[San Juan]

The silver is pretty tacky. Not everything should be like that, especially the end beam. But the grabs and hand rails could be depending on the paint era. Take a look at this USA Trains American Series caboose I kitbashed to look a bit more prototypical and repainted and note where the silver paint is:

Now with the round herald version you have, things get a bit tricky. I know a lot more about the paint and lettering for the D&RGW during the 1940s and up. The handrails on your version could be white, while the car could be a bright red paint. I believe the railings could also be black. But someone probably knows about the earlier paint schemes and hopefully can clarify for you.


And for those talking about scale, yes that C&S caboose is a USA Trains "American Series" woodside caboose which is advertised as 1:24. But look closely in the photo with the 1:24 D&RGW Aristo caboose and you'll notice the USA is bigger. Not by much, but enough to be closer to 1:22.5 then the as advertised 1:24 which the Aristo clearly is. This closer to 1:22.5 then 1:24 is pretty much the same with the whole USA Trains American Series. That's why I always say they are 1:22.5 and not the as advertised 1:24. Aristo Craft Classics (formerly Delton) are really 1:24 as is the MDC D&RGW style caboose.

But the scale difference of 1:22.5 vs 1:24 has nothing to do with those awful jacked up trucks. That's just a mistake plain and simple. Likely goes back to the Delton days. That awful gap and 1:24 scale are the main reasons why I chose the USA caboose for my D&RGW caboose fleet. Sure I had to do some plastic kitbashing mods to get the right steps, etc... but it was worth it to keep away from that truck gap. In my opinion, it is always easier to make body mods then to fiddle with trucks and bolsters. Your trains run on those trucks and if you start cutting and fiddling the car may never track right.

 

[San Juan]

The D&RG(W) C-25 was narrow gauge. One of a kind #375. Former Crystal River loco.

 

[San Juan]

Posted By SailorDon on 17 Dec 2009 10:00 AM

The photo credit is D. Fletcher.

I'm no expert, but this is the way I would like my D&RGW caboose to look. I'll try to do some mods after the rush of the Holiday season subsides.


Wow! Now that is definitely better looking. The railing paint (black) is more accurate for the circular logo era as well. Although the end beams probably should match the body paint (red). If these were not 1:24 scale, I would have used the Delton version for my caboose fleet for sure.