Best N scale freight car of all time?

[wm3798]

Michael, Thumbs up!
If not the best, certainly the most widely traveled!

But seriously folks...
I'd have to second the IMRC cylindricals.  I think these were among the first that demonstrated that N scale was in fact a scale, and not just a gauge.

And I don't own a single one of them.

Lee

[Roger Holmes]

Any of the FVM Milwaukee Road rib-side variants ;D

[sizemore]

I'd have to go with the Atlas Trainman Magor Caboose. First affordable caboose with quality painting and molding (detail), windows, MT compatible couplers, C55 compliant wheels and did not break the bank with a store price of about 10 bucks.

The S.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The ESM gons.

[Philip H]

Oh heck - The ESM gons and everything released by Exactrail

[lock4244]

DRD,

Two Exact Rail cars on the list and the new gons aren't one of them? Tsk tsk!

I might have said the ER MIL mill gon... if they ever release it in N.

[Mark5]

Jeff,

I did intend to put the Exactrail 3564 gon on there but I couldn't remember the cf off the top of my head and they have more than one gon.  But, didn't see it on your list either!

Doug

Do these have interior detail?

[Mark5]

If by "all time," do you mean all cars and their impact in their respective eras?  If that's the guideline by which to judge, I would say the MTL nee-Kadee 40' PS1 SD Boxcar is hands-down the "best" of all time.  That model debuted in 1972 and is the foundation for all the high-quality N scale freight equipment that followed, even though it took the industry 30 years overall to reach the potential, and the MTL car still holds its own among today's tooling.

I tend to agree. These cars were truly a "leap forward" when they came out and raised the bar probably more than any other model since.

Mark

[John Burkush]

That Bachmann car with the missile on it.  Way cool.  In fact, cooler than cool.  I mean, come on.  A MISSILE.  Too awesome.  (You know you have one!)

Hey, I picked up one of those missle cars at a show a few years ago;
They go great with my Delux Innovations glowing covered hoppers with the
radiation warnings.

[wcfn100]

My initial reaction was the MTL 40' standard box car, but I hesitate giving MTL credit because I don't know if it's actually their tooling (I don't think it is).


Jason

[Iain]

Atlas peaked end 55 ton hoppers and Atlas AAR 1932 boxcar because they are the only two cars available or forthcoming in N scale that are appropriate for the era I like and are painted for the road I like.  Everything else is filler (so far).

[Mark5]

My initial reaction was the MTL 40' standard box car, but I hesitate giving MTL credit because I don't know if it's actually their tooling (I don't think it is).

If it's not Kadee's then who's is it? ???

[wcfn100]

My initial reaction was the MTL 40' standard box car, but I hesitate giving MTL credit because I don't know if it's actually their tooling (I don't think it is).

If it's not Kadee's then who's is it? ???

I believe Kadee bought a Swedish company (called Micro Trains?) early on.   I thought that some of the early cars were actually from that company, but I'm not sure how it all lays out.

Jason

[Mark5]

My initial reaction was the MTL 40' standard box car, but I hesitate giving MTL credit because I don't know if it's actually their tooling (I don't think it is).

If it's not Kadee's then who's is it? ???

I believe Kadee bought a Swedish company (called Micro Trains?) early on.   I thought that some of the early cars were actually from that company, but I'm not sure how it all lays out.

Jason

The did buy a Swedish company (Micro-trains) which made near N scale size stuff (HHO - half HO), but that was well before the boxcars came out. So, kill this idea before it becomes urban myth.

Mark

[wcfn100]

My initial reaction was the MTL 40' standard box car, but I hesitate giving MTL credit because I don't know if it's actually their tooling (I don't think it is).

If it's not Kadee's then who's is it? ???

I believe Kadee bought a Swedish company (called Micro Trains?) early on.   I thought that some of the early cars were actually from that company, but I'm not sure how it all lays out.

Jason

The did buy a Swedish company (Micro-trains) which made near N scale size stuff (HHO - half HO), but that was well before the boxcars came out. So, kill this idea before it becomes urban myth.

Mark

Why?  Because you googled one post by Charlie Vlk from 2007 and copied that info here?

I remember hearing or reading something about this before I even owned a computer.

Jason