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Heritage
Railway Miniatures
MODELS MADE BY ANDY WEGMULLER IN HO SCALE (1:87) |
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| SILK TRAINS of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) |
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| Silk car from the first series, built in 1925. |
| From 1890's
to late 1930's CPR carried raw silk in bales from the orient with the
fastest ships in the Pacific (Empresses) to the port of Vancouver. The
silk bales were trans loaded into railway cars and whole trains of up
to 15 cars were made up. These special trains - THE SILKERS - had the
right of way over any other trains, the transcontinental journey from
Vancouver to New York City took only 4 days. The American part of the
journey was handled by the New York Central RR. In 1925 Canadian Pacific Railway ordered 25 new all steel Through Baggage cars built by CC&F, number series 4901 to 4925. Specially made for the lucrative business the CPR was involved in. 25 more cars were ordered in 1928 number series 4926 to 4950 to the same design plan except the truck centers were shorter and the trucks were different with the brakes on the outside. They had a capacity of 35 tons and were 45ft. long. On the east bound journeys (return trip to Vancouver) THE SILKERS were broken up and the cars used on regular passenger trains in head end service and collected for the next silk trains. During the depression in the 1930's silk traffic declined and silk trains became a thing of the past. The Japanese built their own fast ships and used the panama canal for direct access to New York. The cars remained in head end service for express LCL shipments (Newspapers and magazines among other things). Starting in 1943 CPR rebuilt the silk cars into regular baggage cars. A big sliding door on the sides was added and four windows. They were fitted with gas lights and the ends had doors installed. Cars from both series were rebuilt as available and consecutively numbered from 4434 to 4479. See Model on this page. In 1967 / 68 four cars from the second series were rebuilt again, this time as Remote Radio Control Cars (Robots). See model here. The last car ended life as a Steam car for the Weed Control Train # 40900 (baggage car number 4478), it is in the CPR heritage collection now. |
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| The first series had trucks attached with chains to the frame. |
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| Brakes were on the inside and truck centers are wider. | Second series with different trucks. |
Model description:
| LENGTH | WEIGHT | COUPLERS | WHEELS | TRUCKS | RADIUS REQUIRED | FIRST YEAR PRODUCED |
| 172mm | 110gr. | Kadee #178 | Semi Scale |
Cast |
21 inch or 530mm | 1999 |
This is the most accurate detailed model of the famous CPR Silk cars / Through Baggage cars in 1:87 scale (HO). Every detail is accurately scaled and correct for the particular number.
The hand built masters were prepared from original CPR blue prints, measurements and many photographs. It is exquisitely detailed according to prototype with detailed under floor, full brake rigging, cut levers and brake hoses. The models are one of a kind Museum quality, completely finished. The parts are cast with epoxy resin, carefully assembled, painted and lettered. Every detail has been faithfully replicated. Air tanks and gas tanks are in the correct place for each individual car as they vary on the prototype. Hand rails are made from brass wire and the ladders are free standing.
Lettering art work was specifically made for this models. Silk cars from the 1st series have Gothic gold lettering, cars from the 2nd series have Roman gold lettering. Every model reflects the prototype with correct details.
The model has then been weathered using a unique process. This whole process allows the finer details of the model to come to life giving a “real live” look and making it a truly astounding museum quality model.
They are fully operational with Kadee No. 178 couplers and have the correct trucks with 36" semi scale wheels.
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| First series on the right, second series on the left. | |
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| Fully detailed under floor. |
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| All pictures © Andy Wegmuller | |