I just received an email this past evening from Tangent Scale Models that they are releasing N7 & N7A steel bay window cabooses in several road names.
Each comes with "accurately-painted interiors including the closets, sink, toilet closet, stove, bunks, desks, and chairs", as well as warm LED interior lighting that can operate on either DC or DCC. The 1970 and later N7A cabooses come with either working red marker lights or FRA lighting. Tangent is also offering each type of caboose as an undecorated kit.
While it's neither a NYC 19000-series wood caboose nor inexpensive, I snapped up one of the early NYC N7s because accurate NYC cabooses in plastic are as rare as hen's teeth.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
That is a beautiful model.
Is this really what the interior was like? It sure does not seem very comfortable. The matresses are all on the floor!
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190Is this really what the interior was like?
All the comforts of home
PLE_550 by Edmund, on Flickr
PLE_550b by Edmund, on Flickr
This is the P&LE rebuild but they were in the "fold" of the New York Central.
SeeYou190The matresses are all on the floor!
Most of our model floors scale out to over two-feet thick.
Gotta compromise somewhere. I often have to amputate the LPPs at the knees to make them sit in a coach seat.
tstage I snapped up one of the early NYC N7s because accurate NYC cabooses in plastic are as rare as hen's teeth.
Keep in mind, Tom, that the N7 was a designation the Penn Central made to the NYC Lot 782 cars after the merger. NYC liked to assign "Lot numbers" to equipment groups.
Funny thing, I was weeding out stray equipment from the layout just two days ago and I had two of the Walthers versions of these cabooses, kind of close but not quite as accurate, in my hand figuring I'd put them in storage for now.
Tangent is one of those outfits that just makes an announcement for a new product without any fanfare or buildup press. Here they are, and most times their offerings sell out within weeks, if not sooner.
I bought a B&A version, I had uncles that worked for the B&A and I'm going to imagine that one wandered as far west to Cleveland. Then I got a Century green one since I have several brass ones in the oxide paint.
Regards, Ed
They seem like some nice models. Not my railroad, however I am sure NYC, PC and early Conrail modelers will snap them up.
An "expensive model collector"
I have a number of Milwaukee cabeese from Walthers. They do not come with interiors. I had one opened up to put in Tomar marker lights. While I was in there, I put in an interior light and printed up some flooring and made some rudimentary furniture.
When I got it back together and on the rails, I realized that caboose windows in HO are so small that interiors are kind of pointless.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Looks very nice, I'll start with one NYC and one PC please. Tangent does not recommend removing the shell from the floor, I guess I will have to put a rr employee on the platform. It would be nice to see a little man looking out of a window.
Just received notification from Tangent this afternoon that my NYC bay window caboose is shipped and I should receive it by mid-week this coming week. As MB noted, I'll be curious how well the interior lighting is visible through the bay windows.
According the Tangent website, "a simple wand included in the box activates the lights on each end [if equipped] – and the interior – independently". Another description states the following:
"No complicated decoder. No complicated programming. No complicated electronics. DC/DCC compatible track-powered 'no fuss' interior and marker light lighting – simple and easy to operate with included wand"
If I'm interpreting the term "track-powered" correctly my hope is that it uses a capacitor module for the interior & exterior lighting rather than batteries and that the wand is just a way of turning off the lights when the caboose is sitting on the caboose track out of service.
I use latching magnetic reed switches in my cabooses to turn on and off the lighting, works great. I also use track power to charge a rechargeable coin cell to power the LEDs.No flickering, the coin cell will power all the LEDs for about an hour. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
What is the expected max number of recharges for the coin cells before they have to be replaced, Mel?
Tangent states in their description that they "do not recommend removing the shell" as "it will void the warranty for the caboose due to the complexity of the marker lighting system". I could be wrong but I'm reading into that that they are using something other than batteries.
