What’s your favorite cars?

My favorite rail car is a custom painted Pollerni Steel #9968 coil car from the AWVR #1206 consist from the movie Unstoppable.

My favorite would be my post-war silver series aluminum Passenger cars.

hello my standard gauge blue comet

kevin

"What's your favorite cars?".....might be a better title on your post.......

Just got these last week, haven’t even put them on the track yet. They need a little work, but dang, they are cool.

Another vote for the Postwar 2500 series - can't beat the classics!

My favorite car is any caboose.  This is the one that started it all. My dad took me to see a fellas layout when I was 3 yrs old. He asked me which was my favorite car and I said, “the caboose.”  He reached under the table and hand me this one and I’ve had it for 67 years. The caboose is still my favorite car and I miss them still.

Any operating milk car. For some reason I love launching those milk cans.

I spent a 40 year career in grain, fertilizer and chemical transportation. I’m not at all ashamed to admit I have a certain affection for covered hoppers and tank cars.

Curt

Covered hoppers and coal hoppers are my favorite!!!

postwar Madison cars

My Lionel Hood's Milk cars and my custom Hood's tinplate car....My Grandfather designed the Hood's Milk Bottle Logo.

Anything that I could put behind a PRR Steam or 1st Generation Diesel. That being said the PW 2500 Series passenger cars and all the extruded  painted cars by MTH PRR and N&W . Then boxcars, tanker cars and my favorite freight car is the Cabin Car or commonly known as the caboose.

Although I model in 3 rail scale, I purchase a lot of 2 rail rolling stock (yes, they can run on 3 rail track). I have many favorite cars, but some of my absolute favorites are my brass n&w H2a hoppers.

In second place are my I Love New England & New York Lionel Cars.

Malcolm, awesome memory, and the fact you still have that caboose is pretty cool. For me, I’m a boxcar kind of guy. I have quite a few standard gauge boxcars, but I really like the traditional sized ones. MPC, Lti. To Menards cars, I like having them look new, but I also enjoy weathering them, and sometimes even adding graffiti to some. I know, I know, shame on me for defacing those collector items, but I usually have a brand new one as well as a weathered one. Just depends on how I feel that day, makes the decision as to running a weathered consist, or a “new” consist.

Post War 6414 Auto Loaders are #1 for me.

6464 box cars next

Then "Mint" bullion cars

Lastly, as in trains, cabeese

Ditto to Brother Love.  I like cabooses...might be hereditary, since my grandfather, furniture-class carpenter, put interiors in L&N cabooses in the Louisville, Ky. shops.  When 8? years old, my dad's buddy gave me a ride on a Southern caboose rear platform as they switched coal hoppers around on a dealer siding.   My favorite would be the two types of Colorado Midland sidedoors, but l have none in O  (just HO). Any sidedoor, combine, or drover caboose l like.  The Missouri Pacific seems to have had the wildest variety, but the CB&Q also warranted a book devoted to cabooses.

First thought was passenger cars as always look nice especially night runs.  Lately for me it’s been creating consists.  Military, all black SP overnight, pacemaker, nuclear flat cars with the lights all flashing, k line tank or hopper car consists etc.  

Used to be the BATMAN Signal searchlight. And now, It shines into the night signalling The Masked Man ! "Fighting Crime and Suppressing Evil." (Autographed edition) Postwar, Traditional, Heavy, and KEWL.

Definitely my Vision Reefers. I also have a limited edition boxcar from the Nevada Southern Railway Train Museum in Boulder City, Nevada. The car is just a Lionel semi-scale car painted for the museum's passenger train, but I love it because it is a limited-run car, and the paint matches the paint on the walls of my room.

For me it's traditional sized tank cars and Railking beer cars.  I can't seem to get enough of either.

Runner up is the MPC 9576-9580 aluminum Burlington passenger set.

