Texas Special

Discussion in 'Diesel Locomotives' started by William Jackson, Dec 12, 2012.

  1. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    I have looked some. Does anyone know makers of the Texas Special in HO?
    Bill Jackson
     
  2. gstout

    gstout Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Not as a complete train other than the (brass) sets marketed by Hallmark quite a few years ago. The reincarnated IHC has a set of cars lettered for Texas Special, but they are nowhere near matching the prototype. Walthers has a 10-5 sleeper painted in TXSP colors and lettered for the Pennsylvania. I would say your best option is to check out a company called Union Station Products (http://unionstationproducts.com/) which makes plastic car sides that match the prototype, a "core" to receive the car sides and underbody and interior detail kits. This is will a fairly pricey solution, but you will end up with exactly what you want.

    GSl
     
  3. TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020)

    TAG1014 (Tom Galbraith RIP 7/15/2020) Passed Away July 15, 2020 Frisco.org Supporter

    There was also the incredibly expensive brass import by Overland Models which also sold out (As the Hallmarks are). They did a Texas Special and Meteor train and Racehorse versions of the Frisco E-7 diesels. I knew a fellow who bought two of the Overland Texas Special coaches at about $500 a whack! They were good, but not THAT good...

    Tom
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 27, 2012
  4. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    That is all good. I was wondering, I did not think there was not any, that was very close to the originals. Does anyone know if Athearn Genesis made a Katy F-3, in Texas Special livery. I have seen the IHC cars, they are a little scarse. IS THAT ALL THERE IS?, is that all there is?
    Bill Jackson
     
  5. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Bill - Athearn Genesis did do a MKT F3 set in the Katy livery - similar to, but not the same, as the Texas Special livery.

    I see them on eBay now and then, do a search on Athearn Genesis F3 F7 F9. A few years back, I bid on one but it got too expensive very quickly. I don't think they made many of them. The Frisco Genesis F3's are much more often seen.

    I wound up buying an Atlas Katy RS-3 as my sole MKT representative here, other than several box cars.

    Ken
     
  6. gstout

    gstout Member Frisco.org Supporter

    If you want to talk about scarce, BLI made a M-K-T E8 several years ago, but I have only seen one, ever. That said, you can easily modify an undec E7 for either the Frisco or Katy version, again using Union Station fluting. The cars, I'm afraid, are another matter. I would go with the Union Station Products models. Put yourself on a budget and before you know it you'll have your train.

    "...and that's all there is, my friend, so let's keep dancing...."

    GS
     
  7. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    Greg, I went to the Union Station site. I supose you get the sides, in plastic or brass. Roof? Floor? I am not familar with their site. If you get time, lay one out for me. Looks like an interesting project.
    Bill Jackson
     
  8. gstout

    gstout Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Bill:

    I will answer this on the web site rather than in a PM on the chance that someone else might have a similar interest or question.

    You will need to purchase a core kit, Union Station Products part #TSP807 @$12.99. This will include the ends, P-S style roof, end doors, vestibule and floor. Click on the "core kits" tab on the USP home pageweb site (same for the underbody detail kit, which I will cover in a moment).

    Add do that (say) USP #4153, which in this instance are the sides for a 14-4 sleeper (Frisco or Katy) @$24.99. To find these, or sides for other TXSP cars, click on the "St. Louis-San Francisco" or "Missouri-Kansas-Texas" tab, again on the USP home page.

    Then you will need USP #TSP460, which includes parts for the underbody detail @$9.99. My experience is that you can generally tease more than one car out of the underbody kit. USP does not offer parts to finish out sleeper interiors, but they do have interiors for lounges, coaches and diners, so you can fit out the other cars on the roster.

    You can buy trucks from USP or use any other trucks you may like or have lying around. Doing some quick rounding, if you build the 14-4, you are in for about $47 plus trucks, interior and other miscellaneous detail parts, which is WAY less than a brass car, if you can even find one. As far as I know, USP parts are all plastic, so you can easily glue them together with liquid cement. USP also includes just fluting if you want to customize an E7 or modify an old Rivarossi car or a heavyweight.

    Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have other questions, or if (as is likely) I have not expressed this clearly. It's always easier to understand after you've done it once. Good luck!

    GS
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 16, 2012
  9. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    Thanks for the good information. I will start collecting some of the parts. These sound really neat, to do.
    Bill Jackson
     
  10. gstout

    gstout Member Frisco.org Supporter

    I will be interested to see how this all turns out. Maybe post a photo when you finish.

    GS
     
  11. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    The Union Station Products side fluting was used for the side panels on my Texas Special E7, SLSF 2003. It is easy to work with and looks pretty good. I think I have photos of 2003 posted in my album.

    I don't recall ever seeing the Texas Special E7's, or the Meteor E7's, in real life. The later "Racehorse" E's were certainly great, my all-time favorites, but these earlier E's had to be a beautiful sight when clean.

    I still have enough fluted paneling to do another one as a Meteor E7 (SLSF 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005) if I could ever find the correct P2K E7 phase model.

    Ken
     
  12. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    Ken, I viewed your album, very nice. I will be trying to do something like it in the future. What a great looking train.
    Bill Jackson
     

Share This Page