I am hoping if you could give me some ideas on a caboose. I got back into the hobby when I retrieved my post-war Lionel trains from my parents attic over Christmas. I like the look of post-war, however I also like the features that are available on new items. I am planning to buy a Williams Golden Memories series diesel this summer.
I have an original 6464 box car but prefer the heft and features of the newer 6565 heavies (same size as 6464 but with a die-cast frame and die-cast metal sprung trucks). I now have 10 of the 6565s and love them.
I am looking for a caboose that has some heft and is lighted. Do you know of a caboose that fits into this category? Many of the cabooses I have looked at are “scale O” which I am trying to avoid. I want to stay with the look of my traditional toy trains.
[#welcome]
Hello Todd,
You might concider using one of the MTH Railking cabooses’ or cabeese. In my opinion they’re well made and nicely detailed. There size fits well with semi-scale and not badly with scale cars.
Best to Ya,
Dave
if you want to saty post war - the Lionel 2457 is a pretty good one. It is tin plate and has some heft. They are red with black window frames and celluloid windows.
You could also consider the 6517 Bay Window caboose. They are longer and heavier than either the SP or PRR type cabeese. As far as I know none or the original post war items had cast frames, though.
Todd, I’d echo what Tony says - in fact, if you’re planning on buying a Wiliams engine, they have a ‘club’ that allows you to get that portholed caboose in one of a blizzard of liveries for $25 - then you get their catalogs, etc. Personally, I love the look of one of those blue Lionel Lines bay window cabooses.
Thanks everyone for the nice replies - I will definitely look into your recommendations. Williams seems to have an excellent reputation and I could get a free caboose if I joined the club.
I also like the MTH Railking line and see that they have a bunch of die-cast stuff. I hear that K-Line made some die-cast rolling stock. Aside for the “heft”, is there any advantages to die-cast? How about disadvantages? I was thinking a scratch would be much more noticable on a die-cast car than on plastic.