The 1947 North Coast Limited on the North Bank Road
My very good friend, Keith Lyons, a great fan and modeler of the Northern Pacific, suggested years ago that the 1947 North Coast Limited had never been done and would be a fine addition to my line-up of special runs. I looked into it and decided to call this new series the ‘Mainstreeter’ as I knew that someday, I might be working on the North Coast Limited and I did not want to bring confusion. The Mainstreeter Series began around 2014.
All cars in that series are heavy-weight passenger cars and all have been produced for us by Micro-Trains, but only eleven car releases have been this 1947 ‘Streamliner’ scheme, the rest being in the 1954 Loewy paint.
With the launch of RailSmith, this 1947 NP ’Streamliner’ scheme (railfan’s refer to it as Pine Tree or Butter Knife), was a strong player in decisions to produce both skirted and non-skirted cars for that train. With the release of the beautiful F-3 and F-5’s last year, we really have followed our desire and plans to ‘Build-a-Train’. For this train, we have six RailSmith streamlined cars produced so far, a diner coming soon, and Lounge, Dorm, and Observation cars will be on-the-way before long. Of interest might be our decision process and the new Plan 4119 Duplex Sleeper.
You may have missed some of our ‘Mainstreeter’ (heavy-weight MTL) cars because Lowell Smith is new to you, but ’no worries’ as more heavy weight cars will be produced because they are essential for this 1947 NCL train. As the NP expanded by buying the newer streamlined four axel passenger cars, these older standard heavy-weight cars were assigned the secondary trains such as the Mainstreeter. The good news is that it is not too late to get-on-board the NP’s 1947 North Coast Limited. With more engines, and a diner coming in 2023, it will be a good year to see this train get closer to completion!
Speaking of seeing this train, here she is on one of the most amazing layouts ever at an ‘operating session’ hosted by one of my all-time-best railroad buddies, Rick Ernest, on his North Bank Road.
Check it out!
