Modeling the Santa Fe's

STEAM EJECTOR AIR CONDITIONING

By Jay H. Miller

Transcribed for the web by Rick Duncan

from First Quarter 1987 Warbonnet

Click on the thumbnail picture for a larger view

Thumbnail	Description All photos by the author unless noted.
	Close cropping of a 1958 shot of the Grand Canyon at Trinidad, Colorado showing rich roof hatch detail on these chair cars. Note that the air duct, for some reason, is on the opposite side on chair car 1170. This may be a class difference between it and the 3000 series at the right. [Photo by R.S. Plummer from Bassett Collection.]
	These Walthers passenger car kits (t. to b. lounge, diner, chair) have been fitted with polyester resin castings as described in the text. Note how the roof texture is enhanced by masking tape strips.
	Side view of cars showing the new underbody details (t. to b. diner, lounge, chair). Battery boxes are stock Walthers parts and brake details are Cal-Scale. Placement of details is greatly aided by prototype photos.
	Roof hatch detail on San Bartolo (ex 1363 a lounge/dorm) at Fair Park in Dallas. Note air duct on right. Both a/c and refrigeration hatches on end of car. There is a slight variation between the a/c hatch on this car and 3231 to the right.
	Close-up of hatch detail on parlor-club 3231 at Fair Park in Dallas. The shutters for the air outlet dampers (see Figure 1) are clearly detailed. Object ahead of the a/c unit is an induction radio antenna. This car was converted in 1935 from a parlor/observation.
	Valve closet and make-up water tank assembly on San Bartolo. Unit is on the same side as the air duct. Battery box to far left. Upon opening the doors, I found them to have several large valves and little else. Apparently the liberal use of sheet metal was popular in the mechanical department.
	Variation of the valve closet on 3231 is also on the same side of the car as the air duct and the battery box. Box at right was sometimes separated from unit at left on diners and lounges. Arc welder had taken root and could not be moved and obviously is not a part of system!
	Note the air conditioning duct located in the center of chair car 3001. There's a prototype for everything. [Photo by Joe Shine.]
	Close-up of the intake ducts on my chair car model. Walthers box vents have been filed to shape. Round styrene tube was used at right.
	Pattern, RTV mold and the castings made with Castolite products. With one pour I can make all parts for one car plus a new water tank.
	A carbide end-mill on the Unimat is used to mill out the Walthers roofs to accommodate the flat bottomed castings. I cut as far down in the roof as I could. Note the dogs to hold the roof.
	A 16 section tourist Pullman equipped with steam ejector air conditioning in Scout service, November of 1941 in Nelson, AZ. These cars had ducts on both sides of the car as there was no passageway on "section" cars. See how the water tank separates the valve closet parts in this photo. [Photo by Ingersoll from Gordon Bassett Collection.]

Return to the steam ejector photo article text.