That rules them out. I'll need 50 (10 trains of 5 cars each), minimujm, before I finish (well, more than 50, if I want to simulate rush hour rail traffic in a major city but that may be a bit more ambitious than I can really handle). I have a couple of the con-cor smooth sides I bought on ebay, but I look at Metro North and CNJ and LIRR and the Con-Cor just looks wrong -- too much body and not enough window -- even for someone who is less than fastidious about accuracy.
Okay, here are some photos: This first picture shows the warping on the roof. You'll also note the uneven lines on the lip near the bottom of the car. I'm still working on this one This picture shows some more warping: This picture shows warping from the end: Here is the begginings of my kitbash for the Dinette: I hope this paints a better picture. After some work, these should be good looking cars. Chris
these are the ones i want,but after buying the c3's i'll wait http://islandmodelworks.com/myPictures/mp75.jpg http://islandmodelworks.com/myPictures/mp72.jpg
ugh.... never mind, got all excited for some good push pull service. oh well, i guess the ol trainmasters and my bi levels back and forth
Right now, they're the best option I seem to have. Problem is, I'm looking for a smooth sided "boxier" coach for commuter traffic and Amfleet for my intercity traffic. Why, oh why do so many folks make bi-level commuters and no one seems to make a single level? The Comet or Horizon would be ideal.
LOL. No problem. But I used "end of millenium" rather than "end of century" so no one thought I wanted 1890's-1900's cars, so I guess I solved half of that....
"due to high demand, this may be their final run." err: ...and then my head exploded because I cannot fathom the ways of my world...
It's true, a lot of the NEC commuter cars are built by Kawasaki, but they have a plant in Yonkers. "Made in the USA, from globally sourced components." The big thing with JDM cars is that they're all a scale 20m long, which equals out to about 70 feet with the 1:150/1:160 scale difference. The Comets and anything else you'd see on the NEC are 85-footers. Not a huge deal, but could impact your enjoyment if you have a thing for long trains...
Okay, forget Bachmann. Another thread notes they run miserably (trucks have exterior wheels and too much friction on axles). Next option seems to Con-cor, which makes a smooth-sided coach. Again, too much side wall and not enough window. Doesn't speak "commuter" to me. Another option was Kato's RDC-1 units (I know.... lashing 5 together will drive the purists berserk), but they don't seem to offer unpowered units that I can find and, at $80 a pop, 5 powered ones is more than a tad on the high side.... Some of the KATO Japanese railcars look workable (sadly, while the NE corridor has cantenaries, I'm not planning on them, so many of the Japanese cars won't work -- and others look to short and, if they're 1:150, probably too high and too wide. I have no experience integrating the two scales. Do they need new trucks at 1:160? In an earlier thread, somoene was nice enough to post 1:150 autos next to 1:160 ones. Anyone have experience mixing and matching rail cars? New trucks on 50 already (relatively) expensive coaches can run up the tab....
It's a Kato. I have found them listed on Japanese sites for around 6000 yen or roughly $60 each. Kind of expensive for a stand in.
Who knows? There are a lot of things not made in N scale, but when you look at the forums here and elsewhere everyone is crying out for them with some going to great lengths to make/kitbash their own. The Comet/Horizon cars are one of those common pieces of equipment that seems to get passed over by the manufacturers. They'd be a natural for Kato with their passenger car experience and F40PH and P42 to go with them. In some cases the body shells and components are made in Japan or where ever the parent company is from and just assembled in the U.S. Technically they should be labeled "Assembled in the USA". My Bachmann Amfleets won't roll down a 4% grade even if you push them, you'd think somewhere between the factory and LHS someone at Bachmann would have asked "aren't trains supposed to roll?" I have a lot of Japanese rolling stock and you don't notice the difference between 1:150 and 1:160 because Japanese trains are smaller than US ones, you would only notice if you had two models of the same thing in both scales.
Imperial Hobby Productions also offers some body kits, but these generally take a lot of work. Unfortunately, all the commuter cars are HO, not N. http://ihphobby.tripod.com/
"(I know.... lashing 5 together will drive the purists berserk)" Why would it drive "purists" beserk? Some roads did run 5 cars together at times as demand merited it. B&M, CN, NH and others ran them as they needed them which was the intent of the design. A lot of people are under the impression that RDCs were like doodlebugs, intended for far away branches and the line but they played a very important roll in big time mainline railroading and large "lash-ups" were not unusual, except when a road didn't own enough to have that many in a train (i.e.: ATSF, C&EI, C&NW, Dominion Atlantic, DSS&A, NYS&W and SP). Hey, as far as commuter cars go lets not forget (if it hasn't already been mentioned that the MBTA rebuilt a large number of RDC1 and RDC9 coaches as unpowered trailers and RDC3s as cab cars. While it would take some careful work to rework the roof to replace the corrugation where the mounting holes are for the radiator bulge the cars are an option to consider further. (These cars went on to serve the MNCR - two cab cars and two coaches, VREX - who sold theirs later on to CalDOT for use in San Francisco commuter service, who in turn sold some to the Grand Canyon just a couple years ago.)
Drat. They had the perfect solution, even in N scale: Budd M-1 cars. I e-mailed them (just now, no response yet), but they don't seem to be available any more, looking at their eBay store Has anyone actually seen their product?
Commuter Coaches (not bi-level) Speaking of Con Cor for an option they used to carry RDC Dummy or unpowered units for around $20 check with them if your contemplating that option. Best to call 1888 to check availability.
