Ztrains: Inside A Presidential Pullman

Rail History In Arizona
On a recent trip to Arizona I managed to get a little time away from work to visit McCormick Railroad Park in Scottsdale. I made my way there and found the visit incredibly interesting. A pair of Pullman cars were on display, a dining car built in 1914 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. This car was converted to a baggage car during WWII. The second Pullman, and the one I found even more interesting is pictured here, The Roald Amundsen. This is one of only six cars the Pullman Palace Company named after a famous explorer.

Built at a cost of $205,000, this car was used by Presidents Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower. In this car, N.O.R.A.D. (North American Aerospace Defense Command) had it's beginnings. President Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister W.L. McKenzie King met and agreed upon the Ogdensburg Declaration, a declaration that to this day provides joint defense of North America against foreign invasion.

This car also served as a part of FDR's Funeral Train in 1945, carrying POTUS (President of the United States) home for the final time, to Hyde Park in New York. In the baggage car is a nice little rail museum where I snapped a couple of pictures of old rail buttons, tickets and even a bar of Pullman soap! If you find yourself in Scottsdale, it's worth stopping in to see McCormick Park.

May 4, 2008

TimeCast, Historic Miniatures

TimeCast of Shrewsbury, England produces a series of dedicated Z scale, as well as many 6mm, historically accurate European and North American structures that are reasonably priced... and very good.

The thumbnail photo above is actually one of their 6mm scenes with a Marklin box car in the photo for reference. Looks good from here!.

From the Napoleonic era to the fields of Gettysburg to WWII era Germany... TimeCast covers quite a lot of ground.

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