OVERLAND BRASS FERDINAND MAGELLAND

Pretty nice.  Does it have the interior too?

 

John

I does. I look forward to seeing it in person. I'll post more pictures as soon as it come in. Overland made the same model in HO as well, but they also made a really cool communications car that went with it. I really wish they'd make it in O scale as well.

Most of these were 2- rail.  A recently deceased buddy had three - I think they went to professional eBay sellers.  I missed them; my searches only turn up brass and 2- rail.  One was here for minor repairs, and the interior and lights were stunning.

Great catch!  I've been looking for one of those too, but missed seeing it.  If you don't mind my asking, what search terms did you use to locate it?

 

Thanks...gregg

Gregg,

 

As these are fine brass models, when they occassionally come up for sale on eBay, they can be found under the "Brass Imports" sub-section of the "O Scale" category.

 

Jim

I just looked under "overland" in the O-Scale category. But I also check "brass imports" daily. Along with a few other things I'm always on the hunt for.

I do not believe Overland did any 3-rail O scale, these cars come up for sale occasionally they are not really rare so you should have good luck finding one. American Scale Models [Bill Davis] and Allegheny Scale Models [Jack McGarry] are big O scale brass dealers,who if they don't actually have one can probably locate one.

Here is a picture of the model in O-Scale 3 Rail. It's still just as beautiful, you just lose that hose and coupler cut bar detail that the 2 Rail model has.

 

 

I will say that the Truman (pictured above) is the rarer of the two models.

Here is that US Army Communications Car I was talking about earlier. It only comes in HO, but it is a beauty. I suppose to have it in O Scale, I'd have to build it from scratch. I can't think of a car made by any of the manufactures that even looks close enough to this to do a kit-bash job. 

 

SC1 is exquisite - too bad they never did an O scale version.

 

Are you planning to run the Ferd Mag? If so, what type of consist are you planning?

 

I have a small collection of brass, but this is my first brass passenger car. The first engine to pull it will be one of my Lionel Southern PS-4s, and use some of the standard Sou. heavyweights Lionel did a few years back.

 

It would be prototypical for a PS-4 to pull the FERDINAND MAGELLAND, as it did for the FDR funeral train.

Yes indeed, Overland offered both of the Ferdinand Magelland presidential cars in 3-Rail, i.e. the Truman era AND the Reagan era.

 

I purchased the Truman era directly from Overland, up-graded it to Kadee couplers, and when ever I run it at shows, it draws a lot of comments. I generally run it on the rear of my CB&Q Golden Gate Depot heavyweight passenger train, pulled by a Sunset/3rd Rail O5a or O5b 4-8-4.

Ben, how long is that beauty. Don

It is a scale 21" car.

I wish I could locate one of those Southern Golden Gate Depot sets, but I believe only 20 were made.

 

And Don, I don't have the exact dimensions, but I'm guessing around 80 scale feet. Definitely over 18inches.

I purchased both of the 3-rail versions several years ago...very stiff pricing then...1100.00 each.  I have seen them for much less since then.

Interesting they did that car in 3-rail also, that explains why they come on the market as often as they do Overland must have produced a fair number of these cars.

What's the difference between the "Truman" and "Reagan" versions?

 

I believe the major differences are that the Regan era car has plaques on the read platform, no marker lights, different colored curtains, and some sort of holes on the rear roof corners (exhaust ports, maybe?).

 

I believe that the Gold Coat Railroad Museum (where the car currently resides) installed the plaques.

 

Here is a brief history of the car, via Wiki:

 

President Roosevelt's first trip in the Ferdinand Magellan was to Miami, Florida, where he boarded a Pan American World Airways flying boat for his trip to the Casablanca Conference in 1943. He traveled approximately 50,000 miles (81,500 km) in the car in the next two years, using it for the last time on a trip to Warm Springs, Georgia two weeks before he died there.

