I am looking for some basic information on the 1942 Hiawatha's "Buy War Bonds" car or cars. I don't even know if there were more than one. I have been looking for prototype photos and have so far come up empty, possibly in part because I am not sure exactly what type of car this as (or these were) nor do I know what number or numbers they carried. The one picture I saw was provide by a decal supplier and it didn't exactly match any GHQ kits (N scale) that I could view online but it was closest to the Hiawatha coach. Anyway, any information for modelers and any other historical information that you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Adam
BNBob is correct about the car type and number. It was painted red,white and blue in 1942 and toured all over the Milwaukee Road system before being assigned to the afternoon Hiawatha. It was a rib-side coach with the full width diaphragm. There was a custom decal maker named Pete Trick that had a set of N scale decals for the car, but I seem to have lost the link to his site.
Found the link.....http://www.petescustomdecals.com/_632-N-scale-milwaukee-road.jpg Unfortunately no one makes the correct car except in very expensive brass or a make your own using brass car sides.
Thanks for the information, everyone! Pete's Custom Decals is where I got the idea to make one of these. Zooming in on his graphic I couldn't tell what the number was. I have been slowly putting together an Olympian Hiawatha consist which has, of course, involved a lot of brass car sides. Now that I know that this coach as no. 477 that will narrow my search quite a bit.
Does anyone know what year the 477 was built? I have found several indications that it was painted in the "Buy War Bonds" scheme in 1942 but I haven't found any evidence that it wasn't built prior to 1942, except that the 1937 batch of coaches were not numbered up beyond about 452. GHQ has an N scale kit for 1942 coaches. The photos I have been able to see don't exactly match up to the kit, but then again the kit is only shown from one side and the photo I have seen is only shown from one side, so they may be two sides of the same car-body. Thanks in advance, Adam
477 was one of 25 cars ordered 3/1941 and delivered 5/1942. It was built as a 56 Seat Coach, 12 Seat Smoker.
