开云体育

ctrl + shift + ? for shortcuts
© 2025 开云体育
  1. N-ScaleVarnish
  2. Topics

Are Rowa lightweight P-S underbodies reasonably accurate for C&O-PM cars?

 

Hi all!
I've recently begun assembling some South Park Hobby kits of C&O cars that I stashed away for that 'someday', and become concerned when the skirt panel and details didn't line up with what I've found under the MRC/Rowa/ConCor cars I already had. This is a small detail to sweat, but since I have to apply the parts to the AM Ltd core kits, I might as well try. I've not been successful finding diagrams of virtually ANY underbody layouts, let alone the P-S cars, and hoped that someone here could shed a light on this for me, or direct me to such a diagram.?
Thanks!
Steve
 

Hi Steve,

I was hoping someone with more C&O expertise would chime in, but here's what I can tell you.

On underbodies- Rowa (MRC, Con-cor) used the same underbodies on all three C&O PS cars, as well as on their rendition of the Budd Slumber-coach, so I would speculate that it can only be accurate for 1 of those cars, and may not be accurate for any of them.? I would bet that sometime in the 60s or 70s, MR or MRC probably published plans for those cars, and some of their articles on modeling passenger cars included underbody layouts.? But no guarantees.? Perhaps someone has an index that goes back that far, otherwise it would be a search of hundreds of issues.? You might also, at least for the coach, take a look at the underbody of the Centralia version of the car, if you happen to know anyone that owns one. (Or maybe someone here could take a photo for you?)? You might also want to contact the C&O historical society.

The late Jerry Laboda (the original founder of this group) built the online Passenger Train Photo Index, which is still online at .? If you note, on that page, there is a link that allows you to download your own copy of the files. The online copy at this point doesn't work well (the C&O link not working at all, for instance) but you can download your own copy from the link I posted just above.? There are a number of photos in that collection that show skirts removed, but also a lot of detail on the underbodies.

On skirting- taking a look at my books, photos from the early 50s show skirting on a 10-6 sleeper, and the skirting as shown is quite similar to what is modeled by Rowa, etc.? A photo of Allegheny Club taken in the late 50s on a Santa Fe tour train also still has skirts.? Photos from a book on Chicago in the 60s show all the cars as having skirts (and sometimes fluting) removed.

That's all I could come up with in a quick perusal of my library.? Hope it helps.

Regards,
Tom D.
Bob Webber
 

I used to have these cars decades ago. There are so many better alternatives now I haven't even looked for them in years. The use of a common underneath equipment layout is not unusual - even in (much!) larger scales. I've seen it on O scale cars, HO brass (Palace Car, Lambert, etc.) variants of these cars. Part of the issue is that (many of) the equipment drawings for these cars are missing from the Pullman Library. You can get a taste for them in the Randall Pullman Library (red cover) books. In any case, the fee for a Library drawing is likely out of your comfort zone for such a small piece (these are 3' x 5' drawings, and cost $25).

One aspect to be aware of, Pullman drawings of Equipment are from a top down view - not a up-from-the-rails view (car upside down). The lack of understanding on that point has led to MANY models with reverse/mirror imaged renditions of the Equipment layout.
 

Thanks for the suggestions, Tom and Bob. I have dug a little deeper since posting my question, and while I never found an underfloor plan, the C&O Hist Soc did have a few clear shots of the 1946 cars wirh the skirts removed and the details well exposed. Well enough to move on with the project.

The suggestion of checking the Centralia cars I had already followed before reading the reply, and all four of the cars I had grabbed from my collection were actually AM Ltd core kits underfloors. I also had grabbed representative cars from almost all the manufacturers I own, and am now of the belief that the layout is a minor issue after laying them side by side.

Thanks all who have checked out this subject.
Steve Woodall

1 - 4 of 4