Don

Prewar favorite:  Lionel O-Gauge Blue Comet

Postwar favorite: Lionel 2500-series "Super Speedliner" Lionel Lines aluminum passenger cars

Modern favorite: Phoenix Railways Southern Pacific Daylight aluminum passenger cars

Unfortunately I have no photos yet but the Lionel four-truck depressed-center flatcar is a favorite. I have five; one stock as Lionel built it with the transformer (it needs the bushings to be complete although transformers are usually shipped with the bushings packed separately for protection and clearance issues), one with four two-axle trucks (the inner pair Andrews and the outer pair Bettendorf or Dahlman), one with two three-axle sprung Buckeye trucks, one with two four-axle Lobaugh Buckeye trucks, and one with four-axle Lobaugh Commonwealth trucks. All except the stock Lionel are two-rail and have KD couplers.

Note that as a kid I wanted one (every Christmas  put it on my list ) but my parents could not afford one. My Dad worked at Sears hardware and would get my trains after Christmas, either customer returns or unsold stock that Lionel would not take back so my train Christmas would show up around New Years. One major exception was the C&O SW7 switcher, that showed up on Christmas day one year and was a favorite. Still is in a way, I have several All Nation two-rail ones now. Another oddity, one year I got three of the white milk cars and an American Flyer S scale tanker. Dad took one of the milk cars and removed everything from the floor up and mounted the AF tank body on it; it did not look to bad to a twelve year-old and I had a one-of-a-kind car that none of my friends had. Oh, and the road name on it was either GULF or SUNOCO that matched my Lionel tankers.

I have a weakness for covered hoppers -- ACF Centerflow, ACF 70-ton, PS2, PS4427 (Low-side and High Side), PS4750, and (now that I have BNSF equipment) the Trinity ACF look-alike. Have too may to post photos of everything, but here are a couple.

"What ARE you favorite cars?"  would be even better.

My favorite car has always been the 6468 double-door box that came with my original set. I recently picked up a second one. I just think its cool, and I always liked the color.

My favorites...

1. #60 Trolley

2. 3618 - Helicopter Recon Car - last piece my dad bought me.

3. 3424 - Wabash Operating Brakeman car.

4. Budd 1977 Service Station Set - was my last purchase from Madison Hardware before they closed in NYC.

If we are judging by quantity it looks like this:

1) LTI era 6464 remakes.  I have almost all of them including club cars

2) MTH RailKing cylindrical hoppers in Canadian liveries.  At last count I have 35 of these.

3) Lionel Post War small milk cars both operating and non operating.  I have one of most variations including the first one with the brass mechanism.

The cars I operate most are MTH Premier 18" passenger cars.  I have these in many road names and just love the way they look snaking through the curves.

As usual, judging a "favorite" is not as easy as it sounds.

Rolland

@jjwyatt posted:

First thought was passenger cars as always look nice especially night runs.  Lately for me it’s been creating consists.  Military, all black SP overnight, pacemaker, nuclear flat cars with the lights all flashing, k line tank or hopper car consists etc.  

I agree.

Chris S.

I love 6464 boxcars. So many roadnames that nowadays you wouldn't necessarily expect to have been offered at the time. As far as scale stuff, I love my GGD Super Dome, and the few K-Line Surfliner cars I have.

There's so many but I'd have to say my set of K-Lines original run of Santa Fe slogan boxcars . I like the simple look of the string of them being pulled by a steam locomotive, has an almost timeless steam era look about it.

Jerry

For me  it's my latest acquisition: these Lionel Heavyweight 18 inch passenger cars (in the video below) that glide through my 031 curves after unscrewing the steps at the ends of each car:

These passenger cars are the correct color and style to be good models, IMO, of the passenger cars that ran on the Put, which is the theme of my layout. They also work for other NY Central divisions and the Boston & Albany, which is another favorite railroad of mine.

I am so pleased that Lionel made these cars so that the steps can be unscrewed; otherwise, I would need 054 curves or wider to run them. Arnold

Passenger trains and trolley cars are my favorites.

