As outlined in Harold Russell’s article that accompanied the prototype drawings published in the April 2004 issue of Model Railroader, the NYC owned hundreds of these cars in the steam era, and many survived into the late 1960s. Their low cupola, required by the NYC’s low (15′-3″) loading gauge, was their most distinctive feature.
The Trix model is correct in its basic dimensions and has flush-mounted window glazing. Its paint and lettering are precisely applied.
Somewhat surprisingly, given the quality of other recent Trix releases, we found quite a few detail errors including cupola side windows that are too shallow; the smokejack is two feet too high; the car has freight car trucks instead of the T-section Bettendorf or Barber-Bettendorf caboose trucks the NYC used; the body’s corners are square, not rounded; the roofwalk should be four boards wide, not five; the door sills are missing; and the grab irons stand too far away from the body.
All of these errors are pretty simple to fix (see Workshop, on page 28, for tips on how to fix most of them), but we were surprised to find as many as we did.
Many modelers will also want to substitute body-mounted couplers for the originals, which use the Trix pivoting drawbar. This change is also a simple one (see Workshop).
I think most NYC fans will be happy that this car is on the market, and it looks good (and operates well) right out of the box. Making it into an accurate model of its prototype, however, will require several hours of work.
Price: $39.95 each
Manufacturer
Trix Trains
P.O. Box 510559
New Berlin, WI 53151
www.trixtrains.com
Description
Plastic ready-to-run caboose
Road name
New York Central no. 19453
