Soeobo Pacific Model Railroad

The Burlington operated extensive commuter service on the “racetrack” out of Chicago Union Station. The volume of trains was one of the reasons three tracks were needed as far west as Aurora. The late 40’s - early 50’s were a time of transition when the Burlington extensively modernized its fleet of suburban equipment. Going into this period, the backbone of the fleet was made up of steel open platform coaches built in the 1920s. In 1949, the Burlington started to rebuild some of these with enclosed vestibules and air conditioning. This program coincided with the purchase of new stainless steel bi-level gallery cars that began arriving in 1950. Some of the former open platform coaches were converted into power cars to supply electricity to the new gallery cars. Lastly, several heavyweight long-distance coaches were also transferred to suburban service. This shuffling of equipment resulted in an interesting variety in suburban service that I wanted to model. This post will focus on the ...

I  stumbled across an ad for a Bethlehem Car Works heavyweight observation car kit that looked very similar to pictures I had seen of CB&Q prototypes with a two-window solarium section at the rear. It seemed perfect for my Exposition Flyer consist. After doing some research, I found these cars were modeled after a class used on CB&Q name trains like the Aristocrat and Black Hawk in the 20s and 30s. By the late 40s period that I model, they had been transferred to the Pennsylvania Railroad. I decided to use some modeler’s license as the CB&Q still had similar looking DL-3 lounges operating in the 40s. I was also curious to try out a BCW kit. The kit is a combination of resin sides and ends with a former Branchline heavyweight core and roof. There is a complete set of underbody details and Branchline trucks. A collection of other resin and plastic detail parts is included. I used a combination of these and 3rd-party details to better match the Burlington cars of the 1940’...

This is a train I put together for my Dad’s birthday. He has a small train set to go around the Christmas tree. Really just a circle of track with a power pack. I thought he would enjoy a nicer steam engine with sound to show off. He’s not a “serious” model railroader, does not use DCC, and likes his trains to be as simple as possible. I wanted to get him a train that included some (literal) bells and whistles while also requiring no additional learning curve. The engine is a RTR Roundhouse model with a factory installed MRC sound decoder. It runs surprisingly smooth for a 20-year-old engine, and the colorful paint scheme is great for a holiday display.  The MRC sound system was key in deciding to go with this engine. The engines produced in the mid 2000’s came with a radio remote to control some sounds. Since my Dad doesn’t have a DCC system, the remote allows him to blow the whistle and ring the bell without buying a new controller. There aren’t as many sound options or prototypi...

Living for several years in Colorado, I naturally caught the narrow gauge bug and began assembling a collection of Colorado and Southern equipment. The C&S was a subsidiary of the Burlington, so it dovetailed with my existing interests. Models of C&S passenger equipment are few and far between, limited mostly to brass imports. I found a few vintage E&B Valley kits, one C&S baggage and two Rio Grande coaches. The kits are not quite up to modern standards of detail, but they look good enough once painted. The finished models are approximates of C&S cars, while still capturing the feel of the prototypes. The coaches are flat kits with the car sides, ends, floor, and roof all cast as separate parts. The assembly sequence is relatively simple, but requires patience and careful aligning of the parts. E&B supplies plastic trucks (assembly required) with the kits, but I had a couple pairs of Blackstone trucks that I substituted.  I built the coaches mostly following...

I recently built a few of my favorite models, the heavyweight passenger car kits formerly made by Branchline.  They are exquisitely detailed and are very impressive once assembled.  It’s amazing that you can regularly find them at train shows for as little as $15 a kit.  In fact, you can make the case that these are among the best values in rolling stock available today. Atlas, after its purchase of Branchline, now produces these cars in ready-to-run form and sells them for upwards of $60 each.  This means that people willing to spend time assembling the kit versions can build practically an entire train for the price of one RTR car. The kit looks a bit intimidating out of the box, but it only requires a few basic skills. If you can build a Proto2000, Branchline, or Intermountain boxcar, you can build this kit.  The essential tools are a screwdriver, sharp hobby knife, liquid plastic cement (the kind that is thin as water), tweezers, and CA (super) glue. I ...