Hello guys and gals......... I am soon shopping for a shorty N scale caboose to go with my KATO NW-2 switcher. How good are the N scale KATO caboose with the light kit ? Anyone have one and how do you like them ? tiffany nw-2
I've bought.....hmmmm. Eight of them? I convert them to everything but. Those trucks and frames are useful everywhere, two are converted to steam tender frames for better electrical pickup, one is a flatcar on my burro crane for pickup, five are under other caboose bodies to illuminate them for markers. It's the best little 8x8 pickup platform out there that isn't actually a tender that can be cut up for a variety of useful purposes. The frame is excellent, 2 freight trucks with end-axle pickups, very free-rolling, pickup contacts just like a diesel up into the frame. They have a plug for their own weird little illuminating bulb and reflector common to their passenger cars in the body. I'm pretty sure the illumination kit is either the same as the passenger cars or one bulb and some reflective tape for the inside of the car. The caboose is a bit of a foobie; it did exist but was very unusual and none of the road names are particularly accurate for that car. If matching an exact caboose concerns you, there are threads out here about just exactly which caboose that is. As-is, it's a fine looking caboose and most viewers think it looks fine, just can't figure out whose caboose it really is as most railroads had very individualized caboose designs. It will light up as good as it gets with the light kit in it, but that being said it will still flicker as the wheels gunk up and will need regular cleaning, all pickup wheels eventually do. I have converted all my cabooses to Richmond Controls constant lighting. The whole Kato design is a lot better than wheel wipers (it has end axle contacts) but no direct-power illumination system for either cabooses or passenger cars is anywhere near as good as a constant lighting system with anti-flicker in it (miniature capacitor board), or on-board batteries like a Rapido easy-peasy system for a bigger passenger car. Both those are a lot more expensive to implement, it was a slow process for me just due to the cost. I once had my entire passenger train illuminated with Kato on-board lights, and all that Kato stuff is now in a parts drawer. If you get it and move forward and only need the one bulb to illuminate it, PM me and I'll send you a bulb or two. If you're after a perfect illuminated caboose, you'll be disappointed, but if you're after a decent short caboose that's also illuminated and won't cost you an arm and a leg, it's the best out there.
A better option that I have employed is to use a small watch battery and holder with a small LED in the cupola.
The only real genius of the LED Rapido light units is the reed switch and the external magic wand magnet thing to turn it on and off. Otherwise, you've got to invent a switch. I've made one of out a metal caboose smokejack before - you pushed down on it to complete the circuit. All depends if you want to use existing parts and stuff or if you want to go rogue. I do wish Rapido would do a shorty unit for cabooses. The passenger car thing is great.
