Trains and station wagons


Jim 68cuda

Jim 68cuda

Well-Known Member
I guess the station wagon originated as the "depot hack" which was a vehicle used to carry passengers from the depot to nearby hotels. So, the station wagon has a kind of connection to trains. Now, for portable Z scale layouts, a suitcase may provide sufficient space for a layout, but what about a portable layout in larger scales? How about a vintage station wagon? For those of us old enough to remember the days before minivans and suvs replaced the station wagon, a big selling point for American wagons in the 60's and 70's, was the ability to carry 4'x8' sheets of plywood flat. So how about a 4x8 layout made portable by installing in the rear of a vintage station wagon?
Here's a 1970 Ford Country Sedan wagon with a 4x8 layout in the back. The owner can take his layout to a train show or a car show, drop the tailgate and start running trains.
I happen to have a 1967 vintage Plymouth station wagon myself, and this does make me think...
 

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I have a 1980 Ford Fairmont wagon that I really enjoy and use quite a bit. It has never hauled a layout as I had moved away from Model RR before I got it. It is really good for hauling stuff though and this makes me kind of think that any new layout should be sized appropriately. It also makes me think about one of the older wagons that had just a bit more space in them.

Steve
 
Does anybody do these types of all weather covers for Utes in the US, As you can see in the ad, it can be removed by 1 person and is fully lockable. Quite popular here for the local Ford Falcon and Holden Utes.
http://www.outbackutes.com.au/lids.php Would give unrestricted access and viewing to a layout.

Trivia: Did you know that the coupe-utility was first designed and built by Ford, here in the '30's, in response to a request from a farmer who wanted a vehicle he could use for farm supplies etc, but looked smart enough to take the family to church on Sunday.
 
One of my favorite cars ever was our Jaguar X-type "estate wagon"... 3.0 v6, if ever there was a stealth rocket, that was it. Did great duty cartin' and haulin.. Plus fun to smoke unsuspecting BMW and Benz drivers at stop lights.
 
:( Since college, I always had station wagons. My last was a 1987 Ford Crown Victoria. It had 187,000 miles on it and was in relatively good shape, except I had had it for 13+ years and parts were getting difficult/impossible to find, and when available were getting very expensive. As wagons had gone out of production, I traded it for a 2003 Ford Expedition, which is as close to it as I could find at the time. The SUV can handle 4x8 sheets of plywood, or modules. Unfortunately, my poor ol' back no longer can! The wagon was lower, which helped loading stuff in the rear. The closest thing to a station wagon is the Ford Flex "crossover" vehicle, which is beyond my budget now. Anyway, I have my home layout, so I won't worry about transporting layouts.
 
While I had been exposed to station wagons before it was the college the geology department that had a fleet of suburbans that sold me on the wagon. You cannot believe all the places we took those and the equipment we hauled (and they weren't even 4x4s), but it wasn't until the late 1980s I was able to afford one and move up from the Chevy Malibu wagon (yuck). I've always said once you drive a Suburban you will never want anything else. It greaved me to let it go in 2003 when we purchased a new Excursion (Long story but that year was when Suburbans become a wimpy soccer mom vehicle), but we just had no room to park it (by this time we were up to 6 vehicles so keeping it would have been 7). It was the only vehicle that we could fit all the layout modular units into and still have room for people.

trailrider said:
As wagons had gone out of production, ... The closest thing to a station wagon is the Ford Flex "crossover" vehicle,
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Generally speaking they are almost all station wagons these days. An extended rear roof for additional cargo space, side passenger doors, and a rear entry for cargo instead of a trunk or trundle seat is what constitutes a "station wagon". It wasn't until the government decided they could charge more taxes if they changed the designation to SUV. My Excursion title still says "type - SW" for station wagon.
 
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tootnkumin said:
...Trivia: Did you know that the coupe-utility was first designed and built by Ford, here in the '30's, in response to a request from a farmer who wanted a vehicle he could use for farm supplies etc, but looked smart enough to take the family to church on Sunday.
Click to expand...

They mentioned that on Top Gear (UK version)
 
skillman said:
I'm uncertain exactly what you're referring to as a "coupe-utility Toot. A pickup?
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A coupe utility is basically a passenger car with a pickup bed. In the US we had the Chevy El Camino and the Ford Ranchero. In Australia, they call them Ute's and they made them in Australia as early as the 1930's, and they still make them now. If we were to get Rancheros or El Caminos again in North America, it would most likely be a rebadged Australian Utes from Ford or Holden (GM).
 
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Jim 68cuda said:
and they still make them now. If we were to get Rancheros or El Caminos again in North America, it would most likely be a rebadged Australian Utes from Ford or Holden (GM).
Click to expand...

If you want to catch a bit of history Jim, better grab one if you see one. Aus Ford ceases production in 2016, GM Holden in '17. Toyota also pulls the plug in '16, that'll be it for vehicle production Down under.
 
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