Western railroads had long battled for riders, but the announcement of the new streamlined California Zephyr from Chicago to Oakland caused quite a stir. A joint project of the Burlington, Rio Grande and Western Pacific, each road contributed cars and used its own new diesels along its leg of the trip.

On the Rio Grande, the power pool included two matched sets of A-B-A Alco PAs, shuttling between Denver and Salt Lake City. Delivered in 1947, they first handled the Exposition Flyer, which was replaced by the new Zephyr in 1949. That August the PAs went to the paint shop, exchanging their original black for a much flashier Grande Gold and silver combination to better match the lightweight stainless steel cars - in all, the PAs would eventually wear four different schemes! By the early 1950s, PAs were regularly handling Rio Grande's smaller trains, such as the Mountaineer, Royal Gorge and Yampa Valley Mail, along with the joint MP-DRGW Colorado Eagle and pinch-hitting on the Zephyr until 1960. The PBs were rarely needed on smaller trains and placed in storage. The four PAs ran out their last miles by 1967, with one traded-in on a new SD45.

Many of these trains included lightweight Pullman-Standard cars, acquired as Rio Grande took over production slots from Chesapeake and Ohio cancellations. With adjustments to the original C&O specifications, new lightweight coaches, sleepers and lounges were acquired in the early 1950s.

When the Delaware & Hudson upgraded its New York-Canada service in 1967, it shopped around and found some great deals on Rio Grande's Pullman-built cars. These went on to serve the Laurentian and the overnight Montreal Limited through 1971. In 1974, they were leased by the state of New York for Amtrak's new Adirondack, but kept their D&H colors. Bumped from that job in 1977, they spent their last years in New York commuter service and were retired in the early 1980s.

Features:

• Mix and match passenger cars and locomotives for realistic consists
  
• Prototypically accurate window tinting and printed gaskets as appropriate on passenger cars
  
• Car name and/or number decals as appropriate
  
• Factory-installed grab irons
  
• Turned metal wheelsets
  
• Proto MAX metal knuckle couplers
  
• Newly tooled Arch Roof, original style doors
• Matching Walthers Mainline ALCO PA and PA-PB locmotives available in DCC Ready and DCC w/Sound versions