East Wind Decal Sheet

This set will do 2 complete models in HO Scale.

These decals are Screen Printed.

Below is a brief write up of The East Wind Story and Train Consists by Ross Hall.

The Great Depression of the 1930s took its toll on domestic vacation travel, and the Maine Chamber of Commerce developed a plan for a new train to bring summer vacationers to the northern New England coastal resorts. A consortium of the PRR, NYNH&H, B&M, MEC railroads picked up the idea, pooled their management, motive power and rolling stock, and from 1940 until 1955 (ex. 1943-5) operated the East Wind as a seasonal daily train running between Washington, DC and Bangor, ME. For the first seasons, an exclusive color scheme was used for the cars, all of recent construction or rebuilding.

This Highball Graphics sheet contains the material needed to letter the cars of the 1940 and 1941 East Wind. These decals were prepared directly from photocopies of the actual PRR stencils of its “Futura” font used at that time for its passenger equipment. Based on photos and other archival material, exact numberings can be specified for consists of those two initial years (see below).

Brunswick Green: roofs, lower skirtings, underbodies and trucks. This corresponds to the “locomotive green” specified in the PRR’s painting agreement of 5/30/40. Note: Brunswick green is very dark, almost black, and may appear so in some kinds of lighting.

Aluminum: letters & numbers, window belts & striping: "three 3/4" stripes between aluminum belt and bottom of car to be equally spaced, with ”aluminum paint and aluminum stripes to be stopped at the side of the corner post on the end of the car.” We suggest Floquil Bright Silver.

Yellow : car sides (ex. window belts & stripes) and ends. It is now difficult to determine the precise hue; the PRR's EW press material refers to “canary yellow.” We suggest Model Master #2011 Cadmium Yellow Light. Note: this 3-color pattern was extended to the full-width diaphragms of the PRR P70KR and PLC70R cars.

Black: the oval semi-circle at the the head of the baggage cars and front end & diaphragm. We suggest Engine Black for this.

The decal letters and numbers, plus the yellow "bent arrow" logo on the baggage car, are coded to match the above-suggested colors.

Important: To even out irregularities in height between the various cars, the roof line of the lowest car was carried to all others, likewise, the bottom sill line of the highest car. For the window belt, the same idea: the aluminum extended to one inch above the highest side window, and to one inch below the lowest side window. This gave the appearance of a matched consist. The modeler should therefore ideally assemble the complete set of cars before painting.

The Engine Black letters w/Yellow Stripes underneath and silver numbers 5576-5577 on the decal sheet are applied to the baggage car.

The 1940 consist involved 12 cars, as follows:

2 NYNH&H 5570-5589 Series Baggage Cars

2 NYNH&H 5200 Series "American Flyer" Grill Cars

2 ACL Tavern-Lounge Cars

6 PRR P70KR Coaches

The first two PRR coaches ran with their vestibules (B ends) back-to-back. The final PRR coach ran with its B end at the front. All coaches carried car designating cards EW 1 through EW 3 in the full-sized windows nearest to the B end. Extra coaches carried EW 4 etc. as needed. The last two cars continued from Portland to Bangor on an MEC train, returning for the following day's southbound run.

As the East Wind’s ridership grew during its first season, extra cars were added to the tail as needed, in the following observed sequence: a PRR P70GSR coach, an NH “American Flyer” 10-window coach, a second NH Grill Car, and two additional “American Flyer” 10-window coaches. These were not repainted for the East Wind, but remained in NH #212 Hunter Green and PRR “Fleet of Modernism” Tuscan/Maroon, respectively. One P70GSR has been identified from films as #4324.

Numbers replaced names on the ACL Tavern-Lounge cars of the 1940 consists: 5203 (So. Carolina) and 5204 (No. Carolina). The cars can be kitbashed from Walthers Heavyweight Paired-Window Coaches (modernized) stretched to attain the proper length.

PRR records show that a number of P70KR coaches went to the East Wind in its livery: 4235, 4269, 4271, 4273, 4279-4281, 4286, 4287, 4289, 4290, 4293, 4296, 4306.

The 4 ACL diners were repainted and renamed for seasonal use on the East Wind: “ Fayetteville” > “Washington,” “Fort Myers” > “Bangor,” “Ocala” > “New York” and “Sarasota” > “Portland.” All were 36-seaters, the last three distinguished by 5 small windows on each side of the galley end. The “Washington” is best represented by the (HO) Rivarossi heavyweight diner (see also the forthcoming Walthers heavyweight diner). The PLC70R and one P70KR continued from Portland to Bangor on an MEC train, returning for the following day's southbound run.

Blardone, Charles Jr.: “The East Wind - New England Canary.” In: PRRTHS The Keystone, Vol. 38, No. 4 (Winter 2005), pp. 10-55. (the best overall treatment, with good EW color pix).

Blardone, Charles, Jr., & Tilp, Peter: Pennsylvania Railroad Passenger Car Painting and Lettering. Upper Darby, PA: Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society, 1988. Pp. 112-3

Goolsby, Larry: Atlantic Coast Line Passenger Service: The Postwar Years. Lynchburg, VA: TLC Publishing, 1999. P. 116 has a rare photo of the ACL tavern-lounge car “North Carolina,” used on the 1940 East Wind!

“Memories of the Boston & Maine Railroad, Vol. 5: The films of Dana D. Goodwin”. B&MRRHS, Lowell, MA, 1991 (videotape with numerous EW run-bys).

Reid, Robert H.: “Pennsylvania Railroad P70KR Coach.” In: Rails Northeast, Vol. 9 No. 5 Issue 81 (June, 1981), pp. 22-30.