RDC
- Thread starter rick1958
- Start date
That's good to know, thanks.
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What is RDC ? Do you mean a diesel train ?
Just checked it out you have to be a Gold Plus member. I guess that's one sale they won't make. Thanks for the info.
I can't seem to find them under RDC or Budd. Any bones you can throw my way?
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I found Budds under these two, but not RDC's. Thanks for the reply though.
Is there the standard practice overlooked by model train makers RDC-4?
I've not thought to look for payware RDC, but yes, count me an interested buyer.
And especially interested in payware quality ones which allow me to write my freelance HO and N scale railroads' names on their letterboards.
But they gotta be usable in TANE, that's probably as advanced as Social Security Disability income is going to allow me to have a computer to run.It looks like the DLC is TRS22 and up, sadly.Is there the standard practice overlooked by model train makers RDC-4?
I've not thought to look for payware RDC, but yes, count me an interested buyer.
I wondered the same because the one I have in N-scale is off, meaning it doesn't look right. It's quite old, from probably 35 years ago, and if I remember it's from Con-Cor.
I failed mind reading class and do not know whether yours is, but there are 1 or 2 of mine buried in a box in the back closet here.
They got painted for one of my freelance roads, red pier panel, side doors, ends, with traction orange letterboard and end doors.
Fluted/corrugated stainless steel panels silver.
Don't recall examining its shape overly closely, it was an RDC and it was more in the area of correct length than the Athearn HO ones were.
The Athearn HO scale ones got sliced up in the early 1990s to make a freelance motorcoach train like OBB's Trans Alpine of the late 20th century.
Also have 2 of Life Like/Walthers Proto issue of more correct length than Athearn RDC. They are likewise painted.
And likewise currently buried in a box.
Have in my hands this very moment Kalmbach's 2002 reissue of book Classic Railroads You Can Model.
Contents page has orange highlighter across "B&M Gloucester Branch" on page 33.
It was a commuter branch line which in 1950s was home turf of a number of B&M RDC cars.
Some nice RDC assets would most likely lead to it getting modeled again.
(a version of it was lost to the ether when the PC with Trainz 2009 irretrievably failed)
Contents page has orange highlighter across "B&M Gloucester Branch" on page 33.
It was a commuter branch line which in 1950s was home turf of a number of B&M RDC cars.
Some nice RDC assets would most likely lead to it getting modeled again.
(a version of it was lost to the ether when the PC with Trainz 2009 irretrievably failed)
The Gloucester Branch and its environs is about 30 miles southeast of where I live. George Fisher, who lives in Rockport, created a route based on Gloucester and its environs. His route depicts a fictional terminal railroad that serves the docks along the waterfront. I took his route and changed the diesel operations to diesel freight with electric light rail and I expanded the operation to West Gloucester and Eastern Point in addition to making other changes. His route is from TRS2006 or TS2009 and can be imported into T: ANE. For that version you need to do some file manipulation to import it. If you are interested in that route, let me know and I can assist you with the file part.Have in my hands this very moment Kalmbach's 2002 reissue of book Classic Railroads You Can Model.
Contents page has orange highlighter across "B&M Gloucester Branch" on page 33.
It was a commuter branch line which in 1950s was home turf of a number of B&M RDC cars.
Some nice RDC assets would most likely lead to it getting modeled again.
(a version of it was lost to the ether when the PC with Trainz 2009 irretrievably failed)
The Boston and Maine once owned the largest fleet of Budd RDCs in the world. The railroad started early in its dieselization process and replaced the commuter and regular passenger trains as soon as it could with Budd Liners. On the commuter runs, the units saved not only time with turnarounds but also money because the flailing railroad didn't have to pay extra crews to maintain the steam locomotives and all the wooden passenger cars used at the time.
In the Boston area, the B&M managed the northside out of its terminal, North Station, while the New Haven and NYC handled service out of South Station, all later Penn Central and Conrail. In the late 1970s, the Budd cars were becoming more and more unreliable due to their age and the Blizzard of '78 really took its toll on them. With many out of service units, the MBTA leased units from GO Transit and other agencies while they sought out a solution to replace the aging units as well as purchasing some commuter cars from Pullman and Messerschmitt.
When Conrail gave up its passenger operations, the B&M inherited the fleet of Budd RDCs from those roads and ran the commuter service out of both terminals under contract for the MBTA. It wasn't unusual seeing RDCs lettered for Lehigh Valley, Reading, Erie Lackawanna, Boston and Albany, and New York Central, Jersey Central, in addition to New Haven, and Penn Central. A year or so later, in the scramble for parts, the B&M purchased or rather the MBTA purchased fleets from other transit agencies and railroads. At that point, we were riding on RDCs from the Canadian Pacific, Canadian National, among other roads including the Baltimore and Ohio and Pittsburgh and West Virginia.
Initially, these Budd RDCs were powered but soon due to their age, the Cummins diesels were becoming unreliable and the units were depowered. The diesel engines remained operational for HVAC and electrical systems only, but other than that, the old RDCs became passenger cars instead while some units also retained their operational cabs that were used for push-pull commuter service. To pull these depowered Budd cars, the MBTA purchased rebuilt E and F-units from M&K. These "FP10" units, painted silver with gold (yellow) front with a maroon or pink band, with some variations on that theme. The diesels were referred to as Easter Eggs due to their stripes and looked amazing pulling the silver-side passenger cars since most of the Budd Cars lost their distinctive domes on their roofs.
The legacy of these unique trainsets still lives on with MBTA Easter Eggs pulling depowered Budd RDCs pulling trains on many tourist lines and short lines today.
So true. Conrail was a bailed-out Penn Central giving them more power to destroy the included railroads, meaning their competition such as the Erie Lackawanna and Lehigh Valley who both had faster and more direct lines than either of the Penn Central routes to Buffalo and Chicago.
I know the Reading and Northern has at least 2 they use for excursion purposes.
The Reading and Northern actually has 3 but they might only use 2 at the moment for the excursions to Jim Thorpe from Reading, Port Clinton, Pottsville, etc. Reading Tech Museum in Hamburg at the northern end of the former Blue Mountain & Reading tourist line which is still owned by the Reading and Northern which was formed in Dec. 1990 and the BM&R name was retired after 1995 owns a few RDC's they got from MBTA, there were two sitting at Temple Station north of Reading with the T logo still on them several years ago They might be demotored though. Reading and Northern bought a few more from somewhere recently to have additional cars for more capacity, the rides often sell out. I wonder if Amtrak or a commuter railroad can solve the problem in NY and Boston where you have two stations that aren't directly connected and require a taxi, Uber/Lyft, subway or bus ride between them. Like Penn Station and Grand Central. South Station and North Station. The only way to get from NY to Portland Maine by train requires a several block transfer between South and North Stations.
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I'm glad to see the old MBTA Budd Liners living on.
There is a roundabout connection between the two sides that's used for equipment moves and some freight. The line runs between Alston and North Station via the Grand Junction branch. This line would make a perfect connector by building a wye at Alston to allow for this. The bridge across the Charles River was once double-tracked, so I think a connection from the South Station side could be done without too much of a problem.
The area in Cambridge, that the line passes through, is occupied with MIT and other big Pharma companies, used to have a substantial amount of freight business in and around Binney Street. There's evidence of a former branch there where a huge yard once existed. All of that has been replaced by office-type buildings, apartments, and a park. With these businesses, there could be extra commuter stops for students and workers.
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