After a 6 month long hiatus I have just rejoined the forum. During that time a friend told me about a strange boxcar he had with molded in doors. On one side the door was open, on the other it was closed. Not being on the forum I decided to see if I could find what he had. I asked him to show me the car, which he did. Anyhow searched the internet and found out it was Kusan. K Series to be exact. Oh full disclosure, Kusan were 2 Rail High Rail, but "compatible" with 3 Rail Lionel, etc.
Up to this point I was strictly a "Scale Guy" but this was just WAY too cool for me. Anyhow got on that auction site and had to buy one. Found a "lot" of some that needed help, and won the bid. BTW Kusan was the originator of the Beep. Lot included a battery powered one. It uses 2 C cells.
The cars are close to the same size as 6464's. The cars are 100% plastic. The wheelsets are 1 molded piece including both wheels and the axel. The couplers are part of the truck, they are compatible but non operating. The car therefore has the following part count; Body shell, Floor, 2 Trucks, 2 Truck pins, 4 Wheelsets. The Kusan RR car body is molded in Red and only printed 1 side to minimize cost. Being a Mechanical Design Engineer I love these for their simplicity of design. These were available in the late 50's for 1 cereal boxtop and 50 cents. I am just slightly too young to remember these, but wondering if any of you got your start this way.
I am including a couple of links that tell a lot more about these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A--SbRkktQQ
http://www.tcawestern.org/kusan.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUKjJdG1pD0
Anyhow an interesting side track in the development of the O Gauge Hobby. Lionel may be the dominate force, but again they weren't always the innovator.
Hope you guys find this interesting!
Let me know or add your recollections from the past.
