# AMS coach to Parlor car



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

I started out with the idea of just making a few cosmetic up grades to one of my AMS coaches but one thing led to another and this what resulted. First I modified the trucks.

Before showing the gap between the body and the snubbers (not sure if that is the correct name).









I filed down the center pivot and added tubbular spacers to keep the screws from pulling the snubbers down. I also added Phill's Narrow Gauge wheels with ball bearings.









This is what it looks like after the mods, notice there is much less gap.









Then I removed the paint from the hand rails and painted the doors and door frame.









I also painted the floor, steps and end beams.










And a full side view.










Next I remove the plastic floor with all the seats, stoves and restrooms attached. I used wood veneer cut into small pieces to plank the floor. It is attatched with double sided tape. Any future cars I do I will use the iron edging for counter tops. I used the veneer because it had been sitting around for 20 years, left over from cabinets when we built our house! 









I cut all the seats loose from the floor and then cut each seat into 1 third and 2 thirds, half on the left side and half on the right side.









Then they were glued back together to form a double seat and single seat. They are not shown, but I also made 2 seats which are double the original width.









I forgot to take any pictures of the seats before installing them. The ends are painted brass and the seats are upholstered with a very light weight corderory(sp?)

I also added paneling to the walls.









LED Lights running off a 9 volt battery were installed as shown in a previous post. 
www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/forumid/14/tpage/1/view/topic/postid/66589/Default.aspx#66656

The seating arrangement is similar to a couple of cars that the D&RGW built shown in the January/February Narrow Gage and Shortline Gazette. I added the bar and the stove. The tape on the end wall is aluminum duct tape and conducts the battery power to wires in the roof when the roof is in place. No wires or connectors to deal with when removing the roof!


















The facing seats in the center are the double width ones.


















The bar cabinet.









The coach at night with the lights on.









And with that, Good night!


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Okay, now I'm inspired to get back to work on mine.... 

Looks great! 

Later, 

K


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Winn, 

Nice work, I like the way you have sorted out the lights. Thanks for the photos.


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

Excellent work Winn. I like the things you did to upgrade the interior. I'm sure others who are interested in modifying their coaches will benefit from your ideas.

Doc


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Looks very realistic. The seats are great!


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautiful work - but where's the passengers? []


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Winn, very nice job. I especially like your idea of splitting the seats. Guess I will steal that one for my cars. 

Larry


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Really nice Winn! Top notch! Thanks for sharing the pics and how-to


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks guys, I appreciate your comments. 

Kevin, I thought yours was already done or are you working on another? 

Pete, I'm hoping to pick up some pasengers in Denver. 

Larry, Steal away! 

Here are a couple more photos. I did the roof using Jack Thomson's masking tape method. 









I also modified the couplers adding a longer tounge and using the existing pin under the truck as a pivot. The tongue is 5/32 X5/16 brass tube, the original tongue was filed down to fit inside and glued in with JB Weld. 









I still need to change the lettering to my RR and do some weathering.


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## Don Howard (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautiful work! 

I like it all. 
I'm going to see if I've got some brass tubing like you have used for your coupler addition. 

Thanks for posting!


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## rkapuaala (Jan 3, 2008)

Great job!


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## trainmaster1989 (Jan 4, 2008)

Excellent work. That looks good.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Superb










I like the upholstered seats. And really clever about the aluminum tape to conduct electricity.


And I believe the type of D&RGW car that the seating arrangement you modeled it after is a San Juan coach. Here's two interior photos of a San Juan coach:


San Juan Coach 1

San Juan Coach 2


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks All of you. Matt, Thanks for the pictures, they appear to be of one of the same cars that are in the NG&SL Gazette. I love the people in these two pictures, I'm going to have to model some of them! In February my wife and I got ride the new D&SNGRR parlor car for the volunteer appreciation trip. It has the one-two seating but does not switch mid car or have the mid car facing seats. Very nice, and they fed us well!


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Glad you like the photos Winn. 

They are pretty rare interior photos of the San Juan circa 1950. Many Native Americans used the San Juan between the various reservations along the line (mostly on the portion abandoned between Durango and Chama). Dulce New Mexico, once a stop on the line, is the present day headquarters of the Jicarilla Apache.


I think it would be neat to model some of them for your cars. If you really do, I'd be interested in them too









More of these great San Juan photos, including interior photos, can be found here:


Life San Juan photos


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Great photos, Matt! Definite bookmark. 

Later, 

K


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## trainbuffjr (Jan 11, 2008)

Great job Winn! It looks just like the real thing! Thanks for posting.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

If interested in a take-away, the following are two PDF files with Winn's two topics that you can download a copy of.

The President's Car[/b]

AMS Coach to Parlor Car[/b]


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Winn,
Once again, you've raised the bar on passenger equipment! An exceptionally nice bit of "super detailing!" (I'd call it "bashing" but whatever _you'd_ call it, it definitely qualifies as "master modelling!")


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice work!


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi 

Congratulations - that looks really good Winn, and Thanks are also due to SteveC for putting it all together into a PDF.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Thank you all for the kind comments. Steve thanks for making my efforts available as PDF's. Hopefully some members will find them useful. I Was surprised to see this thread pop back up. I have to admit that I don't check MLS as often as I used to due to the fact that it is running very slowly on my dial-up server. I think it has something to do with the larger picture format. When I first saw this thread come up about a week ago I tried to log on and gave up after waiting over 5 minutes with no response.


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## JohnReid (Aug 31, 2010)

Love it! What a great build ! I know once you get going on this stuff it is hard to know when to quit.Those kits are great for bashing with lots of room to work.Where can I find threads by others who have attempted this as I would really like to hear about their experiences too! Thanks. Cheers! John.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Where can I find threads by others who have attempted this 
John, 

There are a few 'modified' AMS coaches running around. try 
*Kevin's EBT Coach #3*

and 
*GAL Combine kit*


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

John, 
The old post, I think on the live steam forum, "The car behind the engine" shows my Belden Falls combine made from an AMS coach, with some explanation of how it was done. Evergreen Styrene makes large sheets of 1:20.3 V-joint siding that is a virtual match for the car's molded siding. I had to get it direct from Evergreen, as local sources could not/would not get it for me. 

Larry


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Great tip on the Evergreen Styrene. For those interested, 

Part #14601 - 2.25" spacing, 12 x 24" sheet $19.00 
#14602 - 3.25" spacing, same size, same price. 

Later, 

K


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

I used that for the sides of my Presidents car in the Masterclass forum. Works great.


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