American Models Bay-window Caboose

Prototype

The American Models prototype for this caboose was the International Car Co. for the Erie RR, as built in 1953.

Dick Karnes did an extensive product review of this car in the October 1990 issue of the 3/16 'S'cale Railroading magazine, starting on page 11. A follow-up article appeared in the June 1991 issue of the 3/16 'S'cale Railroading magazine starting on page 4, about how American Models came to decide upon this model as their first caboose project. It includes the prototype history of the source car that was to be modeled, prototype photos, and several model photos.

The original 1990 release of these cars came in kit form. They can be identified by their three-digit product number on the box; current production runs use four-digit numbers. According to Dick Karnes' article, the kit version took about an hour to assemble. They came with American Models' dummy couplers. The trucks were new for American Models, and were designed by Stan Stockroki. They are a caboose-service, leaf-spring, Bettendorf-style rather than the Erie drop-equalized passenger design. The current-release runs of these cars are sold in ready-to-run format with working couplers.