Passenger Cars

[CG04]

Hello to all,

First,
Let me say thanks to Yampa Bob for the Yampa Valley Rail Road layout.  I have copied it and it works great.  Only took me a couple of weeks to get the parts needed and a little trial and error.
Next,
The grand kids want to know why I don't have any passenger cars.
Next,
I have a Bachmann 2-6-2 Prairie (Rio Grande) and don't know which passenger cars would appropriatly (sp?) go with it.  I have no theme as of yet.  Besides that, the kids just want to see it run anyway.
Next,
I also have a Union Pacific GP 38 Hi Nose Up loco and don't have a clue if this engine ever pulled passenger cars or not.  If they did, which ones?

Any help will surely be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Clif

[SteamGene]

Both the 2-6-2 and the 2-6-0 were dual service.  I would say you could haul two or three Heavyweights with it, though if you could backdate it a bit, a few Overtons would be good. 
Gene

[CG04]

Thanks SteamGene,

My layout is 4' X 8' with the outer track having 22" radius curves and the inner track has 18" curves.  Will the heavyweights look OK?  I was thinking about some 40' cars.
What about cars for the UP GP 38 Hi Nose

Clif

[Guilford Guy]

High Nose GP's didn't pull passenger trains. Some GP's were rebuilt for passenger service, mostly out east. UP's GP's don't have an HEP generator or Steam Generator, and thus are and were not suited to haul passenger trains.

[CG04]

Thanks GG,

My grand kids aren't here right now and my computer skills are less than good, so I have a bit of a problem surfing the net.
SteamGene suggested heavyweights.  What do you think of these for my
2-6-2 Prairie (Rio Grande) and where do I get them?  Would they look OK on my 4 X 8 layout?  What are "Overtons"?  I was thinking of some 40' cars for this small layout.

[Guilford Guy]

Heavyweights would work, and overlands may look a bit better, overtons are okay too.
Overlands- http://www.roundhousetrains.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=RND84823
Overtons- http://www.roundhousetrains.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=RND84303
Heavyweights- http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=Standard+RTR&CatID=THRP&RN=D%26RGW

[CG04]

Thanks again GG,

When the grand kids get here, we will get on it.

Clif

[SteamGene]

Heavyweights were the steel 80' passenger cars introduced in the early 20th century.  They lasted at least into the 1960s, slowly being replaced by the streamlined aluminum light weights.   I'd forgotten about Overlands as they are a bit before my time.  The Overlands and Overtons were both late 19th century cars, replaced by the heavyweights.
Athearn's heavyweights are not 80' long.  I've run them on my old 4x8 and they look nice.  I think they scale out to about 60', but with nothing but them in the train, they look fine.
Gene

[Guilford Guy]

The 2-6-2's existed in the late 19th century- the early 19th century. They were often relegated to branch lines, and since the "nicer" heavyweights were on the mainline, the older cars (overlands+overtons) were put to use on branches.

[CG04]

Thanks again GG and SteamGene.

Now I just need to get the grand kids over here to do some on-line ordering.  The only LHS here (San Marcos, Texas) is Hobby Lobby and their selection is less than adequate.  Do either of you have a "favorite" manufacturer in mind?

Clif

[chronictown1701]

does anyone know if one would have to change bulbs or add resisters to bachman spectrum passenger cars, item #89311(sante fe set) when using on DCC.

[SteamGene]

Not manufacturer, but I'd check out Trainworld and Standard Hobby Supply first.  I've dealt with both of them for years and both price and service are great.
Gene

[TonyD]

I don't know if I am any help to Cliff tonight, but here are two more 12 inch to the foot stories, those 'overtons', yeah nice for a old fashioned train on 18 & 15" curves, but as I said in another thread awhile ago, TTBOMK, the only std. guage prototypes made that short were for the Angel's Camp branch of the Seirra Ry, which were used in films over the years. I was in the combine- the  'Hooterville Canonball' star. Well, I'm kinda short, but l could  go from platform to platform in 5 or 6 paces, the baggage compartment was smaller than most new closets. My only encounter with a prototype Athearn 'round roof parlor car' was in New Mexico, on the espee line the 'Sunset limited' took, meeting the Rock Island further north. I had to stop the car and look twice. A "Harriman' round roof chicken coop. I think 6 or 7 oblong windows? Could not have been over 60 feet long. Just grounded in a barnyard alongside the mainline. Awhile later I sat thru a lecture at a 'prototype meet' and found the Harriman cars went from 40 to 80', so they weren't really shortened to fit Athearn's blue box after all.     

[r.cprmier]

Tony;
If you lept the roofs, you could have made it in one "fell" swoop...

Rich

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

The Roundhouse/MDC Overton cars are billed as 34-foot cars. They are nice, but they are really short. If you can get some Mantua or Model Power/Mantua Classics "1890" cars, a combine and a couple of coaches would make a nice little "local" behind your 2-6-2.

Check eBay under "Mantua" or "Tyco."