HARTFORD PRODUCTS, INC.
Quality kits and parts for
#1 (G) Gauge

The long-awaited D&RGW passenger car series is here. The first in the series will be the 38'-4" (body length) coaches of which 64 were produced by Jackson & Sharp of Wilmington, DE between 1880 and 1882. The windows and doors were originally rounded, but were subsequently replaced by the familiar rectangular format. Car 284 from this series, which was used on the "Chili Line", has been beautifully restored by the Colorado Railroad Museum where it is on display. Four of these cars were also produced for the White Pass & Yukon Railroad, where -- after much rebuilding -- they are still in active service.

This kit is a model of the series of three cars built by Barney & Smith in 1879 originally as coaches; three were soon rebuilt as combines, numbered 215-217. Number 215 led an interesting life, having a cupola added in the 1940s but was rebuilt with metal sides and is now serving as a concession car on the Durango and Silverton. Its current number is 212, but that's a different story.

Imagine the Barnhart at work on your pike or as a display on your mantelpiece. This versatile machine served not only as a log loader, but as a yard and maintenance-of-way derrick. The model is exquisitely detailed, producing a truly awesome, museum quality masterpiece. Model development closely paralleled the restoration of a prototype at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum.

Little is known about the history of this truly unique derrick car built by Billmeyer & Smalls in the late Nineteenth Century. The only historical record we have is a line drawing from a Billmeyer & Smalls catalog, a sheet of which is reproduced in Narrow Gauge Railroads in America. The car was produced for the Mexican National Construction Co. (a subsidiary of the Denver & Rio Grande) and it is possible that the D&RG also purchased some of these derrick cars for light yard maintenance work. HARTFORD PRODUCTS will greatly appreciate hearing from anyone who has more complete information and/or photographs of this car.