# Your favorite rolling stock motifs and themes?



## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

*From heralds to paint jobs*_
From billboards to colors and lettering._

We all have our favorite sweetheart eye candy... from period to contemporary.

Boxcars, hoppers, reefers, cabooses, _whatever_.
I have numerous favorites. Can't possibly list or show them all (e.g., the _vermilion_ Great Northern PS3's, and the early billboard reefers).


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)




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## IronManStark (Jan 15, 2017)

When it comes to box cars I tend to be attracted to the old wooden platforms. Anything with the C&O / Pere Marquette, or Santa Fe. 
Hoppers 2 bays seems to be my thing! Filled with coal. C&O ,or B&O. 
Flat cars need to be the old wooden deck Santa Fe..... 
tankers are the old single dome , hooker tankers I like the orange! Lol 
Caboose.... I like anything red! I have a soft spot for my little C&O I put together 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

I have many, many, many loved schemes.Here are some of my top ones.


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

I'd it stands out a bit, this is good.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)




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## gimme30 (Jul 26, 2018)

For me it's billboard reefers hands down, particularly the beer and wine cars. Seayakbill's got a mail train I think is pretty sharp, and MTL's state cars are little rolling works of art.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)




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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

D&H had a blue and white "I (heart) NY box car that I thought was very cool. I'm originally from New York so I admit to being biased.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)




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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)




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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)




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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)




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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

I have the entire Tangent set of these.
18 cars.


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

Seems like you have all the goodies LS😅


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

Wow! Late Starter, just how much rolling stock do you have?


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

Sell all but the tangent and exactrail maybe. Use the proceeds to upgrade the line(s).


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Gramps said:


> Wow! Late Starter, just how much rolling stock do you have?


Probably as many as expected... (30 years worth). Most are in original boxes when not on the rails.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Severn said:


> Sell all but the tangent and exactrail maybe. Use the proceeds to upgrade the line(s).


Wait... what??


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

It's just an idle suggestion. Sell off some or all of the lesser lines and upgrade to better using the proceeds. I've done that at least in a minimal with some of my o scale stuff.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Severn said:


> It's just an idle suggestion. Sell off some or all of the lesser lines and upgrade to better using the proceeds. I've done that at least in a minimal with some of my o scale stuff.


Okay, where do you suggest I start?
Walthers Proto? Kadee? InterMountain? BLI? Centralia? Walthers Mainline? Athearn RTR? Bowser Executive? Atlas? Stewart? Accurail?


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## ATTDCC (May 7, 2020)

Here are 3 of my 4 favorite pieces of vintage rolling stock on one train


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

I don't know if you'd do it purely by manufacturer or by specific models or sets which could be had anew at a better level. Assuming of course you had the interest of course.


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

LateStarter said:


> Okay, where do you suggest I start?
> Walthers Proto? Kadee? InterMountain? BLI? Centralia? Walthers Mainline? Athearn RTR? Bowser Executive? Atlas? Stewart? Accurail?


All are junk, throw them out your window😂


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

Here is one of my absolute favourite boxcars. Its an Athearn RTR, mine are in horrible condition though so I just downloaded a pic.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The USRA Guy said:


> Here is one of my absolute favourite boxcars. Its an Athearn RTR...


Nothing wrong with current Athearn RTR...
I'll take it any day, for quality, detail, durability, and overall looks.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

FWIW, I'd rate Athearn RTR rolling stock about two notches below Walthers Proto, and a notch above Walthers Mainline.
Athearn's RTR diesels however, are even better... about equal to Proto.


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

Yes, those RTR's are hard to damage (I, of course, am the exception to this) while still looking fairly professional.


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

Can't kill any of those Athearn diesels. They can haul pretty well too!


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Burlington's slanted "Everywhere West" slogan was always one of my favorites.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Love these contemporary cars.


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## Severn (May 13, 2016)

Those look great. I picked up another exact rail gondola over the weekend and have a couple of others coming (apparently) by thumb a ride. But that's ok present situation and all.


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

Im so tempted to order a few Accurail gondolas...but I think I'll wait until my Consolidation is here, before getting anything else.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The USRA Guy said:


> Im so tempted to order a few Accurail gondolas...


Accurail gons are very cool...
Easy to build, easy to bash, easy to weather.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The Penn Central was one of the common heralds in my neck of the woods.
But this Tangent gon is the only PC car I have... it's a replica of one that was regularly shuttled back and forth to Shapiro's Salvage in the '70's.


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

Nice weathering jobs👍. Im looking at some of the 41 footers from CNJ


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The USRA Guy said:


> ... Im looking at some of the 41 footers from CNJ.


The only caution I have is, the corner steps can be a b****, if you have any difficulty with tiny parts and tweezers.
Lately, even with an OptiVisor and a MagLight they're beyond me.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Flatcars are necessary utility carriers, but aren't generally considered for attractive schemes, so although I have many, I don't have any in that category.


