I KNEW IT! What have I been saying over and over? I've been joking that someone will come out with a Hiawatha BECAUSE I am working on one. Now, well, this one is a little different as it is not the Olympian Hiawatha and it's 1935, not the 1950s pre-UP paint scheme version, but still...
Before my Mom passed away, I used to send her post cars with silly pictures on them to entertain her. I sent one with this photo on it and said something about Hiawatha jumping out the window. Anyway it must have sparked her memories a bit because she sent a letter back reminiscing about riding on the real train back in 1940 and 41. http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/654/Letter-1.jpg http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/654/Letter-2.jpg http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/654/Letter-3.jpg I am sure she would approve of my buying this train.
Haha! Always glad to help! Maybe I should work on a North Coast Limited next, eh? Then maybe someone will make a prototypically correct one. LOL! This is, seriously, the best news I have seen in RTR gear in a long time. Excellent excellent excellent excellent! :w20z6q::bear-biggrin:YAY! YAY! YAYAYAAYYYY! :thumbs_up::w20z6q: (Gets me to thinkin'... maybe I should start kitbashing a Little Joe... hmmm)
Russell- That's a real treasure! Definitely family heirloom material. My mother rode the Olympian (pre-Hiawatha) a couple of times- Just before, then right after WWII started. She would never commit anything to paper. But I did get her to talk a little. I was able to identify fo her, some of the places enroute- Crossing the Missouri River at Mobridge, the motive power change at Harlowton, crossing the Missouri River again at Lombard, the stop at Three Forks, crawling up Pipestone Pass, descending the west side of the Bitterroots at night in snowy settings. Wish she'd have written something for me. Boxcab E50
Mine is the one that operated 1952 until the UP scheme repaint. I am thinking about having some of the cars still in the 1948 scheme (haven't been repainted, yet) just for variety, but I can't tell if that would have ever really happened. It looks like I will just have two Milwaukee Road passenger trains in my arsenal. I already placed a pre-order.
Russell: Thanks for posting the letter from your Mom. It brought back memories for many of us. For me it was the train ride from Atlanta to Los Angeles thru Chicago in the 50's- changing stations in Chicago. They told us the only ones who didn't have to change stations were the pigs. The only bad part of it -- I was in charge of about 20 USN recruits. Had to keep up with meal tickets, berthing etc. Al
It's only a matter of time. I am building a '52 Hiawatha, so probably about the time I am ready to put the decals on this train someone will release a RTR set.:tb-tongue:
Please don't hurry. Give me time to try scraping up a few extra dollars, before you get to that decal work stage. Boxcab E50
Did this train ever run in Texas in the 50's?:tb-wink: Only joking. I've got absolutely no need for one but who cares, I don't need half the stuff I've got. While we are all guessing at Kato's next train and whining about Walthers not doing much N scale FVM come out of nowhere with this. Life's full of surprises.
