Today I was interested in finding out some things about the Illinois Central... particularly the passenger trains and the typical equipment on their 'named' trains. As I surfed the web I was disappointed on the very limited amount of information available on the passenger consists themselves. While I'm not a die-hard IC modeler... there are some passenger trains I would like to have... primarily the Panama Limited. Centralia Car Shops, Walthers and Rapido have put out a few cars over the past couple of years... and more are scheduled to be made this year. I have some Life-Like E6 diesels which are waiting for a complete set... which isn't likely to happen. As more of these passenger cars become available I'm thinking about bulding a consist for the E6' to haul. So there is the dilema... what are the correct cars for the Panama Limited consist (circa 1950's-1970). Example: Baggage (type ACF, Budd etc) (Hvywght/lgtwght, size, doors etc)(car numbers/names) RPO (type ACF, Budd etc)(Hvywght/lgtwght, size, doors etc)(car numbers/names) Coach (type ACF, Budd etc) (Hvywght/lgtwght, # seats etc) (car numbers/names) Sleepers (type ACF, Budd etc)(Hvywght/lgtwght, room types etc)(car numbers/names) Diner (type ACF, Budd etc)(Hvywght/lgtwght,etc) (car numbers/names) Parlor or Lounge (type ACF, Budd etc) (Hvywght/lgtwght, rooms etc) (car numbers/names) Observation (type ACF, Budd etc) (Hvywght/lgtwght, rooms etc) (car numbers/names)
Why so important to know... well... There are some irregularities in the products being announced by various manufacturers. For instance: Is the Illinois Central's car "Land of Strawberries" a: 1) PS 6-6-4 sleeper as offered by Centrailia Car Shop/IMRC??? OR 2) A lightweight Duplex sleeper as offered by Rapido??? OR DARE I SAY... BOTH are wrong?
Here is data someone gave me on a 1953 consist, for example: IC 1801 [baggage, rebuilt heavyweight] Pullman Centmoor ?? [heavyweight 8-1-2] Pullman John McLoughline ??[heavyweight 8-1-2] Pullman Timberland 6-6-4 Pullman Champaign 10-6 Pullman Baton Rouge 11 bedroom IC 3308 [rebuilt heavyweight lounge-blunt-observation] from another section? IC 4126 diner IC 4126A kitchen Pullman Chicagoland 4-4-2 Pullman Chebanse 10-6 Pullman Volunteer State 6-6-4 Pullman Brookhaven 11 Bedroom IC 3351 [r4ebuilt heavyweight parlor - jackson - new-orleans, but how as it in Mephis? Pullman Crystal Springs 10-6 Pullman Gulfport Here's a consist from 1946: 4003 E6A 4014 E7A IC1801 Baggage express (heavyweight) IC1902 Lake Pontchartrain Baggage dorm Greenwich 12Sec, 1DR (streamlined heavyweight) Blue Grass State 6Sec, 6 Rte, 4DBR King Coal 6Sec, 6Rte, 4DBR Banana Road 6Sec, 6Rte, 4DBR City of Jackson 18Rte General Beauregard 3DBR, 1DR, 1Cmp, Buffet lounge IC4101 Evangeline Diner Chicagoland 4DBR, 4Cmp, 2DR Land O'Strawberries 6Sec, 6 Rte, 4DBR Sugarland 6Sec, 6 Rte, 4DBR Memphis 2DBR, 2Cmp, 1DR, Obs lounge The Centralia 6-6-4 cars are correct and were used up through the early 1950s (the Rapido cars of the same name, while beautiful, are not IC prototypes). The cars in original consist (essentially the 1946 consist, but without the full baggage) included 6-6-4s, a 4-4-2 (Centralia again) and an 18-bedroom (also Centralia), along with the observation (Centralia) a baggage-dorm, a sleeper-lounge and a diner, but over time the consist changed. The Centralia observation is very close, but not exact, for the Panama. The new Centralia diner is not particularly close, but better than nothing, or the alternative (Con-Cor). the Centralia 10-5 represents a car that was sometimes used in the Panama in the early 1950s, but a 10-6 was more common. There is no ready-to-run model of the 10-6 (the old Rowa car is close, but has fluting whereas the IC car was smooth-sided). Union Station Products makes sides for most of the rest of the cars, but decals are almost non-existent. These are a challenge to build, but it's doable with patience and can bring good results. You can also get sides for the 11-bedroom sleeper from Laserkit and Brass Car Sides. All the sides work with the American Limited core kit. You can use the Con-Cor baggage car (change the trucks to 6-wheel) as a stand-in for #1801, which was a heavyweight car that had been streamlined by the IC shops. The Panama did not carry coaches or an RPO (except just before Amtrak when the coach section was named a separate train, the "Magnolia Star" :The Panama Limited - January, 1968 - Streamliner Schedules
Thank-you... Thats terrific information for the Panama Limited. BTW... I can understand other named IC trains... City of New Orleans, City of Miami... even that Magnolia Star mentioned above. But... unless this train was once headed to Panama City, Florida... why would it be called Panama Limited?
The big 'Gorilla' in the passenger consist market... Kato... has me a bit corncerned about getting individual cars from manufacturers like IMRC/CCS, Rapido, Walthers and any others which do not offer complete sets. Looking at the consist, noted above by Nickelplate759, there seems to be enough already produced prototypes of 6-6-4, 4-4-2, 10-6 and even the double diner (from Pennsy BL)... for Kato to easily come out with an Illinois Central consist. They may only need to tool 3 cars, baggage/dorm, 18 roomette and an observation/lounge. They even have EMD E8/E9 which could be the motive power for an IC 'name' train. It makes me wonder if... waiting for a potential IC train may not be more thrifty... since acquiring all of the above mentioned items will be over $300.00 discounted (and not complete)... and most of Kato' complete sets are price below $200.00 (discounted).
Brass Car Sides (Brass Car Sides Catalog and Ordering Information) just announced sides for the IC 10-6 cars. They also have sides for the 11-bedroom car. George
If a person is interested in finding information on passenger train consists then they need to join the Passenger Train Consists list at Yahoo! Groups. Tons of info on a number of roads including a few very good files on IC consists. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/passconsist/?yguid=367937347
The Panama Limited was named in honor of the opening of the Panama Canal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Limited
Hmmm... interesting Thanks Hytek... so I guess we should have also had a Suez Limited... if not for Amtrak? lol
