Fred Klein, 2001,
2002, 2003
Most of these 63’ scale length cars are shorter than the typical 75’-85’ passenger cars. They are not prototypes but I believe simply designed to travel tight curves on a layout. The non-prototypical short cars include coach, dome and observation. Russell Straw reports “One other bit of trivia. The Arnold Rapido corrugated passenger cars do have a prototype. It is the HO Athern cars :-) Arnold shrunk most of them even more except for the RPO.”
RPO, 63’. Corrugated car made by Budd for the Santa Fe in 1940. See picture on page 6 of ATSF color guide to freight and passenger equipment by Lloyd Stagner. Similar to the Budd car built for Santa Fe in 1964.
Arnold RPO car decorated
with decals for Santa Fe.
Similar Santa Fe 63’ RPO car ATSF 91 built by Budd in 1954
(photo from railfan.net http://abpr2.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?april10/04-06-10/AT_SF91atChillicotyheIL1-20-68DaveInglesScanColl.jpg).
Full dome lounge dormitory, 84’. Built by Budd for the Santa Fe in 1954 for the El Capitan, later used on the Chief, car numbers 506-513. The 1956 Budd full domes built for the San Francisco Chief are very similar but one of the downstairs windows is slightly different. See pictures on page 18 of Stagner’s ATSF color guide to freight and passenger equipment.
Bachmann full-dome lounge
car (re)decorated for Santa Fe.
Budd constructed eight “big dome” lounge cars for Santa Fe
in 1954. Stan Kistler photo from http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=556520.
Corrugated Dome with slab-panel sides, 84’. This car is fully covered under chapter 4 on the smooth-side cars because it was released with and has similar prototypes to the other Con-cor smooth-side cars. These cars were the 46-reserved-seat /24-dome-seat coaches built by Budd for Great Northern’s 1955 Empire Builder (16 cars in the 1320-1335 series). See pages 7 and 27 of GN color guide to freight and passenger equipment by David Hickhox and page 137 of Great Northern Pictorial volume 3. The car is also the Budd 46-seat coach built for the Burlington in 1956 to run on the Denver Zephyr. The two prototype CB&Q cars had full corrugation on the lower side (photos on page 171 of The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q and page 39 of Dorin’s The Domeliners). Budd built ten dome coaches with slab sides in 1954 for Northern Pacific’s North Coast Limited. The model matches the dome coaches, but not the dome 4 roomette/4 bedroom/4 single room sleepers built for the NP.
Commuter-gallery, 85’. This is a close match to the 94 CB&Q cars built by Budd during 1950-1965 for Chicago commuter service (page 204 of Randall’s The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q, and page 40 of CBQ color guide to freight and passenger equipment). Hundreds more were built for the RTA, Metra, Milwaukee Road, and Rock Island. The side with a toilet compartment is modeled with 9 long windows on a side and one long space, but the prototype has 9 long windows and a short, almost circular window. The Con-cor model has narrow corrugations below the windows, which are a better match to the MILW and RI cars than the wide corrugations of the CB&Q cars. The window shape on the Con-cor model is a better match to the RI and CB&Q cars than the more rounded windows on the MILW cars. Modern cars very similar to this are in use on the Caltrain-SP line on the San Francisco peninsula (1980s-2000s). Very similar Canadian cars are in service surrounding Montreal.
Con-cor model decorated
for the Rock Island. The toilet area on
the right end is incorrectly modeled without a window.
Budd commuter-gallery car of 1950 (photo from page
204 of Randall’s The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q).
Milwaukee Road commuter coach with cab. MILW owned 62 of these Budd commuter
coaches. Note the small window at the
toilet end of the car. Photo from page
125 of Dorin’s Commuter Railroads.
Commuter-gallery with cab. This is a very close match to the 6 CB&Q cars built by Budd in 1965 for Chicago commuter service (page 206 of The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q). The Rock Island and Milwaukee Road also bought Budd coaches. The door and toilet window also differ slightly from the prototype. The cab compartment is correctly modeled with a vertical bar in the window so that half of the window can slide open. There actually was a long window below the cab on the lower level, but it is modeled with long space and no window.
Con-cor model of commuter
coach with cab decorated for the Rock Island.
The area on the right end under the cab is incorrectly modeled without a
window.
Rock Island Budd commuter coach. This is the cab end used in push-pull
commuter service. Photo from page 135 of
Dorin’s Commuter Railroads.
The Con-cor models of Budd cars (below) released in 2001-2002 are mostly accurate to CBQ prototypes, but the models differ in two respects on each car: 1) Unlike the prototype with full skirts, the model skirting is cut away around the trucks so the models can traverse sharp curves; 2) the model letterboards are smooth for the entire length of the car so Con-cor can apply lettering for any railroad, even when the prototype was a short name like “Burlington” and allowed corrugations near the ends of the cars. This is a compromise made by the manufacturer to permit more sales of the same car mold.
Railway Post Office, 72’. I agree with the identification of Russell Straw that the model car is “modified” from a CBQ or Santa Fe prototype. Because all the other Con-cor Budd cars are CBQ, lets start with their closest RPO. Two baggage – RPO cars were delivered in 1948, Silver Post and Silver Page. They were 85’ cars with a standard length 60’ RPO section. I believe that Con-cor chopped off the 25’ baggage compartment and stretched the 60’ RPO section to 72’ to use some of the same dies as their existing baggage car. This stretch resulted in wider window spacing. The result is similar to a stretched Santa Fe 60’ RPO (see Santa Fe photo below and with the Arnold RPO). I agree with many modelers that, after introducing the line of Budd cars that match CBQ prototypes fairly closely, it is a shame that Con-cor made a car that is so badly distorted.
Con-cor RPO car,
apparently a 72’ stretch of the 60’ RPO portion of a 1948 CBQ Baggage-RPO car
or a 1964 Santa Fe RPO. The 5 windows
are spaced more widely than the prototypes, and the model is not a good visual
match to any known prototype.
85’ Budd baggage-RPO car
delivered to the CBQ in 1948. The two
cars were used between Chicago and Minneapolis on the Empire Builder from 1948
until 1952 and after 1952 were also used on the North Coast Limited. Photo from page 93 of Randall’s The
Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q.
Baggage, 72’. Con-cor’s web site states “Modeled after 3500 series cars built by Budd for the Santa Fe, similar design to "Silver Treasure" baggage built for the Burlington/California Zephyr train. Design copied by other railroads.”
The Con-cor model is the car built for general service in the 903-908 series (CB&Q) in 1948 (two for the Nebraska Zephyr and “Silver Bear, Buffalo and Coyote” for the California Zephyr). “Silver Treasure” was also built in 1948 for general service and sometimes substituted on the CZ. The “Silver Antelope” was also built for the DRGW and “Silver Beaver and Stag” were built for the WP for the CZ in 1948. See pages 91 and 95 of Randall’s The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q. The most similar cars that Budd built for Santa Fe were the 3432-3452 cars of 1942, which had a wide and a medium width-door, and more flat panels over the corrugations for lettering and numbers. See photo on page 106 of Head end cars, Santa Fe railway passenger car reference series volume 1. See also the baggage car in the Kato section.
Con-cor Budd baggage car
decorated (with decals) for Burlington’s “Argo”.
Burlington 72’ Budd baggage car, three made in 1948, two for
the Nebraska Zephyr and one for the California Zephyr. Photo from page 91 of Randall’s The
Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q.
Santa Fe baggage car 3433, built by Budd in 1942 from
the series 3432-3452. Photo from page 106 of Head end cars, Santa Fe railway passenger
car reference series volume 1.
Coach, 85’. Con-cor’s web site states “These cars started out life as 16 section sleepers and were converted to coaches later by the Burlington Route and used on the California Zephyr and other trains.”
The cars were originally 16-section sleepers in the “Silver [tree]” series built by Budd in 1948 (6 cars built for the CZ) and converted to 48-seat coaches in 1964. The cars could thus be redecorated from coaches to 16-section sleepers. Sections with their curtains were no longer popular if private rooms were available, and Santa Fe never built any 16-section streamline cars. The window arrangement is exactly the same on both sides of the car with the smallest window on the left side. There are 9 long windows and 3 small ones. See The story of the California Zephyr by Karl Zimmerman and page 111 of Randall’s The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q. The car is a close but not exact match to the 14 Budd 60-seat coaches built for the Santa Fe in 1941-46 as series 3137-3168 (see photo on page 9 of ATSF color guide to freight and passenger equipment).
The 16-section sleepers on the CZ were replaced by 6-bedroom/5-compartment sleepers. Six of these “Silver [bird]” (Dove, Quail, etc.) cars were delivered in 1952 when the 16-section sleepers were removed and later converted to coaches. The side of these 6/5 sleepers with the door on the right superficially looks like the coach model car with 11 long and one small window, but the other side has only six long windows with long spaces between them, and the Con-cor model is not a good stand-in for these 6-5 sleepers.
Con-cor Budd coach decorated
(with decals) for the California Zephyr 16-section sleeper “Silver Poplar”.
Budd 16-section sleeper (later 48-seat coach) built for the
CZ in 1948 (photo from page 111 of The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 –
CB&Q).
Con-cor Budd coach
decorated for Santa Fe, opposite side.
Diner, 85’. Budd supplied six of these diners for the California Zephyr in 1948 (3 for the CB&Q, 2 for the WP and one for the D&RGW). The diner was located in the consist between the coaches and the first class cars, to separate the two classes of service. The diner ran kitchen-end forward (small window end): coach passengers forward of the diner would then have to wait for seats in the narrow corridor adjacent to the kitchen. The Burlington also ordered two of these diners for the Twin Zephyr for delivery in 1948. As you can see, the model is very similar to the prototype, except for the truck cutouts, stirrups and the smooth letterboard as mentioned before. The Con-cor diner is not very similar to the diners that Budd built for the Santa Fe in 1937, 1940 and 1950. Santa Fe diners had several small ventilating kitchen windows for the cooks traveling through the desert, in preference to the single small window of the CZ and CBQ diners.
Con-cor Budd diner
decorated for the California Zephyr’s Silver Platter, pictured below for
comparison.
Budd diner “Silver Platter” built for the California Zephyr
in 1948. (photo
from page 105 of The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q).
Con-cor Budd diner
(opposite side) decorated for Burlington’s Silver Salver, pictured below for
comparison.
Budd diner “Silver Salver” built for Burlington’s Twin Zephyr in 1948. (photo from page 79 of The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q).
Parlor, 85’. Two were built for the Burlington and delivered in 1949, named Silver Parlor and Silver Chair. Russell Straw identified this car. The cars had 1 drawing room and 30 parlor seats. The parlor cars were ordered in 1947 for the Twin Zephyrs, but after delivery in 1949 they were used on the westbound Empire Builder and eastbound Afternoon Zephyr. Con-cor did not model the prototype cars, but modeled an incorrect car drawing, which omits the large drawing room window and the lavatory window in the ladies room. The builder’s photo shows the windows as shown in the floorplan on page 84 of Randall’s The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q. Compare the three illustrations below.
Con-cor
model of a Budd parlor car. Photo from the Con-cor web
site.
Drawing of the 1949 CBQ
Budd parlor car. The Con-cor model is
based on this drawing, which omits the two windows shown in the prototype photo
below. From page 84 of Randall’s The
Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q.
Parlor car with 1 drawing room built by Budd for the CBQ in
1949. Photo from page 85 of Randall’s The
Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q.
Parlor car with 1 drawing room built by Budd for the CBQ in 1949, opposite side. Photo from page 85 of Randall’s The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q.
Sleeper (10-roomette /6-bedroom), 85’. Nineteen were built in 1948 for the California Zephyr in the “Silver [Earth feature]” series (see page 109 of The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q). The Burlington bought 17 10/6 sleepers in 1952 and 1956 for the other Zephyrs, but these were built on a similar plan but with a different window pattern that matches Kato’s 10/6 corrugated sleeper. The difference is clearest on the side of the car with the door at the left end: the Con-cor (1948 CZ) cars have 6+6 closely spaced windows and the Kato (1952 CZ-DZ) cars have 6+3 with the 3 windows widely spaced. Also, the roof vents are slightly different on the two 10/6 sleepers. I believe the only prototype cars for the Con-cor model are the 1948 California Zephyr sleepers. The car side with the door at the right end, however, is nearly identical on both the 1948 and 1952 cars.
The Con-cor car is NOT the 10/6 sleeper built by Budd for the Santa Fe in 1950 for use in the 27-car “Pine” series, which is the Kato sleeper. Con-cor lettered the 10/6 car in the Palm series, which were also 10/6 sleepers, but of a different design. The Palm cars were built in 1951 by AC&F without corrugated roofs.
Con-cor’s corrugated 10/6
sleeper decorated with decals for the California Zephyr’s “Silver Palisade”.
