Can anyone send a picture of the MTH SOO Line caboose that Mr. Muffin's has produced as a custom run?
I missed out on buying one, but would like to see how they turned out. Thanks.
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This is what the Mr. Muffin picture of the model looked like, although I haven't seen the actual production version. I'd been waiting a long time for someone to make one of the older Soo cabooses, and so was very disappointed when I saw they were using this MTH model. Why they chose this type, I don't know. To my knowledge, the Soo never had cabooses of this type, which is a New York Central (and other east coast lines) type with a low cupola for handling the low-roof tunnels in the Northeast. (See middle picture of MTH's new issue of a NYC caboose.) Soo cabooses were red, too, not that tuscan color.
If they wanted to do an of-the-shelf model, I don't know why they didn't use, say, the MTH N6B (bottom picture). Much closer to a prototype of a Soo caboose. I'm planning to use a MTH P&WV N6B I have and decal it for the Soo since the Muffin version was so far off the mark.
@breezinup posted:This is what the Mr. Muffin picture of the model looked like, although I haven't seen the actual production version. I'd been waiting a long time for someone to make one of the older Soo cabooses, and so was very disappointed when I saw they were using this MTH model. Why they chose this type, I don't know. To my knowledge, the Soo never had cabooses of this type, which is a New York Central (and other east coast lines) type with a low cupola for handling the low-roof tunnels in the Northeast. (See middle picture of MTH's new issue of a NYC caboose.) Soo cabooses were red, too, not that tuscan color.
If they wanted to do an of-the-shelf model, I don't know why they didn't use, say, the MTH N6B (bottom picture). Much closer to a prototype of a Soo caboose. I'm planning to use a MTH P&WV N6B I have and decal it for the Soo since the Muffin version was so far off the mark.
Sad to say , but a lot of that goes on. if it from the great lakes or upper mid west, its always a fantasy piece
@Dave Koehler posted:Sad to say , but a lot of that goes on. if it from the great lakes or upper mid west, its always a fantasy piece
Why did you need to copy all the caboose photos in order to just reply to his comment? 
@Dave Koehler posted:Sad to say , but a lot of that goes on. if it from the great lakes or upper mid west, its always a fantasy piece
Well, it's kind of inexcusable in this case. It's not like they had to come up with a whole new mold, when they had an existing model that probably would have been "close enough" to satisfy most folks. Certainly far, far better than the model they chose.
I wanted an actual picture of the caboose Mr. Muffin did, not this artists version. In his description he mentioned that he made changes to that NYC model to make the Soo Line one. He made comments about the steps for one thing. Which is why I wanted to see an actual picture of the finished product. He has listed it as being sold out, but apparently they have not been delivered as yet, since no one has sent me a picture of the one they ordered.
Now I agree with you people, as frankly, I never cared for the NYC design to begin with, I would much rather have high cupola versions, which could have been used since MTH did make high cupola models. But of course nothing would be totally accurate which we all know how manufacturers just put different road names on their same model.
We had three Soo Line cabooses at the Mid-Continent Ry. Museum, all were privately owned. One has been sold off by the owner, the other two are now part of the Museum's collection; so I know what a good cupola caboose looks like, and, not center cupola design either!
Thanks for all your input.
@breezinup posted:This is what the Mr. Muffin picture of the model looked like, although I haven't seen the actual production version. I'd been waiting a long time for someone to make one of the older Soo cabooses, and so was very disappointed when I saw they were using this MTH model. Why they chose this type, I don't know. To my knowledge, the Soo never had cabooses of this type, which is a New York Central (and other east coast lines) type with a low cupola for handling the low-roof tunnels in the Northeast. (See middle picture of MTH's new issue of a NYC caboose.) Soo cabooses were red, too, not that tuscan color.
If they wanted to do an of-the-shelf model, I don't know why they didn't use, say, the MTH N6B (bottom picture). Much closer to a prototype of a Soo caboose. I'm planning to use a MTH P&WV N6B I have and decal it for the Soo since the Muffin version was so far off the mark.
Yes Soo Line cabooses were red, but not earlier versions. They were a more typical box car red. Also, the idea of yellow ends was a later paint scheme that the Soo adopted, I believe as a safety feature. I could also discuss the original "box car red" , and how that paint color came to be, as North Freedom, Wisconsin was instrumental in the late 1800's and before 1920 in how this paint came to be.
@RadioRon posted:Why did you need to copy all the caboose photos in order to just reply to his comment?
Ron
I dont know how to hit the reply button with out all that being copied
Dave
@Dave Koehler posted:Ron
I dont know how to hit the reply button with out all that being copied
Dave
You can edit the quote that you replied to. You can also now go back, edit your post, and delete the pictures.
Follow the below link. I see two Soo line custom cabeese. if you are not sure, ask Steve, he answers emails.
https://mrmuffinstrains.com/se...pe=product&q=soo
If you think the current MTH company is going to make a custom mold just for your caboose, will, maybe you should be browsing the Sunset 3rd Rail website instead or maybe ask "Brother Love" to make exactly what you want. Might be Brother_Love, I forgot.
