Need help Identifying a caboose

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi,
At a rummage sale today I picked up two HO train cars for 10 cents =) I’m not sure who made them, and through searches on ebay was unable to find anything like them (well the caboose at least). So the first one is a caboose. It has both bay windows and a copula. Its shorter than the athearn cabooses… I would guess at around 32’. The shell is made of yellow plastic and decorated in blue point for C&O. The trucks and couplers are held to the underarm with friction pins. It has metal wire hand rails on the ends too.
The second car is a two bay hopper. The truck and couplers are held in exactly the same as the caboose. Its rather similar looking to Life-Like’s cheep two bay hopper they pack with their train sets. It’s made of red plastic and lettered for Santa Fe.
Sorry I don’t have photos up yet. I’ll take some later today and post them here just cause these (well the caboose really) are interesting. Dose anyone know who made these? When are they from? The look relatively old. Also is there a prototype for the caboose? And if so who ran them.

Edit:
Heres a photo

Thanks,
~matt

2

I’m wondering if those are older MARX pieces. The caboose is rather neat although I don’t think there’s any actual prototype for it. I’ve never heard of a combination bay window and cupola caboose.

3

I had a caboose just like that one, purchase new at Caldors, in the later 1960’s. It came in an ATT brand box. There is no prototype for it. The cupola is similar to some Wabash cabooses.

4

The caboose looks and sounds like an old Tyco caboose. Tyco used the friction pins for the trucks and also liked truck mounted couplers. Is there any Mfgr name cast into any of the underframe?

5

The caboose is definitely Marx. If you bought one in an ATT box somebody put it there. The hopper I do not recognize but in all likelyhood also Marx

6

Huh. It looks very simual to the marx cabooses, except i cant find one with a cupula on it. But the build looks exactlay the same. they both have no markings on them, which is weird if they are marx, cause all the marx stuff i’ve alwasy seen has their name on the bottom or side. ohh well i’ll poke around on ebay later when ihave more time. just for fun what ever became of marx’s line of HO trains? Did they get sold off to another company like many have, or did they jsut compleatly disapear?
Thanks for all the help so far,
~matt