| The West Berlin Garden Railroad |
| The RDC - Circa 1961 |
| Once again, I jumped at the chance to aquire yet ANOTHER "PRSL" Aristo Craft RDC. With the recent "close-out" price of $129 who could pass it up??? The 2 major mail order houses have now sold out of the PRSL and, I think it'll be a L-O-N-G time before we see them..(RDC-1's) When we do, I'm sure they'll be MANY improvements. But, what was I to do with my 3RD RDC? Hmmmmm! I've already enhanced my last 2 RDC's to represent the M-410 and the M-407, which currently run on the CMSL in Cape May, NJ. What I decided to do was, to re-create the PRSL RDC of the 50's and early 60's. This bash was easy to do and didn't take that long. |
| These 2 photos by John P. Stroup show the RDC's at Camden Yard (left) and M-403 crossing King's Highway (right) in Haddonfield NJ about 40 years ago. What is obvious is that there are no orange & black stripes on the cab ends. Black grills. No pilots. No PRSL hearlds AND no tinted windows. (Shades were the means of sun block in those days) |
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| The "DOWNGRADE" |
Sure...this IS a downgrade. STEP 1. All stripes and hearlds were removed using "DOT 3" auto brake fluid. (See my Doodlebug page for it's use) QUESTION: YO!..why didn't you get an undecorated version??? ANSWER: Because I wanted to maintain the "PENNSYLVANIA - READING SEASHORE LINES" side lettering as on my others. STEP 2. Out line the windows, in pencil, then remove the cab and remove the glue that holds the windows in place. There are 2 plastic window sheets..one is frosted, the other is clear. Once removed use masking tape to create the "shades" on the frosted sheet. (the one with the pencil window tracing) I made my shades uneven and crooked. Place the clear sheet on top of the frosted sheet and slide the two back into the RDC. I didn't replace the cab's back "cardboard" walls as I did to the others but, I did spray it silver and I added an engineer. STEP 3. Re-assemble the RDC. I then changed the number boards to M-403. Added the sand doors and side number plates. I "lightly" weathered the front and back, trucks and wheels (tire wheels replaced with ART-29130), and undercarriage . |
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| MY PRSL M-403 |
| M-403 glides down the rails to Tuckahoe. This RDC is headed to Ocean City on a cloudy fall day.. |
| M-403 returning from the shore, as seen from the Winslow Jct. overpass. |
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