# What passenger train are you currently modeling?



## BeardedLumberjack (Sep 9, 2014)

Hi all! Thought I'd prod you guys for what passenger trains you're modeling. I'm always fascinated by what kinds trains people have, old or new. Tell us why you model that train also!

I'm modeling the modern Empire Builder, after an amazing train trip I took with the family. The train grew on me. and knowing how this addiction works, I loved it so much, I modeled it.

So, I'll kick off the thread with this:
My Amtrak Empire Builder, complete with two Kato P42s and 9 Walthers plated Superliners



















I also made a video of it a while ago if you guys care to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPREa0Aj4OE

In the video, just the Amtrak train is mine, not the layout. I cant afford that much 


Where are you guys at with your trains?

John


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## rrgrassi (May 3, 2012)

I'm working on a Coast Starlight from 2002. My wife and I took that train on our honeymoon. Also since my great grandfather worked for the PRR as a brakeman in 1923, and worked his way up to passenger conductor, I model the PRR passenger trains.


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## sawgunner (Mar 3, 2012)

I am working on the Hawkeye Express that is run by Iowa Northern for the University of Iowa football games.

http://www.iowanorthern.com/hawkeye/

I am also playing mix and match with my own fictional tourist train 

BTW this is in N scale


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I would be embarrassed to put up a video of my Santa Fe
Desert Chief to follow your magnificient Amtrak train on that
fantastic layout. An inspirational video...thank you.

Don


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I usually have a DL109 pulling a train of heavyweight coaches around my layout. It just cruises in a circle (unless I have enough operators, in which case it can run a little faster and make station stops). It's sole purpose is to make sure the freight operators don't get sloppy about fouling the main when the passenger train has priority.


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## MRLdave (Nov 1, 2011)

I'm working on an SP&S Empire Builder........it's interesting (at least to me) because it has SP&S cars, and from Spokane to Pasco it had Great Northern cars (the Portland part of the Empire Builder) and then from Pasco to Portland it had Northern Pacific cars added on. So you get a real rainbow of paint schemes .


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I'm putting together the Canadian National "Super Continental".....don't have track and all cars yet though....

Locomotives are Rapido FP9's (2) & F9B, Rapido Steam Generator, Walthers streamlined passenger cars, Walthers Baggage car, Trueline Trains Express boxcar, Walthers full dome (CN in 1964 acquired a set of six ex-Milwaukee Road "Super Dome" cars; rechristened "Sceneramics" by CN) that had formerly seen service on the Olympian Hiawatha (not shown), a Walthers ex-Olympian Hiawatha end car (also not shown), painted in the CN 1961 scheme to match, and a newly release Atlas (Branchline) Heavy-weight coach....

Here are some pics of the consist....










The 1961 CN scheme was the first scheme I had a train of as a kid.....loved it ever since.....


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## union pacific 844 (Jan 29, 2013)

im working on getting union pacific passenger cars for my union pacific 844 4-8-4 to pull


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## union pacific 844 (Jan 29, 2013)

im trying to put photos up so you don't need click on links to see them still can't get right


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

union pacific 844 said:


> im trying to put photos up so you don't need click on links to see them still can't get right


all you gotta do is go back click edit,then click advanced edit, go up to the paper clip (by the white smile face) and click on what is there. 
If you only have one picture click on the link you will see, if you have more then one you will see insert all just click on it and they will be in the thread.


After you upload the pictures, you have to go back to the paper clip a second time and click there otherwise your picture will only be a link.

go and try (the above, up in red.)


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

My first crummy test video.
This is just one of my O gauge passenger sets.

Why the Milwaukee road? 
Beside liking the colors I got a great deal on it. The guy needed rent money.








Edit,
Dam I just realized that this is HO.
Sorry


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

No worries Ed. If you didn't post I here, I never would have seen it....

Nice passenger set........bringing up the rear is the car (Skytop Lounge) I am going to put in CN colours, as CN bought them from Milwaukie Road in 1964.


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## union pacific 844 (Jan 29, 2013)

got now


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## ssgt (Jan 8, 2013)

I'm pulling 20 heavyweight cars behind either a pair of prr k-4s or gg1s.I also have around 30 streamlined cars that I run occasionally.


