AZL August 2021 New Items Part 2

What timing.  I was just having a discussion last night with my father-in-law who worked for Illinois Central in the 60's and 70's.  He had gifted me a "Panama Limited" lapel pin some weeks prior.  His wife just passed away and he is in full downsize mode now that he will be selling their house.   I thought it was a really neat piece and definitely plan to hang on to it.   And while I knew he had worked for IC I never really knew the details.   I figured his tenure was past the passenger era but he sternly corrected me that passenger service was alive and well on the IC in the late 60's and early 70's.  (his statement was reinforced by my research this morning...IC was indeed one of the few railroads that sort of still had a strong following all the way to Amtrak)   He told me that he was the youngest IC employee to ever attain the Trainmaster position at the time...at age 27.   He talked about the long hours being the reason he did not stay in railroading, specifically mentioning derailments where they would practically be up for four days straight with virtually no sleep.

So armed with that discussion and this morning's announcement, I decided to do a little digging into perhaps creating a "pike size" Panama Limited train.   So a DISCLAIMER: I knew virtually zero about any Illinois Central trains before this morning, and my knowledge of passenger service pre-Superliner-era Amtrak could fit in a thimble.  But here's my interpretation of my findings from about 2 hours of surfing...

The train was (mostly) all Pullman, with coaches being an oddity until the last couple of years of service.  So coaches might be useful as stand-ins for other cars (such as the 18-roomette possibly) or simply to extend the train length in lieu of other options.  But since my goal would be a truncated version, I decided to stick with sleepers.   Here is my consist:

AZL 64616-1 IC EMD E7A & E7B 4005, 4101 A - B Set
AZL 71620-1 ILLINOIS CENTRAL Baggage RAILWAY EXPRESS AGENCY (Heavyweight)
AZL 73920-1 IC Panama Limited Mail ILLINOIS CENTRAL #1831 Lightweight Passenger Car
AZL 73120-1 IC Panama Limited Sleeper 6-6-4 PULLMAN PELICAN STATE Lightweight Passenger Car
AZL 73120-3 IC Panama Limited Sleeper 6-6-4 PULLMAN KING COTTON Lightweight Passenger Car
AZL 73420-2 IC Panama Limited Dome #313 Lightweight Passenger Car
AZL 73520-2 IC Panama Limited Diner VIEUX CARRE Lightweight Passenger Car
AZL 73020-1 IC Panama Limited Sleeper 4-4-2 PULLMAN CHICAGOLAND Lightweight Passenger Car
AZL 73120-2 IC Panama Limited Sleeper 6-6-4 PULLMAN LAND O'STRAWBERRIES Lightweight Passenger Car
AZL 73820-2 IC Panama Limited Observation MEMPHIS Lightweight Passenger Car

The heavyweight baggage car was apparently common and I love how that adds a little contrast.   The dome car wasn't necessarily always in play from what I'm reading, but it just makes for a neat look in a train so it made the cut.   The obligatory diner and observation car round out the train.  I think it would be a good representative train if you're not interested in a 17-18 car consist.

So again, the above is not super-scientific or anything.  I'm not claiming to have any knowledge or experience beyond simply being a model railroader that likes trains.  I just wanted to post this in case there is anyone like me who might be on the fence and needed a "cheat sheet" for building a model railroad-ey Illinois Central passenger train.

I received my Union Oil Tank car 4-pack today. Good looking, nicely detailed and as I remember them on the ATSF & SP around Richmond and Martinez, CA. Holds up well to the prototype images:



And while as I recall the tank cars of this era were clean and well maintained, I can't help but think about doing some "adjustments." In particular, a couple of cars with the stain running down the side like the left-most car above, or even some patch work:



and maybe even adding some service decals such as the Asphalt Service on the car above.