why are no scale open auto racks available in 3-rails?

[FJ and G]

But are available in N thru HO scales?

It is the ONLY freight car I've never seen. A 3 level auto transporter (open type built in 60s and early 70s) can hold 12-16 autos. Used to see whole trains of these on the Penn Central in NY.

The closed models made by Atlas don't let you view the autos. You gatta use your imagination.

One reason I surmise is that only 1:43 autos exist. The 1:48 autos are prohibitively expensive!

[palallin]

Lionel has made them during the MPC years and has recently revived them (e.g. the Frisco I just bought). Some are two-level, rather than three, but that's easy enough to fix. Best of all, they're cheap. Of course, they won't hold 1/48 scale autos (much less 1/43).

[FJ and G]

palallin,

Here's one that holds 15 cars!

http://www.railpixs.com/atsf2/ATSF2852_CleburneTx_Dec76.jpg