Espeefan's Passenger Car Modeling

ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.


I have finished modifications on the first four Commute coaches from GGD. Windows, passengers, shades, and tweaking the lighting. Tweaks were: A drop of Mission Models white over each LED to soften the lighting. The light looks bright in my photo because of low light in my office this morning. On the layout lighting looks more subtle. I tried Trak Works window shades as well. They look good, though they may be a bit expensive for the thrifty among us. One package did three coaches, and I cheated and used trimmings for the fourth because I was impatient. I used Scotch "Invisible" tape on the Lavatory windows to give them that frosted appearance. Each coach got 25-30 figures, which ate my seated passenger supply, but Amazon has some cheapie figure assortments that aren't bad. Preiser figures are the gold standard IMHO, but are getting more expensive, and with coaches, you really can't tell. I keep those for domes. I have not yet gone to body mounting on the couplers and depending on train length I will likely have to. The factory setup has a swinging coupler box to allow for tighter radius curves and the length of the shank means you'll get some coupler sag. I think that if you run shorter trains this may not be an issue for you (I did remove the trip pins). Train weight on couplers will be the determining factor. Speaking for myself, I'm very happy with these. Yes, I had to tweak, but I'm a brass nut so I'm used to that.
🤷
If you are interested, GGD has these listed on their site for sale if you didn't preorder. I'd suggest not waiting too long. Note, I am not sponsored or compensated, I just really like these cars. ;)

Finished Sub.jpeg
 
I finished this 83-BP-30-1 today. I was going to install an interior and got as far as test fitting the RPO area, and discovered you wouldn't be able to see the thing no matter how hard you tried. Being a firm believer in not obsessing over detail that won't be seen, I closed it up and did the diaphragms and couplers. I was surprised to see no mailbag catchers in the pars bag, but I have some around here somewhere and I'll get to those. I also have to anneal the steam and signal lines before attaching them, but I'll test run first!

83-BP-30-1 Finished.jpeg
 


The work on the GGD SP cars has been on the subs so far. I also bought diners and a lounge. The SP Community needed non brass versions of these cars. Murphy being alive and well and living in my back pocket assured that these would come along after I bought the brass models, but, hey, that's only happened to me about a dozen times. It's all part of modeling the SP amiright? Spend the money, tweak, bash, paint, detail, and so on and so on, and six months later here comes a plastic model ready to go.
🤷
Oh well, rant over. I pulled my lounge out of the box. First thing is the windows. I find these acceptable. The bevel is still there, but the larger windows make it much less noticeable. On the subs it was a perfect storm of bevel size and window size. On the lounge and diner its different. The larger windows mean the effect is much less pronounced. I'm leaving these windows in, with the exception of the diner kitchen windows. Their small size requires replacement, and I have to deal with lower ones being painted anyway. I bought three of them, SP Dark Olive, UP Armor Yellow, and Daylight.
Figures are a must, of course. I like to think of people in diners and lounges as interacting with each other. That's what these cars were for after all. I place figures like setting up a scene. I think it brings them cars to life, at least in my mind (which can get weird!).
Next up, the worst issue. Coupler droop is a problem. You can actually run the cars together, as they all sag about the same, but mixing them with anything else will be an exercise in frustration. Body mounting is essential. I've heard that a body mount kit is coming. That would be nice, but I'm going to go ahead on my own for now. In the last photo I've slipped the body back on to look at the lighting. This is prior to adding the Mission Models White to the LED's and I need to run to the passenger car books and see what window treatments were used. More Trak Works window shades are due tomorrow, and I have some venetian blinds on hand.

Lounge populated.jpeg


Coupler Issue.jpeg


Lounge Lighting.jpeg
 
Kusojiji said:
Is there room in the pocket for a shim to bring that coupler a bit higher?
Click to expand...
It’s a half a knuckle off. The result of a spring loaded coupler pocket with a long throw. I’ll have to mount a Kadee box to the chassis to fix this. They should market these cars with body mounts and a warning for minimum 24” radius like Walthers does.
 
