Just a word on what I've ended up with. I found this online up for auction and the more I looked at it the more I liked. It's a Trek 750 Multitrack and it's a complete bike so other than changing brake pads, tires, and my on all bikes bike saddle and cleaning/servicing of parts it's ready to ride (may want to change to a drop bar as this will be primarily a road bike). So what were the likes? It appears to be in good condition, all Chrome-molly frame/fork with lugged frame, not the lightest but not the heaviest at around 25lbs per catalog, pannier brazeons in the fork tube, two sets of water bottles brazeons and a true Swiss Army knife of a bike. I've got a spare pair of fenders I hope will fit and a set of 32mm tires. When I get it all set up and have a ride or two I'll post the build and what it was like. No, didn't get to 650B size wheels, these are 700c, but it came spec'ed with 38mm tires which would be wider than anything I've ridden since my balloon tire Schwinn Corvette 3-speed 5 decades ago.
So thanks for your thoughts and encouragement, looking forward to the ride.