@Jim Berger posted:

"What's your favorite cars?".....might be a better title on your post.......

btw, mine are the atlas 4750 3-bay covered hopper....i have all the roadnames made till now

My favorite is the TMCC crane:

Followed by any PRR/PC cabin:

Tom

My Soo Line boxcars and my Wyandotte Chemical tank cars.

John

Dave, where ever did you find Moxie equipment? I love Moxie, but I’ve never seen any cars or locos? Are they custom?

Joel

@JDFonz posted:

Dave, where ever did you find Moxie equipment? I love Moxie, but I’ve never seen any cars or locos? Are they custom?J

Joel, My Cousin had them specially painted for me by a friend of his, only some of these are in the picture. There is also a large boxcar (50ft?) made by one of the train clubs that's still in the box. I also have a U.S.A. trains G-scale Moxie reefer. One of these days I'll post the the full set in here.

Don't really have a favorite car. Since I'm somewhat of a history buff, I like the American Freedom Trains. Unfortunately may of them are hard to find. But, Lionel no too long ago released several sets. I now have 13 in all and awaiting this year's release of two 2-car packs. I'm hoping Lionel will eventually release all 26 cars that made up the 1975-1976 Freedom Train, but not holding my breath. I do have the GS-4 4-8-4 GS-4 Northern Steam locomotive (MTH 30-1776-1).

My favorites are 3 bay covered hoppers. I loaded and unloaded  them for 15 years with malt and barley for breweries like Budweiser and Miller.

Diecast K line boxcars

Fortunately for me ( and unfortunately for wife) , my interests in trains continues to grow, even at my old age. It all started with the Lionel PW 6464s ( in addition to the GPs, FMs, GG1sand F3s)-then to the more modern 6464 types including the K Line 641 series-box cars-but I also study and collect the Evans auto loaders, Lionel submarine cars, circus cars, 16 wheel depressed center Lionel and K Line flat cars, K Line die cast hoppers and MTH die cast box cars, reefers and tanks cars, many caboose and beer reefers. Another love are the PRR electrics-especially , of course, the GG1s.  Jeese I probably have to many-but what the heck-still enjoy them !!

Well Dave, those Moxie cars are really neat. If you ever decide to part with any please look me up. I sure wish someone would make a boxcar for the general population!

Joel

@JDFonz posted:

Well Dave, those Moxie cars are really neat. If you ever decide to part with any please look me up. I sure wish someone would make a boxcar for the general population!

Joel

Sorry Joel, I will never sell them and when  I die I think my wife and kids know the value of them .

Custom runs are my favorite:

Rob:

I love the custom QA&P rolling stock! I dealt some with the QA&P very early in my career. Short lines were always my favorite railroads to work with. VERY customer focused!

Curt

That's a tough question...I guess these three Bing cars would be in the top tier as far as favorites are concerned.

@Tom Densel posted:

@Tom Densel

Tom:

What manufacturer made the cabin car in the above photo? I love the applied railings and grab irons.

Thank you.

Though I also love freight, I am a passenger car addict.

Boxcars.

I'm a sucker for boxcars.

In my 3-rail affliction, I like 6464 (both PW and modern era) and 6464-type (think: K-Line Classics). My past collections were heavy on 6464-type boxcars.

Getting an honorable mention are the little Marx litho 3/16" cars. Love those little sucker's, too.

SO... boxcars for me. (Even my HO rolling stock roster is heavy on boxcars!)

Andre

@Robert S. Butler posted:

That's a tough question...I guess these three Bing cars would be in the top tier as far as favorites are concerned.

You sure you just don't like beer?

Cool cars!

Jerry

Passenger cars by a long shot.

The Hooker Chemical tank car.

The Penn Salt tank car.

Lionel's MPC box car #9472 Great Northern.

