Greetings All,
This paint project started innocently enough with an email from 1:1 Sir Neal's Atlantic Pacific RR Purchasing Department. In the all too familiar phrase "I can get a good deal on some Atlas 50' boxcars if you're interested in painting them."
My answer was OK, as long as they are not APRR, EBRR or PC as I felt we had enough of those already. After looking at available decals we chose the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway.
The Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway traces it's name back to 1887. The TP&W runs East and West thru the heart of Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. After a foreclosure sale to a new owner in 1926 the TP&W reconstituted itself into a major bridge route for east - west traffic, particularly for the Santa Fe at Lomax, Illinois and the Pennsylvania at Effner, Illinois on the Indiana state border.
In 1955 the Pennsylvania RR and the Santa Fe agreed to buy the TP&W to fend off a takeover from the Minneapolis & St Louis Railway. After the formation of Penn Central the PRR shares became PC shares and the PC assumed half ownership.
Our project cars are eight Atlas undecorated boxcars that have arrived from the APRR with Kadee couplers and two sets of Microscale Decal Set # 87-1529.
The eight cars are ready for paint after being washed and with brake wheels and other details attached.
Seven of the eight cars have received their first color and are left to dry.
The underframes have been painted flat black.
Trucks and wheel faces are also painted flat back.
Decals for the project cars are cut and ready for application.
After allowing the project cars to dry for several days the roofs have been painted with rattle car aluminum.
It's time to decal!!!
Seven of the eight project cars have been released from the shops.
TPW #50568 proudly boasts its RR name and motto like the prototype TPW #50582. These leased cars appear to be part of the nationwide increased per diem fleet of the mid 1970s.
TPW #50578 wears a large TPW herald and lets potential shippers know the car is dual air pak equipped similar to TPW #50667.
TPW #50517 wears a similar paint scheme with large TPW herald.
TPW #50572 is the last of the four double door project cars.
TPW #70126 wears rattle can orange and aluminum roof paint with black lettering as seen in this prototype photo.TPW 50515, 50568 and 50578 on the left are virtual ops ready with both the APRR and NYCTL adding them to their respective fleets. More on that caboose bringing up the rear in a future blog post.
The above cars will join TPW #627 on the virtual ops roster. Boxcars with this "Links East & West" paint scheme look to have been in service from the 1960s into the 1980s.
I'll be looking to add the 50572 and 70126 to the NYCTL fleet down the road for virtual ops usage once I acquire the proper models.
As IPD boxcars these cars had lessors finding them loads and seldom traveled empty so we'll look to run them in a similar manner.
Getting to or thru Peoria Illinois seemed to be the quest of not only the TPW but the NYC's Peoria & Eastern RR and the PRRs own Peoria secondary. The P&E car wears the "Shooting Star" logo advertising it's "Quicker via Peoria"
The project research uncovered some interesting tidbits about the TP&W which is still running under Genesee & Wyoming RR ownership.
Here are some of the sources used:
Penn Central POST magazine volume 22, number 2.
Thanks for reading!!!
See ya soon!!!
Great job with your TP&W boxcars! They will make additions to the P.C.C.M. virtual rolling stock roster. With the fine prototype research department at the Patti-O paint shops, I learned some more things about the PC. I knew the Santa Fe was involved with the TP&W, that’s where they got their lone GP40 from. However, I was not aware of the Pennsy and PC connection to the TP&W. Thanks for sharing your project and research with us. They will look sharp running on the NYCTL and APRR. 👍🚂
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for the compliments ATJOE!!! I appreciate your reading the blog and commenting! Some of this stuff was new to me as well and I'm glad to pass it on.
DeleteAnother stellar project from the N.Y.C.T.L. and the Patti-O Paint Shop! Both styles of the TP&W logo look good on those red cars (and the surprise prototypical orange one as well!) I applaud your research into the TP&W and its rolling stock...and as always greatly admire your decal work. I see that magnifying glass in one photo that must be useful when applying some of the tiny detail lettering! I'm looking forward to seeing you and Neal exchange these cars in the virtual ops. They are eye catchers!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Ralph!!! It was a nice tidbit learning the PC was a 50% owner of the TPW! That magnifying glass is worth its weight in gold when dealing with those minute decals.
DeleteI was eyeing your fine decal assembly area for any behind the scenes secrets 😉 Like Ralph, I noticed the magnifying glass as well. I’m sure it does the trick for those tiny detail decals 👍
DeleteThe secret is out! The magnifying glass comes in very handy when applying those tiny decals. I don't try to read all the small print per se, I just want to make sure they are not upside down. This is especially true with the COTS panels that can be picked up under magnification from a camera.
DeleteSir John and the Patti-O Paint Shop have outdone themselves again! When John told me which railroad he wanted to model, while I heard of the TP&W, I didn't know the history nor the connection to the PC.
ReplyDeleteThe APRR looks forward to adding them to the virtual op sessions as well as my own operating sessions with the guys.
Thank you very much 1:1 Sir Neal!! Put another fine joint APRR-EBRR project in the books! The TPW-PC connection was a nice find!
DeleteThe TP&W was also partly owned by the Santa Fe. In fact,the Santa Fe's lone GP40 (As distinguished from the flared radiator GP40X) came via the TP&W. Those boxcars look real good John, glad to see your latest, haven't seen you on Trainlife lately.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve! Thanks for reading and commenting. You're right about Trainlife. I need to correct that today. Good to hear from you!
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