ACL & SAL HS HO Scale Seaboard Coast Line Streamlined Passenger Car Decals and Lettering Summary Revised 12/05/2020 by W. Jim Langston

Contributors: All Decal Artwork: Donnie Dixon Primary Research & Production: Paul Faulk Detailed Research, Name Selection, Roster, Decal Layout and Lettering Summary: W. Jim Langston

Decals were printed for the Society by Microscale

C&O Lettering: Courtesy of Tod Hanger, Chairman of the Board C&O Historical Society Thanks Tod!

This document is intended to help you make use of the Society’s two SCL Lightweight Passenger Car decal sets. You will also find in the Product Information page a roster of SCL’s lightweight passenger cars cross referenced to the decal sets. This will help you find the car names on each set.

Set D-69 is the primary set and will cover many cars and provides heralds and standard letter board lettering. One exotic item in this set is the SEABOARD COAST LINE patch lettering applied to UP 11 double bedroom sleepers leased during the December to April 69-70 a 70-71 winter seasons (it was not applied in earlier seasons). UP Star Vale is known to have operated on in 1971 and into 1972 with this lettering still in place before Amtrak repainted the car in 6/72!

Set D-95 provides all other car names, sleeper numbers and more numbers! The exotic item in this set is the lettering to do the five 11 double bedroom sleepers acquired from Chesapeake and Ohio in 1969- 1970, including the stainless-steel letter boards.

Please note that in order to simplify and reduce the cost of printing there are no film borders to the names, numbers etc. So, you will need to use an X-Acto knife and strait edge to cut out the desired pieces. This printing format also allowed us to maximize the content.

Between the two sets we think we covered every car name (we did find at least one typo, sorry) and number series. Any numbered car may be done by combining no more than two pairs of numbers from set D-95 and there are many representative complete four-digit car numbers also provided on both sets. With set D-69 some numbers may need three pieces. In the case of the sleepers with their small four-digit numbers, each one is provided intact in set D-95 (yes, you may need a magnifying glass).

Donnie Dixon did a great job on the artwork for these sets as did Microscale in printing them. Oddly, when Microscale designed and printed their own SCL passenger car set in the last couple of years they forgot to call us! We would have helped them improve their general market set.

If you are a member you can find several presentations in our Members Only page at www.aclsal.org on SCL passenger cars and passenger service that will be of help as well.

SCL ran some great trains right up until Amtrak and they ran them right.

“…The Passenger Trains Last Friend”…… Fred Frailey on SCL in his excellent book “Twilight of the Great Trains”.

Good luck and have fun! Contact us if you have any questions or additional information on SCL lightweight passenger cars.

Basic SCL Passenger Car Lettering Diagram – From Rapido Trains, with permission

• This is the scheme as of July 1, 1967. Note – drawing has slanted road numbers used on only a few cars (this number format is not provided for in our decal sets). • As this is a coach, position of PULLMAN and HAMBURG lettering is not marked, nor is the ACI tags added later. • Positioning of heralds can vary from car series to series, and even within a series. • As the saying goes, it is best to have a dated photo of the car you want to decal to get it right!

ACL & SAL HS Microscale SCL Passenger Set #1 D-69 – provides enough material to do 3 SCL cars, and one leased UP sleeper (exclusive of UP names and numbers, for UP car names and numbers, use Microscale sets 87-635 or 87-630). There are enough sleeper names of correct type and former owner mix, to do a Silver Star, , Champion and Florida Special if some RFP and PRR sleepers added (decals not included).

ACL & SAL HS Microscale SCL Passenger Set #2 D-95 – supplements Set #1. It provides no heralds or standard letterboard lettering (use Set #1 or Microscale set 87-1380) but provides the following: all other sleeper names (all in one piece), stainless steel letterboards (SCL road name and Hamburg variations and number variations) to do up to two ex-C&O 11 DB sleepers, C&O script car names and numbers, all sleeper numbers in one piece, and number jumble where any 4-digit number can be made from just two pieces, plus additional “one piece” numbers.

Please advise of any typos you find; we found Sun Ray printed as Sun Fay (sorry; but there is “R”’s to fix this). Please let us know of any other errors etc.