I like my Tangent's International Car Co. B&O I-18 bay Window Caboose for it's looks. This was Tangent's first offering of a Caboose. I thought the on the side marker lights were a bit dim even in darkness but they are super tiny (read scale). The wand opens and closes the reed switch on the corrsponding marker light end and in the center of the car for interior. My track power is DCC, no batterys in the Caboose. The wand is about 6'' long and is orange in color making it somewhat hard to misplace. These ''second caboose offering'' from Tangent will be a nice addition to the rear end of my trains even if I do not run in the dark.
Thanks, PC. Have you experienced any light flickering with your B&O caboose?
tstage Thanks, PC. Have you experienced any light flickering with your B&O caboose? Tom
Ok this is what I have on my Tangent first issued International Car Co. B&O I-18 bay window caboose.
The lights are always off when the track is powered up and stay off till you "wand'' what you want.
When DCC track power is switched 100% off, the caboose lights will stay on for 7 seconds before all lights go out.
Flickering, never seen it. This B&O I-18 has screening over the doors and all the side windows except the main bay window. So inside lighting is hard to see but it is there.
PC101 I thought the on the side marker lights were a bit dim even in darkness but they are tiny.
BnO_I18b by Edmund, on Flickr
Since three of the "lenses" are green and only a tiny dot of red to the rear, the markers seem disproportionally green color. It really is a neat feature to have the reed switches activate the proper end markers but, generally, I don't bother with them unless I want to photograph the model or "show it off" to visitors.
No lighted markers are offered on the NYC cars since the lamps were attached to the upright corner braces making any kind of fiber optic or LED wiring nearly impossible.
Interior lighting is barely perceptible, although the B&O cars have etched screens over the windows. Tangent has the lighting realistically dim.
Ed, That is a neat picture of the marker lights. I looked hard and long at my rearward marker light lens in the total darkness (which I will never run trains in the dark) as viewed from the ends and even took a picture and I can not see the rearward facing Red lens, just like you say they do look "greenish" in color. Oh Oh, I just failed my vision test, look out. I have to check up on that, maybe the B&O did not run Red lights on the rear of their Cabooses.
tstage, If the Caboose of your choice has any lighting on/in it and you run it on to the caboose track, if you use a ''kill'' switch on the caboose track, then the lights will go out in appoxamently 7 sec. and stay off till you activate them when the caboose goes back on the road. This way you need not to ''wand'' that caboose to outten the lights even though the caboose track has been made "hot" again.
tstage What is the expected max number of recharges for the coin cells before they have to be replaced, Mel? Tom
I would think that the rechargeable coin cells are rated the same as any other rechargeable Lithium battery, about 500 cycles. I’m 84 and I’m sure they will out last me.I use the rechargeable 4 volt Lithium batteries in all my goodies and they work better than great. The TP4056 charger board (eBay 50¢) will charge any Lithium cell from a 5 volt source.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
PC101When track power is switched 100% off, the caboose lights will stay on for 7 seconds before all lights go out. Flickering, never seen it.
Alright, from your description above, it sounds like the flicker-free lighting is coming from some sort of capacitor module, which is what I had hope. I really like the ones that MTH used in the 20th Century Limited passenger cars they released back in 2013. No battery changing or charging needed. And the Tangent caboose gives you the option of "wanding" them on or off - Nice!
RR_MelI use the rechargeable 4 volt Lithium batteries in all my goodies and they work better than great. The TP4056 charger board (eBay 50¢) will charge any Lithium cell from a 5 volt source.
Mel,
Is the 2-contact mini connector in the rear floor of the caboose used for recharging? That would make it convenient.
tstage Mel, Is the 2-contact mini connector in the rear floor of the caboose used for recharging? That would make it convenient. Tom
Yes. I use the micro connectors on all of my lighted cars, I really don’t like having to mess with wires when I pull a shell off the frame. The upper and lower connectors mate when the shells are slipped on the frame or floor.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
That's what I surmised from the photo, Mel. Smart planning & designing!
