Steam Locomotive Questions

I am about to start my first project in HO scale. I want to build a display model for a good friend. He is very interested in 1:1 scale railroading, particularly the western railroads in the 1920's and 30's. I am thinking of a steam locomotive, tender, and a Pullman car, which I would like to finish as his own, private car. I have a picture of a Union Pacific 4-8-2 pulling the Los Angles Limited in 1929. The cars are all Pullmans, so I thought this would be a good starting place.

Although I am new to scale railroad subjects, I am an experienced scale modeler, particularly ships and aircraft. I have an airbrush, am quite familiar with weathering techniques, am comfortable with after market details and photoetch, etc. I can make my own decals. But I need help figuring out what to buy to start with both in terms of the locomotive and car as well as any after market details. At my local hobby shop, I have found a 4-8-2 by Spectrum, unlettered, for about $250. The Walthers catalog does not list any 4-8-2's that I can see. Are there any good on-line places to buy this locomotive, perhaps less expensively, or should I take this "bird in the hand"?

The Walthers catalog does seem to have some Pullman cars, unlettered and in "Pullman Green". How do I tell which of these is appropriate for 1929?

Are there any good on-line places to look for more references, particularly photographs?

What else should I know about before I start? Right now I am at the place where I don't really know what I don't know.

Jim Kloek

 

Jim - I'm sure you will get some good advice here, there are some very knowledgeable model railroaders that frequent this board. For my own part, I would say Google will be a good friend starting out. There is a wealth of info out there if you are patient and persistent - so much that it may overwhelm you if you don't know exactly what you're looking for. You are a big steep ahead of the game with your modeling experience but even so, there are many things peculiar to this craft that will be a learning experience.
So many questions you will need to answer before you start - and I almost guarantee you that once you finish your layout there will be so many things that you will wish you had done differently, just from the experience you gain putting it together.
Good luck with your project.

 

look online $250 is msrp price you should be able to get it for about $120 maybe $100. Try ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤.com and ********.com. Just my .02
-Art