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Post by harborbelt70 on Dec 31, 2023 9:40:03 GMT
 This is a three-part tribute to our truly great friend Brian Vaill, which concerns one of his favorite railroads, the colors that it used and of course its passenger cars.
For years on this forum and others Brian used the handle “PTC” or Passenger Train Collector, which is why I first got to know him years ago. The Big Crab Cake Emile said recently that Brian never met a passenger car he didn’t like but I’d add that he did like some more than others. I’ve been back over his postings here to see what on this Forum reflects this and to add some things of my own which I think he'd like. Of course, my selection is limited by what I have and I hope others will add anything they think is of interest. I have one suggestion that I will explain below at the end of part 1.
For convenience I am breaking this up into three consecutive posts in this thread.
1. Santa Fe
The original Warbonnet scheme is iconic in 3rail O gauge trains and was in fact the one I started with because my Dad had one of the earliest Lionel postwar A-A diesel sets of that kind. But Brian had a special favorite on his and Elizabeth’s layout that was often pictured here: 
As you can tell by the attention to detail including the paint quality this is a 3rd Rail model. Here’s an early version of the real thing in this livery:
The fact that the model is SF yellow made me remember that probably the majority of models Brian pictured here were yellow – and certainly not all of them were taxis. But he also had a liking for the original Warbonnet scheme and in particular the MTH versions of it. I think that he had far more MTH-made Santa Fe than I do (he must have, because my total number is zero) and particularly he liked how MTH finished both the solid color and metallic finishes. This is an example:
One area where Brian and I always saw eye-to-eye was enthusiasm for true polished metal or plated finishes, which K-Line did way back when and MTH has more recently done far better than Lionel has ever attempted to – with the notable exception explained in part 2. I think that Brian had a full set of Santa Fe hi-level cars, which I also think were K-Line, but in any case he often pictured them on the layout:
What I don’t have, but I know Brian liked, is any of the SF blue engines (mainly used for freight) and any examples of SF yellow livery. If anyone reading this has something of this kind please let us see it in Brian’s memory.
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Post by harborbelt70 on Dec 31, 2023 9:51:10 GMT
2. Warbonnet F3s
This is where I actually have something that I am sure Brian would have liked both in its original form and as I have very gradually added to it. And as I explain at the end of this part, I have a special commemoration of Brian planned for this.
I make no apology for posting this first photo again as completely by accident it’s the best photo of a model train I have ever taken, which was on a carpet layout of yesteryear:
This is Lionel’s 6-14588 F3 A-B-A set from around 2005 that I have slowly added to over the years. From the archives of TheTrainStation.com I have kept this description, which I think is entirely fair and accurate:
Here are a couple of images of the real MU led by #19 as it appeared before (B/W image) and after (color) being shopped by Santa Fe to add a Mars Light and cover the middle porthole:
Both photos show it running as lead engine in an A-B-B-A set and that is what I have modelled.
At about the same time that the A-B-A set was made, Lionel produced a 4-car passenger set (6-15312) that consists of anodized aluminum cars with full interiors. This was a representation of the 1950s Santa Fe Super Chief and was the start of my own obsession with passenger cars, encouraged over the years by Brian. It outshines anything any other manufacturer has ever produced and the fact that the cars are 15” pales into insignificance when you see them:
The above is the full 8 car consist that I have put together. I started making it when a mutual friend on OGF, Vern a.k.a. Yellowstone Special, put me on to the fact that there was in fact a 2-car Super Chief add-on, SKU 6-29152, consisting of two sleepers in the same fine finish and ribbed extrusion but with different interiors. I’d never known about this set before, I tracked one down and it was well worth the search:
Not long afterwards, I found the powered B unit (SKU 6-24562, numbered 19-B) that Lionel made to go with the 6-14588 set (which as built only has power and sound in the lead A unit, as is very obvious from the video embedded below). I thought at that point I was done building this train but then came across this MTH steel reefer in the original Warbonnet scheme, which almost matches the painted finish on the Lionel engines:
Finally, in the usual way of things, very recently I spotted that a Lionel StationSounds diner (SKU 6-39139) is in the same anodized aluminum body style with a full diner interior but was part of a completely different and slightly earlier (2000) Lionel anniversary set. I decided to add this too mainly because it matches my set’s cars:
The whole is depicted in this video, but please forgive the hokey captions as this was made for my grown-up kids who have very nobly lived with my trains throughout adolescence into parenthood and is what they still expect from me. The diner as shown in the video is a little rickety in the lighting and sounds department and does not play nicely with a CAB2 configured for Legacy, but I am surprised that after all this time since its production it works at all:
Now, I have an idea based on the fact that the diner is (correctly) only identified by the number “600” which I don’t find especially interesting even if prototypical. As I have been able to master some of the complications of painting “chrome” highly reflective finishes on plastic and metal, and if I can copy/work out (or someone here can tell me) what font Santa Fe used for streamliner car name lettering, I will make a plaque to overlay the stock #600 one and put “Brian Vaill” on it. So by this means my friend Brian will be commemorated on my railroad.