Even the little guy plugs in the caboose.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
LOL - Nicely done, Mel.
It's only been 5 days since the surprise email announcement by Tangent and two of the four '49 NYC bay window cabooses are already sold out.
The NYCSHS placed 6 separate orders with Tangent for the '49 & '64 NYC cabooses and the '49 B&A cabooses. 3 of those 6 orders were placed on the day after the announcement because so many NYCSHS members were snapping them up. Needless to say, NYC modelers have been hungry for an accurate NYC caboose for a long while.
Mine is scheduled to arrive on Friday but could be here as early as tomorrow. I'll try and post a few photos after it arrives. I also picked up one of the undecorated bay window caboose kits to kitbash it into a '48 NYC bay window caboose, which there were only 3 produced. Should be a fun project.
They look lovely and make me wish Tangent would offer a western caboose.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
They may indeed do one, rio. Tangent is VERY tight-lipped about their releases/announcements. In fact the NYC caboose email announcement this past Friday caught pretty much everyone but a couple of the directors from the NYCSHS by surprise. And after a long weekend of ordering, the NYC cabooses are GONE!
tstage They may indeed do one, rio. Tangent is VERY tight-lipped about their releases/announcements.
They may indeed do one, rio. Tangent is VERY tight-lipped about their releases/announcements.
Yes Dave is tight lipped. I'm not holding my breath on western Tangent cabooses but I'll be pleasantly surprised if some get done.
In fact the NYC caboose email announcement this past Friday caught pretty much everyone but a couple of the directors from the NYCSHS by surprise. And after a long weekend of ordering, the NYC cabooses are GONE! Tom
Do you mean a batch of NYCSHS cabooses, cause Tangent's website still shows them in stock, with 2 of the brown version numbers still available.
tstageMine is scheduled to arrive on Friday but could be here as early as tomorrow. I'll try and post a few photos after it arrives.
My pair just arrived minutes ago Actually only four days in transit.
Fun things come in small packages!
Ed
riogrande5761 In fact the NYC caboose email announcement this past Friday caught pretty much everyone but a couple of the directors from the NYCSHS by surprise. And after a long weekend of ordering, the NYC cabooses are GONE! Tom Do you mean a batch of NYCSHS cabooses, cause Tangent's website still shows them in stock, with 2 of the brown version numbers still available.
I meant the NYCSHS website, rio.
According to the fella who oversees the NYCSHS Collinwood Shop, they sold 196 of all three NYC cabooses and can't order anymore because they are out at Tangent. Tangent was completely overwhelmed by the amount of orders they received over the long weekend. And, to make matters worse, their server crashed the day after the announcement, which required Dave and his team of 3 (4, total) to sort out all the emails, phone calls, and orders. Dave stated that they are still in the process of catching up and had to put in a long weekend just to keep up with the orders.
So, yep, some of our well-known manufacturers are still essentially cottage businesses with few employees. And the owner, Dave, works a full-time job on top of his responsibilities at Tangent. You gotta really love what you are doing and/or providing to the public to want to keep doing it on an on-going basis.
Ed,
I only took a quick glance at the caboose through the packaging and it looks stellar. I was also quite impressed with just the quality of the Tangent packaging alone. The external box for the caboose is high quality, along with the graphics. I'm really looking forward to taking the caboose out of the box after I get home from work this afternoon and giving it a good look.
SeeYou190Is this really what the interior was like? It sure does not seem very comfortable. The matresses are all on the floor!
It looks like the floor is pretty thick (perhaps hiding a weight?) so I suspect the furniture is lower than it should be so seats and the tops of the tables, bunks, etc. are at the right height compared to the windows.
If you look at the undecorated caboose kits on the Tangent website you can see two weights in the upper right of the photo that span the entire length of the caboose. They appear to be ~3/32" thick, which would make them a little over 8" in HO scale. That would take a good chunk of the leg off any chair or bench. That would also weight the caboose very nicely.