Let's see your HONGZ caboose

Here's a recent addition of mine. This is the Bowser N5 decorated for Conrail. Bowser does a fabulous job with its N5 and N5C models. They feature excellent detail and, most importantly, correct PRR cabin car trucks. A new run of N5C models is due to arrive this summer and I'm looking forward to getting a few. In the meantime, we enjoy the Conrail N5.

Bob

Here is Bluford Shops CSX Short Bay Window Caboose and Atlas CSX B&O Ext View Caboose.

Thanks for the great photos Bob and Jeff.

Bob, I agree Bowser has some great caboose. Actually when I first saw the Bowser models I was bummed out because they did not come out before I bought that Key Imports model many years ago which would have saved me a bunch of money.

This is my Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines N11 transfer caboose by Bluford Shops. The N11 series cars were built by Penn Central at its  Despatch Shops in East Rochester, NY during 1969 and 1970. Upon Conrail's April 1976 inception, the PRSL 252 became the CR 18565.

Details of transfer cabooses varied from road to road and the Bluford model is not a rivet-for-rivet match for the prototype PRSL N11. That said, Bluford has developed tooling to build five different versions of its transfer caboose enabling the company to offer a very satisfactory replica of the N11 and an outstanding model overall. The transfer caboose is offered by Bluford in many additional road names and detail variations in both N and HO scales.   

Bob

As mentioned in my previous post, the Bluford model is not an exact copy of the PRSL N11 class; however, when comparing it to the following picture of one of the actual cars, you can see it's pretty darn close.

Bob

Jeff:

I like that Atlas B&O Chicago Terminal caboose. Atlas has released quite a few models of the cabooses Chessie and CSX painted in special schemes over the years. I have a number of them. I'll have to dig them out for pictures.

Bob

That would be great Bob! 

This is Athearn's bay window caboose. Although based on a Southern Pacific prototype, the Athearn model is a reasonably accurate facsimile of Erie Lackawanna's C-371 which was built by the International Car Company of Kenton, OH in 1970.

Bob

Here is Reading Class NMp 94070 as modeled by Bachmann. The NMp class cars were built by the railroad's shop forces at Reading in 1948. The prototype 94070 has been preserved and is privately owned.

Bob

Here's an old timer (by N scale standards anyway). This is a B&O caboose manufactured by Minitrix for Aurora's "Postage Stamp Trains" line beginning in the 1960s. As was the case with many models of North American equipment offered during the scale's early years, it's intended as a generic model and not an accurate reproduction of a specific type of B&O caboose. The actual car is more representative of a Santa Fe prototype.

We received this particular caboose with one of our original Aurora sets so it's almost fifty years old at this point. We can see N scale detailing and decorating have come a long way since then.

Bob

Hi Bob,

That Postage stamp train caboose brings back many memories as I started with that line of N scale items in the late 1960's. I think I still have that same caboose, but I can't be sure it is in good shape. I will have to look for it. I agree that N scale back then was very simple and does not compare with the great items offered today. We have so many more choices today then what we had back then. Great memories though, thanks for posting.

I found that caboose which is at the top. Almost 30 years ago I wanted a generic caboose, so I removed the B & 0 at the top along with a first attempt to do weathering. I also found these two other cabooses. The middle one is a Bachmann and the bottom is an Atlas made in Austria.

Here are my favorite N Scale cabooses. 

The one on the left was a Rapido PA caboose and I can't remember where or when I got the other one.

I've also been known to do things other than cabooses in N