Modeling the PRR in 1/32 scale I had to build quite a lot of cars to be able to make up a reasonably convincing PRR train. This takes time and we don’t always have the time we would need for it. So, when a friend who deals with collectors items, propposed to me to obtain a FAM PRR M 70 b RPO at a fair price (and delivered in Paris) I decided to buy it so as to complete my passenger consist.
Now don’t get me wrong, I spent most of my life, considering these high end type of rolling stock out of reach for me, but some fortunate events made this possible.
I also feel that scratch building take time and energy, so anything that is required for your scheme of things becomes available on the market try and grab it, life is too short.
The car is very beautiful and highly detailed to the point that some details can get in the way of smooth operation. It is also very heavy, which is not favourable for my operation plans. Can a K4 handle a decent trains with it as it is almost as heavy as the rest of a heavy consist ? Although it does have ball bearings on all axles.
Furthermore it appeared that this car which had not been well cared for by its prior owner (a collector no doubt), had a big problem with one of the trucks. Which was falling appart. It had all the tension of the springing on both the primary suspension and the secondary supension pushing on a small bracket which holds the swing beam to the frame of the truck which had come unsoldered off the truck frame. Having a good deal of experience with soft solder I first attempted to remedy this situation by resoldering these brackets. At first without taking the truck off the underframe with my heavy soldering iron. This rapidly failed due to the strong pressure exerted by the springs that tend to rip that bracket off, especially with such a heavy car. It went back to a window shelf for a year or two…
Recently, I then dismantled the underframe from the body and unscrewed the truck from the frame once this was done I dismantled the truck competly except for the brake gear. It was then easy to apply some heat with my small camping gaz torch to the heavy frame ensuring that these soldered joints would be really sound.
![Image]()
After a few unsuccesful atempts the car was able to do quite a few laps with this repair once done and reassembled. This comforted me with my plan, that this car could become a useful addition to my passenger fleet. And I decided to dismantle the truck once more the same way I had before, in order to drill small holes through the bracket in order to tap and screw it to the main frame, so that it would never come unsoldered again. As I have a great deal of trouble situating holes where I want to drill them exactly ; this could prove to be a tricky business. This was especially true because I had to drill 1mm diameter holes through some tough brass.
This type of repair is very tough on the nervous system of the model railroader who attempts this kind of activity… As a consequence, I am a sort of nevous wreck !
![Image]()
![Image]()
Somehow I managed to drill these four holes deeply enough so that I could use at least 4 mm of thread on the tiny M1,5 screws which I wanted to use. I tapped these carfully lubricating with white spirit so as to not catch the tap inside the hole or break it, even worse. And after an afternoon of tense concentration the 4 brackets were now screwed to the frame and so I reassembled the truck carefully. I reassembled the underframe to the body reattached the diaphragms (with two tiny screws under the lower corners of the diaphragms) reset the couper uncoupling lever and the car was repaired.
Upon testing some issues with short circuits occured so I had to check every wheel set and insulate the brake shoes, this is done by gluing a small piecce of paper inside the shoe between the wheel and the shoe. These can be painted black once set. As one of the pick ups on the truck which did not need any repair seemed sufficient for the lighting, I decided to remove the pick ups on the second truck, to help the rolling quality of the truck which now rolls much more smoothly. I also put a drop of oil on each ball bearing so as to help the rolling quality of the car.
These cars have incredible details, one of which is the tight lock coupler which are really represented. Unfortunatly these couplers open automatically as soon as there is drag on them ! My solution was to put a drop of cyanoacrylate glue on the knuckle in closed position. This makes coupling up a very unrealistic procedure : You have to lift the FAM car over the knucle of the other car and slip it into the knuckle of the other car. Not exactly nice but at least it works. So after a first test with a rake of 5 J&M heavyweights plus my D78 diner and my B60 baggage car plus one Accucraft REA reefer. In which most couplers just could not handle the weight, while the GG1 slipped and obviously the train was too heavy.
So after getting most of the bugs out as described above. I made a short train with just the REA reefer, my B60 baggage the M70b RPO and a J&M smoker which was to suposed to represent a P70 b combine (another car I will have to make shortly…). And once the short circuit issues had been solved she handled that very well. So I became more ambitious and with my little B1 shifter I bought out two PRR boxcars (supposed to represent two X29 boxcars in express service) and added a cabin car as rider car for the crew, the combine is reserved for revenue passengers who might want to ride the train. As my friend Olivier gave me for a few bucks an Accucraft LW baggage in UP colours ; because it had been blown away by the wind, and I had fixed the car ; I then decided to add this car and thus made up a nice representation of a PRR mail and express train. This made up a very good representation of those mail and express trains that the Pennsy handled throughout the system before truck train took over. As a matter of fact, it represented one that nearly ran over me when visiting Strasburg during the Liberty Bell NMRA convention held in Philladelphia in 1964, we had just been let off the PRR train at Bird in Hand and were still in between two of the main tracks when such a mail train came roaring at us at track speed. I heard that the railroad police was freaked out about this… This experienced endeared me to the GG1 and I still remember seeing the little N5 cabin car hanging on the tail of the train for dear life, swaying from side to side !
