In 1947, the C&EI took delivery of two Pullman built passenger trains, the Meadowlark and the Whipporwill. The Meadowlark ran from Chicago to Danville IL, then down through central Illinois. The Whipporwill ran from Chicago through Danville, IL, to Terre Haute, IN and terminating in Evansville, IN. Taking inspiration from Matt Snell's articles on modeling Conrail's inspection trains, I ventured forth to model the Meadowlark.
The as delivered equipment for the Meadowlark included the following equipment.
Three E7As were delivered to the C&EI in late 1946 in preparation of the new streamliners. These units were painted in C&EI's light blue with orange stripes and stenciling.
The passenger consist consisted of four cars. The first was Sparhawk Inn # 602, which was a combination RPO/Baggage/Lunch Counter car. Then three coaches, 464-466, the Hubbard Trail, Horseshoe Trail, and Egyptian Trail. These coaches were sixty seat cars except one that had 58 seats and a desk for the conductor.
The E7A is the easiest part to model as Broadway-Limited released a C&EI E7A several years ago. Therefore, it is on to modeling the passenger cars.
For those wanting to learn more, the C&EI Historical Society has a back issue of their publication, The Flyer. Volume 5-2,3 contains more information about the Meadowlark/Whipporwill cars. That order form can be found on the C&EI Historical Society website, www.ceihs.org, or here is the website for the form; http://www.ceihs.org/cs_frameset.html.
Love those old E units. Had a set of E5's, A and B, from Hallmark but sold them on e-bay. Kind of regret doing that now. They were the only engines that were used exclusively on the Burlingtion.
Bernd
New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds
I contacted Dennis at Laser Horizons and he was able to laser cut the sides for the Meadowlark. Using the original Pullman plans, these sides were cut from ABS plastic with a minimal set up fee.
The awesome aspect of this process is that almost any passenger car can be modeled in this manor. With so many different arrangements of passenger cars, obtaining laser cut sides is an economical way to model a passenger train.
I started the project with the idea of using Train Station Products core kit. Here is a picture of two of the cars using a core kit.
However, the TSP core kits are only 80 feet in length, not the prototypes 85 feet. Therefore, I abandoned the idea for a while. Then I remembered the articles in MRH about using existing Walthers passenger cars.
At a Great Train Expo I was able to find three L&N coaches that would serve as a core kit for the laser cut sides. I also found an undecorated lunch counter car on Ebay to use for the Sparhawk Inn. The added benefits of using a Walters car as a core kit is that the trucks and underframe are already installed and ready to go.
Here are the passenger cars that will be disassembled to serve as core kits for the laser cut sides.
The basic premise is to twist the car until the roof tabs pop and then work the roof free. Takes some practice, but it works really well.
When disassembling the cars, I made sure to organize the parts for when I was ready to reassemble the car.
There are screws underneath the car to release the couples and trucks. The sides and ends have tabs that need to be pressed to release the various components.
I organized the parts with some storage containers.
The next step is to reassemble the car with its new car sides.
The next step was to permanently attach the interior frame of the Walthers coach. I used Testors plastic cement to glue together the interior frame to the floor. I also glued the end wall to the frame, after having stripped the paint using alcohol. I made sure the metal strips were left in place should I want to add lighting to the cars.
I used clothespins to keep the frame and floor together until the glue dried.
The next step is to prep the sides for installation. Because the laser cut sides are much thinner than the Walthers sides, I added .040 styrene strip to the sides to match the Walthers sides thickness. If I was doing this again, I might try .030 as the .040 seemed a little too thick.
Ignore the pajama pants!
The next step is to install the sides to the car bodies. But, I just realized that I need to take pictures of the car bodies.
Here are two picture of the cars as they currently sit. The laser cut sides have been applied to the Walthers core frame. The grab irons and body details have been applied. I am still trying to decide how to install the stirrup steps.
The Sparhawk Inn is in front and the three coaches behind.
A closer shot of the passenger grabs and the stirrup steps on the Sparhawk Inn.
Comments
History of the Meadowlark...
In 1947, the C&EI took delivery of two Pullman built passenger trains, the Meadowlark and the Whipporwill. The Meadowlark ran from Chicago to Danville IL, then down through central Illinois. The Whipporwill ran from Chicago through Danville, IL, to Terre Haute, IN and terminating in Evansville, IN. Taking inspiration from Matt Snell's articles on modeling Conrail's inspection trains, I ventured forth to model the Meadowlark.