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Post by harborbelt70 on Dec 31, 2023 9:58:24 GMT
3. Santa Fe Chicago connection
I really don’t know much about Brian’s career in marketing but a number of things he said on OGF and directly to me over the years made me realize that he had spent time working in the Chicago area if not actually living there. I now wish that I had asked him about this, but I’ll take the liberty of making reference to one Santa Fe connection that I am sure he knew about.
In the pre-war era and afterwards, the Santa Fe railroad sponsored the building and upkeep of the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry’s original O scale train layout. Beginning in the 1930s, AT&SF retained the legendary modeler Minton Cronkhite to build a number of temporary layouts for advertising purposes. In 1939 he was commissioned by the railroad to build a large permanent layout at the MS&I. It survived as an O scale layout until around 2000. The full story of this masterpiece is not so far as I know recorded in a book, which is a very great shame IMHO, but it was a landmark for many Chicagoland residents and visitors, including me. Of course, it was Santa Fe-themed as well as completely handbuilt from the track up.
The first photo is as I remember it before it was modified from the original equipment and the second is a color-enhanced postcard from roughly the same time:
 
All the original engines and cars were designed and built by Cronkhite and I remember seeing the passenger train running led by what I now know was an E6:
If you are interested there are a couple of old VHS quality recordings on YouTube showing the layout in operation, the first mostly from above and the second starting at eye level showing the Santa Fe equipment on the tracks, one of which was a representation of the Super Chief:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUrRoZT87P0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSUDe4_2n0M
While there’s no book on the subject there is an excellent blogpost (if that’s the right word) here: midnightrailroader.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_27.html
Finally, rightly or wrongly, I like to think - and am as sure as I can be - that Brian got the same inspiration out of seeing this museum piece in its heyday as I did. So, here’s to us long-term Santa Fe and passenger car fanatics, of whom our old friend Brian was preeminent.
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Post by Adam on Dec 31, 2023 12:41:56 GMT
Harborbelt, you hit this out of the park. Brian loved the Warbonnet schemes, and you covered it very well. Very touching and appropriate tribute.
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Post by harborbelt70 on Dec 31, 2023 13:05:00 GMT
That’s very kind Adam, thank you. Believe it or not there were at least two other things I wanted to add but this is long enough as it is and I can supplement it later.
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Post by dennym57 on Jan 5, 2024 14:51:04 GMT
The photos of the layout are from The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I spent a lot of time there when I was a kid.
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Post by david1 on Jan 5, 2024 20:12:47 GMT
Love what you did in this celebration of the Santa Fe F3 and Brian's interest in the Santa Fe. He really loved that paint scheme.
I myself love the Santa Fe and have the other early TMCC scale detailed F3 ABBA number 16. I consider these to be some of the best F units ever made by Lionel.
Dave
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Post by af3020 on Jan 9, 2024 22:53:15 GMT
There's not much I could add with respect to engines and cars but I can offer something with respect to Santa Fe infrastructure. The Harvey Houses, of course, are well known and documented. What often gets overlooked are the smaller stations Santa Fe built along its right-of-way. Several years ago I made a run out to New Mexico to ride the Cumbres and Toltec railroad and I made it a point to try to follow as much of the original Santa Fe route as I could. The Santa Fe stations, even the smaller ones, are substantial when it comes to construction and many of the towns that still have a Santa Fe station have preserved the station and turned it into some sort of municipal building. One of these stations is Holly, Colorado.  About a year ago I happened upon an old postcard of this station  I was delighted to see that my choice of location for station photography is a very close match for the location chosen by that long ago photographer. I was also delighted to see that not much has changed as far as building appearance is concerned. |
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Post by harborbelt70 on Jan 12, 2024 15:38:00 GMT
There's not much I could add with respect to engines and cars but I can offer something with respect to Santa Fe infrastructure. The Harvey Houses, of course, are well known and documented. What often gets overlooked are the smaller stations Santa Fe built along its right-of-way. Several years ago I made a run out to New Mexico to ride the Cumbres and Toltec railroad and I made it a point to try to follow as much of the original Santa Fe route as I could. The Santa Fe stations, even the smaller ones, are substantial when it comes to construction and many of the towns that still have a Santa Fe station have preserved the station and turned it into some sort of municipal building. One of these stations is Holly, Colorado.
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Post by af3020 on Jan 12, 2024 20:39:29 GMT
I believe it is the Santa Fe railroad station in Santa Fe, New Mexico
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Post by steveoncattailcreek on Jan 13, 2024 0:49:49 GMT
I believe it is the Santa Fe railroad station in Santa Fe, New Mexico Yeah, looks like it:   
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Post by harborbelt70 on Jan 13, 2024 10:46:16 GMT
I believe it is the Santa Fe railroad station in Santa Fe, New Mexico Yeah, looks like it:
This also discloses another one of Brian's favorites. I looked up the structure's history and current use. It is now in an area called the Santa Fe Railyard which is basically a museum as well as the terminus of a Rail Runner service:
Brian was a big fan of the Rail Runner scheme and actually had a model custom painted to replicate it, which he posted about many times on OGF:
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