Raritan River Discussion

I'll leave the real advice to the experts who've already done custom paint work.  But you might be able to save yourself some work on the caboose, since Atlas-O offered a Raritian River caboose some years back.

David

Only problem is that the caboose atlas offered isn't from the steam era.

Rocky Mountaineer posted:

I'll leave the real advice to the experts who've already done custom paint work.  But you might be able to save yourself some work on the caboose, since Atlas-O offered a Raritian River caboose some years back.

David

 Actually the RR caboose is listed as coming in to Atlas 2Q 2016 this is the NE-6 version so contacting a dealer now should get you one. The pictured caboose in your post appears to be a woodside NYC/ VT railway prototype probably purchased 2nd hand by RR these should be not to hard to locate on the web or forum, you would have to repaint and decal though,just saying!

Yes the pictured caboose was bought from the Vermont Railroad who got it from the Rutland. I have decals for the caboose but I need advice for which model caboose to buy. (Some are semi-scale) The b6sb is of course my main concern

Raritan River RR,

      You maybe able to pick up a Legacy B6sb in Polar RR paint at a good price. I saw one at the Allentown show for $500. At that price re-painting would not be out of the question. You may want to check with some of the forum sponsors too see if you can make a deal on a Polar RR B6sb.

     I have a PRR Legacy B6sb terrific engine great sound and smoke. Can run all day at crawl speed.

JohnB

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

Yes the pictured caboose was bought from the Vermont Railroad who got it from the Rutland. I have decals for the caboose but I need advice for which model caboose to buy. (Some are semi-scale) The b6sb is of course my main concern

That prototype caboose you pictured above, sure looks a LOT like a New York Central 19,000 series caboose, and I believe both MTH and Lionel offer those in scale size.

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

Yes the pictured caboose was bought from the Vermont Railroad who got it from the Rutland. I have decals for the caboose but I need advice for which model caboose to buy. (Some are semi-scale) The b6sb is of course my main concern

If the Raritan River purchased this caboose from the Vermont Railway, it doesn't sound like it was on the Raritan River roster during it's steam era.  I thought the ex-DL&W cabooses painted yellow were in use during the Raritan River steam era.  If that is the case, I don't know of any commercially available models of those cabooses.  If my memory is not accurate, please ignore this entire conversation.

ecd15 posted:

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

Yes the pictured caboose was bought from the Vermont Railroad who got it from the Rutland. I have decals for the caboose but I need advice for which model caboose to buy. (Some are semi-scale) The b6sb is of course my main concern

If the Raritan River purchased this caboose from the Vermont Railway, it doesn't sound like it was on the Raritan River roster during it's steam era.  I thought the ex-DL&W cabooses painted yellow were in use during the Raritan River steam era.  If that is the case, I don't know of any commercially available models of those cabooses.  If my memory is not accurate, please ignore this entire conversation.

Didn't Weaver import correct SCALE brass DL&W cabooses?

Hot Water posted:

ecd15 posted:

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

Yes the pictured caboose was bought from the Vermont Railroad who got it from the Rutland. I have decals for the caboose but I need advice for which model caboose to buy. (Some are semi-scale) The b6sb is of course my main concern

If the Raritan River purchased this caboose from the Vermont Railway, it doesn't sound like it was on the Raritan River roster during it's steam era.  I thought the ex-DL&W cabooses painted yellow were in use during the Raritan River steam era.  If that is the case, I don't know of any commercially available models of those cabooses.  If my memory is not accurate, please ignore this entire conversation.

Didn't Weaver import brass DL&W cabooses?

Yes they did, I own several of them, but they were the steel versions built on retired tender frames.  All the photos I have seen of the Raritan River cobooses are of the wooden ex-DL&W versions.  I'm sure Malcolm could build a couple of them, but that might be more than the OP had planned to invest in a caboose.

To answer all these questions first.