Weaver's International Harvester PS-2 covered hopper

baltimoretrainworks, I KNEW I should have just posted the censored cars - that way no one would suspect.

...for example - it's obvious what I really admire is someone named Schlitz who made Milwaukee Famous.

I'd have to go with covered hoppers

@GG1 4877 posted:

Passenger cars by a long shot.

Great Video Shots, Like we are Right There, Sunshine, Great Views and Trains!!.

Love the little easteregg at the last video! Awesome! "Zoom Zoom" well done sir , thanks for great share (You were checking to see who viewed them all to the end, I know, Right.)

This one:

@Randy Harrison posted:

@Tom Densel

Tom:

What manufacturer made the cabin car in the above photo? I love the applied railings and grab irons.

Thank you.

Randy,

That is a stock MTH Premier cabin.  I don't know the number off the top of my head.

Tom

@jim sutter posted:

Weaver's International Harvester PS-2 covered hopper

Jim,

I love this car!  My father and grandfather both worked at, and retired from, the Harvester truck plan in Ft. Wayne.

Tom

My favorites are not even mine.  I never gave 2 bay covered hoppers a thought until I custom painted these three for a friend.

These are MTH Premier.  I like the scale looks and the size is such that you can have more of them without your train getting too long or heavy.

I just may have to collect some for myself.

Have Fun.

Ron

Dave, I don’t blame you for hanging onto the Moxie’s. They are really neat!

Log cars, log cars and more log cars. Also I love anything that smokes. Smoking cabooses, smoking tank cars etc. If they only made a smoking log car......hmmm?

Really an un-answerable "favorite" question, but this would be in the top bunch.

K-Line die-cast flat with I-beams. I like the car in general, very close in basic structure to a car in photos I have of a NYC example, and I painted/lettered it for the NYC. The decals are correct and I used some of those 3-D "rivet decals" to backdate the car.

It used to look like this - a modern welded H-D flat. K-line helped in the project by putting the wrong trucks on a modern car (older, plain-bearing types), so that helped with the back-dating.

I do not know about favorite but definitely unique. MTH's representation of Pullman-Standard 200,000 car produced at there Bessemer Plant.

This is THE car repainted about 2or 3-years at the NCTM.

When I say "THE" it is the actual original car that has been sitting on the museum's property.  I hope to caught outside some time in sun light. It is normally kept inside to prevent fading.

Ron

How about the weathered reefers Lionel offered in the early 80's? They still stand out and work well with traditional sized equipment.

@PRRronbh posted:

I do not know about favorite but definitely unique. MTH's representation of Pullman-Standard 200,000 car produced at there Bessemer Plant.

This is THE car repainted about 2or 3-years at the NCTM.

When I say "THE" it is the actual original car that has been sitting on the museum's property.  I hope to caught outside some time in sun light. It is normally kept inside to prevent fading.

Ron

@PRRronbh - Do you by chance have the MTH SKU for the Pullman-Standard boxcar? I am interested in adding it to my current collection of PS cars.

@paulp575 posted:

@PRRronbh - Do you by chance have the MTH SKU for the Pullman-Standard boxcar? I am interested in adding it to my current collection of PS cars.

This car dates back to 1997 and is MTH 20-9304.  For some reason I am thinking they did reproduce it but not sure.  You might search on Southern 550555.

Ron

@PRRronbh posted:

This car dates back to 1997 and is MTH 20-9304.  For some reason I am thinking they did reproduce it but not sure.  You might search on Southern 550555.

Ron

@PRRronbh posted:

This car dates back to 1997 and is MTH 20-9304.  For some reason I am thinking they did reproduce it but not sure.  You might search on Southern 550555.

Ron

@PRRronbh Thanks for the reply. They actually have had 3 (discounting the G Gage boxcar). I think I'm going to pass on buying it. While it is a PS it doesn't say anything about that on it. My other PS boxcars do say PS.

