RMT Christmas Caboose...see pic

[Jim Duda]

For you folks that wonder what the RMT Christmas BEEP (engine) and matching Christmas caboose looks like...

Marker lights on the 'boose are easily as good as those on the K-line wood sided caboose. Figure is included but you'll have to glue him on the rear platform. It has a single pickup roller so it "blinks" traversing switches and uncoupler sections, or over any middle rail gap. Operating knuckle couplers on both ends.

I'll give it and the BEEP a 3 THUMBS UP for your Christmas layouts!

Click on it for full size...

[brianel027]

Well gang, I have yet to actually hold the RMT caboose in my hands, but from all appearances it is the same exact caboose as the basic K-Line one that K-Line has used for years, and that has its origins with Kusan.

Depending on what type of fixture RMT is using for their light (K-Line uses a bayonet fixture) you could certainly change the voltage of the lightbulb to go along with the type of power needs you engine has: obviously a PW Lionel loco will draw more current than a DC can motored loco.

I will give you folks a couple of tips here based on the K-Line version of this caboose.
1) The shell is a tad of a pain to remove from the frame due to the plastic clips that grab the shell from each end of the plastic frame. You need to give the frame a bit of a bend to get it off. Once you do, I'd take a file or razor blade and cut down the lips of the tabs on the frame that the shell clips into... this will make it easier to remove in the future.
I'll note on this one, I change the mounting on every caboose I have and fill in the opening in the shell at the bottom of the doorway and then paint it to match.

2) You cannot run these cabooses one after another on 027 curves. They derail. The trucks are mounted too far back on the frame to do this. You have to either shim the handrail lip, or change the mounting hole of the truck closer to the end of the caboose.

3) The caboose ladder looks better if the handrail frame is not blocking it. Use a very fine saw or your dremel tool (or a razor blade like me) and cut away a small opening in the handrail just a hair wider than the ladder.... it's a nice visual improvement.

These style of cabooses from K-Line are plentiful and affordable. They make a great basis for a kitbashing project, as I've done modern wide vision cabooses starting with these as well as a baywindow.

[lionelsoni]

If you can't get a higher-voltage lamp, a simple way to dim is to put a rectifier diode (like 1N4001) in series. It doesn't heat up like a resistor and is less sensitive to track-voltage variation.

To eliminate flickering on switches, crossings, and dirty track, put a small bridge rectifier upstream of the lamp, with a capacitor (a few thousand microfarads) across the lamp.