WHEN ONLY THE FINEST IN HO SCALE WILL DO
Spdaylight.com is proud to offer the finest scale model brands: “Class 5” signals and “Limited Editions” passenger cars and parts. We also carry an extensive library of railroad and drag racing photographs shot in the 70’s!
Spdaylight.com was born out of a passion for prototype railroad modeling. This unique online store and resource blog is the result of many years of research and the efforts of many dedicated individuals over several decades. We are confident that you will find our products and resources very valuable if you intend to create your next masterpiece module, detail your layout or build that passenger train you always wanted to.
We are always looking for ways to improve our products, services and the website. Please feel free to send us an email with your feedback and comments; or just to say hello!
About Class 5
We believe Class 5 signals are the most accurate scale models of currently offered Union Switch and Signal H-2 and H-5 railroad signals in HO scale. This line of products was produced about 15 years ago by Mr. Gary Boswell and we have “taken the baton” so to say, to allow Gary to work on his special train layout. 🙂 Recently, a tri-color LED lighting module has been designed and developed that allows the signal to be lit and change color and show the correct signal “aspect” depending on the location of the train on your model railroad. To the railroad engineer, “aspect” is defined as the color seen when looking at the signal, in our case, red, yellow or green (such as BLOCK SIGNAL GREEN). “Indication” is defined as the meaning of the aspect, in the case of a “GREEN” aspect the indication is to PROCEED past the signal at the prescribed speed for that train and railroad location (defined in the railroad timetable for that “division” of the railroad).
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Gary’s legacy are these superb “foreground” replicas of Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, and many other railroad’s signals. These specific signals governed train movements over many of the mainlines of the great railroads throughout the United States during the heyday of the passenger train. They allowed safe passage and protected all of the passengers that traveled the great “name trains” of day when the railroads were the primary means of getting from one city to another in comfort, safety and in many cases, luxury!
At the time of development of the signal lighting kits, we utilized the smallest tri-color red/yellow/green LED available in the world to fit into our existing class 5 signals. The signals are referred to as “Multi-kits” in that several different prototype signal configurations can be produced using a particular model kit. We offer single head or multiple head signals depending on your needs. The LED lighting system is not included in the signal kits and must be purchased separately, one lighting system kit for each signal head. In the near future we will be offering a fiber optic lighting system for those who may prefer that method of lighting their signals. In all cases the signals must be controlled by a model railroad signal system that detects the location of trains and provides the correct aspects for the signals. We are developing a simple Automatic Block System (ABS) module that will perform these functions for a basic signal system installation. There are also many other currently available track detection and signal control systems on the market, all will work with our signals.
Our future releases include dwarf and signal bridge mounted signals for the SP, Santa Fe and the Union Pacific railroads. We are working with the historical societies of other railroads that used these types of signals to provide accurate, prototypical configurations for these signals. Our kits feature scale drawings of the signals (based on actual railroad signal engineering drawings for each railroad) to help the prototype HO modeler reproduce an exact replica of a particular signal for his or her layout.
About Limited Editions
Limited Editions is a line of scale model passenger cars developed by Bill Anderson in the late 1970’s. Bill was a walking encyclopedia on the real passenger cars and wanted to create a line of models that would allow the building of an entire train, not just a car or two. Bill was also interested in state of the art manufacturing processes and adopted aluminum extrusions cut through metal dies as his mean of modeling the cars. In addition, Bill took advantage of the fact that most of the lightweight passenger cars share a common roof, letterboard and sides. The part that varied from car to car was the window strip or “pier panels”. Bill’s favorite train was the Southern Pacific Daylight, a Los Angeles to San Francisco “lightweight” train that the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) developed with the Pullman Standard passenger car building Company. This train, and the Sunbeam (Dallas to Houston, Texas) were the first new lightweight SP “daytime” passenger trains that were launched in March and September 1937. So with the modular window strip approach, all of the cars of the Daylights could be modeled using essentially the same aluminum roof and lower body extrusions.
