Modeling the Owl (Part2) - Korea to 1960

In this part of discussing the Owl (Nos.57 & 58), I will look at the changes that happened to the Owl from 1951 to 1960.  After which point the Owl was on the slide to being annulled, leaving only the San Joaquin Daylight running between LA and Oakland.  Follow this link back to first part of Modeling the Owl (Part 1).

SP 4255 leading No.58 between Bakersfield and LA.

Southern Pacific in the Bay Area, by George H. Drury, page 89 shows the regular Owl (No.57) at Martinez, nearing the end of its run on April 22, 1950.  The shot shows the headend of the Owl, with an RPO right behind the engine, a 80-BH-1 horse baggage, and SP 6114 (60-B, ex-60-PS-1 4402).  The lower photo of the same day shows the middle of the Owl with one of the 72-C-1/2/3/4 class "Deluxe Chair" cars , but no number is visible.

Most of the consist info shown below is from the SP Trainline No.74 from Winter 2000, with some data extracted from the commentary in the article on the Owl by Sheldon King.  I want to thank Brian Black and James Salkeld for letting me use their fabulous photo collections taken by their family members during the 1950s.

Consist 1951

No.58, eastbound at Ravenna - James Salkeld Collection (used with permission)

The last consist I showed in Part 1, shows Feb 15, 1951, but to avoid making readers flip back and forth, I'll relist the consist here.

No.57 Feb 15, 1951
BG Oak-Bakersfield (returns on No.57)
BG Oak-LA (Storage Magazine - Tuesdays only)
BG Oak-LA (Ex-Sunday)
PS Oak-LA Postal-Storage
RPO Oak-LA (Working)
Chair (probably News Agent)
Chair
Chair
Chair
Diner
STD 12-1 (Replaced 16-Section Troop Car)
STD 12-1 (Replaced 16-Section Troop Car)
STD 6-2-Lounge (Mission-Series)
STD 6-6-4 (LW) or STD 8-5 "Clover" (Alternating Days, one of each assigned)
STD 14-SBR (Night Fern & Night Mantel assigned)
STD 10-1-1 (HW Car)
STD 12-1 ("Regular" 12-1 sleeper)

By November 1st the two 12-1 sleepers behind the dining car were moved to the rear of the train.  Also an additional partitioned coach was added on Mondays and Fridays.

Nov 1, 1951
BG Oak-Bakersfield (returns on No.57)
BG Oak-LA (Storage Magazine - Tuesdays only)
BG Oak-LA (Ex-Sunday)
PS Oak-LA Postal-Storage
RPO Oak-LA (Working)
Partitioned Coach (Mon & Fri)
Chair
Chair
Chair
Chair
Diner
STD 6-2-Lounge (Mission-Series)
STD 6-6-4 (LW) or STD 8-5 "Clover" (Alternating Days, one of each assigned)
STD 14-SBR (Night Fern & Night Mantel assigned)
STD 10-1-1 (HW Car)
STD 12-1
STD 12-1
STD 12-1

A 3D Printed model of the News Agent space, used on some of the SP's Chair Cars. - OwlMtModels 4052 shown.

I'm not clear if the leading Chair car remained as a News Agent car or if the assignment of the partitioned coach could have been a News Agent car.  Generally, I would think the NA car remained the leading Chair Car.

SP 4251 with No.58 at San Fernando - James Salkeld Collection (used with permission)

Steam continued to be the regular assignment over the Tehachapi Pass until 1952.  Before about 1950, the ACs received MT-class or GS-class helpers over the Tehachapi Pass between LA and Bakersfield.  After 1950, enough AC's were being displaced by diesels that they could afford to let them double head on the Owl.

In the San Joaquin Valley, the Owl was assigned Mt or GS class engines between Bakersfield and Oakland.  On occasion P-class engines can be seen working lighter sections of the Owl, when Pullman traffic overflowed what the Owl's normal consist could handle, or the schedule of the extra traffic didn't make it possible for the extra passengers and cars to be worked into regular trains.

Consist 1953

SP 3501, converted to Baggage-Dormitory service. To the left is T&NO 141 a recent transfer from the Sunbeam.

