Does anyone understand why these are as scarce as hen’s teeth? I have a few Walthers and a few Atlas Trainman from years ago, and the latter currently on Adv Res at Walthers but am curious whether it is a China manufacturing issue, or a trademark dispute or something else? Anyone have an educated guess as to when these will ever return to the marketplace?
It’s actually pretty easy to kitbash/semi-scratchbuild your own NYC wood cabooses; I’ve done several. So I don’t bother even looking around for the Trix or Wright Track models.
Free yourself from the box! Scratchbuild!!!
like many railroads, the NYC had many versions of their cabooses. Seems to me that I saw a version of an NYC caboose on the Bowser website recently. I do know that many times, there will be a livery for the roadname you want but the body style/window configuration are not prototypically correct. I run into that problem with the Erie-Erie Lackawanna cabooses that I have seen and even purchased, only to find out that it is not prototypically correct when I have gotten home with them. And, as has been mentioned, you can kitbash or scratchbuild the prototypically correct version. I’ve done some of that for a certain style of EL caboose that, the only prototypically correct version is a brass import that comes with a price tag of a half way decent locomotive - - I’d rather spend $20-$30 on a finely detailed scratchbuilt product than $160 on a brass version of the same model - - it’s more fun anyway!
You can find the Trix one once in a while online. Sometimes a shop that specializes in European made trains will have one.
The most common NYC wood caboose is sorta like the MDC/Roundhouse three-window caboose now made by Athearn. I think Athearn has offered their bay-window caboose decorated for NYC, NYC did have some in the fifties and sixties.
I recently was trying to locate a NYC caboose and had a hard time…I found F & C had a USRA wood caboose with NYC heralds http://www.fandckits.com/ Just go to "HO’ and then “caboose”. I ended up getting a bay window caboose from another line and using the dry transfer decals from Clover House to renumber/reletter. It needs some paint and weathering to be finished but is useable now. If you go the scratchbuild or even modification route there are some examples here: http://www.google.com/search?q=New+York+Central+caboose&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=e5X6TraSAcPWtgeVv63QBg&ved=0CD0QsAQ&biw=1231&bih=699
If you could just go out and buy it everybody would have one! Bob
I am going to assume you are refering to the NYC 19XXX series caboose, of several different lot numbers. They have the low, narrow coupelo (spelling I can never get that one correct!) due to tight clearances. The ladder to the roof is on the right side as you are looking at the caboose, as well as the presence roof mats and queen posts. Those are pretty unique cabooses, and probably not of much interest to anybody except those who model the NYC system. Considering I model in HO I offer the following. I have several including one of the TRIX offering, several wood craftsman kits and some brass ones as well. I still needed a few more so I bought Walthers three window wood cabosses, lowered and narrowed the cupoela (there is that word again!) relocated the ladder to the roof and scratch built new end railings and roof mats. I also added queen posts, as the originals had them. About as much work as bulding a craftsman wood kit, but even those wood kits are getting hard to locate. All that just to say about the only way to get one is to either scratchbuild or kitbash your way into the model you want.
NYC did have some more standard cabooses but not many relatively speaking. You could take about any wood caboose, narrow and shorten the part on top with the windows and add roof mats, and leave it go at that, and most people would find that an acceptable substitute. Walthers makes some very close models other that the exceptions mentioned above. Kadee now makes some fine leaf spring caboose trucks now, and that is what I put on all my cabooses.
Paul
Dayton and Mad river RR
FWIW, Paul, proper spelling would be “cupola”. No wurry. Serton werds tripp mee up, two. [:D]
Tom
Please, don’t foist foobies on unsuspecting modelers. The Athearn Bay-Window caboose is an SP prototype and nowhere close to the NYC Bay Window Caboose.
The Walther’s Baywindow Caboose is a lot closer to and NYC Caboose and at least has the right kind of Bay-Window in the undecorated kit.
Also Wright-Trak makes a resin kit of the NYC Caboose that is absolutely correct.
Rick J
Actually, that depends on your ailments. I am an MMR, have been a model railroader since teen years, am 75 and have arthritis. Just enough that my fingers don’t do the things they used to do. Scratchbuild is a word, but for people like me, who used to do so, it isn’t possible or easy nowadays. So when you say “pretty easy” remember that for many of us, that is no longer a phrase in our vocabulary.
Bob Miller, MMR138.
Walthers did offer their bay window caboose kit that was in the Century (NEE Jade) Green, and they did have the short bay, but they had incorrect body length, truck spacing windows, they were just all wrong. They still look better than the Athearn with the full height bay. They are also now unavailable from Walthers. I have two of those that I attacked with a razor saw, and changed into an acceptable NYC caboose. The steps are very wrong on the model, but with creative shaping they even look resonable.
Just for the record I letter and number my creative NYC style cabooses for the Dayton and Mad River RR with the oval herald, which exists wholey in my garage. It is a fictional sub of the NYC, and the numbers used are as if they are in the lot number that they most resemble, but they are numbers the NYC and its subs did not use.
Paul
They are probably misspellings, but I did not have to use that word I can’t spell in this post[:)]
A NYC wood caboose has been announced by True Line Trains.
I know I’ll be ordering a couple of those. Still need to start working on Waterlevel Model kits…
Tom
Yeah, I’m definitely interested in this True Line model as well. It seems that the only prototype NYC caboose offered is the Trix, and I remember that not even being as correct as was expected (especially for the price).
I’ve never seen one of them either, and they only seem to sporadically show up here and there.
I discovered this a few years ago. My son had a NYC locomotive at the train show so I thought it would be easy to just walk around and find a vendor with an NYC caboose. I couldn’t even find a non-prototypical caboose painted in NYC. I finally ended up with an Atlas P&LE that at least had a NYC oval on it.
After the show I did some research and discovered NYC caboose were fairly unique. But since NYC is such a large railroad I did still wonder why more manufactures haven’t made any. I would think NYC has a huge model following.
Paul,I agree with your assessment but,will add that as is its a reasonable stand in that is closer then the Athearn SP side bay…
I DID TOO, WENT TO THE BIG TRAIN SHOW AT DENVER MERCHANDISE MART LAST MONTH AND SAW NOT ONE nyc CABOOSE but did find a nice PA1 A&B in lightning stripes.
Caboose Hobbies in Denver has none and that is a bigtime model train store, apparently no manufacturer is offering any NYC caboose at this time.
True Line Trains will be releasing a 19000-series wood caboose in a few NYC roads (NYC, P&LE, and PMcK&Y - as well as Rutland) later in the year. And it should be fairly accurate, too.
Tom
It took me a few years to get a Trix NYC caboose. They do turn up on ebay now and then. I thought Micro Trains was going to do a run of them. For now though, just keep watching ebay, and prepare to drop some cash. In my case it was 90 bucks!
-Stan
Or, save your simoleons and wait till the True Line Trains version somes out later this year. At the price those Trix cabooses go for on eBay, you can get two (2) of the True Line Trains and they’ll be more accurate.
Also, American Model Builders (AMB) just released a laser-kit version of the NYC 19000-series caboose. From the description AMB seems to allow for a number of renditions in the same kit. You’ll still need trucks, couplers, draft gear boxes, screws, and paint it. They don’t mention if they provide the decals or not.
Tom
It was True Line that I heard about. Thanks Tom for jogging my memory! If you’re going to go after one of these, the sooner you preorder the better. Once they sell initially, the dealers who scarfed up a bunch of them will sell them for scampers rates later. There is a Marklin version for sale on Ebay right now, it’s probably a 3 rail version, but easy to convert. They want 85 bucks though.
-Stan