So, these have to be some of the greatest streamlined coaches ever built. The American Flyer coaches have that distinctly New England, being used by the New Haven, Boston and Maine, and the Bangor and Aroostock (the BAR had at least one baggage version of the AF coaches). There's also the New Haven's copper clad coaches. There are a few in the collection of the Railroad Museum of New England, which has the three (to my knowledge) surviving AF coaches, and two of the New Haven's copper clad coaches. For those who don't know, one of those is at the Steaming Tender in Palmer. Basically one of the best restored examples, which would really make a good parlor car, but I digress. All of these coaches were built in Worcester, MA. That happens to be my back yard, and the majority of the factory that the coaches were built in still is in use, or stands, but the main shop has long since disappeared from the scene. At the end of the day, greatest coaches ever. I also found some websites on the coaches by Osgood Bradley:

http://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstoc ... osgood.htm
This page covers the pre-Pullman ownership

http://www.rapidotrains.com/ob1.html
These are some of the best models of the coaches. There is even paint schemes of railroads that I'm sure the casual observer wouldn't know owned one of those streamlined coaches.

http://www.railwayclassics.com/amflyer.htm
This has the pictures of the AF cars from numerous railroads, including the BAR, KCS, SAL, and Southern Pacific/Cotton Belt (GASP!!!). Sadly, there isn't pictures of them on the LIRR, but the rapido page has a picture of the paint scheme on the model. Those cars were used into the 1980s and came from the Boston and Maine after they began using RDCs for all of their major passenger runs.

If you want to see a spread of O-B cars that spans most of the production years of the O-B factory, the Ct Eastern RR Museum has 6 if you include the Pullman years of the O-B Worcester plant.

P&R 910, First Class Coach, built 1902, B&ML #10, BR&W 104, Yankee Silversmith Inn
NYNH&H 3841, Baggage Car, Built Oct 1906, Steel Frame upgrade 1927,
originally NYNH&H 3068 Horse & Carriage car
NYNH&H 4414, Passenger Coach, Built 1907, Steel frame upgrade 1929
NYNH&H C-618, Caboose NE-5, built July 1944 Pullman Worcester Plant
NYNH&H 8673 & 8695, Commuter coaches., built 1947/8 Pullman Worcester Plant

P&R - Philidelphia & Reading (Pennslyvania)
B&ML - Belfast & Moosehead Lake (Maine)
BR&W - Black River & Western (New Jersey)

Regards,
Rich Cizik

Twin Forks NRHS has Boston and Maine 4590. The LIRR purchased there cars in 1958-59 and rebuilt some into 177-seat coaches and some into bar cars. 7526 was converted into Alcohol Spray car W-85 by the railroad and was used for de-icing the third rail. The chapter acquired this car in 2009.

quoting from the above link...



I was under the impression that AC Gilbert's American Flyer was S scale...at least mine from 1954 (my second Christmas) was S scale.

sc 'doc' lewis

As many may know who are reading these posts, The Pullman Library at the Illinois Railway Museum has Osgood Bradley drawings for passenger cars starting in the heavyweight era through the end of production, as well as trolley cars, interurban electrics, gas electrics, trolley coaches and the NE-5 cabooses. We have supplied drawings for models and for car restoration. We do not have O-B PCC drawings, just a few specs, as those drawings went to the Boston MTA/MBTA. Rich Cizik knows that unfortunately we do not have the drawings for the copper clad wood cars in their collection, too early in our listing. An early example of drawings in the library is that of the Rhode Island Electric trolley car that underwent restoration in Providence RI. Yes we have open trolley cars! Later examples include late passenger car designs that were designed in Worcester and built at Pullman - Chicago at the end of production. Photographs are available from negatives at the Worcester Historical Society. Like them, we also have a set of builders prints and may be able to refer you to a specific photo to be obtained from them. For other examples from the O-B drawings, watch your hobby shop shelves.
Keep up the good work! Ted Anderson, IRM Pullman Library curator

Well, this is proving very productive. I had no idea that so many OS coaches were still around. These are my words however.

Don't forget the related coaches built for Canadian National by Canadian Car and Foundry. If I remember the numbers correctly, there were 50 riveted cars in 1937 and 50 welded ones in 1942, all 64-seat ice-air-conditioned coaches. Quite a few of these were sold into preservation or tourist service when VIA disposed of these classes in 1984.

I am not too familiar with the NH cars, but I believe the carbody construction of the 1937 CN cars was almost the same as the pre-war American Flyer coaches. The sash and trucks were different.

This was an interesting carbody design. The curved girder panel obviously derived from curved-side trolley design. The one-piece end-and-bolster casting was not too different from what would have been used in a composite wood-steel car of thirty years before, except they were connected by lightweight steel tension members instead of a wood center sill and truss rods.

Aarne Frobom
Across the lake from
Port Asbestos, Ontario

Before WWII Gilbert did make models of these cars in O gauge. These models were sheet metal, and the postwar ones were plastic.

Do any of the pre-war New Haven Osgood-Bradley coaches survive? I see references to cars from other railroads in this thread.

Chris.

Two or three other cars not mentioned are out there.
MEC coach 901 (former work train service car) at Shelburne Falls, MA

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1783646

and also a NH combination car at one time owned by the Utica and Mohawk Chapter NRHS, now located at Toppenish, WA. Both of these cars, to my knowledge, are available to anyone who wants to take them off their respective museums' hands, as they don't match the collection policies and are in rough condition. I believe the combination car was complete when originally preserved.

I recall seeing an American Flyer baggage car via the web, located somewhere in the New York area (presumably in work train service) in the 1990s.

I think the MEC one is at the trolley museum. The one in Washington would most likely be a better candidate, as it appears to be in better shape.

I don't know that the NH combine in WA is a better choice in any way, though I am certain it is a rare car. It does have missing letterboards and no windows, and I think it has been that way for 10+ years. You have major reconstruction probably just to make a roadworthy car body (though mostly complete and the framing is probably decent).

Here is another American Flyer car for your model railroad, er, railroad museum...
if it still exists.
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo=200310261719326188.jpg
RPO abandoned on the Belfast and Moosehead Lake in 2003, Thorndike, ME

Don't know what exact criteria you're using, but if you count the fluted stainless steel covered cars, we had four of them in Lewes, DE at the Queen Anne's Railroad as the Royal Zephyr Dinner Train. The interiors were redone as a dinner train, and at least two of those now are part of the Royal Zephyr Restaurant (along with the 0-6-0T) in Ocean View, DE. I don't know where the other two ended up.
When I worked there and the bosses were boasting about how nice our cars were, I'd walk alongside one of them and hit the side just to hear the rust fall within the wall...........

Speaking of American Flyer cars..... SAL coach 833 is in Mt. Dora, Fl. the tourist operation there uses it for their ticket office.....
Are there anymore of the SAL cars left?

Boy, looking at those pictures, I thought they looked an awful lot like the one at the Coopersville and Marne Railway, CN #5108 here:

http://www.coopersvilleandmarne.org/Equ ... oster.html

Where is Howard P.? Oh well I think some of the cars you are referring to at the RMNE are Wason cars. Howard and I were talking about these cars recently. As for the MEC car at Shelburne Falls I think it is in good condition but I don't know how to do an official inspection, the inside looks good I guess and I guess you would need to somehow look behind the walls to see how the frame is.

-Rowan C. de la Barre