Still in production, but yeah...

I wouldn't go so far as to say that Atlas is no longer producing the former Branchline passenger cars, but the availability seems to be on par with most of their other rolling stock.

While it is true that they no longer sell them as kits, there was a run of coaches released (RTR) last year, and they have been taking orders for more coaches and sleepers. Now, they don't appear to have set firm delivery dates for them, yet, but these are not the only cars on their production schedule that don't have a committed delivery date.

If you need kits, then the secondary market is your only real option. If you need RTR cars now, then the secondary market is again your only choice. Otherwise, it looks like new stock should be coming. Sometime...

Luckily, there is no shortage of unassembled Branchline heavyweight passenger car kits on the secondary market. eBay, definitely, and some of the used equipment dealers seem to have them regularly. They make great kitbashing fodder.

If you have any interest in the C&O's heavyweight baggage/RPOs, the Louisville & Nashville Historical Society is supposed to have a restock this month on their kit to build an L&N car that is within a side panel or two of the C&O's cars that had two baggage doors per side and a 30-foot RPO apartment. The C&O's 60-series and 70-series cars, if I recall correctly. See http://lnrr.org/Models.aspx

I'll be interested to hear how you do with the Imperial Salon cars. I've been making do with some old Hallmark MKT coaches as coarse stand-ins. I'm probably a year or more away from building my Bethlehem Car Works plan 4019 restaurant lounge kits. I'm doing these as they appeared on the Pere Marquette.

Ow... don't get me started on BL HW kits!

I've struggled with building a Branchline boxcar, and if my dad is correct, the passenger cars have INFINITELY more parts than their freight revenue counterparts in the blueprint series.

There's a reason why unbuilt Branchline kits are so much less expensive than their built or ready-to-roll counterparts.

If the simple phrase "tiny grab irons galore" sends shivers down your spine, then I would advise forgetting about it. Although, who knows?  Perhaps you're just more qualified for this task than I am.... 

Thanks Fritz

I have a stash of their kits, including all but one of their Pullmans that were decorated for C&O, and a handful of paired-window coaches. But I need quite a few!

I've never had one of their RTR ones, but I assume that they're the assembled version of the kits, so they would also be perfectly fine kitbash fodder other than I assume that the sides are probably glued to the cores and that is likely to be a very tough bond to undo.

I am definitely interested in the baggage/RPOs, so I will check out the L&NHS for sure.

I looked specifically at Bethelhem Car Works and didn't see anything I could identify as a Plan 4019 or 4020. And I just now looked again and didn't see them. I must be looking for something in a different way than they're listed?

For the Imperial Salons, I need to figure out which Branchline donor kits have the right trucks; I don't know what they're called. My impression is that those are included in a few kits rather than the standard side frames, but I don't know which. I suppose I could 3D print some side frames that are compatible with the Branchline parts, although I dread drilling the #73 holes on the inside for the brake shoes. Probably more important is to get a donor kit with the right AC roof ducting...

Too late!

@DRGW_488_fan- I've already built 11 of those heavyweight passenger car kits! In fact, that's precisely why I want to use those cores for some other harder-to-find cars: I've got the build process down now. I can build one of them in about a day, excluding all the drying time for primer, paint and decals. They build up into really nice models, in both appearance and operation.

Branchline - No Shivers!

Did this Branchline boxcar more than a decade ago starting with an undec;

Did this one much more recently that started with a decorated kit that was undecorated by stripping the paint using 91% alchohol (when it used to be available). Glad that lots of these kits are still available long after Branchline stopped production of them.  Lots of parts but usually not that hard....except that near the end of production some of the kits produced had lots of flash on the ladders and grabs,

Wow. O_O

Personally I have struggled with the straight grabs and stirrup steps on my kits.  As per the advice of a fellow Hobbyist I will probably end up using brass wire in place of the more delicate parts.  The kit won't be QUITE as detailed that way, but it will still leave the Accurail kits and old Bluebox models I've become accustomed to using in the dust.

As far already making 11 of those Blueprint coaches... I'm impressed.

Stirrups n stuff

I do replace the stirrups on mine as they tend to break very easily. On mine I glue them on and then when dry I snip off the lower portion and add A-Line metal ones or I bend them myself from mini-staples.Replacing the grabs with wire will not be that easy as the holes for them are not parallel but are offset from each other.  A sprue trimmer makes removing  the grabs from the sprue much easier and once on the model are not too fragile.

Grabs aren't that hard

... if you have the right tools. Like Jack Burgess, I believe in investing in good tools, particularly in a situation such as this where the tools will be used over and over again for almost every project for many years. There are two tools that I find help a huge amount with regard to grabs:

1. A really good pair of tweezers. I have a pair of Dumont #7's, which aren't cheap at around $35. But I use them pretty much every day, and they make things like this both possible and perhaps more importantly, fun.
2. A Flex-i-file CA applicator, used for putting a very small drop of CA in exactly the right place. Not too expensive, about $6 at many hobby shops.

The tweezers make stirrup steps on AccuRail kits a breeze. Between the two of them the straight grabs on the Branchline heavyweights are still not a breeze but they aren't something to be feared either.

Plan 4019 Restaurant cars

It looks like BCW sold out of the Plan 4019-series restaurant-lounge cars. They'd introduced them in 1998 as a brass sides set with a Rivarossi Pullman body to mount them onto, and appropriate roof vent and underbody detail castings. I have the Plan 4019A kit, and I think that they released the C&O version (Plan 4019[? my C&O heavyweight reference isn't readily available to me at the moment])  at the same time. At least one of them was still listed up until the most recent revision of the BCW website.

I enjoyed assembling the two Branchline heavyweights I built, back when I had more personal modeling time. I ended up donating them as auction items for PMHS Annual Meetings years ago. I especially like the extra bits that American Model Builders offers to detail them more specifically.

parts

Not sure if this is helpful, but it looks like you can still buy parts for the Branchline kits from Bethlehem Car Works.

http://bethlehemcarworks.com/branchline-passanger-car-parts/

David

That's useful info. Not only

That's useful info.

Not only because of the parts (but they are helpful) but also because it places the location of the remaining stock of kits. I did have a couple of parts break on the ones that I've already done, and with quite a number yet to go, I'm sure a few more will be needed.

CandOfan, you mentioned above

CandOfan, you mentioned above about 3d printing new sides for the Imp Salon cars. Have you made progress on this project? It is on my list as well. No need to duplicate work if you have already done it. I just finished up the 200-208 Horse Express and the 81-91 30' apartment Mail Express. My next project is the 15' apartment Mail Express, then I was going to work on the Imp Salon and possibly 714 The Derby Club as it can also be made using the Branchline core kit. 

Dave

C&O 9055 trailier

Dear C&O fans,

Unsure about the heavyweights, but if you happen to know a source (RTR, kit, whatever) of the combine car used as a trailer to Brill Railcar 9055 on the Greenbrier Div, circa late 1950s, I'm all ears...

Happy Modelling,
Aiming to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Instruction Sheet

Do you know where I can get a paper or pdf copy of instructions?  I need them for Branchline Blueprint Series 80’ Single Window Coach.

Best regards,

Bob

HOSeeker.org?

Dear Bob,

Can HOSeeker.org help?

https://hoseeker.org/otherhotrains8.html

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

i have loads

if you strike out elsewhere, contact me offline and i can scan some of mine.