N Scale Wish List

In my last post, I talked about my need for modern railroading locomotives and rolling stock to keep up a modern layout. Whereas the offerings from model train manufacturers are so much better than it was when I was a child, there are of course items I'd love to see in N scale. Here's my wish list of five items, none of which I think would be too niche of an offering from Fox Valley Models, KATO, or Atlas and the like.

1. KATO Superliner IIs

In N scale, there is not going to be much visual difference between a Pullman-Standard Superliner I passenger car and a Bombardier Superliner II. The biggest visual difference in 1:1 scale is their trucks. I should think KATO could use their production molds for the body of the Superliner I and just fashion new trucks. Apply Phase IVb livery and voila! Why they've not done this is frustrating. Not having Superliner IIs is not a huge loss--Amtrak long-distance trains sometimes can be made up of mostly Superliner Is (I prefer them as they usually have a rebuilt sleeper with MUCH better and roomier communal bathrooms). But you usually see at least one Superliner II in such consists. 

That said, the biggest absence for prototypical operation is the lack of an N scale Transition Dorm/Sleeper. These are all Superliner IIs and every Superliner train I've ever seen from 2004 onwards has had one. Such a model would require a new body mold as one of the vestibules on such cars is at normal height. This is probably an offering better suited as a KOBO custom offering. That said, I guess KATO figures N scale Amtrak car attendants can sleep in the aisles!

2. Gensets

Trains recently ran an article about how some of the hype for Gensets amongst Class Is has died down as they have operational considerations that are drawbacks for big railroads. But the fact remains that no locomotive manufacturer in North America has produced a switcher in decades and even almost all "new" road switchers now are rebuilds. Even if their hype has subsided, Gensets remain a common feature of most Class I railroad yards and yet nobody has offered them in N scale. To be fair, only Atlas Trainman has done so in HO scale and even then, just a limited number of road names.

3. 53' Trailers

I have BLMA spine cars and BLMA keeps putting more spine car sets out. Yet finding 53' trailers from carriers such as JB Hunt, Schneider National, and Swift is about impossible. Deluxe Innovations is supposed to be releasing some but there seems to be no specific delivery date.

4. Montana Rail Link Locomotives in Current Livery--Any!

MRL is one of my favorite railroads and yet there is nothing for N scale in the "Flying W" livery, never mind the current "red dot" one. You'd think KATO would see the money to be made in releasing some MRL SD70ACes. InterMountain Railway Company is set to release some SD45-2s in the "Flying W" but MRL no longer rosters such units.

5. (Tie) Viewliner IIs or Corridor Bilevels

Amtrak will soon introduce the new CAF-built Viewliner IIs and this seems a slam dunk for KATO which can reuse its Viewliner I molds in some cases. For those of us who model Western long distance trains, we may not see much impact from the Viewliner IIs right away but they certainly will show up as new baggage cars and maybe even baggage-dorm cars. At least the first real Viewliner IIs are painted in a Phase III livery which seems a natural fit for KATO to market with the 40th Anniversary P42DCs.

It may be a harder ask for Corridor bilevels like the California Cars and Surfliners of Amtrak California. But with new bilevels on their way for California and Illinois, it may appeal more to KATO or another manufacturer to release such cars as there might be more modelers interested in them.