Model Railroading > SP SC&F Harriman 70 Ft baggage express

I am currently working on a modernized SP Harriman type baggage express. This is a Southern Car and Foundry kit that has been modified to replicate modifications done to a few of these cars in the late 1950's. The doors are scratchbuilt. The underbody has full detail and the car rides on (incorrect) Walther's heavyweight trucks. I am currently waiting to receive a copy of the SPH&TS book on SP headend cars, which I hope will give  a closer look at the specifics of these cars. Online searches provided few resources for these specific cars.

The steps are Precision Scale. The kit does not come with steps, but has vague instructions about making your own, and provides brass rods in the kit to form them with. There is apparently a video on how to make the steps.....but.....I found it easier to substitute the Precision Scale items as pictured. I confess my disappointment with the step arrangements provided by SC&F and wish they could have offered the Precision Scale steps along with the kit. My one other (small) gripe is that the rain drip above the doors were not molded into the body. Oh well.

The body and underbody are excellent castings, as are the original doors. Drill starts are located on the body as well. A definite plus.

The car will receive the standard SP headend grey as was applied to all headend cars and commuter equipment after 1958. One (possibly more) of these cars received the SP silver and red scheme after rebuilding. I may do slight modifications to the underbody once I am able to review the SP Headend cars book for specifics on the cars in this class.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/15 16:20 by ATSF3751.

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Looking great so far!

- Jeff Carlson

The Coachyard Diaphrams would  compliment this model well. Great modeling as always!

Javier Cervantes
Castle Rock , CO

Nice model, and good info.  Someday I need to grab at least one of their kits to add to my UP mail/express train.

Gary B.
Waverly, NE

What type paint will you be using.

Javier Cervantes
Castle Rock , CO

Very nice car, nice work. At one point I corresponded with the owner of SC&F via email, and at the time he said he was amenable to laser-cutting doors and possibly window plugs. But you've done the hand work nicely! How friendly a process was the car body to assemble?

~ BZ

superchief73 Wrote:
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> What type paint will you be using.

I will plan to use a base coat of All Clad grey primer and then Tru Color SP dark grey.

Notch16 Wrote:
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> Very nice car, nice work. At one point I
> corresponded with the owner of SC&F via email, and
> at the time he said he was amenable to
> laser-cutting doors and possibly window plugs. But
> you've done the hand work nicely! How friendly a
> process was the car body to assemble?
>
> ~ BZ

The assembly process can be challenging. Modifications are required in order to mount the steps and the door so the underbody will fit. Care must be taken when removing flash, especially around the lower door openings. There is no provision for mounting trucks, so improvision is required. Mounting the steps, especially the end steps, is quite a challenge, and I am still not happy with the results. Precision Scale end steps are really nice, but they have no provisions for mounting. Then there are the rain drip strips. I'm a little grumpy they were omitted, and would have thought it to be a no brainer to mold them into the body. The kit is supplied with the globe vents. I used Showcase Minatures (formerly Century Detail parts) item #2250. Hand grabs need to be formed.

As for the trucks, my method is crude, I used modified bolsters from a Walther's passenger car.  As for underbody details,  I am trying to model a 70-B-5, but the underbody plans were difficult to read and didn't indicate which version they were for. I just got the SPH&TS book and after reviewing photos I noticed the battey box needs to be relocated.

Great idea to ask for plugs and newer style doors. That would have greatly simplified the process and probably would increase the demand.

A good model with a very detailed basic body and underframe. I would have paid a little more for a model with steps, plugs, modernized doors, and molded drip strps. Oh well.
 
I will buy another one, although I hope SC&F would consider supplying laser cut window plugs and modernized doors. I should have the end step issue figured out by the time I buy another kit. Of course, I am giving you my impression of the difficulty of the assembly. Given that I am an average modeler, it may be that more advanced modelers will find this car less of a challenge.

Maybe, maybe not. Don't know if you had experience with the old Limited Editions extruded aluminum, resin, styrene, and tri-acetate "Daylight" cars. Being a good-enough modeler didn't help much; they were just miserable to build, by design. These sound much better than that. But the issues you mention are definitely ones that make you feel that you're somewhere short of a kit, and somewhere closer to scratchbuilding, except with somebody else's ideas of how to do it! 

That said, I have heard only good things about the quality of the body shell detailing. And that's truly what counts.

Looking forward to seeing your completed model!

~ BZ
 

I'm assuming this is close to what you are modelling?
http://www.brasstrains.com/Classic/Product/Detail/034916/HO-PSC-16208-SP-Harriman-Head-End-70-BA-5-Baggage---Auto-Car

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