O Scale Trains Magazine Online

Product News & ReviewsSpecial Report - Ready-to-Run Passenger EquipmentSome of us dustier folk recall those rich days of yore,populated by passenger equipment kits from folks likeLobaugh, Walthers, JC, Boxcar Ken, Mac Shops, Alexander;the list could go on for quite a while. Most of us rememberRalph Brown’s American Standard kits, with their wonderfulrelief and detail compared to their older metal-side brethren,and Pete Plunkett’s American Lightweight cars, bothlines covering just about any light-or heavyweight car builtin the US. Suddenly, it all disappeared. If you weren’t “playingwith the big kids” and swallowing the price-point ofbrass or custom-built, you were either on the hunt at showsfor leftover kits, questionably rebuild-able hulks or kitbashpotential, or you were down in the shop scratchbuilding.Clearly, there was a void.In the New World of O, several importers have recognizedthis void, and are moving to fill it. Included in this gallopingherd are many of the names we’ve become familiarwith; Atlas, Weaver, Middle Division, and Golden Gate,to name a few. Things are looking better for the budgetmindedpassenger train operator, arguably starting withWeaver’s Osgood Bradley coaches. A special bright spotcan be found in head-end equipment. Middle Division isdelivering PRR X29s in the express configuration, and Atlashas announced a wood express refrigerator. Troop car conversions,a PRR B60 baggage car, and an N&W postal carare Weaver’s current contribution to the fray. Golden Gateis offering a Pennsy B70 baggage car, a BM70 postal, and aPB70 combine.In the passenger hauling world, joining Weaver’s “AmericanFlyer” coaches are the Golden Gate Pennsy P70 coaches,followed by a generic paired-window steel coach basedin part on the P70 tooling. Golden’s plastic model of theubiquitous 12-1 heavyweight Pullman will probably be incountry by the time you read this. Plastic scale ready-to-runpassenger equipment, a luxury previously reserved for thesmall-scale crowd, is now becoming a reality in O.More passenger and head-end cars are on the horizon,and the choices are growing. In the works are combines,sleepers, more express cars, and who knows what. Thistrend has been, and will continue to be, worth watching.Let’s look at a few of the most recent offerings.REVIEW: PRR X29 Express Boxcar, MSRP $69.95The Middle Division, PO Box 1338, Camp Hill, PA, 17001866-643-3481 • www.middledivision.comReviewed by Brian ScaceFirst, from the Middle Division and AtlasO, comes theexpress version of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s X29 boxcar.The freight version has already been reviewed in thesepages, so we won’t dwell on the basic car again, here.What’s different are the damped trucks (for passenger-speedoperation), steam lines, door stirrups, and unique lettering;46 • O Scale Trains - May/June ’07all faithfully modeled in this version. Thesecars, like most baggage or express cars, werefreely interchanged from coast-to-coast, soyou don’t have to be a Pennsy modeler to have a place forone or two, and there were a lot of them.The graphics, paint, and assembly are clean and crisp.You get to put the cut levers on, so look for them in a tinypoly-bag in one of the packets in the box. I’m not usuallygiven to subjective observations, but the whole car isjust plain nice. Back to objective we go; it measures outwell, sits at the right height, checks out with all the variousNMRA and Kadee gages on hand, rolls freely, and I reallylike the truck bolster width on the whole X29 series. Thisis a nice model of a car that really is not that well knownoutside the Pennsy circles. They were everywhere, so theyshould be. I hope that Middle Division or AtlasO will offerthe trucks for separate sale (suitable for all those old Maxand USH PRR roundroof X31/X32 boxcars that are kickingaround).REVIEW: PRR B60 Baggage Car, MSRP $79.95Weaver Models, 315 Point Township Drive, PO Box 231,Northumberland, PA 17857570-473-9434 • www.weavermodels.comReviewed by Brian ScaceFrom Weaver Models comes another ubiquitous PRRhead-end car, the B60 baggage car. These were also freelyinterchanged along both the express routes and the U. S.Mail RPO routes and were probably even more commonthan the X29 express box. Weaver’s car can be had in boththe porthole window and square window versions, and in acouple different Pennsy schemes representing different eras.It features flush-fitting windows that minimize thethick-wall complaints that some folks have about plasticheavyweight cars, evenly applied paint and clear graphics.Assembly, fit and diework are all very well done. Especiallynice are the diaphragms, complete with upper springbars.Couplers are supplied and installed, and all the importantstuff measured out with the Kadee and NMRA gages onhand. This car is also a nice roller, especially for one withelectrical wipers.These cars come with working directional markers, soyou can’t resist the occasional temptation to just chuckone of these on the rear of a train. In more sober moments,there is a convenient slide switch to shut the markers off(Hooray!)REVIEW: N&W M1 Postal Car, MSRP $84.95Weaver Models, 315 Point Township Drive, PO Box 231,Northumberland, PA 17857570-473-9434 • www.weavermodels.comReviewed by Joe GiannovarioI know zip about passenger equipment. To me, a 12-1Pullman sounds more like a cribbage score. I can, however,read a diagram and it just so happens that I have a diagram