Hi guys,

I recieved a set of 6 IHP Reading MU car kits, which are unbuilt/unpainted.

I am exploring the idea of an electrified Reading Diorama (possibly an extension of an NEC modular group I am part of), since I rarely see any Reading stuff out there.

Basically-

1.) What colors do you reccomend I paint them? I've noticed the roofs vary greatly (black, to Silver?). I'm not sure what the proper green is for these cars?

I saw one Conrail train with a 1 Silver roof for every 2 black roofs. Is that an appropriate mix?



2.) most of my photos are in black and white. was their any distinctive weathering or other small details about these cars that may not be obvious in photos?


3.) Are there any recomendations for interiors? any interior photos of the green cars? I'm told the blueliners had a "silverliner" interior, so i'm not sure if I can use these as a basis. These kits did not have interior seats, so I have to buy/make them anyway.


I'll post pictures as soon as my camera finishes charging up!

Chris

Island Model Works on Long Island also makes Silverliner II, & IV cars.

You might try and get a copy of 'RDG Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment,' by Bossler. There are some color pictures of equipment there.

For the 2 tone green scheme, Pullman Green, and Coach Green are close.

As I recall from the 70's the various Silverliners did not have painted roofs. Regarding the older MU's, at times SEPTA painted the cars in a few variaitons: Blue & white(Bluebirds), green, green & silver, maybe also green and black like you say.

Hope this helps.

I'm not sure how i feel about the IMW silverliners. Though they like to claim they made actual measurements, The details are still a bit crude and oversized.

The IMW silverliner II i recieved, which is one of the new-tooling ones, still has a lot of problems, and don't really look that nice.

In this thread, I'm looking at the old 1920/30s cars specifically. The blue and white cars are Blueliners, rebuilt MUs, and not the same as the kits I have (though I wish i did have some).

I don't think any of the Silverliners had any paint on them, just a few decals.

The "Blueliners" were a refurbishing project that was conducted (if memory is correct) around 1962, and was funded at least in part by the City of Philadelphia and perhaps some state money, somewhat of a pre-cursor to SEPTA. The cars received silver roofs as did some green cars. I can dig out a list of the converted cars, if they don't appear in the book that has been discussed. So Blueliners and early silverliners together are not out of the question and the Blueliners are most certainly very close to the green MUs with some minor window work in some cases and upgraded interiors. The RCT&HS has a fleet of blueliners that have been converted to coaches along with a green car (#863) that is pretty much original except for the traction motors disappearing and there isn't a heck of a lot of difference.

I think the silver roof vs. green or black (it was sometimes hard to tell with weathering) was based around air conditioning upgrades, but do not quote me on that, maybe it was just an attempt to keep the cars cooler. Same thing went on with the regular coaches too. It was more SEPTA that painted everything in some red, white and blue format whether it was green, blue or silver after the Reading went to Conrail. Thanks goodness they left the RDC's alone. {Wait, can you imagine a red, white and blue Septic System RDC.... nah, never-mind}

Obviously I am not an MU expert. To this writer, then about 12 years old in Berks County living along the mainline in Lorane, those MU cars travelling back and forth, usually at the back of a freight train were a total mystery. I had no idea that Philly was under wire. I thought that was a Pennsy thing. (OMG!I said the P word on here. Please forgive me guys, lol)

Rob

The silver might make sense whether or not the car had airconditioning, and I know quite a few of the "Green" cars (unrebuilt) also had silver roofs.

The real trick here will be getting the right green. I have coach green, but I should see what Pullman green is like before i paint anything.

Other than that, the only thing I need are wheels and pantographs. The wheels should be availble at my hobby shop, and I think Bachmann's E33 pantographs are exactly what I need. They seem to be readily available on bachmann's website (and I understand their warehouse is right here in the philadelphia area).

Hopefully, I can have two unpowered cars done by the October 5th transit show

www.nycmodeltransit.org/2013details.htm

Pullman Green is an elusive thing. It varies greatly with photo lighting, dirt (or weathering if you prefer)and other factors.