are supplied with the cars. The most difficult part of this job will be opening up the first car to do the job. I recommend removing an end first and then, after reviewing printed instruction sheet for your car, carefully noting where the various tabs are that lock the parts into one complete assembly. Also of note is a new design of working diaphragm that is the best I have seen to date, though it needs a bit more travel. In all honesty, it would not surprise me to find as many of the baggage cars sold as all the others combined. It is certainly the most useful of the four cars chosen, followed by the very nice full R.P.O. The 60 ft. combine and coach just seem a little…well, short. We will see what can be created by splicing some pieces once the undecorated cars arrive.
O.K., I know, we still haven't gotten Kit #321 for the 6 S - 4 Rm.- 3 DBR of Plan 4179 completed yet but are now discussing other conversions. We do, however, try to address conversion kits for those car types that are really needed and are not likely to be obtained in styrene otherwise. One of these is the 8 - 5 of the Garden and Clover series, which several folks mentioned recently at the A.R.S. show in West Springfield, Mass. With 125 betterment conversions of this type in service from the mid-1930's on this is an important Pullman type for many of us. Yet it is not a car planned by either Branchline or Walthers at this time. Thus it is a good candidate for a conversion kit and is next on the list after Kit #321. Those who have viewed our "Gallery" section have seen my own conversions to this type, one in Pullman green and the other in the two-tone gray. As discussed there, the type requires the replacement of every window in each side, in addition to filling the vestibules on one end. That should give you an idea of the amount of material required for this conversion, which dictates a $19.95 kit. Let's see what we can do for an instruction sheet, however.
There are some other Pullmans that would appear to be good candidates for conversion kits as well. Since these are not types that saw regular use in New England, however, it is uncertain which are really needed. The possible candidates include the 7C - 2DR Plan 2522 cars; 7DR Plan 2583 & 3583 cars, mostly the "Willow" series; 14SBR Plan 3980 "Night" series cars; 13DR Plan 3997 cars; 10S - 3DBR Plan 3411 "Villa" series cars and 10S - 2DBR - 1C Plan 4042 cars of the "College" series. If these, or some cars not listed, are of particular interest to you please let us know so they might be considered as well. You can reach us at info@newenglandrail.com. In the meantime we will take a look at some possible new conversions for parlor and other car types as well.
Special Offer on Rivarossi 12-1's
Many have complained about the unavailability of the Rivarossi 12-1 over the last year or so. Perhaps we can help. N.E.R.S. has acquired a large stock of Rivarossi 12-1's which are available to those ordering our conversions kits …. and at a special price. These cars are all new stock, in various roadnames, and most come with interiors. The retail price of the cars is now $26.98. While the supply lasts we are offering these cars on the basis of one car, in our choice of roadname, for each conversion kit ordered at a price of only $17 each. That is nearly a 40% discount and saves you $10 per car! You can pick the conversion kits you want, add $17 to the price of each kit and acquire a car and a conversion kit all at the same time. Orders for this special offer must be sent via the mail as we cannot accept Internet orders for this offer. You can, however, print an order form from our website and add the correct amount in. This special offer is good only on the basis of one car at the special offer price for each conversion kit offered and only while our supply lasts.
Each year when we begin inventory, usually about the time we are getting ready for the Amherst Railway Society Show in West Springfield, Mass. at the beginning of each February, we seem to come across something we have overlooked. This year was no different. In the interest of providing accurate models of common New England freight prototypes that have not been considered by others, we have from time to time offered custom decorated cars when a model could be found that was very close to the prototype. Our first such cars were B&M #7100 - #7199 series twin hoppers. The B&M prototypes were constructed by Bethlehem Steel Co. just as W.W. II broke out. By 1948 all but two were still in service, though by 1959 only 34 remained, the last of which disappeared by the mid-1960's. Thus this is the perfect B&M hopper for the transition or early diesel era modeler. Special artwork was prepared for these cars to make them as faithful to the prototype when built as possible. They have their original B&M rectangular herald, which lasted into the very late 1940's before the minuteman herald came into use as cars were repainted. These are custom decorated, Athearn offset panel twin hoppers which are quite correct for the cars modeled. Two cars number are available, #7121 and #7152, at a cost of $9.95 per car plus shipping. A photo of such a car will soon appear under our "Products" section. If interest warrants it another run with additional numbers can be produced when those on hand are sold out and a minuteman herald version can be considered as well.
Next comes our 1942 Magor AAR B&M 40 ft. boxcar. These are on the Red Caboose carbody that, once again, is the correct carbody for these cars in HO scale. Once again as well, we have done them in the original rectangular herald paint that they received when constructed in March 1942. Here, too, the cars began receiving the minuteman herald when being repainted in the late 1940's. These cars are available for $14.95 each, plus shipping, in three different road numbers. A photo should be in the "Products" section soon if one is not already there.
For anyone modeling the B&M in the W.W. II or postwar era these two cars should form an important part of your fleet. Both cars represented the newest of their type, hopper or boxcar, on the B&M until at least late 1947 when the new PS-1 40 ft. boxcars began to arrive from Pullman-Standard.
Coal Traffic in Northern New England
With no on line coal mines, for some the question may arise as to what the B&M used hopper cars for. That can best be answered with a brief description of how the B&M received coal for delivery to on-line customers. Contrary to what many believe, much of the coal received by the B&M was tide coal. That is to say it was coal that had been carried to the deepwater ports nearest the point at which it was mined by other railroads. At that point it was loaded into coastal carriers that transported it by water to wherever it was needed along the East Coast. In most cases this was New England as most other points were more easily reached completely by rail. Once it arrived in a New England seaport it was unloaded by machines such as the three that only now are being removed from the BAR's dock in Searsport, Maine. A model of such an unloader has been offered by Sheepscot Scale Models as it Cats Head Pier. The B & M is known to have had similar facilities at Boston, Salem and Newburyport, Mass. and Portsmouth, N.H. From these points the cars could be moved to on-line customers with little worry about per diem charges for foreign cars, thus earning more money for the B&M than simply delivering coal in another railroad's hopper received in interchange. The New Haven, Maine Central and Bangor & Aroostook all handled coal in this fashion. Other roads not handling tide coal, such as the Rutland, still often reloaded coal into their own hoppers to reduce car hire, or per diem, charges. In the Rutland's case, that was one of the principle purposes of the large coal trestle at Alburg, Vt.
Speaking of coal, how many have ever paid much attention to what railroad's hopper cars were seen in New England in years past? Photo observation seems to indicate that most foreign hoppers bringing in coal were from the B & O, Pennsy and Reading, with a smaller number from the New York Central, D & H and Lackawanna. Still fewer cars came from the Erie and the smaller coal roads. Notice the lack of mention of three of the largest coal haulers, the C & O, N & W and Virginian. That's because the vast majority of coal loaded on those roads was tide coal, or simply did not come this far owing to the cheaper delivered cost of coal from mines closer to our region. This is not to say a hopper car from one of these roads never showed up in New England but take a look at rail photos from the region with this point in mind and you will soon see what is meant.
We are now out of stock with our #211 5 ft. 6 in. baggage car doors and do not expect to have more until late summer. At that time their part number and pricing will be changed to reflect the cost of a new mold for them in addition to an increased number in each package. Like our #210 Interior Vestibule Wall, the #211 baggage doors have been produced on a combination mold. Also like the wall sections, they have proved far more popular than anyone here ever contemplated. Thus a new mold is being machined that will enable us to produce more at one time. They will then be packaged in larger quantity and offered at $4.50 per package. Additionally, we are having a mold made for 8 ft. baggage car doors. These, in effect, are two 4 ft. doors that close and meet in the middle of an 8 ft. opening. Such doors were quite popular here in New England at least and were found on both wood and steel sheathed cars. Examples can be found in the Gallery section of this site, near the end of the conversions, on B&M baggage car #3201. Thus we hope to soon offer both 5 ft. 6 in. baggage doors and 8 ft. baggage doors.
When these new molds are completed we should no longer have a supply problem with the 5 ft. 6 in. baggage doors and we will also have the 8 ft. doors available. Our purpose has always been to have all parts available at all times once a part is introduced. With the exception of these two and the #250 while that mold received some repair work several years ago, that has been the case with all of our molded parts.
It is obvious that doors of widths other than 5 ft. 6 in. and 8 ft. are needed. Thus we are already contemplating others as well. It appears that 4 ft., 4 ft. 6 in., 5 ft. and 6 ft. doors may be required if all needs are to be met. First, however let us get the supply problems with the 5 ft. 6 in. door out of the way and get the 8 ft. door introduced. Once this is accomplished we can assess the need for additional sizes and see if the mold cost for any others can be justified. As always, your comments as to which other doors are most seriously needed are always welcome. It should be noted here that these doors will all have their frames incorporated into a one piece molding with them and cored for drilling where grab irons would be attached. They can be used for both steel and wood sheathed cars equally well to create a variety of headend equipment. Is anyone interested in mail cars???
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