In 1953 the SP rebuilt the 14-Single Bedroom sleepers Night Fern and Night Mantle to be Baggage-Dorm cars SP 3500 and 3501, which were regularly assigned to the Owl consists.  These cars are not easily modeled from standard Pullman sleepers without a large amount of window changes.

Typical Consist for 1953
BG Oak-Bakersfield (returns on No.57)
BG Oak-LA (Storage Magazine - Tuesdays only)
BG Oak-LA (Ex-Sunday)
PS Oak-LA Postal-Storage
RPO Oak-LA (Working) - Usually 70-BP-30-1/2/3 or 69-BP-30-2/3 as seen above in some of the photos.
Bag-Dorm - (SP 3500 & 3501 assigned once rebuilding was complete)
Chair
Chair
Chair
Chair
Diner
STD 6-2-Lounge (Mission-Series)
STD 6-6-4 (LW) or STD 8-5 "Clover" (Alternating Days, one of each assigned)
STD 10-1-1 (HW Car)
STD 12-1
STD 12-1
STD 12-1

It should be noted also that during 1953 the ex-SSW American Flyer" Osgood-Bradley chair cars were assigned to the Owl, among other Pacific Lines trains, it wasn't uncommon to see at least one of the Chair cars on the Owl being one of these unique cars.

Consist 1954

Kitbashed model of SP 3503 starting from Rivarossi 12-1 sleeper

I've decided to model one of the next two cars the SP rebuilt in this way, which were the 1954 rebuilt Pecos and Sunburst Rose, which started as Pullman 12-1s, and also became Baggage-Dorms SP 3502 and SP 3503 receptively.  Follow this link to see how I chose to Model the SP 3503.  I chose the 3503 because I had an extra pair pf Walthers Pullman 242 trucks, and the SP 3503 retained those trucks when rebuilt.

No.57, April 9, 1954
BG-Express Fresno-Oakland (Ex-Mon) return on No.58 unless noted
60ft RPO Mail Apartment (SP 5044 & 5045, 77-BP-60 - ex-77-D-6 diners with new 60ft Apartments)
PS Mail Storage (Ex Sat & Sun)
BG-Express
Bag-Dorm (usually 3500 & 3501)
Chair (News Agent)
Chair (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Chair
Chair
Chair
Diner
Lounge (Full Lounge or Tavern car)
STD 6-2-Lounge (Mission Series)
STD 8-5 "Clover" series HW Sleeper (Now two cars assigned, LW 6-6-4 dropped)
STD 10-1-1 "Palouse Falls and "Prior Lake" regularly assigned
STD 12-1
STD 12-1

The changes to the 1954 Owl include the new 60ft RPOs (SP 5044 & 5045) rebuilt from 77-D-6 dining cars.  The balance of the space in the 77 foot body was assigned as baggage-express space.  These newly rebuilt cars had ply-metal doors, as did most of SP's rebuilds after 1953. (see the door style on the SP 3503 model above.  One of the three 80-BP-60 (SP 5217-5219) rebuilt Horse-Baggage turned RPOs protected the San Joaquin Daylight and the Owl.

Late in 1954, the SP began experimenting with "Hamburger Grill" cars, rebuilt from HW Diners.  The 10502 and 10503 were the first two regularly assigned to the Owl in January 1955, replacing the full dining cars.

Also late in 1954, the STD 10-1-1 HW sleepers were withdrawn from service on the Owl.

Consist 1956

In 1956, the steam assignments of GS-3s and GS-6s between Bakersfield and Oakland finally came to an end.  Often two-unit sets of F7s (A-B pairs) took over the assignment.

SP 6383 with two B-units leads No.51, the San Joaquin Daylight, in the Valley in the late 1950s. Brian Black Collection

In September 1956, the use of the remaining Heavyweight sleepers in the Owl's regular consist came to an end.  The Mission-series 6-2-Lounges were retired to MW service and LW 6-6-4 sleepers became the regular accommodations for all Pullman passengers.

The 6-6-4 sleepers replaced the old HW Dark Olive Green and TTG sleepers, here SP 9161 in 1953 Golden State colors.

