K Line 18" Aluminum Lackawanna "Phoebe Snow" Passenger Cars

That four car set in the link is four of the six cars K-Line made in 18" aluminum.  Looking closer at the first car in the four car set picture, it'a an RPO car.  I have the six cars but they're packed away so I can't check them.  There doesn't appear to be any Lackawanna baggage cars made by K-Line in any length.  The heavyweight "Lackawanna Limited" set I have from 1999 on the website shows what looks like a baggage car but in the set it's a RPO car.

I have a K line 18" Madison Heavyweight 7-car (including a baggage car) "The Lackawanna Limited" passenger train that I put together over the years. If I remember correctly, part of the cars were from some sort of set offering and part from individual purchases.  

I think that the heavyweight baggage car I have (Lackawanna livery with only the car number #2075 and Lackawanna lettering for identity) may have come from a set of K Line 18" Lackawanna heavyweights that have silhouette windows vs. interiors.  To bolster this argument, I have K Line heavyweight C&O and Reading RPOs that were part of the silhouette sets, and definitely are constructed and lettered as such.  

Since there is nothing in construction or lettering on #2075 to indicate that the car is anything but a baggage car, I have used it as such.  Lastly, the RPO for the "Limited" consist is a MTH Pullman Green Premier Lackawanna Madison heavyweight.

Thank you.  I do have an aluminum K Line baggage car with a different road name/livery ready for customizing.  I talked to Harry about it a couple of years ago and he can complete it with no problem. 

From the operational perspective, a customized product will work, but as a collector I am interested in trying to secure the full consist K Line 18" aluminum "Phoebe Snow" cars.  From the collector side, I think we all ocassionally experience the "Holy Grail" affliction with some small part of the hobby.  For me the primary mystery is that a lot of notable hobbyists I have talked over the years to seem to think that a K Line extruded Lackawanna 18" baggage or additional 18" aluminum passenger cars with different numbers/names for the "Phoebe Snow" may have been produced.  To date, however, I have not been able to confirm the existence of any of the cars in question except for the ones I own.  Last summer, one dealer at a large show in North Carolina advised that a few years ago he saw one for sale on a large dealer's web site.  

Our forum has an excellet reputation for providing reliable information/guidance, and my original message was posted with hopes of not only locating the car, but to determine if one was ever produced by K Line.  I will be at York this Spring and was going to post another message asking forum members if they knew of any dealer at the upcoming session who may have a historical knowledge of K Line products.

Thank you.

 I have the heavyweight baggage car and use it when I run the streamline "Phoebe".  The baggage car is part of a seven-car heavyweight "The Lackawanna Limited" passenger train that I have put together over the years.

i also have the internet alerts set and did pick up a NIB second coach #321 a short time ago.

thank you

Thanks for all the responses and guidance.  I have a Lackawanna aluminum baggage car WTB notice in the forum for some time, but the lack of responses only seems to add to the argument that it was probably never produced and that K Line only made the six cars that I have listed. But like other stories that hang on the edges of "urban legend" designation, too many other seemingly reliable sources have cautioned (primarily dealers at train shows) that manufacturer records are not complete and that a small number of un-cataloged cars may have been produced.  Since the general opinion has been pretty much split 50-50 and the mystery is not solved, the inquiries and associated discoveries of interest will continue. The car search did provide other rewards in terms information on topics/people that I initially had no intention of reading about.

Four notable items (for me) that seem good enough to share:

1. Phoebe Snow was there before Betty Crocker - Given the extensive history of railroads in the U.S., researching the passenger car issue has revealed stories to include that of Ernest Elmo Calkins (1868-1964) from the railroad town of Galesburg, Illinois (Santa Fe, CB&Q, Union Pacific, etc).  Despite being afflicted with deafness, he managed to graduate from Knox college, move to New York, establish a successful advertising agency, and gain recognition as the founder of modern day advertising.  His most notable and profitable early success was the creation the "Phoebe Snow" persona for the Lackawanna railroad.

2.  The "Phoebe Snow" Passenger never encountered coal smoke - The Lackawanna advertising pitch focused on the benefits of the "clean burning" anthricite coal that powered the Lackawanna steam locomotives. The coal insured that Phoebe's  white turn-of-the-century clothing pictured in the advertising illustrations stayed clean and bright through out the train trip.  I was surprised to learn however, that Phoebe did not travel on a train named the "Phoebe Snow" pulled by a steam locomotive.  That particular train, pulled by diesels, did not enter the Lackawanna schedule until around 1950.

3.  Carl Sandburg's freight train transportation - Another citizen of Galesburg, the American author/poet Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), left Galesburg at an early age, rode the rails as a hobo, and incorporated the experiences in his poetry. His Swedish immigrant father's employment conditions as a CB&Q shop employee fueled Sandburg's involvement in the post-1900 labor movements.  

4. Classical music composer train buff - The Bohemian composer Antonin Dvorak (New World Symphony, etc.) was hired by a New York heiress to help establish the National Conservatory of Music. During the 1993-95 employment inmnthemn U.S., Dvorak, an avid railroad buff, traveled from New York to Spillville, Iowa to vacation at a Czech-speaking town.  While there, he composed the "Ameridan Quartet" and possibly two other works.  A few years ago, I met a train hobbyist who wanted to establish the routes and railroad companies Dvorak would have used for both portions of the trip. I don't think it has been done, but sounds like an interesting project.

Sorry to bore fellow forum members, but the internet rabbit hole entered as a result of a search for a 3-rail baggage car seemed worth sharing.