I’m starting planning my Christmas layout for 2010 (already), and will be running On30 and HO on the layout (not at the same time). I’ve got lots of On30 Christmas cars, but have only found on Google that ConCor makes HO cars (and I wasn’t too impressed with them). Does anyone know of any other manufacturer that makes Christmas-themed HO cars (freight/passenger, doesn’t matter)?
I checked the Walthers website, it looks like right now only a Kadee HO freight car is available in Xmas decoration, though there are a couple from previous years that you might find online or at a flea market:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/380-6911
Bachmann makes/made a boxcar, but it’s currently out of stock though…
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/160-17040
There probably are Xmas cars from previous years out there somewhere. It seems like fantasy / theme cars aren’t as popular in HO as other scales (particulary On30 and O three-rail), and those that are out there are often done about or for a particular company, like John Deere or Harley-Davidson and such.
Show Me Model Railroad Company in Grandview (Kansas City) Missouri produces a new Christmas car every year. Quality of decoration is excellent. Here’s a link to the web site where you can see a photo of this year’s offering:
They might even have some stock left from previous years.
Intermountain and Athearn (RTR) both released “Santa for Safety” Santa Fe cabooses (yes, there was a prototype). The detail on the Intermountain is much nicer than the Athearn car, but you pay a premium for that. I think I paid almost 50 bucks for the Intermountain. The Athearn cars can be had for less than $20 bucks, and don’t have the delicate details of the Intermountain car, so would probably be a better choice for a Christmas layout. Plus the Athearn cars have the simulated brick chimney on the stack, whereas the IM caboose doesn’t.