Passenger Cars for Lionel Alco SantaFe PA Set

I like the 18" aluminum sets that Lionel made. You could use either the Super Chief from a couple years back or the El Capitan from 2004. They are somewhat hard to find, but do pop up every now and then.

Chris, quite a few nice Lionel Aluminum Santa Fe passenger car sets on the bay right now and I saw one MTH set all 18".  I just did a search: toys & hobbies, model trains, O gauge, santa fe passenger.

Steve, Lady and Tex

I would absolutely go for a set of K-Lines. They come up frequently on eBay. Either the 18" or 21" would look good. The exterior finish of the K-Line Sante Fe cars is the best in the business.

I saw a set of kline 18's havent seen any 21's

I have 15 MTH Santa Fe 18-inch passenger cars.  Two complete 5-Car sets make-up, 2 baggage cars, 4 chair cars, 2 dome cars and 2 observation cars.  In addition, I have two sets of the add-on cars, 2 Sleepers and 2 Diners, the 15th car is full-length dome.

I have installed 300 passengers on this train.  All cars are lighted and are in great condition.  Each is kept in a soft cotton towel to protect it from nicks and scratches.

I will give you a good deal if you want the whole set.  I can send you pictures next week.  They are packed away right now and I am very busy this weekend.

Are you specifically not seeking the cars Lionel made (I think?) to go with them at the time?

I know they made a 4 pack and a 2 pack of cars for the NYC PA's that are of the same vintage, but I do not off the top of my head know the catalog numbers for the Santa Fe ones (if they were in fact made).

The cars that went with the NYC were (I think) 15", they were before the detailed 18" cars came out.  The ones for the NYC set had the old style window silhouettes for passengers.  They still go nicely with the engines.

I'm guessing maybe you are going for more a scale than toy look for the cars you will buy since you mentioned these were the Scale PA's, but figured I'd bring up the matching cars anyway.  I may be able to do a catalog search later today to see about the Lionel numbers if you are interested.  I imagine they were in a 1998 or 1999 at the latest catalog, since these were in the 1997 Classic catalogs (the SF PA was on the cover of one, the NYC PA was on the cover of the other).

-Dave

i am trying to see what cars went with them, Lionel or whoever, only lionel ones I have found were 15"

Scale PA's are about 17 1/2" long.  They can get by with the 18" cars but the traditional 16" cars looks weird.  The best bet is the almost impossible to find K-Line 21" cars followed by the expensive K-Line 18" sets.  You could go with Williams 18" cars but these are ABS not aluminum, have silhouettes not interiors, and they are generic not specific car types or even Santa Fe car types.  The good news is they are reasonably priced.

The cars that went with the engine were cataloged in the 1977 mini catalog as a "Surfliner" set.  They were the 15"-16" car typical of the time.

With the PA being an older model of diesel-electric, I put together a hodge-podge of REA express cars, baggage cars (both hvywt and streamlined) and an RPO to make a "Fast Mail".  It looks very convincing, and it would remind you of the head end of the Grand Canyon Limited which was pulled with PA's.  Or the train that went thru Lubbock, TX in the early 1960's which was head end heavy.

Chris:

I watch what's out there on a daily basis. The 18" cars come up more frequently than the 21" cars, but they do come up every now and then.

Again, for pure looks, you can't beat those K-Line cars, particularly the Sante Fe and CZ sets.

Probably too many for my layout, but if you want to message me your price I can see if its in my range and worth  digging them out to get a picture. My email is bojspam@gmail.com

Yes that was the set the dealer I bought them from had. They looked terrible compared to the engine

Chris - I have the Lionel El Capitan set of 18" cars and love them.  I also have K-Line 21" California Zephyr cars and they are my favorite cars right now.  My point is that any of the Lionel 18" metal cars or K-Line 18" or 21" cars are beautiful in my opinion and would go extremely well with your engines.  I agree that anything shorter than 18" would not look right.  Good luck and let us know what you end up with.

Art

Chris:

There is a set of four Sante Fe 18" cars on the Bay now.

Chris -

Email with price sent.

Jim

Chris....

I have all of the K-Line Santa Fe 21" cars and will agree that they are absolutely beautiful.  Since they are somewhat hard to find, they do come up for sale on the "bay".  One thing you may want to consider....as Jim has mentioned above...and that is the MTH cars.  I also have complete sets of the ribbed and smooth side MTH ATSF sets.  Their finish matches perfectly the Lionel units you have ( I have them too!) and as Chuck said above, the length of the cars looks fine with the locomotives. 

Alan

Yep saw those this AM, am going to talk to Jim as well

Chris...just in case it matters, the cars on Ebay to which Brian refers have the painted finish.  I have those cars, except they are 21", and to be honest, they look painted.  The brightly finished cars look much better and reflect light nicely.

Alan

These would be nice and they are cheap.

Thanks

Pat

$149.95

Santa Fe 72' Scale Streamliners 4 Car Passenger Sets (Baggage, Two Coaches, and Observation) http://www.patstrains.com/View...Details=View+Details

Stock Number: 43160 Gauge: O/O-27 Gauge Manufacturer: Williams / Williams by Bachmann Product Type: Passenger Cars Availability: In Stock

A period FAST MAIL would be great looking.  the PA/PB's tended to power that train.  Mail and express trains tend to be under modeled, and there is less of concerns with that sort of train with a "matched" set.

Nobody mentioned 3rd Rail?

My choice is Budd cars, and part of that is that I do not care for the ATSF version of Pullman corrugations.  Another part is remembering the department store displays in the 1950s - Lionel had a scale size cross- section Budd car to go behind Warbonnets.

That said, the K-Line 21" cars are very, very good for the price.  We were getting them new at $75 each there for a while, and with the GGD cars coming on line, they should again drop to those prices.

FWIW

 The description and catalog number from ‘97 for the 4 car aluminum set that Lionel made for this  AB set is: Santa Fe Surfliner  4 Car Passenger Set 6-19180