N Scale Commuter Coaches (not bi-level)

MikeFromCT Apr 5, 2009

  1. MikeFromCT

    MikeFromCT TrainBoard Supporter

    84
    1
    10
    I need a brilliant idea for what to use for an N scale, single level commuter coach (and, possibly cafe car) suitable for turn of the millenium East Coast service. Something along the lines of Horizon cars Atlas offers in O and (coming late this year) in HO. By the time they get around to offering them in N, I'll be old and gray. (A safe bet since I'm *already* old and what hair I have left is gray.) Right now, best I can come up are smooth-sided intercity Budd coaches, but they just don't "look right".

    I need a slew of them to be run on a freelanced, "detailed enough" layout where "looks right" is the biggest criterion.

    Thanks for any ideas.
     
  2. subwayaz

    subwayaz TrainBoard Member

    3,222
    106
    44
  3. NikkiB

    NikkiB TrainBoard Member

    852
    0
    17
    I second the recomendation for ConCor. I got some undecs from BLW about a year or so ago, they may still have more.
     
  4. LehmanNWMS

    LehmanNWMS TrainBoard Member

    226
    0
    14
    Doesn't the metro north, amtrak and NJT use about the same kind of car? I dont see why it would be all that hard to have one manufacturer build a 1 car and use the different add ons.
     
  5. daniel_leavitt2000

    daniel_leavitt2000 TrainBoard Member

    1,356
    21
    32
    The MBTA, Metro, Metro North, Con-DOT, NJT, Amtrak, and a line in Quebec all use the same Comet II commuter coach. I have been trying to get someone to make these for years without much sucess. There is a resin kit out there but the detail is very poor and the walls are a scale 2' thick (I'm not kidding).

    I need dozens, but not if they look like Micro Machines made them.
     
  6. Jerry M. LaBoda

    Jerry M. LaBoda TrainBoard Supporter

    1,285
    59
    29
    "Something along the lines of Horizon cars..."

    Island Modelworks offers resin models of both Comet II and Comet V coaches, the Comet II being very close to the AMTK Horizon cars.
    http://islandmodelworks.com/Comets.html

    As far as so-called intercity coaches go both New Jersey Transit (earlier N.J. Department of Transportation) and Metro-North Commuter Rail (earlier Metropolitan Transit Authority) employeed a large number of intercity coaches. The interiors were stripped out with only a small bathroom was left (sometimes one on one end sometimes two, either on one end or on opposite ends) with everything else filled up with coach seating, whether there was a window there or not.

    Cars from ATSF, BN (ex-GN, including ex-C&NW and ex-UP), EL, KCS, L&N, MoPac/TP, etc., all were converted to various uses in commuter service, making for some very interesting consists. Early on much of the cars carried the Penn Central "mating worms" herald along with the owning agency herald while later they carried the commuter agency identy after Conrail was created.

    Another option is to try to model Mafersa-built coaches like what use to be on the Virginia Railway Express (now operating on the ConnDOT trains). Similar in design to Budd coaches for a reason (Mafersa is a Budd-licensee, using Budd designs and manufacturing techniques), these cars could be another option. Probably the hardest part would be matching up the finer corrugation under the window strip and altering the window strip itself (would recommend using a Concor coach with Kato Budd RDC1 window section and inserts, with exhaust stack divide removed... lower corrugation still an issue).

    There are options out there... none too difficult... none very easy.
     
  7. LehmanNWMS

    LehmanNWMS TrainBoard Member

    226
    0
    14
    those are definately cool. Do you have any experince with these? Do they come with wheel sets? any little info would be appreciated. I could definately see getting a couple of GPs to push those back and forth!
     
  8. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

    22,210
    49,630
    253
    Kato sells many different Japanese prototype cars in Japan. They may make OK stand ins if repainted. I have ordered from Japanese web sites without any problems. Check out this page to see the kind of stuff that is offered.
     
  9. subwayaz

    subwayaz TrainBoard Member

    3,222
    106
    44
    ConCor for Hard to find Raods

    The Owner Jim Conway will build a Roadname set for you if they list it in there catalog but are out of stock. If it's there product. The Pass Cars come in Modules so if you need a Road that is out of Stock; doesn't mean that you can't get it. Just takes a few weeks. They will fitr it into the Production Schedule for you. That is one of the Good things about Con Cor.
     
  10. Westfalen

    Westfalen TrainBoard Member

    4,094
    32
    55
    Not as far fetched as it sounds, most commuter cars put in service in the U.S. since the demise of the U.S. passenger car builders have come from Japan, and seeing as it's your own freelance road.:tb-wink: BTW, Tomix and Micro Ace also make passenger cars.
    Did Con Cor ever do any Commuter Roadnames? In any case MikeFromCT is doing a freelance road. They apparently are back in stock though, M.B. woo woo woo's 'new N scale arrivals' page lists several Con Cor passenger car sets, (including, in good old Con Cor tradition, three fantasy Santa Fe schemes). There is an undecorated set but it includes a coach, dome, sleeper and observation, not many commuter trains had domes, sleepers and observations.
     