Last edited:
Opening up the diners led to a few pleasant surprises. First the kitchen section is metal, and so apparently are the partition walls. There are tiny pins through the floor that are bent to one side, so of you are enough of a masochist the interiors could be partially dismantled for painting and detailing. I'm not, and I have a couple of airbrushes that can do fine detail work, and a number of bristle brushes. The first thing I did was paint the kitchens Alclad chrome. Stainless would have been beter but I didn't have any, and it dries close enough. I was going to put in the wooden flooring but you wouldn't see it anyway, so that's that. I then painted the partition walls a tan color. Floquil Depot Buff actually, and then I lightened the dark green floors to an olive color. Mostly what I was trying to do here was lighten the interior so my passengers and kitchen staff would be visible with the car interior a little brighter. I wasn't too concerned with prototypical accuracy for interior colors. Just something besides that crazy dark red. It was an easy procedure, taking maybe an hour in total. I took the interiors off the chassis because airbrush overspray has magical qualities and can get places it has no business being. While I had it apart, I found the weights are loose in there, so I tacked them down with a little canopy glue. Jason Hill of Owl Mountain Models is bringing out aftermarket weights a 3D printed draft gear boxand some other parts for these cars, but if you're thrifty, or spent all your money on the cars themselves, there is plenty of room under the interiors for BB's lead shot, lead sheet, lead putty, or whatever you have squirreled away. Be careful of the copper strips. Some Kapton tape over them would be prudent and be careful of the stiffening partitions under there when placing weight. What you are planning to run them with will determine if you want to add weight and how much. Fox Valley got their Hiawatha light enough to be pulled by their Atlantic by building very light cars. If all you are going to do is run a string of Subs, that may be an option for you. For those of us planning on mixing these into consists of Walthers cars, brass, and whatever else you may have, you would be wise to bring them up to NMRA standards. My own fleet is a mixture of brass, Walthers, Athearn Genesis (coach) old and new MDC (baggage cars), and a few other orphan manufacturers plus misc. Express boxes, resin kits, and so on.

Diner Interiors.jpeg


Interior Repaints.jpeg
 


More on the ongoing GGD car project. The seats and tables in the cars look good, however serious amputations are necessary to get figures in, along with choosing them properly. Women and skinny men work best and I had to amputate at the waist for most of them. The bottom kitchen windows need to be painted over in my era. My original intentions were to replace the kitchen windows as I did with the Subs, but these cars are different. No heat staking here. They are glued in, and it looks like whoever did the work intended them to stay! I applied some gentle pressure to see if they'd move, and no soap! They'll stay, as I don't want to risk damaging the shell. I'll have to do my painting with them in place which should be fun. The old Iwata HP-B+ will get a workout. I stuffed an ounce and change worth of lead sheet into the spaces between the interior and the car chassis. This was finicky work, and you'll want to test fit each piece in place before securing to make sure the everything mates properly when reassembled. It was worth it. The cars have a better heft now and are at 6 ounces and change. A little under NMRA standards, but I think close enough.

Diners populated.jpeg


Glued Windows.jpeg
 
I completed the first two diners yesterday. First two you say? Yes. I went ahead and ordered another one, in Daylight livery. Along with a thing for headend cars, I have a thing for food service cars. Talk about suffering for your art...but, I digress. Supplemental weight, window shades, and painting the kitchen windows, and they're ready for the road. I took all the projects down to the club because no matter how good they look on the bench, it's what they look like on stage that counts. The painted kitchens made a big difference as did the tan walls and partitions. The drop of white over the LED's gentled down the lighting as well. You can keep adding coats if you want it even dimmer, and it warms the LEDs as well. The photo below shows the Overland Yellow Diner next to the Daylight car which has not been touched as yet. Photo is dining room to dining room.
The Daylight diner is also posed next to my painted Shasta RPO Bag. I used Scalecoat Daylight Red, and Tru-Color Daylight Orange. I think GGD hit the mark with the colors. The yellow kitchen windows came out OK, but the DOG diner needs another coat. Tru-Color goes on thin. Test your cars lit before you close them up! The green one looks fine until the lighting is powered.
Along with the third diner, I bought three more Subs, two DOG, and the Marine recruiting car. I'll have a mixture of "Lines" and Postwar lettering which for 1946-7 will be fine. I'm sure they didn't paint everything at once, and I have photos of mixed equipment. I'll follow up with a photo or two of weight addition soon. For now, i have to say...I'm thrilled! One last thing: I'm looking at the Marine Corps car, and the prism effect doesn't seem to be as pronounced on this car as it did on my first four. Comments are welcome here. Am I seeing things? I'm seriously considering leaving these alone, and the other two once I get a closer look at those if they are the same. PPS, Hat tip to GGD, I ordered the Marine Corps car a few days after the second batch, then e-mailed customer service and asked if they could combine shipping. They caught it and did, and gave me a partial refund on the shipping. That's service!

