Aristo Streamline Observation
I have an Aristo Santa Fe streamline observation car that I have
been wanting to upgrade since the day I bought it. These cars are made
out of extruded aluminum and are good representations of the cars built
by Budd. If your railroad did not run ribbed side passenger cars, take
heart, they are coming out with smooth side cars this year.
I have already improved the spacing between these cars by cutting
7/8" off the coupler mounting arm, and adding Kadee couplers. At this
distance, the diaphragms touch when backing, but clear each other when
going through "S' curves.
I wanted a more realistic look to the observation car as far as
lighting was concerned. My first step was to make the side marker
lenses red instead of clear. I used Testors candy apple red paint
which is a transparent red and painted each lens. I kept coating the
lenses until I achieved the shade of red that I wanted.
The top light on many of these observation cars was actually a
rotating Mars light that showed white while running, and was changed to
red or turned off when the train was stopped. In surfing the internet,
I found a company called RAM Products that makes a variety of lighting
and sound systems for model airplanes and trains. I ordered a RAM57
Mars light, and a RAM59 9 Volt track power supply. While I was at it, I
ordered a lighted drumhead for the Santa Fe Chief from Walthers.
The Aristo observation was difficult to open up. I removed the two
screws on the bottom that hold the rear piece in place, and could not
get the part to budge. I finally worked it loose, and found that Aristo
had used about one ounce of silicone glue to hold the wires in place and
of course they glued the rear piece to the shell. I used an x-acto
knife to cut this glue, being careful not to cut the wires. I have
since found that all Aristo streamline cars have their ends glued along
with being attached with screws. Since this makes it difficult to
change burned out bulbs, Lewis Polk has said that the gluing will be
eliminated on future production runs. The wires run to the marker
lights and top light on this car, and were too short to allow me access
to the interior. I wound up labeling each wire and cutting it to
completely remove the rear of the car. Once removed, I cracked the bulb
in the top light and removed it which was tough again due to a large
quantity of glue. I then smoothed out the back of the light case with a
Dremmel, and scraped off all the old glue.
The RAM57 Mars light is a compact well built pc board which includes
a screw to adjust the rate of flash, and a 9V battery snap connector. I
cut off this connector since I was going to use their 9V track power
module. The RAM59 9V track power module is also compact, and has a heat
sink attached to it. It comes with screw terminals, and both units come
with excellent instructions. I mounted the RAM59 track power unit to
the floor of the car with hot glue. I then ran wires to the power
pickup leads on the rear truck.