Walthers Milwaukee Road passenger cars

Excellent work!  The interiors are great.

IMHO the Olympian Hiawatha is the most beautiful passenger train ever built.

Bob

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!! They look fantastic. We make all the parts for these cars so if you are missing anything we can supply you with them. i see you used some of our interior pieces which look great in these cars. What did you use for the carpet it looks super.

The heater car us exceptional what a great build. show us more!

RRDOC posted:

Excellent work!  The interiors are great.

IMHO the Olympian Hiawatha is the most beautiful passenger train ever built.

Bob

Thank you! I will be comparing these cars to the sunset cars recently announced. 

Scale City Designs posted:

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!! They look fantastic. We make all the parts for these cars so if you are missing anything we can supply you with them. i see you used some of our interior pieces which look great in these cars. What did you use for the carpet it looks super.

The heater car us exceptional what a great build. show us more!

I buy from you every year in Chicago! I have 28 more kits to finish. 😅 

many of the interiors use your parts which help greatly! Thank you for continuing to make these parts. 

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing! I almost pulled the gun on a set of these kits,kinda glad I didn't since GGD is building it in the next couple of years.

SANTIAGOP23 posted:

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing! I almost pulled the gun on a set of these kits,kinda glad I didn't since GGD is building it in the next couple of years.

 

I’m excited to see how sunset will get these cars made. I think there GN cars will be a good foundation of how well the cars will be built. I know they made mention that they will be offering cars seperately including the Super Dome (an absolute must!!) and will be getting a pair of the domes and one of the skytops. I want to compare old to new. Can’t wait!

James

Your colors appear perfect!  Hope Sunset uses your sources.

What did you use for the simulated corrugated stainless wrapper?

I had no idea these kits could be made to look like that.

Excellent build ! Glad to see these kits built. I built this set years ago for a customer. 

E21 James posted:

Good morning all. I had a few requests to post a few of my complete Milwaukee Passenger cars. These are the Old Walthers kits that I have modified with interiors and updated the paint jobs. Please enjoy. 

Starting with the Skytop lounge cars. Easily the hardest to complete, which I tackled first. The only critisim I have with these cars is the two part style kit. The dome and sides are one fluid piece on the real car and here the kit is built with the sides seperate. My next car I will cut out brand new sides and will attach and blend into the dome itself for a much more streamlined look.  Things you learn along the way. Both Skytops have complete interiors.  

Diner #121 is a Twin cities Hiawatha Variant.  Complete with full interior. I learned later on that the partition was only in two of the diners and 121 was not one of them, but it turned out very well so I kept it. 😁

The last two passenger cars are the Parlor and a baggage. Neither have interiors but did detail the cars outside to give full affect. I have two baggage cars complete.

The final car of this roundup is my soon to be steam generator car. I am completely scratch building this from pictures and a brass HO counterpart. This may be the only car of it’s kind in O scale.

All cars have ball bearing P48 trucks. They glide with just the slightest push.

Enjoy!

 

I have the Skytop but my problem is how to manage the canopy piece for the rear of the car. Painting, attaching, all those questions.

Thanks in advance.

Dick

Bump.  I recommended this thread to the 3-rail guys - mostly beaver tail interest, but I am sure they will be interested in these fine photos.

Really nice work, scale size but a sad reminder of a quality railroad that went bankrupt and that no railroad took over.

James, have you ever met Dan Pantera?  If not, I can try to set something up.  Is so, sorry for the bandwidth.

Jay

bob2 posted:

Bump.  I recommended this thread to the 3-rail guys - mostly beaver tail interest, but I am sure they will be interested in these fine photos.

I'm sure that other 3 rail guys would love these photos. I certainly love them! The Rapids-series Skytop Lounge looks wonderful. If I had the money, talent, and patience I would assemble my own Cedar Rapids for 3 rail as fast as possible. K-Line's ready to run 21" aluminum cars are nice but these cars are just gorgeous. It really is a shame that GGD is only making Creek-series Skytops. The Walthers kits here appear to be the finest Hiawatha cars currently available for O scale. Great work OP.

James, 

Your cars are so amazing thank you for sharing them with us. What a privilege. 

CBQer posted:

I have the Skytop but my problem is how to manage the canopy piece for the rear of the car. Painting, attaching, all those questions.

Thanks in advance.

Dick

Good afternoon. 

Your best bet will be to form the floor of the car first. The kit includes a paper template for the floor and also one for a reinforcement curve to glue on top of the floor. Once I have the basic shape of the floor, I glue the skirting underbody piece in place and then shape the rest of the floor to match the skirting. Once to the desired shape the dome can be test fitted over the floor and at this point you can mark on the floor where the canopy piece that helps hold the dome in place. Cut the canopy brace into place. 

I would have photos of the whole thing except I do not have any under construction as of right now. Hopefully this helps until I get around to building another. 

I do plan on modifying one of these where the sides and dome are one seamless piece. That is really my only gripe with the kit.   

Thanks

James

Jay C posted:

James, have you ever met Dan Pantera?  If not, I can try to set something up.  Is so, sorry for the bandwidth.

Jay

 

I have met the man just a couple of times at the O scale meet in Chicago. He does impressive work and somehow keeps himself on track with all those cars!

I have never actually had a indepth conversation with him. Would love to someday.