John B: The polar railroad B6sb was one of my preferred locomotives as it was cheaper. I now know that I'd like a PRR loco instead. This way if I can't make the custom B6 I have the PRR to fall back on as they were close with the RRRR.

Hot Water: Caboose #7 is a 19,000 series caboose, with some slight modifications by the Rutland and RRRR.

ECD15 (Bob) Your memory is actually very accurate on the Raritan River! Yes originally the cabooses were painted yellow. What's more is that this #7 is the second #7 the Raritan River owned. (The first was switched out and sent to the Pine Creek railroad in a sneaky equipment transfer) Basically the rest of the RRRR cabooses (8,5,6,4,3,) were all DL&W. 9 and 10 were from the New Haven. 1 and 2 were bobber's that were scrapped in the early 1900's. This former Vermont Railroad caboose arrived when the Raritan River still had them in yellow. It's just the picture I have here shows the repaint after the diesels arrived.

Thanks for helping so far everyone! Just let me know which brand makes a better caboose. (I've looked at both and it seems they all have their ups and downs.

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

 

Thanks for helping so far everyone! Just let me know which brand makes a better caboose. (I've looked at both and it seems they all have their ups and downs.

The absolute BEST NYC 19,000 series caboose would be the Mullet River kit. You had better be a master at soldering and wood kit construction, but that is truly the ABSOLUTE BEST prototypically accurate New York Central wood caboose EVER.  Ted at Rails Unlimited may have some kits still in stock, as Mullet River is now out of business since the owner retired. 

Unfortunately I am terrible at soldering and wood construction. Because of this I stay far away from soldering and wood construction (kitbashing) (custom buildings and or cars).

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

Unfortunately I am terrible at soldering and wood construction. Because of this I stay far away from soldering and wood construction (kitbashing) (custom buildings and or cars).

Well, you asked. As some alternatives, both Lionel and Williams made very well detailed models of the famous NYC 19,000 series caboose. The down side is, both are highly desired "collector" items, and cane be pretty darned expensive. Besides the Mullet River model, I also have one of the old Williams "copy" of the historic SCALE Lionel caboose, which is also a very nice piece.

hibar posted:

Rocky Mountaineer posted:

I'll leave the real advice to the experts who've already done custom paint work.  But you might be able to save yourself some work on the caboose, since Atlas-O offered a Raritian River caboose some years back.

David

 Actually the RR caboose is listed as coming in to Atlas 2Q 2016 this is the NE-6 version so contacting a dealer now should get you one. ...

Yes, that's an NE-6 re-issue from the 2003 production run.  Will be interesting to see if Atlas-O uses the same #9 road-number for the caboose.  The new announcement shows #9 (which is what I thought they ran in 2003 also).  But the picture above appears to show a #7, which is also a different model.  So perhaps the Raritan River RR had a few of these "cabeese".

David

So what was the paint scheme for the RRRR B6 anyway?

Cnj3676: You took extensive photos of the RRRR? Videos? Are you also aware of the movement known as the Raritan River Chapter of the NRHS? You ought to join if you are interested in the Raritan River. I should make a separate post for that. 

The picture you showed was in Rails up the Raritan. That was a rare picture of Crossman's "Dinkies" and the US Army steamers. 

Our NRHS chapter has historians such as Al Bauman whose name is frequently seen in that book. A former employee also is considering joining our group. Thanks again for commenting. 

I found this brass tender for 50.00 at a the Allentown Show last November.I did not know what I was going to use to pull it but I bought it anyway.Much to my surprise it had a electronic E unit in it and I later found out it hooked up fine to a old Williams brass B6...its not prototypical but it works...nothing on my train table is really prototypical anyway.

Bob, that looks great! And I think it very close to prototypical except for the cab number. 

RARITANRIVERRAILROADFAN4, 

  Since you said you are new to the forum, welcome.

  Sounds like 2 good projects. Be sure to post pictures before and after. 

  For the record, CNJ 3676/Bob is a wonderful resource and a real nice guy! 