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## BeardedLumberjack (Sep 9, 2014)

big ed said:


> My first crummy test video.
> This is just one of my O gauge passenger sets.
> 
> Why the Milwaukee road?
> ...


No worries! the train looks great! like that observation car at the end

John


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## BeardedLumberjack (Sep 9, 2014)

Your trains look awesome, guys! thanks for sharing! keep em coming


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## morland (Sep 25, 2012)

I have a Proto 2000 Rock Island E6 pulling my Rock island streamlined cars. I'm not sure if it is prototypical but they look good together.  What makes this engine special is that my Dad bought it for me. I took him in April of this year (on his 71st birthday) to the Texas Motor Speedway to see the NASCAR Duck Dynasty 500 (he is a huge NASCAR fan). He had never been to a live NASCAR race so I was able to get two seats in the Samsung private suite including garage, pit passes and three nights hotel paid for! Anyways we made a weekend of it and we went to the train store on Saturday, I was remarking that I liked the Rock Island E6 that had been modified with a flashing Mars light and that it would look good with my Rock Island passenger cars. I had my eye on some other goodies that I needed more so while my attention was on those my Dad snuck off and had the guys box up the engine, paid for it and took it to the car without me knowing. When we got out to the car it was sitting on my seat. Yeah, needless to say this engine is special to me.


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## BeardedLumberjack (Sep 9, 2014)

morland said:


> Dad snuck off and had the guys box up the engine, paid for it and took it to the car without me knowing. When we got out to the car it was sitting on my seat. Yeah, needless to say this engine is special to me.


Great story, man! Love the way that streamliner looks.
yeah, my dad is an expert at taking gifts to the car without me knowing too. it's gotta be one of those 'dad' things.

John


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Old_Hobo said:


> I'm putting together the Canadian National "Transcontinental".....don't have track and all cars yet though....


The name of CN's flagship train was the _Super Continental_, not Transcontinental.


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## Chet (Aug 15, 2014)

Unfortunately, I really can't justify an entire train as my freelance layout is a short line/branch line, but it does connect to both the Northern Pacific and the Milwaukee Road. Neither railroad would have a reason to run on my layout, but thanks to freelance and modelers license, I run a tourist train from Logan Montana south to West Yellowstone and Yellowstone park. As a kid I rode on the North Coast limited many times and loved the train. I had relatives working on the Milwaukee Road and the Northern Pacific and we always rode in first class. Better than what AmTrack offers. 

I do have enough cars for a full train, but most are put away except for a few coaches and dome cars which I use for the tourist train.


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## Chet (Aug 15, 2014)

morland said:


> I have a Proto 2000 Rock Island E6 pulling my Rock island streamlined cars. I'm not sure if it is prototypical but they look good together.  What makes this engine special is that my Dad bought it for me. I took him in April of this year (on his 71st birthday) to the Texas Motor Speedway to see the NASCAR Duck Dynasty 500 (he is a huge NASCAR fan). He had never been to a live NASCAR race so I was able to get two seats in the Samsung private suite including garage, pit passes and three nights hotel paid for! Anyways we made a weekend of it and we went to the train store on Saturday, I was remarking that I liked the Rock Island E6 that had been modified with a flashing Mars light and that it would look good with my Rock Island passenger cars. I had my eye on some other goodies that I needed more so while my attention was on those my Dad snuck off and had the guys box up the engine, paid for it and took it to the car without me knowing. When we got out to the car it was sitting on my seat. Yeah, needless to say this engine is special to me.
> 
> View attachment 38010
> 
> ...


I am a die hard NASCAR fan since I saw my first race at Daytona when they were still running on the beach. I try to do the Dayton 500 and a couple of other races each year.