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Bill eventually modeled other passenger trains besides the SP Daylights to include the Santa Fe Chief and Super Chief, the Rock Island’s Rocky Mountain Rocket, and the Southern Railroad’s Southerner and Tennessean lightweight trains. The Pullman Standard cars in these trains shared the same corrugated (“fluted”) sides and letterboards, differing only in the “pier panel” strips. The plastic pier panels Bill developed were screen printed and offered the first correct “flush” window mounting of the Daylight cars ever produced. The remainder of the parts in the kits were injection molded plastic parts comprising the ends and doors. Within a short period of time Bill offered additional injection molded parts to model the roof vents and fresh air intakes, radio antenna supports and underbody structural members (including truck bolsters). To complete the cars, Bill produced an extensive series of resin detail parts named “Kit Mates “, which allowed the modeler to complete the mechanical and electrical equipment on the underbody of the model.
Unfortunately, Bill Anderson passed away in 2002. Paul purchased most of the remaining assets of Limited Editions from Bill’s widow in 2005. Paul has always believed that the Limited Editions modular concept was the best way to be able to build an entire passenger train. There is a good inventory of original stock Limited Editions cars still available for the Daylight trains and other identical cars produced for Southern Pacific passenger trains such as the City of San Francisco, the Challenger and other famous trains. These kits are now available. The Kit Mates line of detail parts will be released shortly with updated patterns and pressure molded castings made of the latest urethane plastic. Keep an eye on our website for updates on Limited Editions cars and parts availability.
About Photos By Paul
If you are visiting our website you (or someone you know) have an interest in railroads or drag racing. We welcome your interest in the collection of images we have compiled and hope you can find a photograph that you would enjoy to have printed and displayed in your home or office.
Our goal is to provide you with the finest quality photographic enlargements possible. Quality control has been exercised throughout the photographic process from exposure to final printing. As described below, we have preserved the original film negative color dye images to the best extent possible.
Most of the railroad scenic photographic locations were selected by researching topographic maps and timetables and by physically “working the line” prior to making the exposures. Our objective was to capture the essence and the art of classic railroad publicity photos of the 1940’s and 1950’s.
The drag racing photos document an exciting time in automotive racing when a family team could end up side by side with Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, the “Chi-Town Hustler” or Raymond Beadle of the legendary “Blue Max” funny car team. The days and nights at Orange County International Raceway are some of the fondest memories of a great time to be a drag racing fan in Southern California.
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The vast majority of the original negatives are 6×7 cm (2-1/4” x 2-3/4”) exposed through either a Mamiya RB67 or Pentax 6×7. I started out with the Mamiya medium format system using the 127mm lens as a primary standard lens with the 250mm for telephoto. The size and weight of the camera required the use of a tripod. 6×7 is regarded as an “ideal format” as the ratio of the height to width of the negative better matches popular photographic paper size ratios than 35mm or 6x6cm. The larger, better proportioned negative also allows for a smaller degree of enlargement, resulting in sharper printed images with less apparent grain when printed.
Although the RB67 is a fine studio camera the shutter of the Pentax 6×7 freezes action in the field better than the RB. I started using the Pentax with the 105mm or 90mm as standard lens with the 200mm as telephoto. In later years I used very little telephoto as I felt that these lenses created a “tunnel vision” effect, particularly on scenics. On the other hand, most of the “cross track” auto racing photos were taken using a telephoto lens.
All of the color negatives have been desiccated and frozen in foil pouches for dye image stabilization, and have been specially stored for the purpose of creating custom color enlargements. For the most part the scenics depict clear and colorful weather, devoid of smoggy, diffuse or hazy lighting. All negatives attempt to capture the human eye’s potential for color, contrast and perspective.
Only a portion of the collection is presented at this time. We will continue to add new negatives in all categories if there is an appropriate level of interest.
The photographs are currently offered in enlargement print sizes of 8×10 and 11×17 sizes. Eventually we will offer 11×14, 13×19 and 13×39 panoramic (panoramic on select negatives only). Enlargements are printed on premium gloss photographic paper, perfect for framing purposes. Custom print sizes or paper surfaces are available on a special order basis, please inquire regarding pricing and turnaround time. With an appropriate level of interest in the collection we plan to offer 20” and 24” wide color and black and white enlargements on a routine basis.
Thank you again for your interest in the collection. We hope that you enjoy your visit!