Manufacturer
Micro-Trains Line Co.
P.O. Box 1200
Talent, OR 97540
www.micro-trains.com
Era: 1925 to 1970s
Comments: In the mid-1920s, the Pullman Co. built hundreds of 12-section, 1-drawing-room sleeping cars, some of which lasted in maintenance-of-way service into the 1970s. An N scale replica of Red Oak, one such car assigned to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, is the latest addition to Micro-Trains Line’s roster of Pullman heavyweight passenger cars.
We’ve reviewed other cars in this series, most recently in the September and December 2010 issues. The Red Oak matches prototype photos and builder’s drawings with a couple exceptions. The Santa Fe installed steam-ejector air conditioning on the prototype, not the mechanical AC modeled on the N scale car. Also the prototype had type 242 top-equalized trucks, not the bottom-equalized type 2410 trucks found on the model.
The car’s interior, molded in blue-green plastic, likewise matches diagrams found in A Century of Pullman Cars, Vol. 1 by Ralph L. Barger. As detailed the model has a paint scheme appropriate for the years 1935 to 1940.
The car weighs 1.28 ounces, which is under the 1.4 ounce weight suggested by National Model Railroad Association RP-20.1. The Magne-Matic knuckle couplers are at the correct height, and the plastic wheelsets are in gauge, though the flanges are slightly oversized. Micro-Trains offers low-profile replacement wheels.
Micro-Trains Line’s heavyweight passenger cars are a boon to N scalers modeling the late steam era and beyond.