SCL Passenger Lettering Chronology

July 1, 1967 – Basic Standard Scheme - Except as noted, all SCL streamlined passenger cars follow this basic lettering plan, applied as shopped: o Body. Most cars had bare stainless-steel bodies with fluting. Some ex-C&O, and FEC cars had flat regular steel above the belt rail, this was painted a silver-grey. The four ex-NKP coaches purchased by ACL had flat sides above the belt rail, stainless steel from the belt rail to the letterboard, and steel for the letterboard. On two of these cars the letterboard was painted silver-grey while the flat stainless steel below it remained unpainted; the other two, ACL 260 and 263, were not re- lettered for SCL. o Under-body and trucks, painted black. o Roof painted black on most cars (this was actually a black cement/paint that also helped seal the roof). Not all cars had this. o Slanted SEABOARD COAST LINE 6” tall in letterboard in special font. On former Seaboard cars, this required extending the letterboard to 35’ in length. o SCL herald, white background, black lettering and circles, and red SCL logo, on metal disks, 24” in diameter, 4 heralds in total, centered in window pier panel at each end of car. Check photos of your car to verify placement in relation to end of pier, belt rail and adjacent windows. A couple cars may have had red lettering around the circle (we have not done that possible variation). o Car numbers for coaches, diners, baggage-dorms, and taverns, in new SCL style, 5” tall; sleepers, car names using ACL format, 5” tall lettering, PULLMAN 3 inches tall on all four corner letterboards. ACL diners lost their ACL car names in favor of numbers, therefore none of the ACL diner names are provided. o Variation 1: First few cars had slanted numbers. These numbers are not provided for in the sets as we do not have good reference material for them. o Variation 2: The three ex-SAL 5 double bedroom sun lounge sleepers were quickly renamed in the “sun series”, with their SEABOARD lettering intact for some time while waiting for the longer letterboards and SCL heralds. This was done to re-assign their Beach names to the ex-SAL mountain series 6 double bedroom lounge cars and avoid conflict with the ex-ACL Beach series 6 double bedroom sleeper lounges. No photos have been found of the ex-mountain cars with SCL name and SAL lettering. Given there was no name/type “conflict” with this group, it is likely there was no rush to rename those cars until completely re-lettered

From 1967 - ACI Tag addition • Starting in 1967 per FRA requirement, KarTrak ACI bar code tags were to be added to all railway equipment, including passenger cars. This was a slow multi-year process and not all cars may have got them. They were common by 1970/71. o This was located to the right end on each side of the car, on the lower part of the window pier panel, aligned as close as possible above the inboard axle. Check actual photos for individual placements on cars; there were specific areas these were to be placed on all cars (and areas not to be placed). Microscale set MC- 4280 provides these tags.

From July 1969 – Replacement of PULLMAN with HAMBURG on sleepers • From July 1969 on, all SCL sleepers were sold to, and then leased back from, Hamburg Industries, a car shop in North Augusta, SC (now a TTX Corp. facility). This arrangement replaced some of the function of the which leased the cars from SCL, and which ceased operations in June of 1969. Pullman had maintained the sleepers, and provided the porters, and in return collected a portion of the revenue. Hamburg provided the maintenance services like Pullman, the porters transferred to SCL. o HAMBURG, 3” high, replaced Pullman on all four corner letterboards. o Variation: It appears that on the three ex-C&O 11 double bedroom sleepers acquired in September 1969 that they were lettered HAMBURG INDUSTRIES, INC. on all four corners. This “full” lettering also appeared on some, but not all, of the ex-B&O 16-4 sleepers and on perhaps one or more of the ex-B&O dome sleepers. The two ex-C&O 11 DB sleepers acquired in March 1970 had only HAMBURG.

Second half 1969 - S and C letter variation in letterboard • During the second half of 1969 some cars received SEABOARD COAST LINE lettering on their letterboards where the S and C flattened rather than curled at their tips. This likely occurred at Hamburg Industries, and is seen on the following cars: Ex-C&O sleepers Greenbrier and Natural Bridge, ex-B&O sleeper Wren, and ex-ACL sleeper lounge Myrtle Beach, and perhaps others • Note – at present we do not have good specs on this variation. It is a very subtle variation and we have not developed decals to handle it.

