The 30 Parlor and Parlor-Lounge cars were part of a large order of lightweight passenger cars placed with Pullman-Standard in December 1945. This was designed to modernize New Haven’s worn out fleet and attact customers back to the rails after the end of WWII. The order included a variety of car styles, including 103 coaches, 25 parlor cars, 5 parlor-lounge cars, diners, grill diners, combination baggage buffet lounge/parlors, and two tavern lounge observation cars. These were produced in the old Osgood Bradley factory in Worcester, MA, so they bear more than a passing resemblance to the Osgood Bradley Lightweights delivered in the 1930s.

The New Haven’s stainless cars were not built entirely from stainless steel like the cars produced by Budd in Philadelphia. Instead, they were constructed from Cor-Ten steel and sheathed with stainless steel fluting panels. The New Haven touted the cars as “the newest of the new in coach equipment – gleaming stainless steel on the outside, the last word in attractive decoration and design on the inside.”

Notably the 25 36-seat parlor cars (numbered in the 300-series) were given names of towns and cities served by the New Haven, while the five 400-series parlor-lounge cars (26-seat parlor/14-seat smoking lounge) were initially named after local rivers.

Like the Rapido  8600 cars, the Parlor and Parlor-Lounges will be available fitted with original side skirts or in later de-skirted condition. The interior will correctly replicate the differences between the two car types and extra seats are included to make as-delivered cars with extra seat row.

On the merger with the Penn Central in 1969 the cars transferred to the new North East railroad with many moving to Amtrak on its formation in 1971.

The new Rapido HO Scale model of the New Haven Parlor car is being produced in association with the New Haven Railroad Historical & Technical Association (NHRHTA).

Features:

• Accurately designed from original blueprints
• Correct tubular cross section
• Accurate Pullman-Standard stainless steel fluting profile
• Rapido’s renowned stainless steel finish
• Partial skirting or no skirting as appropriate
• Full and correct interior details for both versions
• Track-powered constant lighting for DC and DCC
• Full underbody details
• Operating diaphragms with end gates
• Separate grab irons, factory-installed
• 41-BNO-11 trucks with blackened metal wheels
• 22” minimum radius (18” radius with modification)
• Macdonald-Cartier metal magnetic knuckle couplers
• Many car names plus un-named per paint scheme
• Extra seats included to make as-delivered cars with extra seat row
• Unnamed models include car name decals and optional name boards