On30 caboose...

[tac]

Just got my unlettered caboose in yellow from a pal over in Port Orford - and what a little beauty it is!!  I'll be lettering mine up for the 'Roaring Camp' line in NorCal.

Great job, Bachmann!

tac
www.ovgrs.org

[the Bach-man]

Hi, Terry!
Yeah, the original model, based on Maine prototypes, was made by some hack modeler friend of ours. Some folks on other fora are critical, but I like them.
By the way, his name was Bob something... Oh, yeah- Bob Hayden!
Glad you like them too!
Best,
the Bach-man

[ossygobbin]

tac
its as easy to make something right as well as wrong,
luckily its only based on a maine 2 foot caboose.

[railtwister]

Hi, Terry!
Yeah, the original model, based on Maine prototypes, was made by some hack modeler friend of ours. Some folks on other fora are critical, but I like them.
By the way, his name was Bob something... Oh, yeah- Bob Hayden!
Glad you like them too!
Best,
the Bach-man

Hi Mr. Bach-man,

Yes, Bob's kit-bash of the caboose was a fine piece of model work, especially if it is considered within the scope of a kit-bash, which limits certain things due to the original model being 'bashed'. However, since Bachmann was starting with fresh tooling for the caboose, they had the opportunity to side-step the limitations Bob was faced with, such as the too small side windows of the cupola, the centered door on the cupola end, and the extra window under the cupola on one side. They could have even made the car body narrower to closer approximate the SR&RL prototype. Had they done these things, it would have been an excellent model, rather than just a 'nice' model. I bought one of the SR&RL versions to go with my Forneys, and while I really like it, I would have liked it a lot better had Bachmann made the above improvements, instead of just blindly copying Dave's model.

Regards,
Bill

[ScottyB]

Some folks on other fora are critical, but I like them.

That is EXACTLY the reason I model in On30.  Got so sick of the "experts" in HO criticizing every detail.

Ironically, they will brag about their new cab-forward having every detail in exactly the right place.  Then, they will hook up 5 boxcars to it and run it around their layout.  Prototypical?

I find On30 to be unprototypically prototypical.  I switched over because I don't want my rolling stock to be exactly like any particular road.  Makes me feel "locked in" to that roadname.

Great job on the caboose - keep em coming!

Scott

[Mike_AA9ZY]

BTW, this caboose is similar (not exact of course) to the caboose owned by the Bellevue & Cascade in eastern Iowa.

I bought two of these jewels in red from the Peterboro Railroad.

[ossygobbin]

tac
theres plenty of people in the uk that know about the sandy river.
i am one of them and know plenty more, join the slim gauge circle if
you havnt already.

[max (uk)]

I think by 'plenty', he means more than 10, since I'm the 3rd person from the UK to know of these lines on this forum alone!

I like the new caboose, as it adds some variety to the end of the train instead of having each train with a center cupola caboose. It looks great with my Forneys and Pulpwood car too. 

[ossygobbin]

tac
is that a go at me ?
what deal
i never made any deals.
and no i dont get your drift.
there is a thriving american modelling scene in the UK and i would
guess (a good guess) that most of them know about the main 2 footers.

yes i agree they are probably not hyper popular. but that wasnt the
statement you first made.

[railtwister]

Everyone,

A lot of people (including me) really like the new caboose, but quite a few (also including me) have complained that it is less than it could or should be when it comes to representing a prototype SR&RL caboose. There should be no need for argument here, but the point is, if the caboose was closer to the SR&RL prototype, those who complained would have been happy, and those who are currently happy with the model as it is, likely wouldn't be any less so just because it was a more accurate representation of the prototype.

Bachmann's Forney is very close to being accurate for a Maine two footer, other than the gauge. The pulpwood car, because it used existing flat car components, is less than an accurate model of a SR&RL car (too short & too wide), but it still captures much of the feel of the prototype, so is acceptable within the parameter of not requiring all new tooling. The caboose used all new tooling (other than the trucks and couplers) anyway, so it didn't have the same restrictions.

Regards,
Bill

[El Loco]

Mr Bachmann,
Kudo's on the new Caboose! Bob Hayden really ! Never mind these rivet counters complaining. They would complain if they were hung with a new rope. I think its a very handsome piece of equipment.

[Mike_AA9ZY]

Me too! I model a free-lanced midwestern railroad and this caboose works great with my Forney that also wasn't used in the midwest (as far as I know!).

[OldStone]

Prototypical, schmototypical....I love it.  Great addition to the layout.  I especially appreciate the no-flicker lighting system.   Go Bachmann!

[NarrowMinded]

In the Spirit of ON30 if you don't like the Caboose, kitbash it into what you do like, I think the caboose is great.

NM

[Mike_AA9ZY]

I would love to see Bachmann modify this caboose into a  wedge plow.