Overland Yellow and Daylight.jpg

Lighting Comparison.jpg

SJD RPO Bag.jpg


Lounge.jpg

DOG Diner.jpeg


Marine Recruiting car.jpg
 
A word on car weight: There are multiple ways to do this. I had a few teething issues with mine. there is ample space in the voids between the interior floor and the chassis. Everyone will likely choose their own way. Here's what I did:
I used Kapton tape to cover the phosphor bronze strips, then placed two pieces of lead adjacent to the factory weights. In the first two cars I also added weight over the coupler draft gear. I didn't in this car as I am anticipating the release of the body mount parts. For the rest of the weight, I tucked small strips into the interior floor. They are not visible when the car is closed up. These bits and pieces brought the weight up to 7.2 ounces. There is room for more if you desire. I deemed this enough. Weights are attached with Canopy Glue, so they'll come out easily if I decide to change things later. Fun fact: The lead sheeting I use came from the old Pullman factory office building in Birmingham AL when it was torn down. One of my friends salvaged a bunch of it and gave me a couple of pieces. I've been using it for years to add weight to cars.

Chassis weights.jpeg

Interior weights.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I love your work ! Very nice.

What are you using for interiors? I've seen some 3D printed stuff on e-bay that looks pretty nice.

I'm rather partial to the Harriman cars. The longer passenger equipment eats up more track space and even though I have 32" - 36" radius curves on my layout, the shorter cars just look better to me. If I had a large club layout nearby I'd go for the longer cars but thats not the case.
I have some nice Rivarossi, 60' U P two tone gray heavy weight passenger cars that I really like. They have separate grabs and look pretty good. But these are hard to find and expensive if you do.

Carry on....John
 
westtexjohn said:
I love your work ! Very nice.

What are you using for interiors? I've seen some 3D printed stuff on e-bay that looks pretty nice.

I'm rather partial to the Harriman cars. The longer passenger equipment eats up more track space and even though I have 32" - 36" radius curves on my layout, the shorter cars just look better to me. If I had a large club layout nearby I'd go for the longer cars but thats not the case.
I have some nice Rivarossi, 60' U P two tone gray heavy weight passenger cars that I really like. They have separate grabs and look pretty good. But these are hard to find and expensive if you do.

Carry on....John
Click to expand...
All kinds of different things John. The interiors came in the GGD cars. In cars without, the most common source has been a big bag of Walthers interiors I got from a friend. I have acquired seats, sofas and such from estate collections that I've picked up over the years, the old Walthers wood or pot metal parts from the old days, and I have stuff from Precision Scale, the brass folks. In addition to the models, they also do detail parts and passenger car interior parts. There is also Red Cap lines. They are gone now, but their stuff turns up at swap meets or e-Bay sometimes. The model passenger car market has a long way to go until it catches up with the freight car and locomotive markets. It's happening, but it's slow going.

Regarding shorter cars, you are wise! I see many modelers struggling with 85 ft cars and 18" radii, and large six axle diesels or large steam locomotives on 18-22" radii. Now if that's what they enjoy, far be it from me to judge. It's their railroad! To me, equipment hanging over the rails all the way to Nebraska looks ridiculous. I have the good fortune to belong to a club with 48" minimum radius, so for some of my work here, don't try this at home if you're one of those guys! 😁 if I were doing 22-24" radii, I would be running 60 ft coaches (see the 60 ft cars a few pages up this thread) and four axle diesels or 4-6-0's, 4-6-2's, and 2-8-0's. There are also a few smaller Mikes that work on tighter curves and look OK. I once told my wife that if we moved away from the club, I'd probably have to have to liquidate a fair portion of the collection as I wouldn't have any place to run it! The Walthers Proto series car boxes state that a 24" minimum radius us recommended. With brass, you get to find out the hard way, but for most 6 axle equipment, not less than 30" minimum radius is required. 36" is more prudent.
 
Last edited:


You must log in or register to reply here.




Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)

Back
Top