From August 1969 – Hybrid SCL/C&O scheme • Lettering for this scheme is available on Set #2. Special thanks to Tod Hanger and the C&O Historical Society for assistance in developing the correct C&O script lettering and numbers. • In September of 1969 SCL acquired three of C&O’s five 11 double bedroom sleepers. The other two were acquired in March 1970. These cars received an SCL/C&O hybrid scheme as SCL/Hamburg elected not to remove or cover the C&O blue and yellow paint applied to the Cor-ten steel panels above the cars belt rails and side fluting (though this was done by ACL and SAL to similar coaches, twin-unit diners and sleepers acquired in the 1950’s from NKP and C&O, where the Cor-ten area was covered with grey/silver paint) • Version 1 - The three ex-C&O 11 DB sleepers acquired in 1969 (Greenbrier, Natural Bridge, Monticello) retained their C&O blue and yellow paint from the belt rail up, and their fluted stainless-steel lower sides. o To carry the SEABOARD COAST LINE lettering, new stainless steel letterboards 35’ long were fastened in the appropriate location. Smaller corner letterboards were similarly affixed to the ends to carry HAMBURG INDUSTRIES, INC. 3” lettering. SCL Heralds were affixed as normal o These three cars retained their C&O numbers and names in C&O blue script well into 1970 or to Amtrak. Greenbrier was retired in 1970 for parts after suffering water damage from burst frozen pipes in Washington, DC and was likely unchanged, but the others later may have had the C&O numbers removed, SCL numbers added in top corner, and names may have changed to standard lettering sometime in 1970 or 1971. • Version 2 - The two ex-C&O 11 DB sleepers acquired in March 1970 (Homestead and Mount Vernon) same as version 1, except: o These two cars retained their names, but probably had the new SCL style lettering applied before entering service. o These cars may also have had only two HAMBURG plates in place, with new sleeper numbers on the other two. Note we provide all five names and numbers in both styles, check dated photos of cars to get right.

1970 - Sleeper numbers added • At some time in 1970 SCL assigned six thousand series numbers to all sleepers still in service. These numbers were 3” tall, and replaced HAMBURG or HAMBURG INDUSTRIES, INC. at one end of the car. It appears that there was no set pattern as to which end the numbers were applied, front, rear, vestibule etc. Check photos of cars to determine. All numbers are available on the Set #2, so no piecing together needed for these small numbers. Numbers are provided by the roster we have posted in the Store.

1967-1971 - Leased UP seasonal sleepers • SCL leased up to 20 UP 11 double bedroom sleepers during each winter season from December 1967 through April 1971 for service on the Florida Special, Silver Meteor, Silver Star. Champion and City of Miami. They deadheaded on the South Wind on occasion between Miami and Jacksonville, and on other secondary SCL trains. These were primarily drawn from the Union Pacific’s 12 “SUN” and 7 “STAR” series 11 double bedroom sleepers (19 cars) which were converted from other types in the early 1960’s. At least 1 UP “Placid” series was also leased in 69-70 and 70-71 seasons: Placid Sea in 69-70 and Placid Meadow in 70-71. It is likely a Placid was leased during the 67-68 and 68-69 seasons; we are working to ID the Placid car leased in those seasons. The lease was apparently facilitated by Hamburg Industries the last two seasons. o Side Note - The following five “SUN” series sleepers, after the startup of Amtrak in May 1971, were leased for an unknown period of time to Hamburg Industries, who in turn leased the cars to Auto-Train for operation (photos dated December 1971 through February 1972. information from Jerry LaBoda, email dated November 21, 2009 to UP Historical Society). Actual end date of lease not known but was likely well into 1972. The cars: ▪ Sun Cape UP 1601 ▪ Sun Isle UP 1602 ▪ Sun Lane UP 1604 ▪ Sun Point UP 1607 ▪ Sun Villa UP 1612 o Amtrak did not acquire any of the “SUN” series. UP used the cars as staff sleepers (most are still in the UP business car fleet, much modified). o In Auto-Train service they had UNION PACIFIC in 6” lettering in the center of the letterboard. They were used while the ex-ATSF Regal and ex-UP Ocean series sleepers they purchased were refurbished. They did mix with the ex-UP Ocean cars in Auto-Train service while the Oceans still had UP paint (per the post 1969 pattern bellow, with UNION PACIFIC in 3” lettering in the corners of the letterboard, and no lettering in the center where the PULLMAN had been). o Ten of the twelve “SUN” series sleepers were leased by Amtrak from at least February 1973 through September 1974, including the five previously leased by Auto-Train. • In SCL Service - Version 1 - This version does not use any part of the standard SCL passenger scheme, or our decal sets. These cars operated on SCL in the then normal UP paint scheme during the 67-68 and 68-69 seasons, with PULLMAN lettering in the center or the letterboard and UNION PACIFIC in the corners and no car numbers on the cars. • In SCL Service - Version 2 - For the 69-70 and 70-71 seasons there were minor modifications, one temporary. All photos show that the PULLMAN lettering in the center of the cars was removed during the summer of 1969 by Union Pacific (when the Pullman Company ceased operation). UNION PACIFIC was left in the corners as before. While leased to SCL, SEABOARD COAST LINE lettering in red 3” letters (but not outlined in black, as per normal UP application) on a yellow patch/vinyl decal was used to cover the UNION PACIFIC lettering on the four corners of the cars. This patch is provided in Set #1 D-69. The patch appears to have only been applied during the last two winter seasons on SCL, 69-70 and 70-71. At the end of the season the patch was peeled off. Vinyl decals with SCL lettering was also made to cover up Union Pacific lettering that was vertical behind the vestibule door handrails on some cars. When developing this decal set we did not know that, and in any event would have been too small to print and apply and would have been covered by the handrails. o Note – car numbers were added to Union Pacific sleepers in 1969; this likely coincided with the demise of the Pullman Company that summer. • It is likely several of these cars leased for the last season ran for a year or more on Amtrak with this SCL variation, as Amtrak took over on May 1, 1971 just as the 1970-71 winter season ended; STAR VALE is known to have carried its SCL lettering into Amtrak service in 1971 and 1972 (STAR VALE received it’s Amtrak number in June 1972, when it was likely repainted in Amtrak). • ACI tags on UP sleepers – do not appear on the cars during the 69-70 season (or prior seasons) but do appear on the cars during the 70-71 season. • For UP car names and numbers, use Microscale sets 87-635 or 87-630.

