Best N scale freight car of all time?

[Mark5]

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

amusing

I still have the 1st cars I bought the month they 1st came out ... (I bought my 1st ones around December 1972).

I remember reading about the swedish company numerous times over the years FWIW (not only pre-web but pre-PC)

My fuzzy recollection is that they bought the company to get the name for the most part.

True, my memory could be failing  , would you care to wager?

Mark

[Van Horne]

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).
[/quote]

If it's not Kadee's then who's is it? ???
[/quote]

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
[/quote]

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
[/quote]


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
[/quote]

I'm sorry, Jason, but there is little point making this type of argument based on no knowledge and no history.  I've been in N scale since 1970, and I can tell you that the 40' boxcar was not only new tooling in 1972, but it was also way beyond anything being done by the Swedish company, (which did exist), or anyone else for that matter.  It, and later, the Atlas\Kato RS3 were responsible for N scale becoming what it is today.  BTW, Charlie Vlk is probably the most knowledgeable single source for this kind of historical info in the hobby today.

David

[Denver Road Doug]

Do these have interior detail?

No.  Not sure what details they're supposed to have but they are just flat floor and flat sides and flat ends.

But, overall they look nice, the details are sharp and the paint and lettering is top notch.  And it gets points for being a gon.  We need more gons and tanks.

[skytop35]

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

What Roger said  ;D

[TiVoPrince]

Roundhouse
FMC boxcar. 

Possibly the 'best' on a scale not usually used by model railroaders.  Multiple door styles and arrangements with paint schemes galore.  The price made huge fleet ownership an affordable pleasure.

Right now the Fox Valley car blows these away, but still many dozen of them soldier on as filler.  Detailed locos up front deserve a few Fox Valley cars to ceate the illusion of a detailed train, followed by a bunch of filler, then a few Fox Valley cars near the Athearn C50-9 caboose once again to look good next to the detailed models...

[TiVoPrince]

Actually
the Tichy beet racks are still a nice car and you can't own just a hundred...

[Dave V]

I've only been in N scale since 2002, so I'm in no way qualified to answer.  Even amongst my current fleet, there are many contenders for a "best ever," and I don't own one of everything.

Fun exercise to be sure, but ultimately futile.

[bbussey]

... [The Kadee PS-1 boxcar], and later, the Atlas\Kato RS3 were responsible for N scale becoming what it is today ...

Absolutely indisputable.  Without those two models setting the table in 1972 and 1983(?) respectively, nothing else follows. 

[SD452XR]

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

I agree. FVM did an outstanding job. Hope they do the rib-side baywindow caboose next.

[Denver Road Doug]

I've only been in N scale since 2002, so I'm in no way qualified to answer.  Even amongst my current fleet, there are many contenders for a "best ever," and I don't own one of everything.

Fun exercise to be sure, but ultimately futile.

Awe come'on....you can't come up with SOMETHING?  Do like I did, pick fifty.

[ljudice]

I totally agree on the MT 40' PS boxcars being the "most important"

Definitely what brought me into N-scale...

[Rossford Yard]

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

doug,

Not fair!

I put in the IM covered hpppers (cylindrical by reading this list) that first featured metal roof walks, and the first detailed Atlas Cabeese (wide cupola).  Those MT box cars are probably historically correct, since each N offering probably builds on the last.  The older MT and any real advance in tooling is what I think are the landmark cars.

That said, I would also put in a plug for the three makers of the bethgon.  What other car allows us to show off the natural long train advantages of N better than modern coal trains? With up to 48 or even 96 individual road numbers no less?  Well, modern grain trains, but that has already been covered.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

That said, I would also put in a plug for the three makers of the bethgon.  What other car allows us to show off the natural long train advantages of N better than modern coal trains? With up to 48 or even 96 individual road numbers no less?  Well, modern grain trains, but that has already been covered.

Kato - the best
Athearn - pretty good of you get rid of the couplers
Deluxe - FIRST

E&C/LBF/Huberts? eh yeah I agree, fairly forgetable

[bbussey]

... Those MT box cars are probably historically correct, since each N offering probably builds on the last.  The older MT and any real advance in tooling is what I think are the landmark cars...

Kadee-MTL had the point position for over a decade, as just about all of the models they released in the 1970s and 1980s superseded the previous ones.  The cabooses with fine railings were followed by the mill gondolas with working drop ends, twin bay hoppers with fine detail, wood ice reefers with opening hatches and tankcars with fine details.  People were delirious when the tanks were introduced.  Other models they released also were on the high end of the scale, but those five styles were major advancements at the time.  And the success of the PS-1 boxcar series made those models possible, which of course moved other manufacturers to raise the bar also.  So while the MTL models may not be the best today, I don't see how the Kadee-MTL PS-1 isn't the definitive "all time" champion.  Just as there may be some modern-era sitcoms that are considered to be better, "I Love Lucy" is generally recognized as the best of all time for the way it revolutionized the industry as well as for the quality of the show.

[John]

The Atlas 90 ton hopper

I have more of them than anything else