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

My 10'X10' HO scale layout includes a 33-foot loop of track around the perimeter for an Amtrak "California Zephyr" which passes thru a large mountain with the famous Moffat Tunnel portals on each end.
All of my equipment is in Phase II dress because the wife and I took a couple of trips back in the '80's when Amtrak was using them.
Fun stuff!
Bob


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## BeardedLumberjack (Sep 9, 2014)

raleets said:


> My 10'X10' HO scale layout includes a 33-foot loop of track around the perimeter for an Amtrak "California Zephyr"


Yeah, man! gotta love Amtrak. I think they're actually starting to revert back to some of their older paint schemes now, so you're not entirely obsolete. How long is your Zephyr?
My Empire Builder is entirely in phase V paint - the blue locos look nice next to the silver Superliners

John


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## DJL1961 (Sep 8, 2014)

raleets said:


> My 10'X10' HO scale layout includes a 33-foot loop of track around the perimeter for an Amtrak "California Zephyr" which passes thru a large mountain with the famous Moffat Tunnel portals on each end.
> All of my equipment is in Phase II dress because the wife and I took a couple of trips back in the '80's when Amtrak was using them.
> Fun stuff!
> Bob


That sounds interesting. I'm designing something similar for the Zephyr, would love to see pictures of your train.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

cv_acr said:


> The name of CN's flagship train was the _Super Continental_, not Transcontinental.


I stand corrected.....thank you!


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## morrjr (Dec 20, 2012)

I'm running eight Broadway Limited California Zephyr cars behind a set of Athearn Genesis DRGW F3A and F3B units with DCC and sound. I would run all eleven or twelve cars of the Zephyr (depending on era) but my layout is too small. I also have a CNW three-car commuter train running behind a CNW Athearn Genesis F7A with DCC and sound. I used to ride CNW commuter trains exactly like that in the late sixties to mid seventies.


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## BeardedLumberjack (Sep 9, 2014)

morrjr said:


> Athearn Genesis DRGW F3A and F3B units with DCC and sound.


you might as well include a video if you're gonna be that specific. 

This thread definitely needs pics, guys!

John


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## doggystyle (Oct 22, 2014)

Hi, I'm starting to collect Amtrak cars, another one is to finish PRR heavyweight, and I have European Polish P.K.P. and German Stadte-Express.


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## TA462 (Oct 17, 2014)

I've got a few passenger trains that I run on my layout from time to time. I have a CN Turbo Train, a VIA Rail Turbo Train, 3 10 car GO Transit trains, a bunch of 1961 and 1954 passenger coaches, sleepers, baggage cars and dining cars, a VIA Rail stainless steel passenger set and my pride and joy, the Ontario Northlands Polar Bear Express train.


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

BeardedLumberjack said:


> Yeah, man! gotta love Amtrak. I think they're actually starting to revert back to some of their older paint schemes now, so you're not entirely obsolete. How long is your Zephyr?
> My Empire Builder is entirely in phase V paint - the blue locos look nice next to the silver Superliners
> 
> John


We rode the Zephyr to Salt Lake City and back last year. Sadly, we didn't pass thru the Moffat Tunnel because track had been washed out between Denver and Salt Lake City.
Therefore, we took a detour thru Wyoming which turned out to be pretty interesting.
We're hoping to take a trip to Seattle someday on the Empire Builder.
My Zephyr is made up of twin locos, lashed back-to-back, then 13 cars in the consist including seven Superliner cars......3 coach, 1 diner, 2 sleepers, 1 lounge/café.
The whole train is about 15 feet long. 
It's quite a site watching it zoom around the layout and I'm hoping to post some pics soon.
Bob


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

I'm still trying to build my N-scale layout. I have two Kato PA-1s with a dummy PB from Concor. My 5 passenger cars are a set from Concor. Everything is in the Denver & Rio Grande colors. Love those colors and the scenery they ran through. I'm hoping to get things running one of these days, but my 4x8 board seems kinda small for that train...it's around 3.5 feet total length. But I love to see trains run, so I'm sure I'll enjoy it when I do get it going.

Great reading from all you guys who have posted! Nice pics too.


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## Northern Route (May 12, 2014)

These are the passenger trains I have on my layout, ATSF 1953 Super Chief, 1956 EL Capitan high level, California Limited, Ranger, Fast mail Express (which has a baggage coach behind all of the mail cars) and Mopac Sunflower, I plan to add these whenever dig them out of the boxes, ATSF Chief, 1955 San Francisco Chief, and few no name trains.


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## Flynn_lives (Jul 6, 2013)

N&W Powhattan Arrow, if I ever get the passenger set from MTH.


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## oldmerc (May 12, 2014)

I model the VIA Rail Canadian


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