Broadway Limited from Walthers

Klinger

The Chicago CTA guy
Well, after recieving for my Birthday last year a BLI T1 Duplex, in addition to the BLI GG1 and E9 set I already I have, I've decided that the old AHM passenger cars I have....just don't cut it anymore. So, I've decided to slowly upgrade to Walthers cars. Because I have the E Units, I figured that the 1953 era Walthers Broadway Limited cars were a perfect fit (plus I like the paint scheme better then the Fleet of Modernism scheme). I'm not trying to do anything 100% accurate, its important to remember I don't actually have a layout, but do belong to a club where I get to go play with my stuff now and then.

I ordered from Walthers the 68 seat Diner and Kitchen/Dorm, which at this point have to be some of the last one's in stock at Walthers, but the one car that I need the most I cannot track down, besides the Kitchen/Diner combo, I need the tail car, the Pullman Standard "View" series. Walthers discontinued the whole set back in 2012, so tracking down any remaining cars has been rather hard. Ebay constantly has the Pullman Sleepers, of various plans, and I already E60B baggage cars are a dime a dozen (I already have one in fact). I hate that these cars have become so expensive, although at $45 each for the dinner/dorm, I can't complain too much. But I really need to find the tailcar, because without it....its just not the Broadway Limited. Since I've already committed to Walthers cars, I'd like to find theirs and keep everything the same, rather then having mismatched cars.

So if anyone could help me track some of these cars down, specifically the tail car, and find it in-stock anywhere, I would really really appreciate it.
 
speaking of discontinued, I just noticed that over 3/4 of all their Pennsylvania Railroad passenger cars (event he fairly new MOW cars) are now discontinued....
 
Have you tried your LHS? Mine has the tail car and three or four sets of diners. I picked up two extra sets of diners for a really really good price. Chances are if your LHS has any, they will be wanting to get rid of them.
 
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While we are on the topic of Walthers name trains, I would really like to track down some of the 20th Century Limited sleepers that they did a while back.
 
Have you tried your LHS? Mine has the tail car and three or four sets of diners. I picked up two extra sets of diners for a really really good price. Chances are if your LHS has any, they will be wanting to get rid of them.

The only hobby shop near me is caboose hobbies....one of the largest hobby shops in the country....Needless to say, they don't have any, I check regularly.
 
At Caboose, I've seen a large amount of NYC stuff, nothing of the name trains, but the have generic cars. Very little from Pennsy though
 
Well some good news and some bad news. The good news first. I managed to track down several Broadway Limited cars. I have the Complete 3 car Bar-Lounge/Diner/Kitchen-Dorm set. I also tracked down the offical April, 1953 Train Makeup Sheet for the Pennsylvania railroad online, printing a hard copy as well. It gives a makup for every train running on the Pennsylvania system (including interchange cars) in that year. It also lists what sleepers (aka, which names) were assigned to which train. Also, a big thank you to Walthers, the decal sheets that come with the actual Broadway Limited cars give decals for EVERY car, including car numbers (which the standard sleepers do not include).

The Bad news, I cannot track down 3 cars. The View Series tail car, the Inn series 21 Roomette cars (in 1953, the trains got 2 of these), and the BM70M mail car. However, according the the Train Makup Sheet I found, on Sunday's, the BM70M was not part of the consist....so for the time being, my train is a model of the Sunday train! What luck!

I also learned that in contrast to the Walthers 9 car consist, the Actual Broadway limited (at least in 1953) called for a 16 car consist. With one car thru to Los Angles, which would either be a two tone Pennsylvania 4-4-2, or a Santa Fe 4-4-2 Sleeper. Seeing as finding a Santa Fe 4-4-2 is easier, I think thats my goal.

http://pennsyrr.com/kc/passops/downloads/5304_makeup.pdf

Also another note for the curious. The B60B baggage car is not proper for the Broadway Limited, as there was no baggage service on the train. I'm guessing everything had to fit in your room.
 
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The TTG 4-4-2 shows up on ebay from time to time. I have one, as the ATSF sleepers weren't on the Broadway until about 1951, and I model 1948. As far as consist length, I find that running a 9-10 car train is better, as you don't have to deal with running a long and heavy train. To make it somewhat prototypical to run a shorter train, I tracked down a pre war PRR View series observation, took off the full width diaphragms, and painted it in the postwar scheme. This allows me to run two 10 car all-Pullman trains, the Broadway and the General, which in the time period that I am modeling, essentially acted as a second section of the Broadway, offering the exact same services. Now... to track down one of those pre war Harbor series lounges... Running this setup also allows me to cut down the number of locomotives powering my train: instead of three E7s in an ABA set, I can run an AB set and an AA set, so it's more economical for my roster.

If your luggage didn't fit, they would check it on another train with a baggage dorm, like the General, Trailblazer, or one that carried baggage and head-end cars, like the Gotham Limited, Manhattan Limited, Golden Arrow, etc...
Which reminds me... I need a baggage dorm for the General and a Baggage lounge for the Trailblazer...
 
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