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## CambriaArea51 (Sep 2, 2019)

Some of my favorites are ones are custom painted and decaled.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)




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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

This has always been a favorite of mine. I had several of these cars on my last US based railroad.


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## NorfolkSouthernguy (Jan 29, 2019)

I have always loved those KCS covered hoppers. Is that one you have made by Athearn or Scaletrains? I do not own any yet but I have been eye balling them for a while now. 

Does anyone own any of the BMLA rolling stock? They are a pretty penny per car and I have wondered how good they are on the tracks. They look very realistic to me so I plan to buy a few soon to see how good they are. The more realistic is the only way I go. Every thing in scale and looking as close to the real thing as possible is a must.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

NorfolkSouthernguy said:


> ... Is that one you have made by Athearn or Scaletrains?


The one I've shown is a RivetCounter by ScaleTrains... outrageous detail(!). I have several different car numbers.
Both MSRP's were about the same.
Besides the Southern Belle, Athearn produced the KCS model in at least two other paint schemes.
The interesting thing is, that ScaleTrains is a Gunderson version, while Athearn calls it a Trinity. I haven't been able to confirm or reconcile either one.


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## NorfolkSouthernguy (Jan 29, 2019)

LateStarter said:


> The one I've shown is a RivetCounter by ScaleTrains... outrageous detail(!). I have several different car numbers.
> Both MSRP's were about the same.
> Besides the Southern Belle, Athearn produced the KCS model in at least two other paint schemes.
> The interesting thing is, that ScaleTrains is a Gunderson version, while Athearn calls it a Trinity. I haven't been able to confirm or reconcile either one.


Yeah I knew it was ST or Athearn which happen to be 2 of my favorite brands. That black looks sharp with the yellow/gold. Speaking of ST KCS covered hoppers today is the ETA of a new shipment of these cars in black - yellow/gold or green - yellow/gold. I didn't pre-order any of them but may very well pick up 4 or so of the black ones if any are left after the dust settles.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The Athearn version is very nicely done.
Quite 'scale' detail.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The only other ScaleTrains KCS versions I was aware of:


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Bachmann also made it (same MSRP) but not nearly as good.


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## NorfolkSouthernguy (Jan 29, 2019)

LateStarter said:


> The only other ScaleTrains KCS versions I was aware of:
> View attachment 542932
> View attachment 542933


You are correct. I thought that looked funny on ST's website a green and yellow/gold version but that's how they present the pictures for some reason. I looked a bit closer and all of the road numbers are inline with them all being the black and yellow/gold color. 

They have changed the availability now from the "ETA 5/21/20" to in stock but as usual just about every one of them are already showing "less than 12 available". I have 8 in my cart now - 1 of each road number currently available but I was thinking on it to be sure. I guess I will go with the 8 for now being they are in stock because they will not be for long. 

I also like the solid white ones you posted and they have them. Man it a tough choice because I like them both a lot.


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## NorfolkSouthernguy (Jan 29, 2019)

I went ahead and purchase 8 of the black KCS on Scaletrains and 4 of the white ones. Just over night 5 of the black road numbers already sold out. I guess I got my order in just in time to get 8 different road numbers.


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## SantaFeJim (Sep 8, 2015)

I enjoy unit trains. Coal drags, grain hoppers, reefers. I like them all. I am especially fond of the 40-foot ice loaded reefers. This takes me back to my childhood when in a single day I would see 4-6 trains each day bringing fruit from the west coast to Chicago and meat headed from Chicago to the west coast.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Nice stuff, guys...

Mine's not quite as...ummm...rigid to prototype. It's the Patriot consist I run at train shows, pulled by a repowered Tyco "Spirit of 76" Alco C630....






























These four cats were offered after 9/11 by Life-like as a four car set. Sadly, they only vaguely refer to that day, and do not mention the Towers, the Pentagon or Flight 93.




































The first four in the set were picked up for $2. The last one...Independence Hall...didn't exist in my mind until I saw one, so of course I had to complete the set--for $10 (sigh)--. The set was put out by Bachmann around the time of the Bicentennial when, of course, Independence Hall, was available separately.








These were offered by Tyco back around the time of the Bicentennial. They would be the earliest offerings as later ones weren't as sharply painted. They were given to me.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)




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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

shaygetz said:


> Nice stuff, guys...
> Mine's not quite as...ummm...rigid to prototype. It's the Patriot consist I run at train shows, pulled by a repowered Tyco "Spirit of 76" Alco C630....


This is awesome...
I love it!
And a Frisco cab to boot!


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

LateStarter said:


> This is awesome...
> I love it!
> And a Frisco cab to boot!


Thanks...it does make for an impressive train. There are at least four more Tyco cars. I'll get them if they're cheap enough, but they were the cheezy replacements for the other ones I posted, so I'm in no hurry.

The loco, repowered with a stretched Athearn mechanism...









I've replaced all the wheel sets with Intermountain 33" wheels, the whole trains rolls quite freely with a nice whoosh sound.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Forgot to post this picture, it's also part of my Patriot train...


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