Consist 1957

By the end of 1957, the Owl, No.58 was down to the following cars:

BG Bag-Express (Ex-Sun)  - Oak-Fresno (Return on No.57)
60ft Mail Apartment  - Oak-LA (SP 5044 & 5045 regularly assigned)
BG Bag-Express  - Oak-LA
BG Bag-Express  - Oak-LA

Chair  - Oak-LA

Chair  - Oak-LA

Chair  - Oak-LA
HW Hamburger-Grill  - Oak-LA
STD LW 6-6-4  - Oak-LA
STD LW 6-6-4  - Oak-LA

The end was coming for the Owl, even with the discontinuance of the (Tehcahapi) Mail Trains (Nos.55 & 56) in 1954/55, there wasn't a lot of mail and express traffic left for the Owl to handle.  1956 also saw the end of HW Pullman sleeper use on the Owl.

In Closing

The marker on a UP 6-6-4 brings up the rear of the Owl.

The end for the Owl was still several years away, during those years the food service would again see a step down to "Automat" service in March 1962, basically a rack of drink and snack vending machines and cold sandwiches to eat.  The "Economy" Baggage cars would start showing up in 1960-1962.  Towards the end, even UP 6-6-4 LW sleepers would be seen on the Owl as there were not enough SP 6-6-4s to cover all the assignments.

UP "American Captain", a 6-6-4, similar to the pair seen in a photo of the Owl near the end.

The last trip was made on April 13, 1965, with barely any notice by the public or the news media.  Fewer than 33 passengers road No.58 on the last trip.

Jason Hill

Related Links and Articles:

Modeling the Owl (Part 1) - Post WWII to Korea

Modeling Mail Trains Nos. 55 & 56, The Tehacahapi Mail

The Shasta, a revised "Pike-Sized" train from 1987

Modeling SP Road Engines (Part 4) - Articulated Steam

Mistakes in Modeling - Part Oops!

Well, we all make mistakes...

Can you see the mistake?  I bet you'd never know.. but now that I know... it's REALLY ANNOYING!

A few weeks ago as I was finishing up a PSC 60-P-5 model of SP 4261 for a customer.  I reviewed the various RPOs I was working on to see which ones might need the 3D printed interiors.  I was looking forward to designing one for the 4261, as its unique interior layout would show off the double letter case on each wall between the windows!  I was reviewing the car's history in SPH&TS SP Passenger Cars Vol.3 and came to the horrifying realization that I had made a mistake in the car!

Car Backround

The SP 4261 was the only car in SP's last class of 60 foot postal cars.  Her sister cars were sent to UP, and for some reason the SP ordered one car following the style of those cars.  The SP 4261 has its letter cases mid-car, with the windows towards both pairs of side doors.

One can only assume that it was because this car was the odd ball, but it was retired from active RPO service in 1936, while most of her older sisters stayed in service many more years.  The car was then placed in Storage Mail service.  When RPOs were stricken from the fleet of active RPOs and stripped of their working capacity, i.e. Catcher Arms, Sorting Racks, Letter Case, etc. they would pretty quickly have their "US MAIL RAILWAY POST OFFICE" lettering painted over.  Baggage cars usually had lettering for BAGGAGE and RAILWAY EXPRESS AGENCY on their sides to indicate what service they were in when the RPO lettering was painted out.  Cars in dedicated Storage Mail service would have "US MAIL STORAGE CAR" lettering applied in place of the RPO lettering.

The Error

The 4261 in 1936 would have been in Gold Leaf lettering "SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES" when last lettered as an RPO.  The model that I'd finished lettering was done for the post-1946 "SOUTHERN PACIFIC" style lettering.

The SP 4261 should look something more like this picture of my in-progress SP 4404....

The Fix

Well, the customer wants the car to be the way it should look in the 1950-1953 era for operations.  So there's only one thing to do.  Not wanting to try to strip the car and repaint the whole thing, I masked off the carside where the offending lettering was.  I placed the masking vertically near a rivet line, so any stepping of the masking edge would be hidden or look like a joint in the car siding.  I shot a fresh batch of StarBrand SP Dark Olive and covered the overcoated decals.

