After disassembling the ready-to-run Walthers 10-6 sleeper the win- dows were removed and the body was painted with a mix of Floquil
dining car services were terminated. The two were used infrequently there- after and could often be found sitting in Atlanta’s Hulsey Yard after January 7, 1970, when the last Crescent utilized the West Point Route’s rails. The Alabama River eventually found new life as an executive sleeper and was used in conjunction with business car 300 in inspection train service in the mid-1970’s. Additionally, it would be used in “parlor service” on Georgia Railroad’s mixed trains when coaches were un-
Old Silver and Bright Silver. While that cured the interior was paint- ed tan and the trucks and underbody got a coat of Weathered Black.
available or under repair. Ultimately, it was conveyed to Seaboard System in 1983 and became research car 774501. In 1986, the Alabama River was con- veyed to CSX Transportation and be- came a technical research car num- bered 994501. The car has a storied history and continues to serve as an important piece of the West Point Route’s fleet and history.
Modeling the Alabama River After locating several photos of the Alabama River, I decided to recreate
an HO scale version of this much-trav- eled sleeper as it appeared near the end of revenue service. I examined the Walther’s offering of the Pullman- Standard Plan 4140 10-6 sleeper and found that it was an exact match. The medium-length versus long-length let- ter board was correct for modeling ei- ther of The West Point Route’s sleepers and the equipment layout and appli- ances exactly matched my intended modeling subject. I contacted Walthers concerning the availability of an un- decorated model only to find the model
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
53
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100