AFAIK, the Niagaras were never streamlined like the Dreyfuss Hudons, hence my request for a photo from Calzephyr.
Ahhh... yes... it was referred as a SHROUDED (not streamlined) Niagara. The 'elephant ears' are smoke lifters but called shrouds as well. I like the Dreyfuss J3a Hudson much more... but... these look pretty close to the UP FEFs which is what I was referencing it to. The 'look' is very similar... but... the size of the drivers and length may be too short compared to the FEF. Comparative sizes of the two 4-8-4's would be interesting to look at... and if close enough... perhaps Kato has a good basis for a Twentieth Century Limited with appropriate power.
Never heard of the term "shrouded" applied to the Niagara, either. What is the source of that information?
While technically not shrouded the term may have been used by a few due to the unique design of the boiler. A descriptive excerpt is posted below. Other modern 4-8-4's may have exceeded the S-1B's in the categories of weight and tractive effort but it is doubtful that any exceeded this ultimate example of locomotive building in terms of steam generation, horsepower, speed and ability. A new boiler design eliminated the steam dome and allowed the boiler size to be increased to the very limits of the NYC loading gauge. The boiler was so large that the sandbox had to be recessed into the boiler top and the stack was unusually short. The air reservoirs were cast into the massive frame, the turbo generator had to be located below the enormous firebox and the bell was located on the pilot beam. The standard NYC appearance was altered with the use of an unusual smoke box front and a headlight placed above the boiler center line. These new 4-8-4's were also equipped huge PT tenders with a 4-10-0 (centipede) wheel arrangement. The appearance of the smooth boiler may have prompted some to have referred to them as shrouded or semi shrouded. As far as the appearance to an FEF there has been several comparisons on the close appearances between the two locomotives which may be just enough depending on the versions of the FEF offered to allow someone to come up with a close enough Niagara. Didn't Kato do a 20th Century car consist at one time?
Indeed Kato did produce NYC two-tone gray passenger cars (6+4 sets) some time back. They also offered their E8s in NYC two-tone gray about the same time. The passenger cars were stand-ins using the smooth-sided cars they had at the time. As far as I Know, the only correct NYC prototype was the observation. The River-series observations did see service on the 20th Century for just a few years during WWII. The Niagaras were never routinely assigned to the Century. Yes, on rare occasions, Niagaras did pull the Century. The E7s were already available and they were the preferred motive power for the fashionable train. As much as some of us would like to see the 20th Century produced, I doubt that will happen. The Century often ran with a 17-car consist (plus additional sections when demand required). The consist was very unique cars and no coaches. It would be a very expensive and risky project. Now if you still want a NYC passenger train pulled by a Niagara, there are many options. There were many other luxury name trains like the Advance Commodore Vanderbilt, Commodore Vanderbilt, Ohio State Limited, Lake Shore Limited, North Shore Limited, Empire State Express, New England States, Chicagoan, Knickerbocker, Mercury and Laurentian. Niagaras were routinely assigned to all these trains and to mail & express trains. These would be easier to model and would look just as slick behind a Niagara.
I forgot to add it is a shame no one has chosen to produce the 20th Century Limited as it was one of the most famous and best known trains in the world. Puddington, in the Rapido news, said of all the trains he wished he could go back to ride, would be the NYC Lake Shore Limited, famous for its beef stew. Maybe he could convince Rapido to give us a NYC name train, eh?
I have two that I would commit to buy the second they announced: 1. 1940 Texas Zephyr- Kato has some parts to model the 1940's-mid-50's and then post March 1965 version. Then if they did the Denver Zephyr articulateds that would open up another option. (plus the actual Denver Zephyr!) 2. 2001 Heartland Flyer- Again, Kato has the tooling--actually all of it, sans modifications for the Cabbage cars if doing the earlier consists. (which is what I want) It would be an easy path to get this one out the door for Kato. Plus the Cabbages would appeal to others as well.
I'm thinking a San Francisco Overland Limited, a la Howard Fogg, would be very pretty, and very doable given KATO's production so far.... Otto K., wishfully thinking....
For a short time.. there was this.. And this.. In the grand scheme of things.. I think these fall into a pretty slim time frame.. But so did the Niagara.. If Kato were to do an NYC Train, I would say a Century or ESE.. Although.. Creepy factoid.. It Kato were to do the ESE.. let it be known that the 1941 Streamlined ESE debuted with it's maiden run with minimal fanfare on.... December 7th! (From Wikipedia: "On December 7, 1941, the New York Central inaugurated a new stainless-steel streamlined (Budd) train, powered by a streamlined J-3a Hudson (4-6-4) steam locomotive. (Later that day Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese.)" ) ~Ian
My ideas would be a Rock Island train (sans TOFCs !!!), a COMPLETE Penn Central train, and I really liked CHARGER's idea for the "old" AutoTrain !!! A GTW "Maple Leaf" would be nice, too. If it absolutely MUST be steam, I would go with the "Century".
What about Fox valley? They did a great set and never followed up. Shame really. Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk
Funny you should mention that. You can thank Mike Skibbe for creating this master. Poured the first half of the silicon rubber last night !
Perhaps. We'll see how the mold comes out. This one is difficult especially since the castings need to be precise to allow the Kato glass to fit back in perfectly. Also depends what Mike wants to do, it is his master and I'm just the mold maker on this one. Poured the second half of the silicon rubber. Now I need to wait 24 hours. Should have first casting tomorrow afternoon if all goes well.