Tom 

Bob you are right. I remembered a little while after I made my last post. The B6sb the RRRR got from the PRR had the small slope back tender. Lionel made a scale model of this many years ago which I believe is held in high regard for its time. Anyway, someone did do a real nice job on the tender decals. The font is very, very close to the prototype.

TAYCOTRAINS: That is one of the best RR custom steam locos I've ever seen. Frankly I'm a little envious. I'm kidding though. Nice find. Although that tender looks like it would have went to the USRA 0-6-0's. 

I have a guy who can do decals so I have those covered. What I don't have is a guy who can do number boards for #8. 

Tom:

Thank you for your very kind words!

RRRRFAN4:

My coverage of the Raritan River was strictly in the form of slides. I didn't take any moving pictures of the operation. It's too bad video recording didn't mature until several years after the railroad's absorption into Conrail.

I'm in aware of the Raritan River Chapter of the NRHS. In fact, I was speaking with someone about it at the JCRHS meet at Mother Seton this past Sunday. 

I don't know if you're familiar with this book but here is another excellent source of Raritan River material, particularly of the steam era. It was authored by Ben Bernhart and titled "Shortline & Industrial Railroads of New Jersey". It's primarily a photo book and a significant portion of the book's is composed of RRRR images. B6 number 8 is seen several times. Industrial operations served by the RRRR such as Crossman and its narrow gauge system are also included. Posted below is a picture of the book's over:

The book is a must have for Raritan River fans.

Bob

Hudson J1e posted:

...The B6sb the RRRR got from the PRR had the small slope back tender. Lionel made a scale model of this many years ago which I believe is held in high regard for its time. ...

 Sounds like you're referring to the model Lionel produced around 1990/1991.  It was a great little locomotive for it's day, but you'll probably have better luck finding a brand new model from last year's Lionel production run (with Legacy electronics) that included a few Pennsy road #'s, as well as Polar Railroad, and Long Island RR units.  The older model from 1990-ish was well-made for the time, but I do recall it lacked the finishing touch details on the locomotive backhead, where lots of wiring was highly visible.  That sort of thing wouldn't sit too well today. 

David

Ah yes I have this book. They also show Union Transportation. I was also at the JCRHS show. The RRRR NRHS chapter had a booth there. We made some decent funds but ultimately the show didn't attract too many people.

Rocky Mountaineer posted:

Hudson J1e posted:

...The B6sb the RRRR got from the PRR had the small slope back tender. Lionel made a scale model of this many years ago which I believe is held in high regard for its time. ...

 Sounds like you're referring to the model Lionel produced around 1990/1991.  It was a great little locomotive for it's day, but you'll probably have better luck finding a brand new model from last year's Lionel production run (with Legacy electronics) that included a few Pennsy road #'s, as well as Polar Railroad, and Long Island RR units.  The older model from 1990-ish was well-made for the time, but I do recall it lacked the finishing touch details on the locomotive backhead, where lots of wiring was highly visible.  That sort of thing wouldn't sit too well today. 

David

David, actually I was referring to the pre-war version. The pre-war version was built to NMRA specs and requires a minimum of O72 track. Whenever I have seen one for sale they were expensive. Many years ago I wanted to do the same thing as the OP and create an authentic or at least close to authentic RRRR steam locomotive but you've have given me an idea. If I could find one of the ones you mention cheap maybe I could still go ahead with this project. As a 2 railer I don't want the Legacy electronics.

Funny story: When Atlas first announced they were going to do a 0-6-0 I posted on their forum that they could do a RRRR paint scheme but the late Jim Weaver corrected me by saying the Raritan River had ex U.S. Army 0-6-0s and not USRA 0-6-0s. I said okay but when they announced a USRA 0-6-0 in Raritan River paint scheme I said wait a minute you told me that the RRRR didn't have USRA 0-6-0s? You know what he said? "Well, it's close enough." LOL, I guess by that point he realized that RRRR equipment sold pretty good.

