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I'm having a really hard time finding a caboose for my little railroad (mostly B&O, with an occasional visitor from the Penny). I was able to find a couple of fairly old Atlas transfer cabooses that I upgraded the wheels and couplings on and added weight to, but they are still not great models.
The best option I have found is an unlettered, painted model from Bachmann which I could add B&O logos to. (My hand tremor means that painting something myself is not an option, sadly.
Am I looking in the wrong places? It seems like it should be easier than this. Doesn't everybody need a caboose or two if they are modeling a period before the modern era?
Thanks. I did find a couple on eBay, the Atlas cabooses I mentioned above came from there. But they are not very satisfactory in various ways even after upgrading the trucks.
They are not very realistically modeled, unfortunately. The details are quite crude, and the whole body is red with no detailing. I would like to paint the details that are usually yellow on B&O cabooses, but my tremor prevents it.
ETA: And the windows are not glazed.
Also they came with body mounted Rapido couplers which I had to cut off, and replaced with Micro-Trains, and honestly I did not do a good job and probably need to do it again, which I'm reluctant to do for the reason above.
Thanks, they look good and I had not heard of them (if it's not already obvious, I am a rookie). I see a B&O on their site, but it's Chessie system, and I am modeling early 1950s. I will have to look into their back-catalog.
So I pre-ordered one of these, unlettered and in red pretty close to what I've seen on B&O cabooses. I will add decals myself. If it turns out well, I might order another, although they are far from cheap. I don't know whether B&O ever actually used this model, but I am not that strict about things if I think they look "right enough"!