I know we can count on you to post photos if indeed there is a sample there to look at. I hope there is! I mean "are" as it's the passenger cars that most intrigue me and I don't want to wait for UPS.

Hancock52:

 

For sure. If Scott brings this set to York, I will post photos of it.

Better watch out for the "Photo Police".

As of about a year ago....

 

Orange Hall (where Scott is located) is now OK for Photo Ops...no Photo Cops!

 

I'll be among those taking a pic if the sample is there!!!

 

Lessee....2 weeks from this moment I should be about in Williamsport heading south on 15!  Hot doggie!!

 

KD

"I'll be among those taking a pic if the sample is there!!!"

 

Maybe a traffic jam at Scott's booth. Please take a number. 

 

All kidding aside, "maybe" we will see you there.

 Thanks! 

Here is a video of our Sample Model GM Train of Tomorrow.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wivFH_SzoM0

Nice! Thanks for share!

Great video! Now does anyone know for the three rail version if the scale coupler can be changed out for the lobster claw?

The video was great; can't wait to get mine.

 

In the video the exterior paint sure looked blue.  How close is this to the blue-green DuPont Dulux enamel that was used on the train?

I think it's the lighting...the last pan of the train shows a deeper blue.

 

Very excited to take delivery.

IT's going to look so good in the city of portland

Oh, I just can't wait.  The wait is just killing me.  I really want this train!

This video should sell out the few remaining sets before York. A must have for a passenger train collector.

One tiny dissapointment to me is that the cars are blue.  Looking at pictures, I always thought that the paint was green, with a blueish tint.  My preference, however, is that they be painted the correct color, which I, undoubtedly, will come to admire over time.

 

Both the interior and exterior detail look fantastic!   This set will be another homerun by 3rd Rail/GGD.

 

I can't wait to get my layout rebuild done, so that I can run both this set and my Columbian set!

 

Jim

The UP Version and cars are completely sold out. We do have some GM Version left over in 2R and 3R. We expect to get more orders once people see how beautiful this model is. I am flying back from China in a few days with this set in tow to bring to York.

 

There has been quite a debate as to the color. But all indications to me were that the Blue that we used is closest to the photographic data and eye witness accounts that I have received. I have consulted those that know historical photo shifts and the such. We had to go with the popular belief... Blue.

 

Scott

Scott,

 

I'm glad that you have gone with the color that you think is prototypically correct for this set.  Your attention to details is why I have become a 3rd Rail/GGD convert!

 

My tiny disappointment with the color will be fleeting.  It's just that I am use to seeing photos in which the color appears more green than blue.  I have no doubt that it will take only a short amount of time seeing them on my layout, that I will grow to appreciate the correct color of the set.  It is your commitment to the details, including color, that makes me appreciate your models.

 

Having true scale models of both the Train of Tomorrow coming soon and your recently delivered Columbian, sure makes me glad to be part of this hobby!

 

Jim

Scott,

 

Thank you for your attention to detail and keeping the arduous schedule that you keep to bring unique and meaningful models to our layouts.

 

Again, this train is gonna be tops in my collection!

 

Heath

No question that all of the historical data for the ToT says it was blue. The color blue was also mentioned in the 1948 video that Howard (marker) posted. Scott got this right.

 

Photos to come next week from York.

Maybe we should do like they do when there's a big event, like the O.J. trial or the Royal Wedding, and assign pool photographers to cover it!

 

- Mike

Aren't all pre-order trains "trains of tomorrow"? Sometimes "day after tomorrow"?

I just find the name amusing when its purchasing environment is considered.

 

Me, I'm hoping for my Lionel "Heavy Mikado of Tomorrow" this month.

Well, I knew this color thing would come up.  The reality is, unless you happen to have the original color mix from some long lost Pullman Standard documentation, you don't know what you are talking about. Given the one off nature of the train/color it is likely such documentation never existed.

 

More time was spent researching the color than the train itself.  Contemporary documentation by GM or Pullman Standard advertising the train was considered with more weight than photographs.  If you like the color fine.  If you dislike the color that is fine too.  Either way it is your opinion, and only that.

Wow, I don't know how I missed this set.  I have read about this train and never thought it would be made.  I'm a pure legacy user, so no mth engines and I never really looked at other manufacturers, but saw this thread and went to their website and found out these are all compatible with my legacy system.  I was sad I missed the reservation deadline, but I put one in today anyway and it was confirmed!  I haven't been this excited about a set in a long long time.  Thank god for this forum and all the information.  I think this set will be a real winner and probably very sought after in the future

Mike, does that would mean we would have to submit our photography credentials to you in order to be selected?   

My post wasn't meant as a criticism of the color selected for this set by Scott.

 

One of the reasons that I pre-ordered this set was that I was sure that Scott, and company, would do whatever they could to get the model right.  While $1500+ is a heck of a chunk out of my hobby money, I don't have any qualms about making a preorder, when I might have reservations about such a preorder from either of the two major manufacturers.

 

Again, I want the train to have the right paint scheme, be it blue, green, or orange.  My tiny disappointment was like having you mind set on cherry pie and getting raspberry instead.  Do I like raspberry, heck ya! 