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:

Ah yes I have this book. They also show Union Transportation. I was also at the JCRHS show. The RRRR NRHS chapter had a booth there. We made some decent funds but ultimately the show didn't attract too many people.

RRRRFan4, what is the JCRHS show? Tell me more about the RRRR NRHS Chapter.

The JCRHS stands for Jersey Central Railroad Historical Society. Basically the NRHS CNJ chapter. They have a train show every year in Clark, NJ.

Now the Raritan River NRHS chapter is a fairly new chapter as it was only formed in 2010/2011. We have so far assembled a crew of historians and local people in the NJ area. Our chapter is attempting to move and restore the last surviving station on the RRRR. Then future projects would be to purchase the surviving rolling stock and one engine. Take a look at these photos.

Wow! Are you telling me SW#4 still exists? I didn't know that. That is really cool. 

What happened to the boxcar in the 5th picture? It looks terrible. Was it a fire? 

I was at that show many years ago. It's a good show but I haven't been able to make it there in a very long time. 

I would love to help you guys out but I work a lot and I work when everyone else is off so it is difficult for me to do train stuff. The few times I am off at a good time the wife usually has plans. 

Hudson J1e posted:

Wow! Are you telling me SW#4 still exists? I didn't know that. That is really cool. 

What happened to the boxcar in the 5th picture? It looks terrible. Was it a fire? 

I was at that show many years ago. It's a good show but I haven't been able to make it there in a very long time. 

I would love to help you guys out but I work a lot and I work when everyone else is off so it is difficult for me to do train stuff. The few times I am off at a good time the wife usually has plans. 

Yes that caboose is #100. Atlas made a model of it a while back. It was once an N&W boxcar but it got caught in a fire and I think as part of an insurance company write off it was either given to the Raritan River or just sold very cheaply.

SW900 #4 was actually moved from its last known location in July. I've been trying to track it down with no luck so far. Moved from Eddystone PA to.????

I realize this is an old thread, but does anyone have any idea when the RRRR switched colors on their cabooses? I know the yellow with red window frames lasted at least until 1957 (as I've seen a picture dated from then showing several). At some point after that, they switched to yellow with black trim around yellow window frames (and changed the font of "Raritan River"). Eventually, of course, they were painted the same colors as their engines (1969 or earlier?). Anybody have a rough idea of the timeline?

If I was home I would try to look this up for you but hopefully someone else can answer it.

I finally got to see the RRRR boxcar in person a couple of months ago. It was so cool to see it in real life.

@Hudson J1e posted:

If I was home I would try to look this up for you but hopefully someone else can answer it.

I finally got to see the RRRR boxcar in person a couple of months ago. It was so cool to see it in real life.

Quakertown? Wonder how it ended up there...

While I'm still interested for future projects, whipped up this caboose to use with my RRRR #4 SW900...

The yellow cabooses were done by late 1966 early 67.

@taycotrains posted:

The yellow cabooses were done by late 1966 early 67.

Thanks. I was pretty sure that when they bought 9 & 10 from Penn Central in '69 they painted them in the red, wasn't sure when before that they'd made the switch.

@Magicland posted:

While I'm still interested for future projects, whipped up this caboose to use with my RRRR #4 SW900...

This is a model of Raritan River 2nd No. 7.  First 7 was one of the ex-DL&W series Nos. 5 to 8.  First 7 exists today on the Pine Creek Railroad at Allaire State Park in NJ but is off her trucks, making her more of a building than a piece of rolling stock. 

This particular caboose (or the one it's modeled after) started life on the Rutland as #85 in 1920. It was renumbered to #35 in November of 1924. It was sold to the Vermont Railway in March of 1965, who then sold it to the RRRR in July of 1965 (#7 the second). Apparently the RRRR (or Conrail) sold this and #6 to the Grafton & Upton in 1980 when Conrail took over. Not sure when it left the G&U, but its currently being used as an ice cream shop on Cape Cod (sans trucks), in South Yarmouth, MA.