![Image]()
I also have to add that this M70b RPO by FAM is not only beautiful but it has the only representation in gauge one that I know of (with the FAM Broadway Diner), of the very specifically Pennsy 3D-P1 six wheel truck. This is very important to me to be able to represent this on this car as it is specific I beleive to the PRR. It also has the fine Raymond Loewy "fleet of modernism" two tone paint scheme. Which I may attempt to apply to some of my LW cars made by David Leech.
![Image]()
This car had spent the last 5 years in a glass case like a shelve queen because I dared not attempt to fix it (I initially had no good solution to fix it). Although it could be very useful on many of my trains. So this is why I finally decided to try and do something about it. This summer as we have a great deal of agressive mosquitos, although summer, I was looking for something that I could do indoors, so as to escape those voracious bugs. As this was sort of a lost cause (By that time in my head, I had written this car off as too heavy and bristled with problems too difficult to cure) it seemed a good time to try it. I am glad I did as this is a very useful car. Many trains handled mail and so it could be incorporated in many consists.
I also want to comment on High end equipment ; As I had a fascinating but not too well paid job in the theater. Untill recently I had to contend with accessible rolling stock like Märklin, MTH, Accucraft, and make exceptions only for obtaining Asters. As life would have it I was fortunate to be able to aquire many of those from friends at friendly prices which helped me greatly. A recent turn of events put me in a better financial position, and so I was able to aquire a certain number of dearly wished items in the high end side of the balance. Once the thrill wore off a bit, I since have discontinued that because I find most of these high end products really designed for the window shelf and not for operation, they are fragile, often need considerable amount of aftermarket work done to them, to make them work reasonably well. And I find that my usual equipment runs well and is less precious in case of derailment, so much more pleasant to use and enjoy. As I said above for years although this RPO was one of my most treasured car I had written it off… So don’t keep dreaming about those famed cars, as the manufacturer said : They are not made to be used on a model railway. Stay happy with off the shelf cars. Of course these kinds of challenges like making a shelve queen into a working car is typical of my bad habits, those of a nervous wreck...
Cheers,
Now you might understand why I am grumpy...
Now don’t get me wrong, I spent most of my life, considering these high end type of rolling stock out of reach for me, but some fortunate events made this possible.
I also feel that scratch building take time and energy, so anything that is required for your scheme of things becomes available on the market try and grab it, life is too short.
The car is very beautiful and highly detailed to the point that some details can get in the way of smooth operation. It is also very heavy, which is not favourable for my operation plans. Can a K4 handle a decent trains with it as it is almost as heavy as the rest of a heavy consist ? Although it does have ball bearings on all axles.
Furthermore it appeared that this car which had not been well cared for by its prior owner (a collector no doubt), had a big problem with one of the trucks. Which was falling appart. It had all the tension of the springing on both the primary suspension and the secondary supension pushing on a small bracket which holds the swing beam to the frame of the truck which had come unsoldered off the truck frame. Having a good deal of experience with soft solder I first attempted to remedy this situation by resoldering these brackets. At first without taking the truck off the underframe with my heavy soldering iron. This rapidly failed due to the strong pressure exerted by the springs that tend to rip that bracket off, especially with such a heavy car. It went back to a window shelf for a year or two…
Recently, I then dismantled the underframe from the body and unscrewed the truck from the frame once this was done I dismantled the truck competly except for the brake gear. It was then easy to apply some heat with my small camping gaz torch to the heavy frame ensuring that these soldered joints would be really sound.
After a few unsuccesful atempts the car was able to do quite a few laps with this repair once done and reassembled. This comforted me with my plan, that this car could become a useful addition to my passenger fleet. And I decided to dismantle the truck once more the same way I had before, in order to drill small holes through the bracket in order to tap and screw it to the main frame, so that it would never come unsoldered again. As I have a great deal of trouble situating holes where I want to drill them exactly ; this could prove to be a tricky business. This was especially true because I had to drill 1mm diameter holes through some tough brass.
This type of repair is very tough on the nervous system of the model railroader who attempts this kind of activity… As a consequence, I am a sort of nevous wreck !