I've tried stripping or just lifting off the bad decals in the past.  If they've been properly applied and set completely, and then overcoated and sealed they're is NO WAY it's coming off without completely messing up the rest of the paint job on the car.  It's better to patch over completely finished and sealed decals.  These decals are extremely thin and I will be placing new lettering decals over the area, so I'm not worried about anyone "seeing" the old lettering... even if they did it's prototypical!... The real car probably still had "RPO" lettering under there too!

It took an afternoon to reshoot the car and a few days of drying between the painting and glosscoating.  I have plenty of extra Storage Car decals laying around, as most models I've done are using the "BAGGAGE" and "RAILWAY EXPRESS AGENCY" lettering for baggage-express cars.

Back on Track!

All better, Storage Car 4261 will soon be ready for service!

Here's the relettered and corrected model of SP 4261.  While I'm sad that I don't get to do a car with all the cool interior and full length lighting to show it off... at least this unique car will continue to be a very unique car in Storage Mail service on trains like the Owl (Nos.57/58). - (Link to Modeling the Owl - Part 1)

I'm sure this won't be the last model that I'll have to do something to "Fix" so I thought I'd share this. I hope that this encourages everyone out there to not be afraid to change your models to keep up with the new research that is available to us now!

Jason Hill

SP 5199, a SC&F 69-BP-30-3 (Part1)

Well today we'll be looking over the first part of building a "Southern Car & Foundry #1001 Baggage-Postal".  Follow this link to my Railway Post Office page, which is functioning and I hope to expand it more in the future.

This is a friend's brass 69-BP-30-1.  This car was part of the Sunbeam PSC set.

The Model

This model is being built for a friend who wanted a correct model of an SP RPO for his mail train.  He considered buying a model from The Coachyard, but after talking about the mechanical changes that would be required to an expensive model for service at the La Mesa Model Railroad Club we decided it would be easier to build one of the beautiful one-piece-resin body "Harriman" head end cars by Southern Car & Foundry (link here).

SC&F kit with additional CalScale parts (190-345 Mail Hooks) & Walthers trucks.

I have built two of these models before (SP 5124 & SP 5069) and done some heavy modifications to convert them into 70-BP-30-2/3s for use with the LMRC's San Joaquin Daylight.  The 69-BP-30-series cars were about equally common as the SP's 70-BP-30-series cars, so this model was selected.

SP 5124, painted for San Joaquin Daylight service - In this view the model is about 95% complete, still needs grab irons, stirrups, mail catchers, dull cote on the roof, etc. 

History of the Prototype Car

The prototypes for this model were built for the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific in 1911-1916.  The model I will be building this kit to represent will be the last group of cars in the 69-BP-30-3 series.  Common Standard "Harriman" classes system worked in the following order: 69 (Length in feet) - BP (Baggage-Postal) - 30 (Length of Postal Apartment) - 3 (type sub class, chronologically - note;some class numbers were skipped).

Many of the cars were built for subsidiary railroads that were folded into the SP or UP systems over the years.  The 69-BP-30-3 that I'm building is the SP 5199, built on 10/24/1916 by Pullman Standard.  Electric lighting was installed on 8/22/1929.  Several of the 5199 and 3 sister cars were converted in the mid-late 1950s to Baggage-Express cars and lost their Railway Post Office (RPO) apartment space.

SP 5148 is painted in the 1947-1954 general service scheme. This will be how the 5199 will be finished.

The 5199 transitioned through two of the SP Dark Olive Green paint schemes, and then repainted into the Two-Tone Gray scheme of 1954 sometime before being converted to Baggage-Express service in November 1954 as SP 6165.

I should mention here for those that want to do these cars in other paint schemes, that two sister cars built for the Texas & New Orleans were painted in the Daylight Red/Orange scheme in 1937 for the Sunbeam.

Then in 1950 the Sunbeam changed to Simulated Stainless Steel & Daylight Red letterboard as shown here on T&NO 141.

Start with Cleaning the Castings

I started off with this kit quickly de-flashing the main one-piece body casting and cleaning out the door and window openings.  The car body is cast with plugs in the wind openings.  I carefully cut with a No.11 Xacto blade through the thin membrane of resin connecting the plugs, this allows them to cleanly fall out.  Dressing the inner edges of the door and window openings then with a file to bring them out to the correct size.



