USA Trains has just come out with a new Ultimate Series Center Cupola Caboose. This new caboose is not only the newest caboose USA Trains has come out with, but has much better detail than the Extended Vision and Bay Window caboose. Past complaints with the USA Trains Extended Vision and Bay Window caboose is that there was no detailed interior and the windows were frosted out. USA Trains has listened and made major changes with the Center Cupola Caboose. The first major change is that there is now a fully detailed lighted interior. Also new is USA Trains correct Caboose style trucks with black metal wheels, no more freight trucks on cabooses here. Also you can keep the marker lights lit while the caboose is not moving. All grab handles, railings and ladders are made from metal. This also features a operationg fan driven smoke unit and illuminated marker lights. This is definately the best caboose yet USA Trains has come out with, but you do pay the price for all of these upgrades. On the average this caboose list $30 more in price than the Extended Vision caboose or the Bay Window caboose, but if you want a realistic caboose, this one is for you. Photo Courtesy of USA Trains
Trainman, Do you think they will make any of these changes to the American Series caboose some day? Happy Railroading! GovB
The American series is USA Trains oldest series and the original trains that Charles Ro started out with. I don't think they will re-invest into improving upon this series and will just move on with the ultimate series. The only product really that keeps going in this series is the woodside reefer car and that is only because both Charles Ro Sr and Charles Ro Jr love this particular car in which they enjoy making up different design billboard paint scheme for them. This of course is all of my own opinion and we could get a surprise of a fully detailed woodside caboose, but not likely. There has been no new introduction of American Series trains since the Ore Car came out. Some of the American series has even been discontinued and is now getting hard to find. The original Auto Flat Cars back from 2002 is a good example, certain road names of those are near impossible to find.
This is my own personal opinion again, by judging how USA Trains conducted buisness in the past, I don't think they will improve the wide or extended vision caboose. It seems like Charles Ro does not like to re-invent the wheel so to say, once a product is out thats it, the new improvements go into the next product. You really can't blame him because look at it this way. Youi have to pay for new molds, designing them and it takes a 3 year turn around to get the product out to us because he said China drags thier feet sometimes. His money return is very slow that he puts out, so I highly doubt he will improve any product that is already out just by judging from the times I talked to him in person. Charles Ro did complain to me how it took 3 years just to get this new cupola caboose to us. Besides you can also look at it in this way too, #1 you get a cheaper version and more pricy version caboose to choose from and #2 In reality back in the day, how many caboose could you really see thru the windows on???? It seemed like many "real" caboose windows frosted out and why?? Because most of the windows on cabooses were replaced with a cheap grade of "Lexan" which is a clear plastic, but in age often frosted out. Lexan was used to keep the window from breaking out again and Lexan was almost impossible to break. Sometimes we get spoiled by seeing cabooses at the train museums and think that is how they really rode down the tracks, not so, near the end use of cabooses, most were in sad shape. Getting back to the subject now, USA Trains likes to go foward, they rarely go backwards. Aristocraft on the other hand does improve older products, but you have to remember, Aristocraft don't have no where near the same amount of different products available as USA Trains, so they can do this successfully. Such Aristocraft improvement examples would be the Delton series 2-8-0 recieved a new motor block design and the Alco FA was redesigned and lowered to better match the prototype.
That is true, and if you know how to kitbash, no reason you can't rig an Aristocraft Interior to fit the caboose and re-do the frosted windows. I mean if you can kitbash an FA into Union Pacific's Turbines then this should be no problem. Was worth a thought though.
New to Train Board. Long time, mylargescale. What do you know about the USA Sound Cards, that apparently they use to make and sell separately. There is one, for a GP9, on e bay, for $150. What company made these boards for USA, and any information you may know about them, including quality and features, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ron