  11. igoldberg

    igoldberg TrainBoard Member

    40
    0
    10
    I do not remember who off hand, but one of the manufacturers is making the 60 foot Harriman cars. Southern Pacific used them in commuter service on the San Francisco Peninsula. Others probable used them as well.
     
  12. Babbo_Enzo

    Babbo_Enzo TrainBoard Member

    232
    2
    19
    Well, you quest about :"turn of the millenium East Coast"...
    - Rapido cars are too modern
    - Con-Cor have some HW (see above) as the lightweight are modern too

    Wheels Of Time is the company : Wheels of Time
    The cars are here: Wheels Of Time - Products - The Limited
    Very nice model, and you can have Undecorated too for your freelanced colors.

    Another choice can be brass sides from JnJ Trains : JnJ Trains
    He made 80' coach,baggages and combine as 60' RPO.
    They also have a kit in progress for use with the sides.
    American Limited kit can also be used or ... old (short) Bachmann if you can find it.

    Last suggestion can be to try to modify old Rivarossi (Con-Cor or Model Power) Heavyweight coaches.
    2 cents, please!
    Enzo Fortuna (SP in Italy)

    PS ...... OPPSSS !
    I don't know why I've in mind "middle of the century" instead of "end of millennium" ! OK Forget my suggestion!!!! Sorry!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 6, 2009
  13. subwayaz

    subwayaz TrainBoard Member

    3,222
    106
    44
    No Con Cor never came out with a Commuter lines, but there is always Undec.
     
  14. MikeFromCT

    MikeFromCT TrainBoard Supporter

    84
    1
    10
    Those look great in the pictures. Has anyone seen the actual castings? (Remember, I'm a "close enough" modeller....)

    They also look like a lot of work. Island Modelworks says something like "minutes to hours, depending on skill level" but I need a lot of them (I'm semi-skilled labor when it comes to modelling). Luckily, I don't need them all instantly....
     
  15. enwhycentral

    enwhycentral TrainBoard Member

    30
    9
    16
    Scale Commuter Coaches

    Although there are no readily available models of commuter style coaches, I have seen a number of repainted Con-Cor smoothside coaches which from a normal viewing distance are a fair representation of Metro-North coaches. I have seen versions with the blue window stripe used on the Harlem and Hudson Divisions and with the red stripe used on the New Haven Division. Their most obvious deficiencies include the skirting between the trucks, the outboard bearing trucks themselves and the fact that they only have one door on each side, but even those can be overlooked.

    I saw them years ago in the basement train store located on 45th street in Manhattan. They have also been produced in the more recent past by this custom painter (http://myworld.ebay.com/twinrail/). They were not inexpensive but appeared well done. Although they do not seem to be available right now, perhaps they can be persuaded to do another run of them. See photo below.


    [​IMG]
     
  16. cfquinlan

    cfquinlan TrainBoard Member

    470
    14
    17

    Mike,

    I just got four of these and they require quite a bit of work. They need lots of filing and reshaping (I'm using hot water). I would say that I will have spent AT LEAST 3 hours on each car to get them up to speed and I'm a pretty experienced modeler.

    I’m doing these up as Amtrak Horizon cars. One of them is being kitbashed into a Dinette.

    Chris
     
  17. LehmanNWMS

    LehmanNWMS TrainBoard Member

    226
    0
    14
    what do you mean by reshaping? I think I would speak for alot of people on here, for a photo guide or some pictures of your progress. Along with that, he sent me a photo of the trucks, looks nice but i need some good up close ones if you have them!
     
  18. bigford

    bigford TrainBoard Member

    725
    2
    16
    same here i have the lirr de30 and c3 cars :thumbs_down: one car has resin globs
    that dripped past the molds into the windows. there were air bubbles
    in all the cars. and the kicker is the de30 is suppose to fit a kato p42
    it don't. i need to cut off a 1/4'' off the front of the p42 and maybe
    a 1/8'' off the rear...

    i really want to model the long island R.R. diesel but I'll keep waiting
    for better products or close enough
     
  19. NikkiB

    NikkiB TrainBoard Member

    852
    0
    17
    A large number are also German and Canadian Budds.
     
  20. cfquinlan

    cfquinlan TrainBoard Member

    470
    14
    17

    I can post some pictures a little later tonight or tomorrow if that would be helpful. By reshaping, I mean they are warped. I used hot water to straighten them out, but they still aren't perfect.

    I didn't think the trucks looked that good. They also didn't come with wheels but I wasn't going to us them anyway (they were the type that exposes the wheel (can't remember the name for that right now)) since I am modeling the Amtrak Horizon Fleet, so I've ordered the MHC car trucks from Kato. Unfortunatally, I threw them away. See if you can post the picture you got and I will tell you how close the picture is to the real thing.

    Chris
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 7, 2009

Share This Page