As per the above replies, the Soo Line caboose from Mr. Muffin's is sold out, and apparently the real thing has not been delivered yet. As we discussed, typical toy train fashion is to put umpteen RR graphics on a caboose that only one version would be more correct.
Since my post, I have located an old MTH Rail King Soo line cupola caboose which is at least more to the fact than the NYC squatty cupola being offered.
Thanks for your comments.
Well, an email from Mr. Muffin Trains showed up this morning showing the Soo Line caboose. Turns out this custom run Soo caboose wasn't "sold out," but just arrived, along with the same caboose done in six other road names (and some still coming) including the NYC, upon which the caboose design is based. Apparently "sold out" just meant something like "backordered," and the caboose is available for sale.
Jeff said that in his description Mr. Muffin mentioned that he made changes to that NYC model to make the Soo Line one. I didn't see that comment anywhere, but in any case there's no difference I can tell between any of the seven different road names of the caboose that arrived. Bottom line is that this Soo caboose doesn't resemble anything the Soo Line had.
Illinois Central mentioned above another Soo caboose Muffin did, but that doesn't count - it's just a generic ex-Milwaukee Road orange baywindow with the MR logo blackened out.
@Jeff B. Haertlein posted:Since my post, I have located an old MTH Rail King Soo line cupola caboose which is at least more to the fact than the NYC squatty cupola being offered.
Are you talking about this steel-sided high cupola version?
Yes this is the one I bought from someone.
@Frank Mulligan posted:You can edit the quote that you replied to. You can also now go back, edit your post, and delete the pictures.
thanks
dave
Soo had some older ones in the 99046-99095 series that looked somewhat similar to that, but they were wood-sided, not steel-sided, with three windows, and a shorter cupola. Virtually all of these were rebuilt, though, to a woodsided caboose that looked completely different, more like the N6b although with a slightly offset cupola, and the cupola was slightly taller. Just to my taste, of course, but the N6b is as close as I can find to a prototype, and with a couple of decals it should be good, and this particular version requires no painting. Soo kept its wood-sided cabooses a long time, and just kept rebuilding them. (I also like the illuminated rear lanterns the N6b has, and they match the Soo.)
I seem to remember that the first pictures Mr. Muffin ran of his special run Soo caboose showed a center cupola type, and I was on board for that, but subsequently it was changed to the NYC type. I don't recall for sure, though.
I Have 2 Soo caboose that are close to this one, but both have higher a cupola than this one , with in 35 miles of me I Rhinelander wi and the other on hwy 47 toward Minocqua . One is restored to the box car red, and the other Soo red will be heading over tht way in the next few days if any of you would like to see photo's
Dave
Yeah, they had slightly higher cupolas, as I'd mentioned. I've seen other Soo woodsides, maybe the one in Rhinelander, but don't recall. Definitely would like to see the pictures when you get them.
I'd like to see the cabooses up near Rhinelander myself. I tried to send the ones here at Mid-Continent, but the Forum editor said they were deleted, I guess because I used them from our website. So if I find a different way I will send. In the meantime if anyone interested, cares to see the cabooses, just go to the Museum's website www.midcontinent.org and click on the equipment section and scroll down to cabooses and you will see most of the ones at the Museum, including mine GNX582.
try this Cabooses - Lake Superior Railroad MuseumLake Superior Railroad Museum (lsrm.org) or this Soo Line Caboose 158 - Stevens Point, WI - Train Cabooses on Waymarking.com or thisSoo Line 99120 - Mercer, Wisconsin - Train Cabooses on Waymarking.com or this Rhinelander Logging Museum – Forest History Association Of Wisconsin (foresthistoryassociationwi.com)
Photos I took of Soo caboose North west of Rheinlander on Hwy 47 and another from the museum in Rhinelander
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The one pictured in the bottom shot is pretty typical of the woodsides. The top one of your pictures with the large SOO lettering is goofy- never seen a picture of such a thing. Just a paint job done for the display, no doubt.
Below is a shot of a very typical Soo woodside (obviously after they started painting the ends yellow).
@breezinup posted:The one pictured in the bottom shot is pretty typical of the woodsides. The top one of your pictures with the large SOO lettering is goofy- never seen a picture of such a thing. Just a paint job done for the display, no doubt.
Here's another shot of a very typical Soo woodside, obviously after they started painting the ends yellow.
Yeah the top caboose along Hwy 47 has been there , I think since some time in the 1970's it was used as an office for a while. It had been re sided and repainted several times over the years , I added the museum caboose again because it shows the original color a brownish red (box car red) when they repainted it a few years ago , they missed it . ( I was a volunteer there) a few years ago , until a heart attack , put an end to it.
