This upcoming centerbeam from Rapido appears to be the best of the best for this prototype from what I can see. My first "upscale" piece of rolling stock was a dormtar centerbeam from micro trains so these type cars have significant meaning to me. I hear lot's of good things about the red caboose version but having to rely on pictures I never felt compelled to open up the wallet for any as they seem to be only a marginal improvement detail-wise over mtl. These cars on the other hand seem to have all the stops pulled out making a very nice copy of the prototype. The lattice-work on the top truss for some of the styles (early Z pattern) is very nice looking. I am pretty much near packed to the gills with rolling stock but am really tempted to keep some space reserved for a few of these. They should be released sometime next year. More pics: Two different underside brake configurations!
I'm trying to figure out how many I want to order. I'm trying to balance them along with a Kato ALC-42 and Superliner set and a couple of the FVM SD70ACes in demonstrator colors. For some reason I keep thinking six, but I don't see that as being realistic. But then, do I really need more SD70s?
Yeah, unfortunately the prices aren't going down for much of anything at this point. That being said they can be found for pre-order up to 20% off if you look around on the interwebs. Plenty of time to save up as the ETA for them is showing TBA.
Will they worth the price ??? My experience with the Canadian is.... hum .... interesting. I've spend a lot of money on this terrific train and I'm about to spend another fair amount of money to replace all my short switches due to the sensitivity of those cars... I hope you'll get less troubles here. Envoyé de mon SM-G970F en utilisant Tapatalk
Well another offering I will pass on because of being to big to run through my tight curves and turnouts and just to dang expensive. And my shops have already built a nice set of center beams that are 40 footers and suited to my pike.
I think I'm in love! What's cost got to do with it! While we were recently on a Rocky Mountaineer trip, we passed a long cut of empty CBFCs on my side of our train. I was seated in the double-level 'gold' tier cars (the only way to go!) which gave me a great view of them. It was interesting to note the differing patterns of the stowed tie-downs on the cars. And the insides of the bulkheads all had similar, combined graphical and textual warnings about un-balanced un/loading. Those might be hard to print on production N scale models, given their interior location.
These cars started showing up in stores late last week. It wasn't clear to me at the beginning which roads used the open top z truss but the updated picture on the Rapidotrains site shows CN and Mississippi Delta.
Very nice! My wife, friends, and I passed LOTS of empty centerbeam flatcars stored on sidings during our Rocky Mountaineer "Great Circle" rail trip during the summer last year. But I don't remember seeing open Z truss ones... I do remember the standardized warnings/graphics, like the ones on the cars in the rear of that photo, on all the cars.
These cars were all over the place just north of Vegas on the I-15. Been a few years since I've been that way so maybe no longer the case but most of what I saw was TTX. Still though I like the latticework of the MD and CN.
In my opinion, the centerbeams are essential cars for most mixed freight consists. I have been collecting the Red Caboose models from years. If you think back, Red Caboose did an amazing job with rolling stock considering they stopped making these 10 years ago or more. They made great bi-level autoracks, centerbeams and the coil cars. I did buy the new Rapido centerbeams for the roadnames I don't have in Red Caboose. You can find the Rapidos for $36-38 each if you look around. Some Atlas and Micro-Trains cars are at that point.
Even though $36-$38 seems steep for those cars, not long ago, before these were announced, folks were listing the RC versions for anywhere from $50-$100 each used and new. $38 seems like a steal now...
Their only drawback is that they must be un/loaded from both sides simultaneously, or they will tip over sideways. Most facilities have adapted, but I would imagine that some do not have the space, thus making it harder and harder for small lumber operations (mills or customers) to survive. It also makes even a small industry using them take up a lot more space on our layouts. Unless they are only on the through freights orbiting around our layouts, never stopping except at interchange tracks/yards.
My first set of centerbeams arrived today. No surprises compared to what I have seen from the company website. Thought I'd post a few of my own pics. The lettering is quite nice and crisp all around. Doesn't quite show as well once the pic but if you right click the image and choose "open image in new tab" it should show full size with better detail. Some comparisons with the Micro Trains 60' Thrall centerbeam:
