ISO- C&S 5'-6" passenger car trucks

[amwing1588]

Hi all,
For years, I've been trying to buy an Overland models C&S RPO#13 Hon3 Model without any luck....I've decided to scratch build one instead. The one thing that stands in the way of a true prototypical looking model will be the trucks. C&S used 5'-  and 5'-6" trucks on their passenger cars, later mostly on the headend equipment. Other than Overland Models, did any manufacturer offer C&S 5'-6" trucks for sale? The DRGW 5' trucks would work, but don't have the same C&S look. If you have a lead to a source of 5'-6" passenger trucks, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance
John Miller
Carlsbad, CA.

PS....if you have a Hon3 Overland Models RPO #13 model you'd be willing to part with... I'd be very interested.

[Keith Hayes]

Amwing, please look up my build of C&S RPO #11, and on the main page, I recall Jim Courtney and I collaborated on how to improve the Sn3 C&S passenger cars, including truck improvements.

[Mike Trent]

Hi, John, (and all) I am still in a state of discombobulation in my relocation to Colorado, as my new space is under construction and my stuff is all still packed.

I have emailed you two photos of my #13 with trucks cannibalized from an OMI coach. If you could post them to the group it might be of interest. The new trucks are a great improvement over he D&RGW Style I had used in the original build.

Bear with me, as I am still unable to upload photos from my phone. Hopefully, I will be able to get moved in and settled in the next month or so and things can get back to normal.

Mike

[Keith Hayes]

As requested, here are photos of the new trucks under Mike's On3 model of RPO 13:

and

As Mike shared, another Overland model contributed the trucks to the RPO.

In Sn3, I modified some PBL RTO passenger trucks for my RPO by cutting off the outside-hung brake hangers and applying a steel flange fabricated of strip styrene to the bottom of the lower equalizer.

I don't recall the axle spacing on these trucks--I don't think it is correct for the RPOs but does better emulate the inside-hung brakes and cast steel equalizer design.

Cheers!

[Mike Trent]

Thanks, Keith. These RPO trucks are a real aggravating issue. As we have covered before, these steel trucks with inside brakes were among requirements under the terms of US Postal Service contracts. Looks like you have solved this problem very effectively!

Let's hope John can come up with some for his model. In the meantime, John, don't let this hold you up. I had modified D&RGW trucks under mine for years. When I finally was able to make the change, I was concerned that I might have to make a change to the bolsters on the carbody, but the height was perfect from one set to the other.

I remember Jim Powers told me years ago he was frustrated by the weight of the brass cars on his layout, and replaced the trucks under his coaches with Grandt D&RGW trucks. There may be other C&S trucks set aside out there for the same reason, but I never found any.

[Mike Trent]

Hi John, I'm replying here in case anyone else might be interested.

There are several posts in the archives on this site. Use the search function and you should find them easily.

My #13 was built several years ago using Evergreen Styrene strips, flooring and siding. The roof was cut and spliced to length from the roof from  Crossing Gate coach kit. There are brass castings from PSC, and my friend Randy Lee of Grizzly Mountain supplied the large brake wheels. The door and window castings are styrene Grandt castings.

Ken Martin graciously sent me a side elevation drawing, and that helped a lot. I used something from every picture I could find, even if it was to confirm something I already knew. I also used an OMI coach as a guide for the underbody and detailing, since my goal was to match the brass coaches with my styrene Mail and Baggage car.

We discussed the weight of the brass coaches above. To add enough weight to #13, which would always lead the heavy coaches, I used lengths of 1/4" square brass tubing with round brass rods inside cut to length on the floor against the side walls.

I have been very pleased with this model, and am even more pleased now that it has C&S style trucks.

If there are any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Mike