I hope this isn’t waking up an old thread thing that’s frowned upon. Im not sure what I’m supposed to do here since this is about a year old. Let me know if I should have just started a new thread.  I wanted to know what everyone’s favorite freight cars, or rolling stock in general is. I have a few box cars I love, but the MTH flat car with JD Tractors is one of my most favorites.

D500,

Your weathering, especially  on the trucks is spot on.  Nice job!

I have lots of favorites. The Lionel "Chemical" single dome tank cars are some of them:

I gotta get them back on the layout as a unit train.

The first car in the 2nd row is a favorite custom paint project of mine

Whatever was the last one I built:

This is an interesting thread with lots of awesome cars. I like freight cars too. But my favorites lately have been the Lionel Santa Fe Super Chief cars. They were made only one year and have sprung trucks, pivoting diaphragms, interiors with painted passenger figures, and overhead stream lighting. These are only the 15 inchers, due to my tight 036 Fastrack curves. But by layout has an S curve and they negotiate it beautifully at any speed.

Tough one for me-In addition to my train years as a kid, I have been "collecting" for almost 50 years-and it seems that I continue to "find" new interests to learn about and collect. I am in reverse of Lionelski---#1 for me are the 6464s-including all the modern/ club ones with metal door guides top and bottom, the K Line 641 series and the 9200 MPCs. I also like ( #2) the Lionel auto carriers, MPC bay window cabeese, die cast cars ( especially the Lionel and K Line 16 wheel depressed center cars and the MTH die cast tank, reefer and box cars, the submarine cars, PS-2 covered hoppers and multiple flat cars with different loads. I am definitely a GG1 and PRR electric nut-but have expanded those interests to include the BAR, MEC, B&M, NH, Rutland, CV, LV, Susquehanna, Reading, etc..  Come to think of it, I dont think I have ever met a train that I didn't like!!!!  What a Great Hobby.

I am partial to Caboose variations

@turtle7 posted:

Tough one for me-In addition to my train years as a kid, I have been "collecting" for almost 50 years-and it seems that I continue to "find" new interests to learn about and collect. I am in reverse of Lionelski---#1 for me are the 6464s-including all the modern/ club ones with metal door guides top and bottom, the K Line 641 series and the 9200 MPCs. I also like ( #2) the Lionel auto carriers, MPC bay window cabeese, die cast cars ( especially the Lionel and K Line 16 wheel depressed center cars and the MTH die cast tank, reefer and box cars, the submarine cars, PS-2 covered hoppers and multiple flat cars with different loads. I am definitely a GG1 and PRR electric nut-but have expanded those interests to include the BAR, MEC, B&M, NH, Rutland, CV, LV, Susquehanna, Reading, etc..  Come to think of it, I dont think I have ever met a train that I didn't like!!!!  What a Great Hobby.

Reminds me of Clay Lacy, pilot extraordinaire and retired United Airlines captain who started Clay Lacy Aviation out west and has logged more multi-engine turbine time than any other pilot. His old saying is, "I seldom met a plane I didn't like."

@Yellowstone Special posted:

This is an interesting thread with lots of awesome cars. I like freight cars too. But my favorites lately have been the Lionel Santa Fe Super Chief cars. They were made only one year and have sprung trucks, pivoting diaphragms, interiors with painted passenger figures, and overhead stream lighting. These are only the 15 inchers, due to my tight 036 Fastrack curves. But by layout has an S curve and they negotiate it beautifully at any speed.

Great set, love it……I want to get one. What is the set number?

@Bigboyrich posted:

Great set, love it……I want to get one. What is the set number?

Thank you, rich. I won't be home until later in the day and will have to look at the set box under the layout and get back atcha.

Like Brother Love, the caboose. Two of mine are favorites; the classic Lionel 6457, and a custom built DL&W caboose made by Brother Love.

@Yellowstone Special posted:

Thank you, rich. I won't be home until later in the day and will have to look at the set box under the layout and get back atcha.

