The Atlas 94' Tankers from the late sixties. Such a daring endeavor. And, it delighted us early N scalers. Doug
OK, my turn !!! Red Caboose coil cars are #1 vote !!! Bluford transfer cabeese are #2. Micro Trains yellow Shell runner packs . That's my two cents, but...as usual...I'm sure I'll get change back !!!
Wanted to put in the original question so I don't get too far off track listing several "favorites". Which is different, in my mind, from "impressive." I am modeling mid 1950s era, and generally the tooling is a bit older, and there is less etched detail and such than one sees on models of modern equipment. That said, 3 items that have impressed me enough to pay retail prices and replace older models- Bluford hoppers- I have several different body styles, these have become my "standard" hoppers. Since I bought some Monon hoppers several years ago, every hopper purchased since has been from Bluford. Have 6 more coming as soon as the ship lands with the next C&EI batch. BLMA 60' flatcars- I know, flatcars are boring, but these are really demonstrate how far we've come if you compare them side by side to what we had 30 years ago, or, for that matter, against what another major manufacturer brought out at about the same time the BLMA cars were released. Fox Valley boxcars - these have been around for a while, but both the B&O wagontop and MILW rib side cars are great values and provide some variation in freight trains- very nice additions to an N scale fleet. And honorable mention- the Prairie Shadows/Rapido gondola-in the Puddington Valley paint scheme. It is a very well done car, and for a good cause.
The most impressive freight car that I own is the BLMA PD covered hopper, it is an 11. The most consistently good company has to be MTL.
Yep, they are beautiful cars indeed! Superb detail and I love their weight too. I have one in EJ&E. Years ago the Phoenix Sun N Sand NTRAK club produced a special Red Caboose car with copper-colored coils. It was the perfect car to honor the region's copper-hauling railroad heritage and it looks so cool.
And... oddly enough... 20 years ago we would say 'MicroTrains and everyone else a distant 2nd'. Now... despite MicroTrains making many improvements... they are virtually an 'honorable mention' to many modelers. I still buy their stuff religiously even though they are not totally prototypical. But they make a very good model 'Made in the USA'. Sent from my SM-G530T using Tapatalk
Me, ATLAS .. It would have to be these > http://archive.atlasrr.com/NFreight/arc-ntm40ps1.htm THIRD RUN, November 2007 ITEM No. 34596A BUFFALO CREEK RR ITEM No. 34597A BUFFALO CREEK RR Tom
Micro Trains used to call themselves "The Cadillac of N scale." They still are, but BLMA has been "The Tesla of N scale."
This particular car (Micro-Trains 025 00 670) ranks highly as my favorite. Nothing extraordinarily special here, but the C&NW was an IL hometown road, I bought the car while on vacation in Chicago and its colors are spot-on perfect and eye-popping. It still makes me smile each time I see it.
I voted early on for a specific BLMA car and I stand by my post. What I will add is that I have yet to see a favorite car listed by anyone so far that I could object to. There are so many great cars out there from all the manufacturers and I probably have cars from most all of them. Someone mentioned Alan Curtis Models (now N Scale Kits) and reminded me how much I have enjoyed those cars I have. M/T has always been a favorite. When ConCor used to be the only one making enclosed auto racks, we all loved them. The ones I added etched metal panels to are still some I like to have out on the layout and they blend well with the M/T's and Red Caboose racks to give some great variety. Same with those Red Caboose coil cars. They look great paired with the Atlas coil cars and the mill gons from assorted manufacturers. I guess I could go on and on with examples like this. The point is, we are all blessed to have the variety we do these day. It gets better all the time and lets all hope that continues.
Lacks being "impressive" however, when taking dimensional differences and foobie-ness into account. d
We've all made some good choices, but none of us beat HOexplorer. Only question is...What is it ??? Would love to be riding in that gon. You know there's some stories flyin' around there !!!