Ronald Simpson said:
My four Aristo streamliner Milwaukee Coaches have arrived. . . The prototype town for Cicely is Roslyn, Washington. The adjacent town of Cle Elum had two railroads running through: The Northern Pacific (I have that too) and the Milwaukee Road.
Although I am getting a little ahead of the story, I have some notes to add here.
When I began what I tentatively labeled the Phase II indoor-outdoor large scale model railroad line, the original intent was to enable me to use my Alaska Railroad g-scale stock which would not work on the tighter curves and especially the switches of the Phase I line which was designed for maximum 8-foot curves.
The Alaska RR equipment included a USA 40-2 and some Aristo streamliner pieces that had been converted to the AKRR color scheme. I also found that the Aristo heavyweights really did not work well at all on the Phase I curves. I had five of these pieces which I ended up shelving.
Since then I began adding other railroad lines. It started with the Sante Fe. My original intention there was to convert these to AKRR, but upon looking at the work on those coaches, I just could not bring myself to do that. These were the first run of those modern USA coaches. Since that time a number of new mainlines of varying flagships have been added to my inventory. With one exception, these are all passenger lines. Even that exception has its passenger component.
The latest and final addition to this mix is the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad–the Milwaukee Road. Like all the others, I had no intention of adding it, but this one adds a particularly exciting and even relevant element. The first of those coaches, as I noted, have already arrived. Those original heavyweights will also be painted in the Milwaukee Road colors as time and circumstances permit.