Dave
The Equipment...
The as delivered equipment for the Meadowlark included the following equipment.
Three E7As were delivered to the C&EI in late 1946 in preparation of the new streamliners. These units were painted in C&EI's light blue with orange stripes and stenciling.
The passenger consist consisted of four cars. The first was Sparhawk Inn # 602, which was a combination RPO/Baggage/Lunch Counter car. Then three coaches, 464-466, the Hubbard Trail, Horseshoe Trail, and Egyptian Trail. These coaches were sixty seat cars except one that had 58 seats and a desk for the conductor.
The E7A is the easiest part to model as Broadway-Limited released a C&EI E7A several years ago. Therefore, it is on to modeling the passenger cars.
Dave
More Information...
For those wanting to learn more, the C&EI Historical Society has a back issue of their publication, The Flyer. Volume 5-2,3 contains more information about the Meadowlark/Whipporwill cars. That order form can be found on the C&EI Historical Society website, www.ceihs.org, or here is the website for the form; http://www.ceihs.org/cs_frameset.html.
Dave
Those E units
Love those old E units. Had a set of E5's, A and B, from Hallmark but sold them on e-bay. Kind of regret doing that now. They were the only engines that were used exclusively on the Burlingtion.
Bernd
New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. - Route of the Black Diamonds
The laser cut sides...
I contacted Dennis at Laser Horizons and he was able to laser cut the sides for the Meadowlark. Using the original Pullman plans, these sides were cut from ABS plastic with a minimal set up fee.
The awesome aspect of this process is that almost any passenger car can be modeled in this manor. With so many different arrangements of passenger cars, obtaining laser cut sides is an economical way to model a passenger train.
This is one of the sets of sides for the coach.
More to come...
Dave
The wrong core kit...
I started the project with the idea of using Train Station Products core kit. Here is a picture of two of the cars using a core kit.
However, the TSP core kits are only 80 feet in length, not the prototypes 85 feet. Therefore, I abandoned the idea for a while. Then I remembered the articles in MRH about using existing Walthers passenger cars.
At a Great Train Expo I was able to find three L&N coaches that would serve as a core kit for the laser cut sides. I also found an undecorated lunch counter car on Ebay to use for the Sparhawk Inn. The added benefits of using a Walters car as a core kit is that the trucks and underframe are already installed and ready to go.
Here are the passenger cars that will be disassembled to serve as core kits for the laser cut sides.
Next up is deconstruction.
Dave
Disassembling the passenger cars...
The next step was to disassemble the passenger cars. I began by removing the roof from the car body. This youtube video demonstrates how to do this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr2A-QrqiPc
The basic premise is to twist the car until the roof tabs pop and then work the roof free. Takes some practice, but it works really well.
When disassembling the cars, I made sure to organize the parts for when I was ready to reassemble the car.
There are screws underneath the car to release the couples and trucks. The sides and ends have tabs that need to be pressed to release the various components.
I organized the parts with some storage containers.
The next step is to reassemble the car with its new car sides.
Dave
Assembling the Sides
The next step was to permanently attach the interior frame of the Walthers coach. I used Testors plastic cement to glue together the interior frame to the floor. I also glued the end wall to the frame, after having stripped the paint using alcohol. I made sure the metal strips were left in place should I want to add lighting to the cars.
I used clothespins to keep the frame and floor together until the glue dried.
The next step is to prep the sides for installation. Because the laser cut sides are much thinner than the Walthers sides, I added .040 styrene strip to the sides to match the Walthers sides thickness. If I was doing this again, I might try .030 as the .040 seemed a little too thick.
Ignore the pajama pants!
The next step is to install the sides to the car bodies. But, I just realized that I need to take pictures of the car bodies.
Dave
Car sides with details added...
Here are two picture of the cars as they currently sit. The laser cut sides have been applied to the Walthers core frame. The grab irons and body details have been applied. I am still trying to decide how to install the stirrup steps.
The Sparhawk Inn is in front and the three coaches behind.
A closer shot of the passenger grabs and the stirrup steps on the Sparhawk Inn.
Up next is how I crafted the interiors.
Dave
Looks good
How many grab irons did you have to install? What is the color scheme going to be?
Thanks.