If anyone was following the thread regarding one of the real Blue Comet cars that is existing there was a lot of discussion at the end about the real train and its equipment. It provided the inspiration to dig through my resources and post the information needed for anyone wishing to model this train accurately. My primary source is the book Railpace Published in 1983 called, "The Seashore's Finest Train". I also reference a very rare book titled, "The Central Railroad of New Jersey's First Hundred Years" by Elaine Anderson who started working for the CNJ in 1942 and retired from Conrail in 1978. This book was published by the Center for Canal History and Technology Canal Museum. Finally, Quadrant Presse's publication of the "Motive Power of the Jersey Central" by Mike Eagleson has some good information for modeling the Comet.

To try to keep this as brief as possiblem (which most of you know is not likely), let's just jump in. This is a discussion primarily about equipment and not the history of the train.

The Locomotives:

Five nearly identical Pacific locomotives were built for the CNJ in 1928, before the train was introduced. Three were used in BC service and 831-833 were painted Packard Blue and Royal Blue with a graphite grey smoke box.

There have been several suggestions about the type of Pacific used and I previously posted some inaccurate information myself. Note that there were several names used for these locomotives. The CNJ classified them as G-3s, which suggests the heritage of their control by the Reading as that railroad classified Pacifics as G class as well. However according to the specification prepared by CNJ themselves, they are referred to as class P-47, which I believe refers to Passenger - 46,841 pounds of tractive effort. Meanwhile, Baldwin classified them as Class 12-46-1/4-D, 201. The locomotive had a dimension of 48’11-1/2” from the face of the pilot to the rear of the frame. The tender dimension added 32’6-7/8” from the rear of the locomotive frame to the rear of the coupler. The overall dimension from coupler face to coupler face was 82’1-7/8”.

Other power pulled the Comet as well. G-1 Pacifics were occasionally used in service. As has been noted Atlantic 592 was power on some occasions and is found in photos dated July 17, 1938 doing just that. It is likely that 10 wheelers also were power, but I have no photos to prove that.

The Baggage Cars:

Two baggage cars were used and were named for the comets Olbers and Barnard. These were approximately 70’ in length and utilized standard bearing six wheel trucks. The exact dimensions are listed as 70’9-3/4” over the end plates, 73’10-1/4” to the pulling faces of the couplers and 74’4-1/4” from the face of the buffers. Standard CNJ baggages of the same design were used from time to time as well in CNJ green.

The Combination Cars:

Again two cars, Halley and Eckne, were painted for BC service. These cars were 71’11” to the pulling face of the couplers and 72’2” to the ends of the buffers. Trucks for this car were AAR standard 4 wheel passenger trucks.

The Coaches:

Eight coaches were painted for BC service and include: Tuttle, Holmes, Westphal, D’Arrest, Faye, Spitaler, Winnecke and Brorsen. These cars were built by Bethlehem Ship Building in 1926 and were the last new coaches the CNJ ever purchased. Many CNJ coaches of this design exist today and can be found as far west as Santa Fe, NM in excursion service. They were of the same dimensions as the combines.

The Diner:

There was only one diner made for BC service and was named Giacobini. Originally built in 1905 as a wood café car complete with arched window lites above the rectangular windows, this car was a throwback to the 19th century and even had a truss rod support system on the bottom of the car. It was sheathed in sheet metal on the exterior to give it a more modern appearance. The interior retained the arched windows and they were frosted with star and cloud designs. The trucks were 6 wheel trucks and the over length of the car from buffer to buffer was 83’4-1/2”. This would be a very unique car to model.

The Observations:

Three observation cars were used and include DeVico, Beila and Tempel. Much has been written about these but a few interesting tidbits include the fact that the DeVico was the last open end observation car in regular service in the US. It ran well into 1976 in commuter service to Phillipsburg. During its Blue Comet years, the car did not have reserve seating or an extra fare. This car had the same dimensions and trucks as the Coaches.

Many models have come close in many cases to some of the cars on this train, but an accurate mass produced version has never been created. For those interested in custom work, it would not be hard to convert 18” steel cars to make a very believable train by replacing the trucks with 4 wheel trucks as a start. The diner has always been the hard one to replicate, but a 20” car could be used as a starting point and the truss rods added to the bottom to make the car complete.

Also, the other BC items that can be modeled include the a musical group the “Blue Comet Band”, the various bus connections that were painted in BC livery or highway signs that were posted on CNJ overpasses or along the highway advertising the train.

Finally, I simply close with a poem written by a woman named Margaret Smith of Lakewood.

Throaty and clear through the silent night
Echoes her clarion call,
A flash of blue
With a creamy hue,
The “Glorious Queen” of them all.

She glides along and wheels’ glad song,
Driven by giant strength,
Bridge time and space
With beauteous grace,
A sinuous, tenuous length.

Sometimes we stand as we hear her call
With a wonder akin to awe,
Then a tinkling thrill,
As she rounds the hill,
Make us bow to a Higher Law.

Oh, I hope some day I can ride away
On this beauty so modern rare,
Full time I’ll spend,
At the Ocean’s end
But come home in the Comet’s chair.

You may boast of your rails made of hardened steel
Or your roadbeds so spick and span,
But it’s me for the blue,
With the creamy hue,
Oh, I am a Comet fan.


For a train that only operated for 12 years, it sure made quite an impression While it is out of the era I model, I look forward to the time when I can make this train myself. I'll try to dig up some photos and post them soon for anyone interested.

Excellent, excellent post.

The dimensions are very important. With those now provided folks who own the Lionel or MTH versions can check with their scale rulers to see how close the models are. Maybe someone will do that and let us know.

I may be wrong on it, having sold my Lionel BC, but I don't recall it having two shades of blue on the engine (with the exception of the cab roof). Maybe someone remembers.

It still makes me believe this - out of 350 or something million people in the U.S. you'd think there would be absolutely no trouble for the importers to round up at least 150 or whatever the minimum is to re-create the Blue Comet as a correct scale model. Could they really do a lot better even than 150 customers on this one?

I was going to get MTH's CNJ passenger cars from their most recent catalog, but I need to do more research.

Jonathan,

Super post. My hat is off to you for putting the effort into the research and then sharing it with the rest of us.

Great details! Yes, the G3's were later reclassed P47 so both names are correct dependi g upon the year.

Rob