I also did some cleaning work, cutting and teasing out the membranes from the door castings.  This wouldn't really be needed until they are installed and ready to be painted, but since I had the file and knife out...  At this point I shifted to focusing on the underframe.

Underframe

I usually start by working on the underframe of the car.  This is pretty easy, as the parts go together well and lets me get the feel of working with the resin again.  Any mistakes are not going to be very visible on the completed model.



I started by marking what will be the RPO end, the Baggage end, and where the mail apartment bulkhead wall is going to be located.  I mark this both on the top and the bottom to avoid any chance I'll put something on the wrong end of the car.  This does make a difference as the underbody piping crosses over at the B-end or Baggage end of the car.

I also was very careful looking at the instructions as the included drawing is up-side down mirror imaged.  This is because on the real cars, the draftsmen make the drawing as if the car is right side up and you're looking at it and standing on or in the underframe.  This has caught many modelers over the years because they think they're looking at a bottom view, when really it's a top plan view of the car.

The first step with assembling the underframe is gluing the bottom flange caps on the frame I-beams.  This is bonding resin (gray) and styrene (white), so I used a good fresh bottle of ACC for these joints.

Although the instructions say to drill the truck bolster holes now, I am going to hold off on drilling them at this time.  I will drill it later when getting ready to mate up the trucks (which have off-center bolster screws) to the body on the proper truck centers.



The train air line and signal line come next with a piece of 0.023" steel wire and 0.018" brass wire respectively.  I bent the train and signal line to shape, threading them through the notches cut in the truck bolsters, and I bend a hook in the ends so that they are firmly anchored in the end of the car while making fine adjustments to the shape as I move along the the cross members. I use a No.66 drill to make the holes in the centersills and up into the floor at the end of the car. - In hindsight, I should have had the crossover of the train and signal lines be about 2-3ft closer to the center of the car because of the big 6-wheel trucks used.

I secured the train and signal lines at several points along the underframe with a pipe hanger made from 6lb test fishing line.  These hangers are just a hole drilled in the floor and the line looped down around the pipe.  One line was fed through each hole over each pipe.  This allows me to tie the pipes up with only one piece of line per pair of hangers.

Fishing line pipe hangers.  

Next comes the unique "Harriman" diagonal underframe bracing.  These extend outward from just inboard of the truck bolster towards the sides of the car at about a 40 degree angle closer to the middle of the car.  A second set of diagonals then return from the car sides toward the centersill, closer yet to the middle of the car.  These diagonal braces form a diamond shape when viewed from below.  Where these come back to the centersill is the location of the first of three needlebeams.  I stack shim styrene up on the bottom of the floor to provide a place for the diamond braces to attach.  I carefully glue the diamond braces in place with ACC glue.



The diamond braces and the needlebeams are etched brass parts.  There are a set of needlebeams that are cast in resin, but I will use the brass ones.  The needlebeams need to be bent to connect the floor of the car on one side, stretch across under the centersills, and then back up to the other side of the floor.  From my previous builds of this kit, I know these brass needlebeams are a little bit too long, and also stray fingers in the future will likely bump the etched brass needlebeams picking up the model or while I'm building it.  I cut and file some notches in the outer edges of the floor where the needlebeams will land.  This allows me to bend the needlebeams and then bend the slightly longer tips up, forming an "L" which will catch into these notches.  ACC glue is used to secure the three needle beams.

Underframe Details

Next comes the Battery Box and the Brake Rigging.  Looking at photos of the 5199 and sister cars for placement of the brake parts and battery box, the provided cast battery box is a bit too short in length.  It is mounted under the right side of the car, just inboard of the A-end needlebeam.

A quick rummage through my passenger car detail part box yields a Soho battery box from one of the brass Soho projects I've worked on in the past.  This one has an extra bit of styrene sheet glued to the top of it, that's nice, but I've found it makes the boxes sit too low to the rails.  Later in the build, after fitting the trucks I removed the box, cut away the finely detailed cross member beams from the floor casting, and remounted the battery box flush with the floor of the car.

