NEED SOME HELP WITH WHAT TYPE OF FREIGHT RAN BEHIND THE SP CAB FORWARD

Mixed "manifest" freight, and of course huge trains of Pacific Fruit Express ice reefers.

 

For a locomotive of that size (I have the Lionel previous Cab Forward as well as the MTH Cab Forward), you should have a good 40 or 50 PFE reefers!

Alex

 

SP cab forwards pulled all kinds of freight.  If it was originated or terminated in California cab forwards pulled it.

 

A rather picturesque type of freight train pulled by cab forwards would be solid PFE reefers.

There is a photo in the Cab Forward book with one pulling a long train of all of those troop transport cars that Weaver canceled.

PFE's are correct. But you really don't need 40 or 50 as Hot Water says. It would be nice if you had the room but most of us don't. 

 

I have the older version and it looked great with 15 or 20 PFE reefers. 

Ice reefers but why not special rail excursions!

 

 

 

Did Lionel offer road number 4274?

No they are offering now 4294, 4291, 4286 and 4275

You could find an MTH 20-3346-1 set and add the 20-90646 and 20-93647 sets for more reefers.

 

When I was a kid the standard freight train was a Cab Forward, 115 PFE ice cars, a four unit EMD pusher, and a caboose.  But you can find photos of them pulling almost anything.  I rode behind one from Lordsburg to El Paso on the Argonaut.

 

I have never seen a photoof one pulling the Budd stainless Sunset Limited, but you can find photos of them pulling the Lark, the Daylights, lots of heavyweights, and short mixed freights.

 

So really your choice.

What kind of freight? Bananas, potatoes, Meat, lumber, steel, fruit, chemicals, containers, & lots more.

This are really nicely done reefers.

 

The real problem will be finding one of those Sunset/3rd Rail CORRECT Southern Pacific "steam era" brass caboose models.

Apart from the aforementioned PFE steel & rebuilt woodside reefers (not the orange with plain logos and silver roofs), a quick list of mixed freight that would be appropriate for the Cab Forward and also included in the Southern Pacific livery would be:

 

Black SP "Overnight" and regular boxcar brown "Southern Pacific Lines" 40'  AAR boxcars from Atlas O & MTH (not the silver ones or ones without the SP Lines logo)

 

The MTH drop-bottom gondolas (as an aside, could also be easily kitbashed to have side extensions to represent a "sugar beet" train)

 

Atlas O steam-era bulkhead flatcars, 40' steel rebuilt boxcars,  & Trainman bay window caboose.

 

GGD Daylight passenger cars

 

3rd Rail CA-1 woodside caboose

 

Those are just some to get you started with. 

 

The last revenue run of a Cab Forward was in November of 1956, so that's the latest build date you'd want on freight cars running behind if you want to keep it realistic.  Keep also in mind that during the 1950s the fleet of active cab forwards were rapidly diminishing so even some cars with build dates in the mid 1950s can be pushing it.  Definitely would be anachronistic pulling any SP cars with Hydra-Cushion or DF wing markings on it.

The real problem will be finding one of those Sunset/3rd Rail CORRECT Southern Pacific "steam era" brass caboose models.

 

I think the best bet for a steam era SP caboose would be one of the MTH models of the Harriman era Common Standard wood cabooses.  One comes in the set with the MTH cab forward and they were offered for separate sale too.

WOW!!!!!!!   I thank you all so much for all the great info!!!!!!

 

This is just one of the great things about this forum !!!!!!!!!

 

 

Alex

lots of orange reefers

PFE Reefers is what mine pulls....but almost anything could be found behind a Cab Forward at sometime.

The best bet for a caboose is to have BrotherLove build you one from scratch.

Thanks again guys, man all of you guys are the BEST !!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks,

Alex

True, but there are a lot of O Scale SP cabeese out there.  Lobaugh, PSC, Max Gray, Sunset - and almost any bay window caboose will work.  That MTH looks a lot like UP with SP lettering. 

 

Bay windows were new in the early '50's, but I saw my first one behind a Cab Forward.  Still don't care for them much.

I run a K-Line special edition bay window caboose behind my TMCC AC-12. I don't have a good picture of it but here's the K-Line Legacy catalog image:

 

 

 

 

The Legacy Catalog page is http://www.legacykline.com/app...?p_oem_sku=K612-2031

 

This is a fine model that was produced for The Western Depot and they still have three versions in stock.

 

Incidentally, at milepost 1:49 in the video posted by RickO above there's a short sequence of a cab forward pulling a Daylight passenger train with a GS-4 (or 2) helper in Daylight livery. I know it's heresy but I'm thinking of a similar consist when my Legacy Daylight AC-12 arrives.

That MTH looks a lot like UP with SP lettering.

 

Bob

 

Or do UP cabooses look a lot like SP cabooses with UP lettering? 

 

The UP CA/CA-1 cabooses were built to a Harriman era Common Standard design like UP and SP 2-8-0s, passenger cars, etc.  Depending what particular car and/or era Alex is looking to model the MTH CA-1 is at worst a good stand in or starting point for a detailing project to represent an SP CA or C-30-1.

Ted, putting a UP caboose on an SP train is a little like an Ohio State fan wearing yellow and blue. 

Alex, either wait for a proper 3rd Rail C30-1 to come along or get one of the MTH Bay Windows. They have the closest window sizes/locations of any of the bay windows I am aware of. You would likely have to repaint it though as the only one MTH did for SP is done in Kodak colors.

Check out the MTH 20-91091

 

Pete

 

 

FWIW, I grew up living on a SP ROW in the forties/fifties. I remember consist after consist of sugar beets. It all depends on the area of the west. I also remember the Ice Works, watching the reefers get re-iced after pulling a consist out of the Imperial Valley. The Ice Works was the first to close when mechanical reefers took over.When the Cab Forwards retired the "Black Widows" took their place along with the Geeps. That's the way I remember life on the Calif. ROW. The best part was living it not reading about it. Ah Yes, memories are all that's left.

Alex

This video show it pulled everything and anything including some passenger cars. See the URL below

 

Didn't realize Rick O already posted this same link, Oh Well great minds think alike!!!!

Steve

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gylvu9Dxyo

Now we are talking, Don.

 

"Ice reefers but why not special rail excursions!"

 

Well, because Lionel did not choose to offer SP road number 4274, the cab forward that pulled that passenger excursion over Donner Pass.

Well this will help me also. I preordered the Cab Forward from MTH and I have the PFE boxcars that came  with my MTH Imperial Big Boy. Thank you for the answers.

Please note that PFE (Pacific Fruit Express) didn't own "boxcars". The refrigerator car fleet of PFE, which was jointly owned by UP and SP, was generally accepted to be the largest refrigerator car fleet in the country.

Originally Posted by Norton:

"Ted, putting a UP caboose on an SP train is a little like an Ohio State fan wearing yellow and blue". 

 

Geez; I resemble that remark!  'specially with the eminent kickoff of the 2014 season rapidly approaching!

 

And Pete, that would be maize not yellow but since I don't follow "That team up North" as Woody would so eloquently put it...  

WHO CARES????!!!!!!!!!!

 

Go BUCs !!!!!!!!