Model Railroad Wood Craftsman Kits and Other MR Related Subjects

I find it amazing how one thing many times lead to another, and another, and another... I have been interested in trains for as long as I can remember (and that's a few years by now) and that interest has been manifested in many different ways throughout the years. I grew up at a place with its own freight yard, and I got to "drive" the steam switcher (an 0-4-0 K-class) at the age of 5. The place where my family spent the summers was located only yards from a branch line, where I saw the motive power change from steam to early diesel to just rail cars, before the passenger traffic was finally canceled in the late '60s. And now it's an occasional freight train a couple of times a week on that branch.

I have built model layouts since I was 7, and when I can locate pictures, I will put some up here. None of the layouts became very long-lived because a year, or so, after each was at a stage where I could run any trains, I moved and that layout became history. At the moment, I don't have any layout, but my club, The Southside Modelers in Dallas, is building and operating a nice one, so that has to be enough for the time being.

I started this site as a place to document the history of the Ambroid car kits (see the Ambroid page), but after a while I needed some place to document my progress, or lack thereof sometimes, of my latest modeling project, the Union Pacific Streamliner City Of Los Angeles (COLA) from 1950. So please sit down, relax with a cup of coffee (or whatever relaxes you - but don't spill it on the keyboard) and flip through my pages.

I have divided this site into three major parts: Ambroid, COLA, and (in lack of a better term) "General".
Click on each link below for more information and photos.

AMBROID
Ambroid		The Ambroid home page
Company		A short history of the Ambroid company
Kits		An introduction to the different series of Ambroid kits
	K Series	A listing of all K series kits with pictures
	1-of-5,000 Series	A listing of all kits in both 1-of-5,000 series with pictures
	H series	A listing of all H series kits with pictures
	O Series	A listing of all O series kits, some with pictures
	S Series	A listing of all S series kits, most with pictures
Boxes		A listing of all boxes used for the Ambroid kits, most with pictures
Cross Reference		A cross reference listing between car type, railroad, and kit number
Credits		Listing of all contributors of pictures to the Ambroid site
References		References used in the Ambroid site
COLA
COLA		The City Of Los Angeles home page
Consist		A listing, with pictures, of the consist of the 16th COLA train
	E8A	Prototype and model description of the EMD-built lead E8A engine with pictures
	E8B First B-unit	Prototype and model description of the first EMD built E8B engine with pictures
	E6B Second B-unit	Prototype and model description of the second EMD built E6B engine with pictures
	Mail-Express - 5620	Prototype and model description of the PS built Mail-Express car with pictures
	Baggage-Dormitory - 6006	Prototype and model description of the ACF built Baggage-Dormitory car with pictures
	48 seat Coach - 5340	Prototype and model description of the first PS built Coach car with pictures
	48 seat Coach - 5353	Prototype and model description of the second PS built Coach car with pictures
	Cafe-Lounge - Mission Inn	Prototype and model description of the PS built Cafe-Lounge car with pictures
	Diner - 4815	Prototype and model description of the ACF built Dining car with pictures
	Club-Lounge - Loup River	Prototype and model description of the ACF built Club-Lounge car with pictures
	Sleeper 4-4-2 - Figueroa	Prototype and model description of the first PS built 4-4-2 Sleeping car with pictures
	Sleeper 10-6 - Pacific Island	Prototype and model description of the Budd built 10-6 Sleeping car with pictures
	Sleeper 6-6-4 - American Command	Prototype and model description of the first PS built 6-6-4 Sleeping car with pictures
	Sleeper 6-6-4 - American Courier	Prototype and model description of the second PS built 6-6-4 Sleeping car with pictures
	Sleeper 4-4-2 - Palos Verdes	Prototype and model description of the second PS built 4-4-2 Sleeping car with pictures
	Observation-lounge - Sun Valley	Prototype and model description of the PS built Observation-Lounge car with pictures
Progress		A summary of the progress of my modeling project
Car Orientation		A description of what end of each car was facing the engines
Color Charts		A listing of the interior colors in the cars
	Sleeper 10-6 - Pacific Island	Colors used in the Budd built 10-6 Sleeping car
Time Tables		Time Tables for COLA and Amtrak Southwest Chief
References		References used in the COLA site
General
References		References to external resources used on this site
	Ambroid	References used in the Ambroid site
	COLA	References used in the COLA site
Links		Links to external resources used on this site
	Ambroid	Links used in the Ambroid site
	COLA	Links used in the COLA site
What's New		Listing of content updates to the web site with links to the updated pages
Contact		Send me an email with comments, suggestions, and corrections
Site Map		This page
Privacy Policy		Information on handling of personal information on this site
Notes:
	Abbreviations for the builders of COLA engines and cars are explained on the COLA Consist page

The "Fine Print"

This site is not supported by, or affiliated with, either the Ambroid Company or the Union Pacific Railroad.

The information on this site represents many hundreds of hours of research. You may use fair amounts of the text for non-commercial purposes if credit is given to the author, Per Harwe, and a link to this site is provided. All other use requires written permission from the author.

All pictures on this site are owned by the author unless otherwise noted. All pictures are used with permission. Copying of any picture is prohibited unless written permission is given by the owner.

Privacy Policy

Acknowledgments

Ambroid is a registered trademark of Graphic Vision, Inc. and is used here with permission.

The trademark "Union Pacific" is used with permission of Union Pacific Railroad.

Updated 01/02/2008

Copyright © 2006-2008 Per Harwe