My friend Greg Jones just showed me the new JnJ B&O wagontop caboose. Very nicely done. Body is one piece, underframe/floor is one piece, and all additional details are etched stainless steel. I'm going to order a half dozen for myself. Now if we could just get some decent decals to do the different scheme variations these things wore over the years.
I went to JnJ's website, but no info listed there for the caboose. Is this something we "civilians" have to wait for - and will they be available directly from JnJ - or do we need to order from a distributor? Thanks!
Greg ordered his via e-mail to JnJ, sending credit card number. Ordered on Thursday, had it on Monday.
I'm curious as to when they were removed from service. IIRC, the wagontop boxcars were first made in the 30's, I'd guess the cabooses followed sometime later. Oh, BTW, how many sheckles ($$$) ? Bob in IDaho
I saw them well into the 1970s. Not sure on price, Greg paid $70-something for 3 of them with shipping.
http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=86116 I've asked that question. At least some lasted into the 80s - I seem to remember having seen a photo of one from the early days of CSX.
The I-5A Class were built in 1935 - retired in 1968. The I-5B Class were built between 1936 and 1940 - lasted until 1980. The I-5BA Class were built from 1936 to 1940 - retired in 1984. These were alctually converted, not newly built.
Too add to Tim's info and the other info listed in the B&O fourm.... The absolute last wagontop in revenue service was an I-12. It was retired in 1988 Rd# 902462 There were many more I-12's than the I5A, B, BA. The I-5 variants were rebuilds of wooden side I-5 cabooses. They were the test models for the final I-12 class. There were 7 wagontop I-5's built and 125 I-12's built. I-5a's and I-5b's had 15' truck spacing. The BA's were rebuilt I-5b's that changed the truck spacing to 19'. The I-12's were built with 19' truck spacing from the start. Other than that, they were within a few inches of each other in most dimentions. The I-5B and BA's had porthole end windows, all others were rectangular. The wagontop I built is actually numbered wrong, it should be the lone I-5A number C-2501 and will be changed eventually. It has 15' truck centers and a single square window on each end which should actually be two. The only wagontop that fits the profile is the 2501. Hopefully I will hear back from JNJ and I won't have to worry about fixing that one so soon, just build new ones.
For those wanting pictures, Troy sent one tonight of the body casting. Price is $23.50 per kit + shipping. The first batch is sold out. He is awaiting more of the etchings. It looks great, must up the order to 6.
Been folloeing this topic because the Wagontops were so unique I wondered if it were possible to build one from an existing caboose. I chosses a Bachman Extended vision caboose. Had to raise the bolsters to sit lower and had to convert MT ladders to work on the left side. I'm not happy with the color as I think the blue is a bit too light. I scratch built the bays. I'm going to do it again in red I think..........
Considering how brutal close-up photography can be in N scale, I think it looks pretty darn good. Just rationalize the paint as being faded from the sun, weather, and covered with a layer of road dust!
Posted this on another thread, but here it is: I'm slowly working on my JnJ Wagontop. I cleaned up the casting of the body and chassis, and mounted Micro-Trains 003 02 140 Bettendorf Swing Motion Caboose Trucks. I have Micro-Trains 1015-1 Assembled Universal Mount Couplers on - they fit nicely on the provided mounting pins. Now I need to try bending the etched metal detail parts... I'm going to need decals for this, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
As far as decals, there is nothing even remotely close available right now. Troy sent me the cad drawings of the kit so I have sizes to work up a sheet using the decals I created for my caboose. They will be as close to scale size as possible and still look appropriate for the caboose. I have a friend with an Alps printer to make them up, once things get closer I will post more info. What era/era's should I do. I'm planning on a white only sheet. I was thinking as delivered up to but not including the Blue w/Yellow lettering schemes. You can get decals for that scheme from the Microscale sunburst diesel sheet I am pretty sure.
I've been doing some research on the various schemes for the wagontops. Below is what I have come up with: After '72 Chessie came into play. Of course there are variations out there that are beyond the norm but this should get things close. Also keep in mind that some of these schemes may have lasted quite a while. The only time a caboose would get repainted is if it was being shopped. I am going to wait for the kits before I settle on the final sizing on the decals. According the plans Troy sent, I need to compress the logo's on the bay slightly and I want to have the shell in hand to make sure I get them sized correctly.
TONY WOW.....Great info...Fantastic. where did you find that....and are there similar schematic for other roads???????? Super INFO:thumbs_up::thumbs_up::thumbs_up::thumbs_up:
I have both of the B&O caboose books available and between the two of them pieced together the information on the schemes and numbers. The drawings were done by me because it is easier than trying to type out a description of each variation. Here is a larger version of the top left caboose. They are just simple line drawings to get a feel for the look. The only thing that is measured is the length, height, and lettering, everything else is eyeballed. They are drawn in CorelDraw so I can scale them to whatever size I need without loosing any detail.
B&O Wagontop cabs I will post picture of the two cabs I finished later today...if I can figure out how. Greg Jones
Greg, Those look great, now it just makes me even more anxious to get my kits and get started. Looks to be a first class kit along with a first class build by you.
I met Dwight Jones many years ago - he probably wouldn't remember me - but I did buy his book B&O Cabooses Photos and Diagrams. I have a photo of one of the wagontops painted black - I'll see if I can locate it.
