1/126 "Convairail" 8-8-8 propliner

Gallery Article by Bri2k on Jan 10 2010

Silly Week 2010

 

The Pennsylvania and New York Central rail roads merged in 1968 and the new entity was called the Penn Central rail road. Soon after, it was decided that to remain competitive, the Penn Central had to launch its own commuter/feeder airline. A short to mid-range aircraft was needed that could make use of the runways at smaller airports. Convair came to the rescue by offering it's new Convairail 888 which was the old 880 model with beefed up landing gear and flaps and its four jets replaced by two 5500 h.p. Pratt & Whitney R 5500 engines. The new engines gave the Convairail 888 very economical performance and they could be put in reverse which, when coupled with the modified flaps, provided excellent short-field capability.

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The new Convairail 888 (dubbed the "8-8-8" in railroad fashion by Penn Central crews) went into service on the Sharon to Pittsburgh and Elmira to Buffalo run in November, 1969. Business travellers appreciated the speed with which they were able to travel from small hamlets along the Penn Central line to major eastern cities.

Unfortunately, nothing could keep most railroads viable and the Penn Central folded in 1976, its passenger service being taken over by AmTrak. The Convairail 8-8-8s were retired except for three which were used by AmTrak commissioners. The last 8-8-8 was sent to the scrap heap in 1979 after having been bought at auction by the Buffalo Springfield and flown on their North American tour. The only remnant of that once graceful aircraft is this travel agent's desk model found at the Saratoga Springs Summer Swap Meet and Buffalo Wing festival.

The basis for this project was the ancient box-scale Glencoe Convair 880. I replaced the kit's four jet engines with two piston engines made from spare parts. The cockpit "glass" was made using Elmer's Glue and the passenger windows and the rest of the model were brush-painted by hand with acrylics. The Penn Central decals are from an N scale sheet from Microscale. If you look close, you can see boxcar weight tables and electric access panels. The shot at the bottom was a bit of photoshopping done for me by a good friend.

Bri2k

Photos and text © by Bri2k