New Caboose Looks like Athern is keeping their promise. This should fill a void for those modeling later steam and transistion.
It appears to be the old MDC car, which I've been running for a year or two. The MDC cars are still listed on e-seller's sites with street prices in the $9-$11 bracket for a single car. I paid $9/ea for mine. The 4 car freight sets that included this caboose, a box car, a reefer, and a livestock car, sometimes turn up for $20, which works out to $5 a car. Check around. (Trainworld may still have them.) I hope Athearn just re-runs this one instead of feeling compelled to make a bunch of worthless "improvements" to it.
Rats - the Athearn site says it has screw-mounted trucks and "magnetic" couplers. Probably comes in a paper box now, too. Time to dig through the MDC leftovers while they last.........
A little early for my taste, but the inclusion of glass/windows is good. I don't think I've seen any other plastic cabooses come with glazing, so maybe this'll be another bit of progress.
Well, it is progress, but certainly no innovation on Athearn's part: My MDC versions of the Athearn car all came with window glazing installed. Current issue Microtrains cabooses have glazing, and so do the Bowser cabins. Glazing is new on the MTs in the past couple of years, but the MDC and Bowser cars have always had it. MDC open platform passenger cars too, going back many years. Nothing new. OOPS - forgot the Atlas NE-5's and the wide and standard cupola Atlas International cabooses, so do the Walthers Bay Window cabooses, if you can find them. I probably missed some, but all these have glazing. Kato's little runt caboose has glazing, and available interior lighting! [ September 19, 2005, 06:57 PM: Message edited by: LongTrain ]
The new Athearn caboose should look great with the MDC/Athearn 2-8-0's. Stay cool and run steam......