Western Pacific’s 10/6 Budd sleeper “Silver Bay” built in
1948 for the California Zephyr. Photo from page 301 of More Classic Trains.
Con-cor’s corrugated 10/6 sleeper
(opposite side) decorated (with decals) for the California Zephyr car “Silver
Butte”.
Opposite side of Western Pacific’s 10/6 Budd sleeper “Silver
Bay” built in 1948 for the California Zephyr.
Photo from page 109 of The Passenger Car Library
vol. 1 – CB&Q.
Slumbercoach (24 duplex single room/8 double room), 85’. Built for the Burlington in 1956 for the Denver Zephyr, the Northern Pacific in 1959 for the North Coast Limited, and the Baltimore and Ohio and Missouri Pacific in 1958-59 for the Texas Eagle/National Limited. See photos on page 177 of The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q. This model is nearly identical to the Kato slumbercoach.
Con-cor lettered the Santa Fe slumbercoaches in the Pine series, which were actually10/6 sleepers. Santa Fe never owned slumbercoaches.
Con-cor’s corrugated Budd
slumbercoach. Note the incorrect
irregular spacing of the long windows on this side of the car.
One of two Budd slumbercoaches built for the Baltimore &
Ohio in 1958. Photo
from page 177 of The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q.
Dome coach, 85’. Con-cor’s web site states “Silver Feather series built by Budd in 1948, for the California Zephyr.” In 1948, 18 dome coaches and six dome buffet-lounge-dormitories were built for the CZ, and in 1947, eight dome coaches were built for the Twin Cities Zephyr. The Con-cor model is the 46-seat CZ coach of 1948 (see Randall’s The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q page 97 and Zimmerman’s Domeliners page 28). The 1947 CB&Q 54-seat coach is the car modeled by Kato and is very similar to the Con-cor model: the side with the door at the right end has one more long window on the 54-seat TCZ car that the 46-seat CZ car, but the side with the door at the left end has a small window next to the door on the 54-seat (Kato) but at the opposite end of the car on the 46-seat (Con-cor) coach. Other dome cars were built in 1952 (buffet-lounge) and 1956 (46-seat coach) for the CB&Q, but the windows in these and the 1948 buffet-lounge are different from the model. Norfolk and Western operated a Budd dome car from 1966-71 similar to Con-cor’s model, but the long windows were slightly shorter and there were a few more windows (The Domeliners by Patrick Dorin, pages 183-184).
Con-cor Budd dome-coach
model decorated (with decals) for the California Zephyr’s “Silver Mustang”.
The Budd 46-seat California Zephyr dome-coach of 1948
(from Randall’s The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q page 97).
Con-cor Budd dome-coach
(opposite side) decorated (with decals) for the California Zephyr’s “Silver
Dollar”.
Drawing of the Budd 46-seat California Zephyr dome coach of
1948, showing the opposite side of the cars above (from Randall’s The
Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q page 96).
Dome observation, 85’. Con-cor’s web site states “Silver Planet series built by Budd in 1948, for the California Zephyr”. A total of six 3-bedroom /1-double-room /buffet-lounge dome cars were built for the CZ in 1948 (see pages 112-117 of The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q). The Silver Lookout, a nearly identical car (page 161), was built for the CB&Q in 1952. The Silver Lookout was used jointly on the California Zephyr and Aksarben Zephyr on a schedule alternating between the two trains.
Budd dome-observation car
decorated (with decals) for the California Zephyr car “Silver Planet”.
Western Pacific’s 3-bedroom /1-double-room /dome observation
car “Silver Planet” served on the California Zephyr after completion in
1948. Photo from page
114 of The Passenger Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q.
Budd dome-observation car
decorated for the Burlington’s ‘Silver Lookout’. This is the model from the second mold issued
in 2000. It is much closer to the
prototype than the first Con-cor model.
Budd 3-bedroom 1-drawing
room dome observation lounge ‘Silver Lookout’ bought by the CB&Q in 1952
for the California Zephyr and Aksarben Zephyr. Photo from The Passenger
Car Library vol. 1 – CB&Q, p161.
Budd dome-observation car decorated for the Santa Fe. This is the model from the first mold, issued
(?) in the 1980’s. This appears to be
the same car as the new model, but is more crudely molded and the window
positions and shapes do not match the prototype. Santa Fe never owned dome-observation cars.
For a list of the books referred to, see part 1.
