I currently run all modern MTH rail King Diesels, I do have one Rail King steam engine (Y6b) thinking of having it as an excursion train. What Rail King passenger cars would you recommend? (pictures)?
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
If your Y6b is a Norfolk & Western example (Road No. 2156 for instance) then you can start with the traditional NS excursion fleet (1990's vintage). I would start here, having seen this fleet in action several times back then. It was was pulled at various times by steam locomotives 611 and 1218 as well as 2156 and by diesels.
Understand that:
- The NS fleet at that time was all in tuscan red with gold stripes and lettering, with most cars decorated, if I recall correctly, for the Powhatan Arrow and/or the Pocahontas, and some labeled "Norfolk Southern".
- NS hasn't run excursions with this fleet in many, many years, and I believe actually sold it off, either as separate pieces or a set, at one point. As a result in the real world you wouldn't see these cars pulled as a set nowadays (for instance in more recent excursions operated obviously by various entities other than NS).
- In the real world some may have been retained and repainted in the present day NS Business Fleet colors and markings.
- I believe that at least one car from this fleet in the original paint scheme has been reproduced (accurately?) in 'O' gauge at some point in the last 20 years, and examples with the most recent NS Business Fleet paint and lettering scheme have definitely been produced.
So you can likely find what you're looking for if N&W/NS cars are acceptable to you.
Here's an example of the earlier paint scheme, with NS Business Car NS1 as pulled by the Bush-Cheney campaign special at a campaign stop in Pontiac, Michigan on August 5, 2000:
Mike
Attachments
It also would be prototypical to run a complete mishmash of historic passenger equipment, as that is what many modern excursions use; a mix of privately owned railcars and/or those borrowed from other historic societies.
If you don't need it to be 100% accurate, you could essentially wander train shows, hobby shops, ebay, Trainz, etc and buy any passenger car that makes you say "I'd own that, if I could own a private car"
If you're looking for more accuracy, there are lists of private cars and plenty of photos of them on excursions or behind Amtrak trains. I don't have any of my own that could be shared.
