MBTA Subway/Commuter Rail Models

Yeah Jon, hahaha!!! That would represent circa 1962 when they painted the cars up in this scheme. They really were striking. The interiors were salmon and turquoise in ultra high gloss. I remember walking into one at Columbia bound for Washington. You could still smell the paint drying !
BUC- that Center-Entrance is also one of my favorites, as is that yellow and white West End Street Railway Company car. I did that in the 70's using one of those Japanese trolley series that came in, I believe, four varieties. Occasionally, at train shows, I see them for sale. The closed car model makes a great representation of an early West End car, some of which carried on into the Elevated era. With not much work, you can make an almost exact duplicate of a 20' car. The one that I made up was a car built by the West End Street Railway in 1893. I particularly enjoyed making up this little car as a great many color schemes are available to you for the West End, as they color coded the cars for the line that they were on. They also painted the car's destinations in bold lettering front and sides. I used O.R. Cumming's "Street Cars of Boston", Volume 1 for info regarding the color schemes, lettering, and car appearance, which was a handy guide. (If anyone needs the WEStRyCo color scheme for a route, let me know. They are all listed in this book.) Because of the options of color, they make up a different, not often seen Boston trolley model, that, if I may say so, is quite bold and dazzling.
The car on the very top left is a gorgeous Sprague Stock Paris Subway Car. I happened to be at a show at Rutgers University, saw that, and had to buy it. It's painted in the two colors of green and red, indicating a car of both classes. It's loaded with gorgeous detail.
Next to the Center Entrance car, the Queen Mary PCC, I believe may be the first PCC kit offered in O-Scale. It is an epoxy-resin kit requiring a little work, but well worth it when you are done. I think that that may be the first model that I ever did, and recently have given it a few touches that it didn't have before ("Charles River" rollsign - a photo downsized from an original, red marker light above headlight, and white number on belt rail above headlight).

The models are great,

But look at the book collection! As a librarian, Bravo!

Thanks. I enjoy reading. You didn't mention my mannequin head named "Minnie" wearing the SF Muni cap ! Look again.

Hey there,

I'm new to this site and new to collecting trains (well, fairly new). I have quite a few sets of MTH's model subways and was wondering if anyone in the know, knows whether or not anything is coming out in O scale for Boston subways. I would love to have the St. Louis Car series of the Blue and Orange line in my collection. Thanks!

bostonelevated wrote:Hey there,

I'm new to this site and new to collecting trains (well, fairly new). I have quite a few sets of MTH's model subways and was wondering if anyone in the know, knows whether or not anything is coming out in O scale for Boston subways. I would love to have the St. Louis Car series of the Blue and Orange line in my collection. Thanks!

I know of no commercially made Boston Rapid Transit car made in O scale. I wish that someone would also as I would be on it like white on rice. My choice would be from the Main (Orange) or East Boston Tunnel (Blue) Lines also, but I would probably pick something around a No. 3 Main Line or a No. 1 E/B/T. I have a Cambridge-Dorchester Tunnel 0700, scratch-made and given to me as a gift as a kid and a No. 1 Main Line set, that I kit-bashed from Lionel coaches, but never have seen any mass produced.(By the way, there was only one set of St. Louis cars in 1899, a group of No. 1's on the Main Line. Were you thinking of the 1957 No. 11 Pullman-Standard 01100's ?) Good luck finding them. If you do, let me know.

Atlas O makes Boston PCCs

Oh, there's a ton of PCC's out there - Atlas, MTH, Industrial, etc. plus the Corgi's that are easily motorized, and then at the high end, the St. Petersburg's that can also be motorized with kits...but no Boston Rapid Transit that I know of.

Here is a link to MBTA Blue Line 0600 and 0700 models, as well as Orange Line 01200s. Also Red Line 01800s if a good amount of people say they are interested in it.

I have not seen the kits up close, or have seen a completed model. So I don't know the quality that they are, or the amount of skill and work needed to finish the models by this company:
http://islandmodelworks.com/Boston.html

I am interested in getting the Orange Line 1200s and Blue Line 600s, but not sure if I will be able to finish it, or the cost of buying all parts to finish it, not necessarily motorize it.

I have emailed them a few times, and it now seems like the don't want to respond to my emails anymore. I have asked them if the wheels/trucks were included like the picture shows, but they say no on the website. Also the pantographs are not included for the blue line cars. So you will have to factor in the cost of those items as well as proper paint, etc..and track the items all down(find a store that sells them) to make your models look good. And then if you want to motorize them, that is even more money.

They've packed a lot of detail into those models. With a little patience, you could come up with a stunning set. I understand for an extra $5 now, on the 01200's you can get an HO drunk girl who rides under the front anti-climber too ! (How much do you want to bet that that's going to show up at a train show somewhere ?)

I liked the Blue line 600's so much I ordered the 700's.

This summer I had some time off to work on them. I got a kidney stone and missed two weeks of work. I have not gotten to far other than sanding and prepping for paint. I am hoping to pick it back up this Christmas. I need to figure out more on how to motorize them.

I think that, yes there is a lot of work to put into them, but you are not going to find to many MBTA stuff mass produced. I feel its worth it. Also, by working on it yourself, you get what you want. Not what some Bachmann/Lifelike $25 job would give you.

^Hello Adams, thanks for the info....Could you please post some pictures of what the packaging looks like from the company(how they ship it, etc...), also pictures of what comes with the kits(Each part that is included in the box, etc...), and any pictures of what you have done to your models. Pictures of the kits will definitely help me decide if this is something I might want to get.

Thanks for your time and help.

I was thinking of the St. Louis Car Company cars which went into service in the 1950's. Would LOVE also a set of the cars that were in service just before these before the pantographs were installed. Do you have a pic of the Cambridge Tunnel Car you got as a kid? Would love to see that. Btw, I'm new to all of this and definitely feel like a kid in a candy store....and taking a lot of ribbing from my friends.

bostonelevated wrote:I was thinking of the St. Louis Car Company cars which went into service in the 1950's. Would LOVE also a set of the cars that were in service just before these before the pantographs were installed. Do you have a pic of the Cambridge Tunnel Car you got as a kid? Would love to see that. Btw, I'm new to all of this and definitely feel like a kid in a candy store....and taking a lot of ribbing from my friends.

Those are the No. 3 East Boston Tunnel Cars. The old guys were the No. 1 & 2's. I would love to have a model of those also. One of these days, I'll get some of my models out to pose - not enough hours in the day.

whats up guys, i love the boston transit system and i would like 2 start collecting the red,blue,orange,greenlines models new and old trains, i like the trolleys too. i wanna build my own city of functional trains that i love. Can anyone help me out?

Oh yea!, do they have tunnels in can get, bridges, etc.

thanks fellas peace!

Mamny models out there, but most are kinda pricey for anything but the most serious collectors.
Others here can let you know.
As for tunnels, no, you'd have to builsd them yourself.
There were some good articles about 5-10 yrss ago in MR about modeling the early Riverside/Highland Branch (now Greenline.)