 

Jim

 

 

There is lots of Americana relating to the GM Train of Tomorrow, not least the diary kept by its crew members describing its journeys.  But speaking of cherry pie, I have a vintage Frigidaire booklet about the aircon units on the train that shows the engine and cars colored bright red! This however is a better example:

 

 

 

I have only ever seen one photo of an O scale model of the T of T, which I understand was an owner custom-built set:

 

 

 

This bears a resemblance to GM's own small brochure image of the train although I think that this was printed before it was actually finished:

 

 

The 3rd Rail version looks absolutely great. In Scott's video he even shows the staircase up to the dome seating!

 

The interiors are the best I've seen from 3rd Rail.  I don't know if new glass material is being used but it is very clear which brings out the interior detail very nicely.

It came up on e*ay. I found it while trawling around looking for info on the T of T. There's a fair amount of memorabilia of this kind for the train.  Here is another one of the GM advertisements for it: 

 

 

Does anyone know if the interior will be painted?

So far there are only the 3rd Rail flyer and video to go on although I hope and expect that those lucky enough to be at York will post descriptions and photos of the sample that is intended to be there.

 

However, starting at about mileposts 1:05 and 3:15 of the video, there are some good shots of the dome car interiors. To my eye these show that some of the seating in both the dome and lower levels is in different colors although it may well be that it is colored plastic rather than paint finish. The "little people" inside appear to be painted but I don't imagine that they are replicas of the prototypical fashionable 1940s types shown in GM's brochure! I'll be looking to address that and possibly other interior details when my set arrives although that may be a long-term project. 

 

The dome lighting probably dictated that there be color used in the furnishings there as otherwise the lighting effect would be wasted. Overall I imagine that these cars are a lot better done than typical Lionel, MTH or even K-Line streamliners where often there is simply a dab of color here and there and the rest is plain old tan/beige plastic.

Hancock52:

 

I am looking forward to photographing this set at York and I will provide a description of what I see. I realize that many are also looking forward to this information.

Actually the Lionel 18" cars, like the heavyweight Diners, have outstanding interiors.
The 21" K-Line and Atlas cars seem to be molded plastic, looking forward to PTC's pictures. Did any other heavyweight or streamlined SS/GGD cars have painted interiors? The TOT book doesn't have any interior images in color does it?

1.  I was thinking mainly of my Lionel 21" cars issued a few years back that look to have been based on K-Line tooling and have the sort of plain interiors that K-Line also used. I grant that the more recent Lionel 18" cars are much better.

 

2.  The ToT book does not have color photos. In fact I have found no color interior photos of the GM ToT but  couple of the Sky View car in UP service, which are these:

 

 

In one of the videos based on contemporary films there are a few shots of the interior of the original GM ToT and to the extent shown the scheme included blues, some neutral tones but also wallpaper. See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEfznj0-Ac8

 

Far more color is shown in the GM brochures already posted above and in the cutaway I posted earlier today.

Scott, it looks great.  Thank you so much for producing this set.  I can't wait to see it.

The still pix of the real engine in this thread suggest that the four roof louver panels were painted black. (The color separations are very sharply defined.) The model in the 3rd Rail promo video shows them matching the rest of the body. Can anyone tell us how the production models will be done?

I am thrilled to see that the ToT is in its final stages.  It looks like delivery may be just 6-8 weeks away.  I am guessing that would put the El Capitan at the top of the queue.

 

The El Cap was announced by Scott about 3 months after the ToT.

 

Soooooo, maybe just maybe, the El Cap will arrive just before the Super Bowl. 

 

Keeping my fingers crossed for a January delivery.  

"Soooooo, maybe just maybe, the El Cap will arrive just before the Super Bowl"

 

I am happy for you, Jim. This should be a show-stopper of a set. It certainly fills a large void in O-Gauge.

Based on previous 3rd Rail models of the E7 ( I have the Frisco Texas Special version) and the video you refer to, it seems clear that the panels will be in the same color as the body of the engine.

 

However, maybe somebody with more expertise than me can tell you what these panels represent - I have tried to work it out but I am not sure if these are radiator vents. I have seen photos (such as the one below) of E7s that appear to show these areas as black but I am not sure whether that is because of the camera angle on a three dimensional feature, the possibility that there were screens or grilles over them or simply the accumulation of soot in/on whatever they are or because they were painted black. I suspect that they were not actually painted black and that "as delivered" these engines had them in the body color.

 

 

Thanks for your your thoughts, Hancock52. I tend to agree with you, although the color prototype side view photo provided by Scott Mann above clearly shows these areas to be black. They were so painted on other E7s of the time, including the original "reverse gray" NYC units and the at least some of the standard post war two-tone gray units. 

 

As to what they are, my guess is exhaust louvers for the engine cooling fans. According to the E7 page on the RR Museum of Pennsylvania web site, "In addition to powering the two generators, each engine drives (through a system of belts) four 26-inch-diameter radiator cooling fans located directly above each engine." 

 

Black would sure look good to me.

 

 

Thank you for the link. I really enjoyed the pictures and the story behind it.  Just another good reason to play the lottery to fund the restoration.

 

I placed my order for the 3rail version yesterday