Are these the only open air passenger cars on the market right now? I'm looking to add a little Jupiter engine pulling a couple of these in a circle around my new "town". Thought I'd ask here to find out what my options are.
MDC/Roundhouse used to make the Overton and Overland passenger cars. The Overton cars prototype is the Sierra RR (Angels Camp branch). The branch had very sharp turns so they built the 'shortie' cars (34') to negotiate them. The Overland cars were around 50' and are probably more of what you are looking for. MDC/Roundhouse was bought by Athearn years ago and occasionally (VERY occasionally) they release some of the cars. They have announced a run of the Overton cars: http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=Overton&CatID=TNRP Due out Feb/March of 2017...oh, wait, it's already July. Well, any day now they should be out. It looks like the last time they ran the Overland cars was 2008: http://www.athearn.com/Newsletter/061708/26_RND_Overland_061708.jpg They can be found at that auction site and private party but they are rather difficult to find. I luckily bought all I needed back when there was still a MDC/Roundhouse selling them.
As far as I know, those Bachmann "Jackson Sharp" cars are the only OPEN passenger cars on the N scale market, now or ever. The MDC/Roundhouse?Athearn "Overton" and "Overland" cars are all open platform cars, where the steps are onto open platforms, but the seating is enclosed. My wife likes the idea of an "excursion" train with open air cars, pulled by a vintage loco. In my case, that is an Atlas 4-4-0 of Civil War vintage that I had converted to DCC. Of course, there was no place for sound in that little tender, what with the decoder getting crammed in there where the drive motor is already located. So, I intend to put a speaker and decoder in a bobber caboose that will ride behind the Jackson Sharp cars. (The problem with open cars is that there is no place to hide speakers and electronics.) But, excursion trains often have cabooses behind whatever carries the bulk of the tourists, because people will even pay extra to ride in the cupola. In the rest of the train, usually starting right behind the tender, there are often gondolas (or flat cars modified with railings) to allow tourists to have that "open air" experience. Some have seats along the sides, and a few have plastic chairs in rows looking forward (which I think looks tacky). Between those open air cars and the caboose, there are often enclosed passenger cars of almost any type. Sometimes, there is even a diner selling drinks or even light food items. So, you are pretty much free to do whatever your railroad's management (you and the rest of our family) think looks best.
OPEN AIR passenger cars...those are it. I've also seen gondolas with seats added used in real and modeling life. The Sugar Pine Railroad (an old logging/now tourist railroad near Yosemite) also has open air cars that look like log cars.
Lets try again: http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/file..._Sugar_Pine_Railroad_4-30-06_028_-_resize.jpg http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/file..._Sugar_Pine_Railroad_4-30-06_028_-_resize.jpg http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/file..._Sugar_Pine_Railroad_4-30-06_028_-_resize.jpg
This is exactly what I"m looking to do. Civil war era Jupiter loco pulling Jackson Sharp and possibly a modified gondola (maybe bench seats?) as a little excursion train around the "town". Initially it will be a older bachmann Jupiter loco because of the budget set by my railroad management accountant (wife).
