This set is a real oddity that I picked up from everyone's favorite online auction site some years ago. It came to me as a set of four 710 series coach bodies that had been painted and customized by a previous owner with some very skilled Bondo work. I also acquired a large bag of trim parts that seemed related to the cars. Most of the work was already done so I just had to mount the trucks, add a few missing bits and wire up the interior lights to get them running.
The set has this fascinating hand-made baggage car that was built from a rusted-out 700 series body. The car is quite heavy since the entire roof and most of the frame is made of scraps of metal held together with Bondo.
The set also includes a custom Dining or Combination Car. The original windows have been cut out and metal plates have been Bondo'd in to add in the custom windows. None of the cars have the original brass steps on the corners or the air tanks underneath-- they look alright without them so I haven't tried to add any.
All of the cars have these interesting 4-wheel trucks with gigantic, Standard Gauge sized wheels. I believe that these are original to the trucks since the truck sideframes are tall enough to accommodate the big flanges and it doesn't appear they have been regauged from Standard. Unfortunately, the oversized wheels don't ride very well on modern track switches so I have to be very careful running them to avoid derailments.
Today I'm pulling the set with my MTH American Legacy 763e in gray. This locomotive has a different boiler from the black 763e (more of the details are cast-in on this model) and seems to have a slightly different sound system, even though they are both early PS2 command control units.
Here's a video of the coaches running behind my gray MTH 763e Hudson.
Here's what those big Standard Gauge wheels do on modern track switches-- a O72 tubular switch on the left and a Fastrack 72" switch on the right!