A photo from later in the build when the Battery Box is painted and remounted directly to the floor of the car.

The brake cylinder's a bit of a mystery as the photos don't really clearly show it.  I suspect that it's hiding behind the battery box from the view point of the photographer.  I know the brake piston end should point towards the B-end of the car.  With that worked out I glue it to the underframe, slightly towards the center of the car from the battery box.

I can clearly see the large and smaller tanks under the baggage end of the car's right side.  The control valve should be between the brake cylinder and these air tanks, but I don't see it on the right side of the car.  Also there's not much space left on the right side of the car.  Therefore it must be on the left side of the car with the brake cylinder.  There are rules specifying how far the control valve, the cylinder and the tanks can be from each other.  There are other details like the Steam Traps that I will add later to the car.



I mark out on the unpainted resin floor where the various tanks are going and then drill.  I core the air tanks and control valve fittings with No.73 drill for fitting the piping into them.  Then I drill the holes to mount the large tank with No.61 drill and overbored with Xacto #11 blade.  The smaller air tank was likewise glued together and a small hole drilled for it to mount.

Mounting the Trucks

I do some rough fitting of the truck to the body bolster of the kit.



Check clearances also for the center wheelset, truck sideframe screws, train & signal piping as well.  I notice that the crossover piping was about one or two crossframes too close to the bolster, and may foul the flanges of the inboard wheelset.  The cast bolster cap pieces installed on the underframe also are going to interfere with the truck's side snubbers.



The Walthers HW 6-wheel trucks are a bit odd in their mounting holes for their passenger cars.  I usually elect not to use the cast-in holes on custom installations.  Instead I offset a new hole in the solid end of the truck's bolster.



This particular truck is one of the W-106 series trucks, which has a very high snubber on the outer parts of the truck.  On the SC&F model the full bolster details requirement to cut the top 0.03-0.04" off these snubbers.

I also file down the raised arch of plastic over the top of the center axle.  This will make a level place for the body bolster to ride on the truck.  This is one of the most critical parts of rebuilding a passenger car bolster and truck assembly.  Make absolutely sure the car body is true and square with the truck.  This will ensure the weight of the car is transferred evenly to the truck, and from the truck then to the rails.

Back to the body bolster modifications, I measure a scale 15" outboard off the centerline of the body bolster on the underframe of the car and scribe a line on each bolster.  This will be where the offset holes for the trucks will be located.  You can really use any dimension you want here as long as it is copied when you drill the new hole in the truck bolster.



I cut two sections about 0.25" off a of 0.125"x0.250" styrene strip.  These will be the actual bolster blocks the car body will ride on.  I don't like the fit of the new body bolster block with the kit resin bolster detail piece.  The block is not able to be centered well on the 15" offset future hole location.  This means I'll either need to step the new bolster block to fit over the resin bolster details, or cut back the resin part.  It's better not to mess around with finicky fit issues in regards to the squareness of the bolsters of a car if you can avoid it.  I cut back the resin bolster parts about 0.05" about where the row of bolts are on the resin part.  This allows the new bolster block to sit nicely centered around the 15" offset mark, where the bolster screw hole will be drilled.



I remark the centerline of the car and also the scale 15" offset for the new bolster screw hole.  I drill it for 2-56 tap and clear-drill the plastic bolster block so the threads only engage in the car floor.

In Closing

Additional light filing was needed to true up these bolster blocks to level and square with the underframe of the car.  Also visible is the cuts in the resin bolster piece for the center wheel flanges to get clearance.  I will do additional shimming of the truck later to help get the right coupler height.  But we'll save that for the next part in the blog entry for the SP 5199, 69-BP-30-3 (Part 2).

Jason Hill

Related Articles

SP 5199 Part 1

SP 5199 Part 2

SP 5199 Part 3

SP 5199 Part 4

SP 5199 Part 5

SP 5199 Part 6

SP 5199 Part 7

SP 5124, Modeling San Joaquin Daylight RPO (Part 1)

SP 5069, Modeling San Joaquin Daylight RPO (Part 2)

Modeling SP HW Passenger Car Index Page