“sorry for the bandwidth”...lol, as if you waste my time. 😁

James

GenesisFan99 posted:

bob2 posted:

Bump.  I recommended this thread to the 3-rail guys - mostly beaver tail interest, but I am sure they will be interested in these fine photos.

I'm sure that other 3 rail guys would love these photos. I certainly love them! The Rapids-series Skytop Lounge looks wonderful. If I had the money, talent, and patience I would assemble my own Cedar Rapids for 3 rail as fast as possible. K-Line's ready to run 21" aluminum cars are nice but these cars are just gorgeous. It really is a shame that GGD is only making Creek-series Skytops. The Walthers kits here appear to be the finest Hiawatha cars currently available for O scale. Great work OP.

Just a quick question here. Should I roll over to the 3 rail forum and post these for everyone? Not sure how that works but would be delighted to do so. 

And thank you! They turn out very well and are a good kit. Fortunately they are plenty heavy with the lead castings and with the ball bearings installed in the trucks, glide with the breeze!

James

James, he gets a lot of parts from me for his passenger cars so maybe we can bribe him.  He has some great insight into the Walther's Hiawatha cars and will be build numerous sets once he lines up a few more.  At least I think that's what he told me.  He's after me for Golden State car sides right now and something about a NYC observation.  The punch press is being rebuilt so no car side are being done right now.  Ya know, I think I have some Milwaukee side sitting in box out at the storage unit.  Maybe I should dig them out to tease you.

Jay

bob2 posted:

Your colors appear perfect!  Hope Sunset uses your sources.

What did you use for the simulated corrugated stainless wrapper?

I had no idea these kits could be made to look like that.

That corrugated wrapper is actually a piece of corrugated plastic ment for buildings and such. Worked very well for this application. 

Thank you!

James

Jay C posted:

James, he gets a lot of parts from me for his passenger cars so maybe we can bribe him.  He has some great insight into the Walther's Hiawatha cars and will be build numerous sets once he lines up a few more.  At least I think that's what he told me.  He's after me for Golden State car sides right now and something about a NYC observation.  The punch press is being rebuilt so no car side are being done right now.  Ya know, I think I have some Milwaukee side sitting in box out at the storage unit.  Maybe I should dig them out to tease you.

Jay

I kinda like that idea! You should dig those out and show them off. 😁👍🏼

I didn’t know Dan got many of the parts from you. You really are a one stop shop!

James

James, no, I'm an idiot for spreading myself too thin.  There are thousands of car sides.  Most, if not all, were done by Lou Cross.

Next time I go to the storage unit I'll dig out the box labeled Milwaukee and let you know what I find. 

Jay

Its all what the market will bear. I just sold a 7 car set for 480.00 on the bay. 4 cars were complete, 3 including the dome were not. Find out if these have the bushings for the trucks, you will need the better ones from Scale City to run them. If you are looking for interiors, with lights and people. Look for a better set. The K line 21 inch cars do not have the better scale appearance or the proper trucks but they are ready to roll for around 150.00 a car.

Happy that this got bumped.  My vast O Scale collection is missing only a Hiawatha.  Some day.  It will have to be extruded aluminum with lost wax brass ends.  I already have the Erie-Built, ready for paint.  I am hoping for more info on the maroon color.

The last locomotive to arrive here (other than scratchbuilt) will be an MTH Bi-polar.  Think of the fun I shall have 2-railing that one!  Yikes!

Good morning all! 

Walthers produced the Olympian and Twin Cities Hiawathas in the 70s. (though not sure of the exact date) There were more Twin Cities cars produced than those of the Olympian.

kits typically sell for 50.00-75.00 depending on the kit. Complete cars, if built well, sell for about 100.00-150.00 depending on the car.

I have seen skytops sell for 150.00-200.00, Again, if built well.

I personally have 35 cars in my collection. 10 of which are built or mostly built. I am currently working on the Columbian which is the Milwaukee’s second named Chicago to Tacoma train and later cut back to points East as the train was phased out.

I have in the works from the kits:

Baggage

Baggage dorm

RPO

14 section sleeper

tap lounge

The others will comprise of heavy weight sleepers.

James

Here is the beginning of my Columbian. Not all cars are shown but these are the major project cars. The Baggage is the most complete. I rebuilt and repainted this car. Still some work to be done with it.

The baggage dormitory is part of a collection I bought a few years ago and needs some seriosuly rebuilding along with the Tap lounge. The 14 section sleeper has already been dismantled for rebuilding. 

The 12-1 sleeper by PCS, I just picked up a couple of weeks ago. It will get painted in the earlier scheme as these cars were rebuilt starting in late 1949 into 6-6 sleepers.

James

James: what maroon do you use?  I like it!  Do not care for K-Line brown.

bob2 posted:

James: what maroon do you use?  I like it!  Do not care for K-Line brown.

 

Good afternoon! 

I am using Trucolor Milwaukee Road maroon. Very accurate. But it was a pain to get it to spray correctly. Make sure to really dilute the paint ( 1 part paint, 2-3 parts MEK) It should look like water. 22-25 psi through the air brush. I also use Frog tape for a clean line. Beautiful colors!

James

Thanks.  MEK?  Yikes?  Will lacquer thinner work?

bob2 posted:

Thanks.  MEK?  Yikes?  Will lacquer thinner work?

Lacquer does not work well with Trucolor. The directions actually call for mixing acetone but it dries much to fast and have found MEK actually works much better. Now MEK is available at any home improvement store in the same isle and same type of can as Acetone. 

James