There is a nice set of plans available for the SOO caboose. They were in Model Railroader although I do not know the date of that magazine. The accompanying article was about constructing one using wood components.
Having pre-ordered Muffin's Soo Line caboose and long since having forgotten what the advertisement showed, I was very disappointed to open the box to find a low-profile New York Central waycar in red paint. It's a beautiful model but completely inappropriate. I looked on eBay for a low cost, tall cupola caboose for use for an organ donor and found:
LIONEL #6-17611 New York Central Wood-Sided Cupola Caboose
The caboose arrived today and the cupola is as close to a "drop in" as I imagine could be wanted. A little work with the Dremel, some red paint and CA glue should make a good fix and I'll post the results some time in the next week. It won't be a perfect replica but...
It seems peculiar that a NYCS mold would be chosen for a Soo Line model.
Long comment - sorry! Yes, Muffin's Soo Line woodside was a disappointment - obviously just an economical copycat model of the multiple other roads that were part of the run, including the NYC prototype. That said, the Soo Line had some very early woodsides that looked something like the Athearn HO model below, but with a rear cupola of a different design and taller that the Muffin NYC version. (The Athearn model is steel sided, probably because they didn't have a woodsided version mold.) I've seen some drawings of these, and they're mentioned at the Mid-Continent Railroad Museum website in an article about their caboose (one of the rebuilt types, and one of those pictured below).
The article notes that these very very early Soo woodsides with the rear cupola were built around 1909, but apparently didn't last long, as they were rebuilt in 1912 into a different design that didn't look anything like the old one. The rebuilt woodsides, and all the ones made after that, were generally like those in the other photos in the links posted below. There were a few variations, such as single window or two windows on the side of the cupola, and number of windows on the body, but basically they're pretty much the same.
Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, I have a MTH Pittsburgh and West Virginia CA-1 woodside that I'm going to decal for the Soo and be satisfied with that until something better comes along. I'm not as adventuresome (or as skilled, I'm sure) as Rapid Transit Holmes. This CA-1 doesn't require anything but a few decals to convert it, the Soo Line logo decal (which fits right over the P&WV one), and the Soo Line lettering above that. The CA-1 seems fairly similar to the Soo cabooses (the cupola is a little lower and not slightly offset, but I can live with that) and it's already painted the right color, and it has the same chunky appearance as the Soo versions, and the marker lights. I haven't found anything better, in any case.
Rapid Transit Holmes, I'm really looking forward to seeing your revised version, so please do post some shots of it when done!
https://www.midcontinent.org/e...oses/soo-line-99085/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_lemke/16408990061
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/492440540497128595/
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To paraphrase GunRunnerJohn's famous tagline, nothing is so easy as the job you imagine yourself doing. My cupola transplant surgery went very well and, had one of you done it, it would have been done as quickly as it was done easily.
The cupola came off of the donor caboose without a hitch and was almost a "drop-in". It took two very thin plastic shims, one set fore and one set aft, plus there was some trimming to be done and lots of pre-painting. In the end, the cupola was simply forced in by hand and is so firmly seated that only a major wreck would dislodge it.
By Brother Love's exacting standards, it's a schlock job but it will have to do. It was either this, the trash can or eBay for the original which was actually an excellent model of a New York Central waycar... in red. Weathering will follow, if I can ever find my air brush...
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Looks great, love the cupola and the single side window. Nice work.
Terrific job. How did you paint, and match the paint, to do the cupola?
@breezinup posted:Terrific job. How did you paint, and match the paint, to do the cupola?
A highly refined process! I grabbed a rattle can of Testors "red" out of the stash, did a test spray on some cardboard and went to town with it. Dried, it's virtually indistinguishable from the factory paint. Some Testors flat black for the roofs and it was good to go. Masking off the roofline was the hardest part of the job. That Tamiya masking tape is great stuff!
I would encourage anyone else who's "stuck" with one of these to follow suit. The car is very well made, has authentic trucks and very sturdy ladders, plus Kadeeing it was a breeze with some of Mario's shims to make it fit the gauge. As I've said (too many times), it was easy, relatively speaking, and Brother Love needn't fear the competition. He is a GENIUS!
what donor caboose was used? I have this caboose and would like to try this. looks fantastic.
@Lionelzwl2012 posted:what donor caboose was used? I have this caboose and would like to try this. looks fantastic.
LIONEL #6-17611 New York Central Wood-Sided Cupola Caboose
It was dirt cheap on eBay. Go for it!
thanks looks like the southern maybe a close match in the red paint department.
If it's not a perfect match, it'll be a great base for a light spray of Testors red and that'll do it.
picked up the new york central lines version. one that was in like new condition. this way maybe I can use the mth cupola for the lionel caboose.
I have a lionel nyc lines hudson this will look good with. I was thinking if the lionel cupla fit the mth one. the mth one should fit the lionel one.
just paint each one the proper color and done. this way I am not wasting a caboose just for the cupola.
