First, Thank you for some of the amazing releases that continue to evolve in your N scale passenger trains. It was brass or nothing 10 years ago for some of the Budd equipment you have produced.
Some thoughts on some fill in equipment that could be sold separately or in some newly formed Amtrak Heritage sets:
CZ 48 seat Coaches (Silver "Tree" series) cars and UP "Pacific" 10&6 in Amtrak ph 1 scheme to supplement the 4 car ph 1 set produced 2 years ago
ATSF PS Pleasure Domes and 48 seat diner in Amtrak ph 1 scheme to supplement the 4 car ph 1 set produced 2 years ago
Could also do a CZ set in Ph 1 (substitute CB&Q '52 built 10&6 - 3 hallway windows) and use only CB&Q names as most of the WP/DRGW cars were sold to Auto Train*/private owners or held for company service.
*could also offer an Auto Train set with the WP CZ domes, UP Dome Coaches(please put the correct OSH trucks under them), UP Placid series cars, ATSF Regal sleepers, UP Dome Diners and UP Dome Obs cars - wink wink, nudge nudge. I always thought the purple trucks were cool!
Ph 3 - CZ 48 seat coach (un-skirted with newly tooled truck without tread brake cylinder) as Amtrak 4740 series coach, CZ diner (un-skirted with newly tooled truck without tread brake cylinder) as 8500 series, CB&Q 10&6 (un-skirted with newly tooled truck without tread brake cylinder, could also retruck with OSH truck and make a former ATSF Pine series car) as 2460 series sleeper, and UP Pacific series 10&6 as 2440 series car. These would sell well with the Ph 3 Amfleets already out there, and would allow for a non-dome Lake Shore, Capitol Limited, City of New Orleans, or Silver service consists. I feel these would be a home run! Spare Pacific series sleepers out of the City of Los Angeles sets are fetching a near mint on eBay lately!
Ph 3 - offer Hi-Level coaches, diners and lounges as supplements to Superliner sets and the Hi-Level transition dorms already produced. 399XX series.
Ph 3 - Kato has all the pieces to offer the Amtrak 40th Anniversary train with some minor adjustments!
Ph 4 - offer CZ un-skirted diners and 10&6 of the CB&Q, ATSF or UP variety as Crew Dorm cars as a supplement to the Ph 4/5 Amfleet sets already selling.
Ph 4/5 - Hi-Level coaches and lounges as Pacific Parlor Cars
All the above are true to prototype adaptions of cars that Kato has produced, and would give modelers a great opportunity to further enhance the fidelity of their passenger trains.
Thank you for your consideration of the above - I hope that at least some of these ideas are considered.
Please feel free to contact me if further information on any of the above prototypes is required.
MRLX1020
