The 2002 release Walthers Budd
46-seat Coach 6305 is a model of ATSF 2816-2860 leg rest chair cars (Budd, 1953).
These were built fo the El Capitan. These were the last equipment purchased
before the change to Hilevel equipment. After the Hilevel cars arrived, they saw
service on The Chief and San Francisco Chief. Most of these went
to Amtrak November 1, 1971, becoming 4810-4828 (2816-2836), 4850-4872 (2837-2860).
How well do these cars shape up? The attached photos are of the car straight out
of the box. The metal grabs have not yet been added. They come with a quality
molded plastic interior. The interior has 48 seats, as do the plans in Randall's
Budd book, Frailey's book, and a Santa Fe Circular. Stagner's ATSF Color Guide
has a color photo on page 8 and calls it a 46 passenger car. The Railway Passenger
Car Annual Vol. 1 & 2 and the Amtrak Car Spotter Vol. 1 & 2 , lists
them as 48 passenger. Walthers' says, " While the prototypes were fitted
with 48 seats, two were usually reserved for the train crew, so that 46 paying
passengers were carried." Tom Cockle
reports, "Regular usage of 2816 class chair cars prior to the combined Super
Chief and El Capitan (Jan. 12, 1958) included: 1) on the Chief after that
train got chair cars (and lost its transcontinental Pullmans to the Super Chief)
on Jan. 10, 1954. 2) on the San Francisco Chief from its inauguration in the Spring
of 1954 until it got Hi-Levels in 1964. 3) on the Texas Chief beginning Winter
1955, until it also got Hi-Levels (off-season) in Spring 1968. 4) and, of course,
these cars had been built for the El Capitan, and lasted until it went Hi-Level
July 15, 1956."
Click any of the above for enlargements.
These
are the finest plastic coaches I have ever seen. However there are some shortcomings
(I hate to criticize such an excellent model).
- The windows are divided by an upright support into two
portions. The divider is cast into the glass windows, but is not painted silver.
Tom Cockle suggests using silver decal strips to color that support. Microscale
124-4 has the decals for this purpose.
For
further information, see the Common Traits
page. Prototype photos (Click for enlargements):
| #2845
in Amtrak service at Chicago on April 14, 1973. Owen Leander photo, Robert J.
Yanosey collection, from Lloyd Stagner's ATSF Color Guide to Freight and Passenger
Equipment. | | |
See a photo
of 2829 on the Q-Station site. 2822
is available through Rail Journey's West. An interior
photo is on their site. The April,
2001, issue of Model Railroader had drawings and photos of these cars.
Also see the prototype in The Passenger
Car Library, Volume 5, Santa Fe / Southern Pacific, by W. David Randall, RPC
Publications, 2002. Santa Fe Steel
Rails through California by Duke: Page 104/105 has an undated two page spread
of the San Francisco Chief with four of these cars--all in skirts. Page 94 has
an undated pic of the El Capitan passing South Pasadena with one of these cars,
skirted, ahead of the obs. Santa Fe
Streamliners by Zimmerman. Page 73 has full page pic of El Capitan on Cajon
on March 7, 1954, with several of these cars, all in skirts. Santa
Fe in Color, Vol. 4 by Stagner. Page 117 has a June 1953 pic of El Capitan
leaving LAUPT with several of these cars visible, all skirted. Page 122 has a
April 30, 1971 pic of a switching move at LAUPT, with one of these cars, unskirted. The
Surfliners by Stephenson. Page 95 has an undated pic of two of these cars,
unskirted, in San Diegan service. Page 33 has a 1970 partial view of 2816, unskirted,
at Oceanside in San Diegan service. Valley
Division Vignettes by Krieger and Icanberry. Page 90 has a Nov. 12, 1967 view
of one of these cars, skirted, arriving Richmond on the last Train 7. Quarter
Century of Santa Fe Consists by Frailey. Page 69 has an undated picture of
2839, skirted. (Might be a companion shot to the builder's photo of 2839 in the
new Randall book). Thanks to Tom Cockle
for some of the information above. For
interior photos, there is an ad showing interior on pages 39 and 48 of Santa
Fe, The Chief Way by Robert Strein. This
Budd product post dates some brochures
on this website, but those photos will indicate the style of interior decoration.
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