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Walthers HO scale Budd RDC-3 Rail Diesel Car
Like many Walthers HO models of unpowered passenger cars built by Budd, the Proto RDC cars, first made by Life-Like and more recently by Walthers, have been produced with three different kinds of finish intended to look like the real cars’ stainless steel. Modelers may want to see the various models in person to determine which they’d be happy to see running together.
In addition to the RDC-3 Coach-Baggage-RPO combine, Walthers also has the more common RDC-1 coach with these additional road names: B&O, CNW, NYC, NYS&W, P-RSL, and SP. Other than the interior configuration and additional windows, the RDC-1 Walthers model is mechanically identical to the RDC-3 reviewed here.
Unfortunately Walthers have numbered the Rock Island cars #9003 and #9004. These were in fact Phase II cars built in 1956. The RI’s Phase I cars built in 1953 were #9000, #9001, #9002.