Like other observation cars of its era, the Ferdinand Magellan had an open platform on the rear end of the car. Observation cars were normally placed at the end of a train, so that the occupants of the car had an unobstructed view in three directions. This is the platform from which Harry Truman gave his "whistlestop" campaign speeches. During the campaign the car travelled more than 28,000 miles (46,284 km), and Truman gave almost 350 speeches from the rear platform. The famous photograph of Truman holding the incorrect "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline was taken while the president was standing on the platform of the railcar.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower made little use of the Ferdinand Magellan. He travelled a few times in it to his farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and once to Ottawa where he addressed the Parliament of Canada. The car was last used officially in 1954, when Mamie Eisenhower rode it to Groton, Connecticut to christen a ship. The railcar was declared surplus and offered to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958, but the Smithsonian did not act on the offer, and the Gold Coast Railroad Museum was able to acquire it. In 1984 the Ferdinand Magellan was briefly loaned to the presidential re-election campaign of Ronald Reagan, who gave a series of "whistlestop" speeches from the rear platform during a one-day trip in Ohio.

I understood that Overland made the 3-rail models to see if there was sufficient demand to warrant making other brass models for 3-rail.  Apparently not - while very few 3-rail models were made, they were not able to sell them all. Norm's O Scale (I believe) had the 3-rail models at blowout prices at one or two Eastern Division TCA York Meets.  They are gorgeous models and seemed a good value to me even at full price.  I was sorry to see that Overland didn't get enough business to stay in the 3-rail market. 

 

BTW, as Techie mentioned, the correct spelling is "Ferdinand Magellan" (there is no "d" at the end of Magellan).

In 2005 I visited the Gold Coast Railroad Museum. At that time you were still able to board it. The photos I took of the visit can be found toward the bottom of this page.

The problem was, very few, if any, 3-Rail "toy train guys" ever heard of Overland Models!

I've got an Overland 2 Rail Truman Era never run, new in the box. Just acquired along with 19 other fabulous O scale brass pieces of various makes. All the rest are steam locos. All new, never run, but were displayed for a short time in sealed plexi cases. Any interest let me know. rbarn64850@aol.com

Email sent.

I picked up a 2R Overland Magellan car this week and will be converting the wheels to 3R, since the 2R 3 axle trucks don't play well with my GarGraves/Ross track work.

 

I would like to add pickup rollers for the lighting, but Brian Marsh at Overland thought this was a DC circuit. Anyone have thoughts on how to convert the circuit to AC?  I'm somewhat of an electronics ninnie, but would I use a bridge rectifier?  If so, any ideas on how to construct, what values, etc?

 

Thanks in advance!

 If you don't get an answer here, make a new post over in the electric side and they'll help you out. Yes, a bridge rect will convert your track AC. I don't know what all you'll need.

You will need at least a bridge rectifier but also some other circuitry to reduce the voltage to less than 12 volts. Most 2 rail runs on 12 volts. If you have an HO or other DC power pack you could hook it up a see how the lighting reacts. If it gradually gets bright as you reach 12 volts the light is unregulated and the bulbs are 12-14 volts. If it gets bright at just a few volts then it likely has 1.5 volts bulbs and some sort of regulator.

 

Pete

 

You sure you want to convert it?  It is going to take more than new wheelsets and a rectifier.  You will either wind up elevating it or cutting a lot of underframe out of there. And the scale trucks are too narrow to accept tinplate wheels, as well as too complex for the additional diameter of the flanges.  Most of the time I am in favor of modifying models to make the owner happy, but in this case you will be reducing a $600 model to pretty much scrap.  Use it for a mantelpiece, and put a very small 12 Vdc module behind the track with an unobtrusive switch.  Use it as a conversation piece.

I think LEDs make it more likely there is a regulator. A few manufacturers who make rolling stock in both 2 and 3 rail versions, like 3rd Rail use circuity that is compatible with both 12v DC and 20 v AC. They just install a full wave bridge and a regulator. The bridge still passes the DC. If it was mine I would take off the shell and check the circuit before applying power. Take a picture and post it here if you aren't sure what components are used.

 

Pete

Gregg, did you purchase the Truman or Reagan version of the car?

Truman.

A friend had two of them. They did quite well on a 65" radius, 2- rail track.

I think radius might be a problem as the truck hits the coupler box on O96 curves - I can trim it 1mm and should be fine. Also the generator belts from the inboard wheel sets may be causing a bit of resistance in the swing.