Hopefully this grab some peoples attention, as steam era Soo Line equipment seems like a somewhat untouched subject. I live in Minnesota, along the CPs Paynesville Subdivision. Being were I am and a fan of steam, I love modeling the Soo Line. I've done so in Ho, but am moving up to O-scale. The aren't many steam era Soo Line products commercially available, so I've been forced to improvise. I've started cobbling together some heavyweight passenger equipment, mostly consisting of K-Line cars (of various different roads that will get repainted). Unfortunately both K-line and Lionel cars lack the portion of the roof that is raised in the sleeper sections of the cars. I've considered trying MTH Madison Cars and am curious as to how the height, length, and width profiles match up. If someone with access to all 3 brands of cars could snap some pictures comparing these, it would be greatly appreciated.
I'm also on the hunt for a locomotive. I'd like to do a 4-6-2 Pacific, SOO 2719 is one of my favorites. The reason I haven't just re-decaled any old pacific is I seek the iconic Soo high mounted headlight. I've looked around for quite some time but to no avail. I've gone so far as to consider scratch building something but I'm inexperienced and would like to stick with something simple for now. My layout is 90% Lionel TMCC/Legacy, and I'd like to keep it that way. So, seen as Lionel produced a USRA Soo 4-8-2 (1931110) with a high headlight, would it be possible to order a smoke box cover and with the headlight and mount is on any old Lionel USRA Pacific? Do the diameters match? Would the screw holes line up? Are there any better options available?
Suggestions and Thoughts appreciated,
Charlie
