All,
Ed commented not everyone goes to York. Can you explain this now? Yes I can and Mr. Muffin has helped in that regard by his post clearly showing all the cars in each 4-car set. The three railroads that partnered to take this car cross country bought a total of 77 cars all starting with "Silver" as part of the name with the one exception being the "Silver Rapids" purchased by the PRR to offer transcontinental service all the way to New York City. What many don't know is the PRR partnered with the NYC to offer this service as well and both railroads use this car. Between the Golden Spike Club CB&Q 12 car set and the other three pure 12 car sets being offered to Dealers for the CB&Q, DRG&W and WP 48 of the 77 names are being used.
You can purchase any combination of an A, B or C set of cars and you'll still be prototypically correct in how this train operated over its 21 year and 2 day life span, which gives you 9 different sets. We know from our research as well as having a discussion with a conductor who worked this train for 15 years that the cars stayed pure to their railroad for about two or three weeks of operation before they started being intermixed because of servicing needs or just general maintenance. The sets were pure on and off again throughout the life of the train as well as on the last run of March 22, 1970. Of course for those of you who already own some of these cars and have been on the hunt for others that you needed a Dealer can sell you just a 4-car set that hopefully will have the names you're looking for. We know some Dealers may go further and break the sets but no guarantees there as that's strictly up to a Dealer. Hopefully this clears up the mystery of how to order, if not e-mail me at jkimble@atlaso.com for a color brochure I can send you that will help.
RoyBoy asked what is ESU? ESU stands for Electronic Solutions Ulm GmbH & Co KG and you can read all about them by clicking on this link: http://www.esu.eu/en/start/ .
Someone posted that bringing in the sets for around $130 a car should drive the cost of the cars already out there down. The fact is these cars have only gone up $10.00 since there introduction in 2009 with the exception of the Dome Observation Car at retail. The $130.00 price is based on where we priced our Golden Spike Club set, which again shows it pays to be a member of this club, but the reality is a Dealer can sell at that same price if he or she elects to do so and make a profit, just saying!
Jerry Kimble - Atlas Model Railroad Company