Somehow I managed to drill these four holes deeply enough so that I could use at least 4 mm of thread on the tiny M1,5 screws which I wanted to use. I tapped these carfully lubricating with white spirit so as to not catch the tap inside the hole or break it, even worse. And after an afternoon of tense concentration the 4 brackets were now screwed to the frame and so I reassembled the truck carefully. I reassembled the underframe to the body reattached the diaphragms (with two tiny screws under the lower corners of the diaphragms) reset the couper uncoupling lever and the car was repaired.
Upon testing some issues with short circuits occured so I had to check every wheel set and insulate the brake shoes, this is done by gluing a small piecce of paper inside the shoe between the wheel and the shoe. These can be painted black once set. As one of the pick ups on the truck which did not need any repair seemed sufficient for the lighting, I decided to remove the pick ups on the second truck, to help the rolling quality of the truck which now rolls much more smoothly. I also put a drop of oil on each ball bearing so as to help the rolling quality of the car.
These cars have incredible details, one of which is the tight lock coupler which are really represented. Unfortunatly these couplers open automatically as soon as there is drag on them ! My solution was to put a drop of cyanoacrylate glue on the knuckle in closed position. This makes coupling up a very unrealistic procedure : You have to lift the FAM car over the knucle of the other car and slip it into the knuckle of the other car. Not exactly nice but at least it works. So after a first test with a rake of 5 J&M heavyweights plus my D78 diner and my B60 baggage car plus one Accucraft REA reefer. In which most couplers just could not handle the weight, while the GG1 slipped and obviously the train was too heavy.
So after getting most of the bugs out as described above. I made a short train with just the REA reefer, my B60 baggage the M70b RPO and a J&M smoker which was to suposed to represent a P70 b combine (another car I will have to make shortly…). And once the short circuit issues had been solved she handled that very well. So I became more ambitious and with my little B1 shifter I bought out two PRR boxcars (supposed to represent two X29 boxcars in express service) and added a cabin car as rider car for the crew, the combine is reserved for revenue passengers who might want to ride the train. As my friend Olivier gave me for a few bucks an Accucraft LW baggage in UP colours ; because it had been blown away by the wind, and I had fixed the car ; I then decided to add this car and thus made up a nice representation of a PRR mail and express train. This made up a very good representation of those mail and express trains that the Pennsy handled throughout the system before truck train took over. As a matter of fact, it represented one that nearly ran over me when visiting Strasburg during the Liberty Bell NMRA convention held in Philladelphia in 1964, we had just been let off the PRR train at Bird in Hand and were still in between two of the main tracks when such a mail train came roaring at us at track speed. I heard that the railroad police was freaked out about this… This experienced endeared me to the GG1 and I still remember seeing the little N5 cabin car hanging on the tail of the train for dear life, swaying from side to side !
I also have to add that this M70b RPO by FAM is not only beautiful but it has the only representation in gauge one that I know of (with the FAM Broadway Diner), of the very specifically Pennsy 3D-P1 six wheel truck. This is very important to me to be able to represent this on this car as it is specific I beleive to the PRR. It also has the fine Raymond Loewy "fleet of modernism" two tone paint scheme. Which I may attempt to apply to some of my LW cars made by David Leech.
This car had spent the last 5 years in a glass case like a shelve queen because I dared not attempt to fix it (I initially had no good solution to fix it). Although it could be very useful on many of my trains. So this is why I finally decided to try and do something about it. This summer as we have a great deal of agressive mosquitos, although summer, I was looking for something that I could do indoors, so as to escape those voracious bugs. As this was sort of a lost cause (By that time in my head, I had written this car off as too heavy and bristled with problems too difficult to cure) it seemed a good time to try it. I am glad I did as this is a very useful car. Many trains handled mail and so it could be incorporated in many consists.
I also want to comment on High end equipment ; As I had a fascinating but not too well paid job in the theater. Untill recently I had to contend with accessible rolling stock like Märklin, MTH, Accucraft, and make exceptions only for obtaining Asters. As life would have it I was fortunate to be able to aquire many of those from friends at friendly prices which helped me greatly. A recent turn of events put me in a better financial position, and so I was able to aquire a certain number of dearly wished items in the high end side of the balance. Once the thrill wore off a bit, I since have discontinued that because I find most of these high end products really designed for the window shelf and not for operation, they are fragile, often need considerable amount of aftermarket work done to them, to make them work reasonably well. And I find that my usual equipment runs well and is less precious in case of derailment, so much more pleasant to use and enjoy. As I said above for years although this RPO was one of my most treasured car I had written it off… So don’t keep dreaming about those famed cars, as the manufacturer said : They are not made to be used on a model railway. Stay happy with off the shelf cars. Of course these kinds of challenges like making a shelve queen into a working car is typical of my bad habits, those of a nervous wreck...
Cheers,
Now you might understand why I am grumpy...