Fairly certain the Santa Fe passenger cars are the following:

15312 Santa Fe 4 pack, 2003 Vol 1

29152 Santa Fe 2 pack, 2003 Vol 2

Lionel website has info on them.

@turtle7 posted:

............. I am in reverse of Lionelski---#1 for me are the 6464s-including all the modern/ club ones with metal door guides top and bottom...........

Turtle7,

I also love 6464's and have all of the PostWar issues (not the variations) and run all of them. Here is a pic of some of them:

I had all, including the over stamp issues, of the remake 6464's, but sold all of them to make room for more PostWar of every ilk. I did keep these three because I love WestPac:

As to 6414 Auto Loaders, this train speaks for itself:

@ed h posted:

Fairly certain the Santa Fe passenger cars are the following:

15312 Santa Fe 4 pack, 2003 Vol 1

29152 Santa Fe 2 pack, 2003 Vol 2

Lionel website has info on them.

Thank you, ed h!

So there you go, Bigboyrich. I recall that they're rare and hard to find, as they were made only one year.

@Bigboyrich posted:

I am partial to Caboose variations

Me too Bigboyrich

Check out my "One of a Kind Caboose" post on my website.

Great, rare and hard to find are the items I always seem to like!

My favorite's at this time are my MTH cylindrical map car hoppers. I only have 5 currently, so the hunt continues.

So far it's my "industrial" cars and my Sunoco Tankers. Hope to add a crane car,  any car with a genset on it and a 2 dome Sunoco.

One of my favorite cars!

One of my favorites is my Homemade NASA 6413 Mercury Capsule Transporting car with crane ready capsules to add to the fun.

Charlie

The cars/engines  that are not made/painted by the toy train companies....

Nice Keith, 3D printed?

Sorry if I've already responded, but I have several, but maybe this is my favorite?

Picture of me reenlisting in Jan 1988 in front of Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin Germany (personalized Lionel 6-84557):

I've been more into freight recently so I'll stick to that-My favorite cars to run generally have the following characteristics:  o scale, made by Atlas or Weaver, usually boxcars. I especially love any rolling stock that is "stamped" with reporting marks for a different railroad-such as a southern pacific boxcar with SP reporting mark but formerly from Railbox and still has the Railbox paint scheme. Also a big fan of leasing companies and Hy-cubes

Love my 50' Railbox boxcars, have 2 of the "alternate history" atlas Trainman on the way. Hereare the five I currently own, from left to right: Lionel Railbox small logo, Weaver SP(ex-Railbox), Atlas Tman two  Santa Fe(ex-Railbox), Atlas Trainman  Railbox. Closer shots below

2 Santa Fe ex-Railbox & one Railbox large logo

Railbox Small Logo Weaver SP ex-Railbox

I know they're a niche, but love these 40' hy-cubes by Atlas!(First ATSF is 1975 repaint, second ATSF is original)

Closer/clearer picture

Have loved Conrail since I was a kid. Vacation with family often in St. Augustine which has brought on a strong liking for the FEC . The Conrail  is technically a CSX boxcar, it's got the NYC stamp! , but it's also a Berwick 60' Hy-cube

These are the cars that "get me going" and "grind my gears"- luckily not my locomotives gears!!(corny but so be it)

@Lionelski posted:

Nice Keith, 3D printed?

No, just parts of parts of parts and glue.

@StevefromPA posted:

Have loved Conrail since I was a kid. Vacation with family often in St. Augustine which has brought on a strong liking for the FEC . The Conrail  is technically a CSX boxcar, it's got the NYC stamp! , but it's also a Berwick 60' Hy-cube.

@StevefromPA--Steve where did you get that nice looking tower from and can you post a better picture?

Tom

Here's my favorites

Another one of my favorite cars!

My 3 B&O Wagontop boxcars are among several of my favorite freight cars.