Just received MTH’s TCA 2006 Convention Car, a Texas Special red & white R50B Express Reefer Car. Aesthetically it’s pretty close to perfect in the dazzling red and white scheme of the semi-fictitious (I hear) Lionel postwar scheme. Prototypical or not, it’s gorgeous. The car is technically amazing as well, with minute door handles for the main doors and hatches that latch and open precisely. I wouldn’t want to do this dozens of times a month, but they seem quite precisely designed and not unduly fragile. Finally, the thumbtack couplers are gone, MTH having lovingly and exactly reverse engineered the Lionel design (one can only hope no more idiotic and counterproductive lawsuits will follow from this latest bit of progress). This car is a great job by MTH and a great choice from the TCA, particularly for those of us who love the Texas Special paint scheme from our first memories of it in the 1950s Lionel catalog.
http://modeltrainjournal.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=356