Intermountain has just announced production of the Centralia Car Shops caboose that I first described in my post in the thread entitled New Intermountain Hopper Caboose & Hopper, but now in the Frisco paint scheme. Following are more details: ATSF Early Steel Caboose featuring Sharp Painting and Lettering, New Bettendorf Swing Motion Truck, Etched Metal and Wire Details, Metal 33" Wheelsets, Kadee #78 Couplers. They will produce 4 road numbers (1101, 1128, 1145, and 1180) if I read the small numbers on the website correctly. The MSRP will be $49.95 with a delivery date of June/July 2010. Having said that, the photo shows car 1101 detailed very similiar to the picture on Milke Condren's website from 1970. At that time it still had the roofwalk and a set of handrails around the top of the cupola. Later photos show that both of these features were removed. I did notice one error in the fact that one window below the cupola in the photo was plated over but it wasn't on the model. I know that American Model Builders for one makes a modernization kit for these models. Here is the IRC reference page: http://www.ircmodelersclub.com/hoscale.htm __________________ Bob Hoover FriscoFriend
Intermoutain has just posted several photos of what I would assume to be the production model of the Centralia Car Shops ex. ATSF caboose due out next month. What does everyone think? http://www.imrcmodels.com/distrib/ccs/html/ccs1111.htm
Silver roof? As I remember, those ex-ATSF cabooses were all red and pretty well shopworn at that. Nothing at all like a new Santa Fe caboose! Tom
It's really hard to say "never" but I have not seen any photos of these cabooses in light brown. All of my slides show a rather bright red, maybe a caboose red color and a red roof I think. The caboose I have seen sitting in Rogers, AR is in a darker shade of brown although I am not sure if this was the "in-service" color or that car. I made two of these cars out of the Athearn caboose per the old FMIG article by Jerry Hurt. I am pretty happy with the way these cars turned out so I will not be buying any from Intermountain. Is someone on the All Aboard website advising Intermountain?
I don't believe the SLSF local cabooses (from the ATSF) had ladders. I think Intermountain missed the plated over windows too.
I have found Intermountain's stuff to be pretty good, but they do often seem to miss an annoying amount of specific details that one would think would be obvious to them if they just looked at a pic or two of the real thing. My favorite example - d/b's on the SLSF b/y F7B's. On the other end of the spectrum is Kadee, who requires multiple pics of the specific car they are doing so they can get the details correct. Ken
I had the opportunity this last weekend of seeing first hand fellow Frisco modeler Jim Senese's model of this caboose (Intermountain/Centralia Car Shops) and we both agree that this model fairly accurately represents the model on the bottom of page 125 of Molo's Katy/Frisco freight car book. The actual model is more of a red color (mineral, not bright red) than is shown in the picture on the Intermountain website. If one looks closely on the picture of the prototype they will notice that it indeed has a silver roof like on the model. There looks like there would need to be at least two modifications made to the model to make it look more like the one in the photo. One would be to remove the ladders on each end and replace them with brass wire stock coming up from the end handrails to the roof matching the ones coming up from the end platform to the handrails and painting them yellow. The second modification wold be blanking out some of the windows. It's interesting to notice that the interior of the steps is painted a bright or caboose red on the prototype and that could also be replicated on the model. The models are available in the $39.95-$42.95 price range so this would make a fairly decent addition to any late diesel era layout with or without a little modification.
to the ATSF question they where (i think this is correct) Boxcar brown since the 1920s then in 1968 some where sold to the Frisco then the rest where painted in Santa Fe Caboose Red with the big Santa Fe cross in the circle, but yes there nice cabooses my grandfather has a bunch of them and he likes them side note: if u want to go cheap just buy the Athearn caboose for $10.00 and repaint it
I stress my point of constructive critisism again. I will gladly pay the price any manufacturer determines to be a recommended retail price as long as the model in question is a correct model for a specific railroad in any scale! It perturbs me to see a new release with mistakes that could have been avoided with proper research. I was raised with the Athearn yellow box generic kits in the late 50s and early 60s when fine scale prototypical modeling was only followed by a few master builders. The late Jack Work being an example of turning out beautiful HO scale models. We are now in the 21st Century with a mulitude of information that increases almost every day. As long as modelers purchase incorrect models there won´t be much of a change. A manufacturers summit is needed to insure that the level of detail be a priority issue before a proposed model leaves the drawing board! This seems to be an industry wide problem with a few exceptions. Hats off to Kadee! They not only know what the modeler wants, they insure it is correct. That attitude has awarded them a repretation among all model railroaders. They have it all: Prototypical detail at an affordable price for a top quality product. If they can conduct business this way why can´t the other manufacturers follow suit? Starter sets in HO on the current market with a chop-nosed GP9m and a stock car with cattle loading pen or a UP 4-8-4 with modern freight cars is uncalled for and at the prices they demand. OK, the 4-8-4 "could" be on a shake down run after a visit to the shop but still, I wouldn´t consider it for the grandkids nor can I afford it on a fixed retirement income. In all, model railroaders still have a wide choice to choose from and most spend their hobby dollars carefully, but it is time for the manufacturers who won´t bring their products up to the quality like Kadee to take a serious second look before they ask for a price in the same range as Kadee. These are the cars that should be in a $1 cash & carry and no return bin at every train show. Mabie they are? Joe Toth
