SR&RL Parlor Car

Slim Gauge Cars published by Carstens has plans for the SR&RL parlor car.

The car is 6'7" wide, 45'11" long over the end platforms and 10'3 1/2" high (above the track).

I don't know if all the 2 footers were this wide, but I suspect they were close.

Enjoy

Paul

Dear Irish, Against proto

Dear Irish,

Against proto dimensions, (see if you can get your hands on a copy of "the Maine 2'ers" by Linwood Moody!), most Maine 2'ers equipment wound out at 6' - 6' 6" wide, with 7' being "pushing it" over handrails. Yes, there were some 8'+ wide units running around the SR&RL, but as mechanical engineering and physics tell us, a vehicle which exceeds 3x it's gauge starts getting excessively top-heavy/unbalanced, with resulting instability. SR&RL #24 (IIRC) proved this in dramatic fashion when it rocked-n-rolled it's way straight thru a bridge.

Due to a mis-communication between ordering and building, the loco was ordered with a 84" (7') wide tender,
(NB that this is just-over the "normal" 6' - 6' 6" width we expect from the Maine 2'ers),

but was actually built with a 8' 4" (100" overall) wide tender (Whoops!)

The result was a tender which had to be kept either quite-full of water, or relatively empty. Letting it get into a "half full" state created a situation where the water could slosh violently side-to-side of the tender. (There were no effective baffles in the water compartment to control such free movement of the water, apparently). Result? the tender would oscillate wildly, eventually rocking itself off the track (cue bridge destruction as per above).

It is worth noting that George Mansfield, the "main man" behind the growth and development behind the adoption of 2' gauge in the Eastern US was forever fighting a common perception of "instability at speed" and the tendency for equipment to "oscillate" (Again, strongly reccomend sourcing a copy of "the Maine 2'ers", sitting down in the comfy chair, and having a read... ).

SO, when building your Xn2 equipment, if you are attempting (setting _your_own_ goal) of modelling the Maine 2'ers reasonably accurately, then 6' - 6' 6" would appear to be your guiding prototype benchmark. However, if the actual gauge you are using to model with is 30", and you're "OK with a bit of not-quite-proto dimension-tweaking", then 7' - 7' 6" wide equipment will "sit on the (30" gauge) rails and likely look like it all makes sense..."

Hope this helps...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Thanks!

I have "The Maine 2-footers" by Moody, and could only find a few width dimensions, including the 8'4" tender!  there was a reference to an 8' car being the widest.  Some were listed as being 6'2, and I could find no other definitive width listings--besides that 8'4" tender.

The Forneys were described as having a large overhang, but a low center of gravity--hence speeds well in excess of 60 mph at times!

That piece about the Parlour Car is good, also.  One thing for sure--there seems to have been no issue with loading gauge!

So--as the years wear on, the great North Central won't like modern intermodal containers...but in the north, intermodals are quite rare anyway.

I plan on some width compromise to keep things looking right with my 30" (n-gauge) track, anyway.

CAR WIDTH

Hello, I go past the Maine Narrow Gage Museum quite often. I can take a quick measurement for you if you like.

They presently have, maybe, 6 to 10 passenger cars on a track adjacent to the walking path, if you know the number of the car-or style- maybe I can get the width of it.

Let me know,

S

That would be SO appreciated!

Before the move south, I went there at least once per year, if not more often.  But, now that I'm over 1200 miles away, that's not possible.  I'm interested in the range of widths on different coaches--then I can sort out which ones approximate the Shapeways cars available--or if I scratch-build some.  My "North Central" is the result of a merger between the Sandy River and Rangely Lakes and the Wiscasset, Waterville, and Farmington--possibly with equipment from other roads, too.  Hence, a mix of cars.  So--any dimensions of any cars would be great

Good morning, I generally go

Good morning, I generally go out for my lunch time walks and the cars are on part of my noon 3 mile 'sojourn'.

It's supposed to be a bit rainy today so I might not be able to get out until next week.

Glad to help,

S

CAR WIDTH

Here are the widths of six of the cars at the MNG site:

Cars 1. and 2.-  6'-8" .  Car  1. measured 42'-6" from outside of cabin to outside of cabin, it does not include the platforms

Car 3.-  6'-7 1/4"

Car 4.-  7'-3"

Car 5.-  6'-7"

Car 6.-  6'-2" (combine)

All of the dimensions are from outside face of car siding to outside face of car siding. Corner trim or battens would add another 1/2" to each side.

s

On30 Bachmann Cars

Bachmann's On30 cars are all too wide relative to prototypical 2 foot gauge car widths.  My own approach is to fill my On30 layout with Bachmann cars, and to eventually replace these with "true" 2-foot gauge equipment.  So far, I've got ONE prototypical SR&RL boxcar on the layout!  Whoopie!

Sandy

http://www.sandysacerr.com

Thanks!!!!

This is incredibly useful.  Now I can get to ordering/building the coaches for the Great North Central Railroad--2 feet wide and over a hundred years long!

(Though some coaches may have to wait until I have a working locomotive and/or track...)