"Talgo me Baby"!!!


funnelfan

funnelfan

Member
A while back I picked up a Kato F40PH for $25, it was missing it's detail parts which cost me another $20 to ordered off of Kato's website. Since that time I've been wanting to model a small Amtrak train that ran in the northwest in my time frame that I'm modeling in (1985-1995). I was thinking about modeling the Pioneer or the pre-Talgo Mount Rainer. Then while looking through the Walthers Website the other day I noticed that the Talgo trains are on sale.

http://walthers.com/exec/productinfo/262-3251

Perfect! I could model the pre-Cascades Talgo train that ran in the early to mid-1990's. What I did is order two of the six car sets for $53 each and a bar car (since sold out) for another $25. The six car set comes with the two end cars, a first class coach, and three second class coach cars. I then made a 11 car trainset that has a Generator car, two first class coaches, a bar car, six second class coaches, and the tail generator car. And all for $130! It would have cost me something like $250 at normal retail prices. Now if I can pick up a Lounge car and another First Class coach, I would have the actual 13 unit Talgo train of the prototype, but I'm plenty happy with my 11 unit short version. BTW, the Talgo train and one F40PH is exactly 6' in length.
 
Beautiful! I have always wished I had a use for a Talgo set, but I'll have plenty of Bombardier cars.
 
"Hey baby, why don't you and me make like a talgo and permanently connect?"

Seriously, it looks good! Now it just needs some wing cars, convert that F40 to a cabbage, stick an F59PHI on the end.....;)
 
funnelfan, since you've had a look at the talgo cars. Do you think it's feasible to convert them to an accurate representation of the finned ones that the cascades trains use? My feeling is that I'd just need to add the fins and repaint them, but I thought that there may be some more subtle differences that I don't know about.

Chris
 
It would depend on how accurate of a model you are looking for. Since this train is really a spanish prototype, there are differences in the details. But overall, it is a close model. The largest single differance is the baggage car, which is considerablly different than the model (i.e. no windows and it has double doors). Since you would be kitbashing the model anyways, you could always plug the windows and not fret about the rest of the details. Now the single largest problem with this project is that there are no decals for the Talgo Cascades train that I know of.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, I spotted the new Talgo train criusing through the BN Allen Sub this evening! I must say, its pretty neat, and it runs flawlessly! NICE
 
A few years ago i was attempting to join the columbia gorge model railroad club in portland oregon ( i moved before i was made a member) and i was there on a meeting night and got a chance to operate the railroad, someone brought in his talgo train that ted has above he had scratch built the fins on the end cars but it was still painted in the colors of ted's and it looked great and it ran flawlessly around the layout at a very hight scale speed.
 
Brent is right, Amtrak and Washington State inagurated a short distance Talgo train over the Cascades linking eastern and western Washington. Of course being still in the BN era, this is prior to the Cascades service that started in the late 80's with several more train sets and a new color scheme. This doesn't help the traffic situation as the new passenger train sneaks between waiting freights.
 
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