Notes: • A handful of cars were not re-lettered prior to Amtrak and retained their SAL or ACL lettering. We are working on a list of these cars, here is what we have so far: o Baggage-dormitory-coach SAL6004, Budd 1940 o Coach ACL 271 (48 seat Budd, 1948, ex-C&O, purchased 1950) o Coach SAL 6218 (52 seat Budd, 1947, Walthers did this car in HO) o Coach ACL 260 (52 seat Pullman-Standard, 1950 ex-Nickle Plate, purchased 1964) o Coach ACL 263 (52 seat Pullman-Standard, 1950 ex-Nickle Plate, purchased 1964) ▪ Walthers did their C&O 52 seat Pullman-Standard coach in ACL, it was very close to the above Nickle Plate cars (one flute off). o Coach ACL 210 (56 seat Budd, later 54 seats, 1940/41) o Coach SAL 6272 (54 seat Pullman-Standard, 1954, ex-FEC purchased 1965) o Coach ACL 203 (60 seat Budd, 1939, original Champion set #2) o Coach SAL 6263 (56 seat Budd, 1946 ex-FEC purchased 1965) ▪ This list compiled from Zephyrs, Chiefs and Other Orphans, The First Five Years of Amtrak, by Fred Frailey, RPC Publications. Other information in this summary was also gleaned from this publication.

o Other cars may have been wrecked or retired prior to being re-lettered to SCL. o The former B&O domes when leased after 1967 only had their B&O car names and no letter board stripping or lettering (that was removed while they were leased to Canadian National in 1966-1967). When finally purchased in 1969 it was well into 1970 before all of the cars were lettered for SCL and heralds applied (yup, need those dated photos!). o Some cars may have been re-lettered from SAL or ACL to SCL after May 1, 1971. Amtrak did not establish a new standard paint scheme until early 1972 and did not re-deploy many cars prior to late fall 1971. SCL 6 double bedroom buffet Palm Beach (ex-SAL Stone Mountain) received an experimental Amtrak scheme in November 1971. • Certain former ACL cars which were named have not been provided with names in these sets for the following reasons: o As noted, all ACL diner names were replaced by numbers when re-lettered. o The six ex-NYC 4-4-2 cars rebuilt to 4 Compartment - 4 Drawing Room “River” series sleepers operated by ACL in the early 60’s were retired and scrapped in 1968. The four surviving ACL Island series 21 roomette sleepers were stored most of the 1960’s and retained their purple letterboards (the fifth car Parris Island was rebuilt in 1961 as an 11double bedroom sleeper Magnolia Gardens, name included in Set #1); they were apparently sold for scrap to Portsmouth Salvage in 1968. Neither series were used in revenue service by SCL, and we do not have any evidence that they received SCL lettering.

That’s it!