Scale "Shortie" Passenger Cars

There have been dozens and dozens and dozens of sets of 15" (60' scale) passenger cars made over many years by Lionel, MTH, K-Line and Williams, far too many to list. They're very common, done in many, many roadnames. They have differing levels of detail - many of the more recent ones have detailed interiors and passenger figures, etc. The ones made by Lionel, K-Line and Williams (the streamlined variety) are made from aluminum, for the most part; MTH versions are made from plastic, for the most part. Go on the Bay - you won't have any trouble finding these.

The 15 inch cars are all over eBay at decent prices.  And in aluminum, too!  I've recently gotten an Amfleet set and a LIONEL C&O set on the bay and like them a lot.  I cannot run the 18 or 21 inch cars.  I even like the generic Lionel Lines 10 or 11 inch plastic passenger cars.

Some of the many, many 15 inch cars available will be a bit less tall, or wide, than scale - but they tend to be nicely proportioned and the best are extremely detailed and good looking.  I would not be surprised if more 15" cars have been made over the years than any other length - but again, many are "traditional" size and not scale in height and width either. 

There have been many models offered in O-27 scale.  They were narrower and not as high.  I have a couple Lionel ones in a lost box somewhere so I can't measure them.  John's reply made me think back many years.  MTH did some extruded aluminum 60' cars 15+ years ago.  Weaver also did some extruded aluminum that matched some that Lionel did originally for the Santa Fe Warbonnet(?) of the 1960s(?).

I don't know if any of them are scale.  A scale passenger car is going to be about 10' wide and 14' tall (or 2.5" by 3.5").  Are current Railking cars made to these dimensions?

Jan

And my quest for 13 to 14 inch passenger cars continues...

I've browsed some old catalogs and am surprised that often, back then, dimensions aren't even listed.

  --Joe

Jan,

To get back to your original question, what scale-dimensioned short passenger cars are available in O, the only ones I know of are the 60' P54 cars.   MTH has scale MP54 and add-on P54 cars in its current catalog that may be of interest to you.  If you are willing to go with non-scale cars, the above posts provided several options.  I have a set of K-line 15" aluminum cars that are close to scale in height and width, but are cut short to operate on O-31 curves.  These may be a good compromise for you.

Ron

It would seem that either you're not looking very hard or you're looking in the wrong places. These size cars are all over the place. Lionel has made many 13" passenger cars in recent years, and 11 and 14 inch cars for decades. There are many shown in the recent catalogs! With dimensions shown! MTH has made tons of these as well. And Williams.

Start by looking on the Bay - you'll find tons of short passenger cars of all varieties. And check Lionel and MTH and Williams by Bachmann catalogs. You can go to their websites and look at current and older catalogs.

I have quite a few 15 inch sets, made by Lionel and K-Line, and these cars are essentially identical size-wise to 18 inch cars (I have those, too), except for length. As Lee notes, although scale 60' in length, they are nicely proportioned, and many of them have all the same detail as the 18 and 21 inch versions.

Jan You should add to your list, the 64 foot open platform cars that MTH produced as Premier models as these are prototype. You could also add the Lionel Lackawanna and PRR MU cars as these are close to the real thing. The MTH Railking MP54 shown in the latest catlolog may be close to scale. It looks quite nice and would be ok for me.The stairs and traps are not accurate but a compromise to allow for small radii.

Atlas did some 60-foot Trainman Heavyweights based on a short prototype (used by CNW if I recall correctly). I haven't seen them up close and personal, but the photos were pretty promising.

I had not thought about the dummy on the Lionel MP54 sets.  It'll be in an MP configuration but I'll pull one out and measure it.  K-Line also did the MP54.  The Railking MP54 looks small, but who knows.  I think the height and then the width is visually the most important dimension.

I run scale equipment and have been getting rid of my traditional-sized pieces.  I want to do a commuter train based on the K-Line 4-6-6T tank engine.  I was thinking of using the Atlas Trainman cars, but they are a heavyweight design.

The MTH 60' streamline cars, I think, were Premier and not Railking.  My memory says they were in a purple box.  Anyone know for certain? 

I think I know where I can find P54s to compare.  I don't have any traditional passenger cars though.

It's time to go into the closet and make a phone call or two.

Jan

The 15" K-Line cars are scale cross-section. They are identical to the 18" and 21" cars except for length. The aluminum extrusions are made on exactly the same machinery - the only difference is where the cut is made and how the windows are punched. I have three sets of these (PRR/FOM, MILW maroon and orange, MILW/UP yellow). They are great for running on my small home layout; I use the scale length ones at our toy train museum. 

I think the original post has to do with finding prototype equipment that was in the 60-65 foot length and has been produced as true scale models.  Not models of 85 foot equipment shrunk down to 60-65 foot length.  The former is pretty rare and most of the examples already cited.

 Everything in passenger equipment made and in the offing from SMR is scale "shortie"...of course it is also 19th Century.

At first glance at the terms "scale" and "shortie" together, I think....contradition in

terms...but it is not, for a number of short lines ran passenger cars of varying lenghths, including the well-know 40 ft. Sierra cars, available as old Walther's kits and in brass, and brass versions of the SP super short RPO cars.  When the K-Line aluminum cars'were available, though, I often had to email eBay sellers to get length stated as I only wanted the full length cars, and they, as described above, were often

available in three lengths.  SW Hiawatha has well addressed the K-Line cars.

My choice has been the MTH RailKing "short" heavyweights and streamlined PRR cars. They are high, so they look OK behind a high but short engine. They have interiors as well as diaphagms. In contrast, my K-Line "Streamliner" cars are more in scale overall...but they look a bit low behind most engines. They do, however, look perfect behind a Lionel postwar Turbine.

This may not be what you were asking, but I thought I'd mention these two anyway.