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I have been slowly assembling the ACL Champion which had several road names in it as it traveled down the east coast.  One car I came across is an FEC sleeper with the name 'Key Largo' on it, but can find no real prototype.  Even the Champ decal set does not include this car.  Did MTH take literary license for this name or does someone know that a sleeper like this existed?  Also, why is it many of the 2 car add on sets seem to be always sleeper/diner? Companies should mix them up a bit, like coach/diner,  sleeper/combine. or diner/RPO.  Long range passenger consists, many times, had cars mixed in from their connecting lines, you don't need a fleet of diners to get one unique car to add in.

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Here is a link to the Passenger Car Photo Index that has several FEC passenger cars. Key Largo is not one of them.

 

http://passcarphotos.info/Indices/FEC.htm

 

Here is another link for the Jacksonville Terminal website:

 

http://www.jacksonvilletermina...ht_sleeping_cars.htm

 

According to this site, the FEC 10/6 sleepers were named for South American Countries; the 21 Roomette cars were Salvador and Uruguay; the 4-4-5-1 Sleepers were Jamaica and Scott M. Loftin; and the one 14-1 sleeper was named Panama.

 

Both MTH and Lionel have taken great liberties with naming cars that "feel right" for what they represent. Lionel did that with the Moultrie, putting that on coach, when the real Moultrie diner still exists and in almost daily use. 

 

I am also a huge ACL fan, and am working on my own Champion train for the late 40s/early 50s era. The new MTH ACL cars from their last catalog should work, but you have to compare the model to the real cars for accuracy. CALNNC, what era of the Champion are you modeling? I currently have some Phoenix Railways Inc. 18" cars decorated in ACL and FEC that I am using. They are 70s-90s vintage with silhouettes, but work for now. Looking now for the head ends express baggage and reefers that were always on ACL trains.

 

Last edited by Larry Neal

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