Modeling Pennsylvania Railroad N5

Modeling Pennsylvania Railroad
N5-N5c Cabin Cars in the 1940’s
By Matthew Hurst
Modeling the PRR’s N5 through N5c class cabin cars in the 1940’s can be challenging
at times when you consider that at this period in time most photographers were
training their cameras on steam as it made its last stand against the diesel onslaught.
We are fortunate that our founding members of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical
and Historical Society sought to preserve photographs, correspondences, and most
importantly the engineering drawings from Altoona. With this information, we can
now model these cars more accurately.
N5
As built (circa 1952)
The PRR’s most recognized and modeled cabin car. Built 1914-1918, these cars were
pretty much unchanged until the 1940’s when most of the class was rebuilt with crash
beams. Some though, like 477365 (above), kept their as built end arrangement. These
cars have been produced by most manufactures of brass in multiple scales, as well as
plastic manufactures, (mostly in HO and N scales). The REA variation shown below is the
most elusive car to model. This variation was featured in The Keystone summer 1996,
with a large amount of data on this conversion.
Passenger/REA service
N5b
If the PRR’s N5 may be the most modeled cabin car, then the N5b is the most under modeled cabin car. Built in 1941, they were almost an exact copy of the N5. The differences
included: relocated smoke jack closer to the cupola, side and end grabs that extended to
the belt rail, a relocated toilet, Alan Wood steel roof walks and a re-orientated AB brake
system. A latter addition to a sizable amount of the N5b fleet was the Inductive Trainphone system.
N5c
The PRR’s N5c was the first real deviation from the original design of the N5. With its
porthole windows and streamlined cupola, it was the look of something modern on the
PRR. Built in 1942, only one year after the N5b s were completed, the N5c retained a lot
of features of the N5b, but added a fully enclosed cupola with inside mounted sliding windows and hinged roof facing windows. This feature designed to keep more of the element
out. This class was mostly seen with the Trainphone system attached.
Air Reservoir
Brake Cylinder
Toilet chute
Triple Valve
On N5 class (toilet chute opposite air reservoir)
Under frame and AB brake arrangement N5 - N5c
Inductive Trainphone components crucial for models
Conduit lines and clamps
Antenna masts
Conduit line to Receiving coils
(Note: Alan Wood Steel Roof walks used on N5b and N5c)
Battery box
Electrical plug-in
Generator
Receiving coils
Detail variations - N5 and N5b
(Left) Window sashes
scratch built
from .020x.010 styrene
with wing windows
(Detail Assoc.)
(Above Left)
N5 bathroom vent location
(Above Right)
N5 (w/Trainphone) and N5b bathroom
vent location
(Left) N5 with
original style side
and end grabs.
(Right) N5b with
grabs that extend
to belt rail.