ATSF caboose that would be a good match for Lionel VL 2-10-10-2 ATSF 3000 steamer

Bobby Cox posted:

I would like to know what forum members would suggest for an ATSF caboose to go with my Lionel 2-10-10-2 VL 3000 steam engine. Prefer Lionel product but would consider other manufactures. Anybody know of a brass caboose that would work? 3 rail 

Since the real locomotives were built in the 1911/1912 time frame, and were so unsuccessful that the Santa Fe rebuilt them into 2-10-2 locomotives in the 1915 thru 1918 time frame, an early 1900s wood caboose should work well. Now, you will have to find out what "early 1900s" wood cabooses looked like on the Santa Fe Rwy.

Grampstrains posted:

Like you, I would prefer Lionel but I found that most Santa fe cabooses by Lionel are too modern for steam.  So I found that MTH made several woodside steam ere cabooses in Santa Fe and bought one of those.

But,,,,,,just because they were painted & lettered for Santa Fe, were they REALLY a model of a "Santa Fe caboose"?

Bobby:

From the Santa Fe painting and lettering guide:

1910-1930 Way Cars (Caboose)

Mineral Brown - Car body

Black  - Underframe, trucks, running boards, platforms, ladders and railings.

White - Lettering

Light Gray - Interior Walls, ceiling and fixtures

Dark Green - Interior Floor.

Now, with that information you will have to find a suitable WOOD side caboose (probably with off-set cupola) and paint one up to your liking. As I am sure you will not find a correct ATSF woodside caboose. Its a fairly easy paint scheme and decals are available. 

Also, from the few images I have, it looks like all (most) had side doors. I'm sure there will be variation floating around, but you get the general idea.

Hope that helps.

Charlie

MTH Premier repainted

K-Line as commissioned by Western Depot in December 1999.

John in Lansing, ILL

rattler21 posted:

MTH Premier repainted

K-Line as commissioned by Western Depot in December 1999.

John in Lansing, ILL

The caboose in the top photo might pass for an "early 1900s era" Santa Fe caboose, but that K-Line caboose is WAY TOO modern.

rattler21 posted:

If you can find this in a Woodside version (pretty sure nobody has made one, but you never know) this will probably be your best option in an RTR version.

Since you are trying to mate this up with a 2000+ engine, you might want to send "Brother Lover" a message to see if he can make you something closer. Just not sure how accurate you want to be based on the original post.

Hope this helps.

Charlie

This ones probably a little late for the 2-10-10-2 but its different.  Mth 20-91031

Thanks to everyone who responded to this post regarding a caboose to go with my ATSF 3000. Very helpful information!

The K-Line Woodside caboose is probably your best start to do one cheaper than an accurate brass piece.

BobbyD posted:

The K-Line Woodside caboose is probably your best start to do one cheaper than an accurate brass piece.

I have one, if you would like to buy it.  It is painted in the later bright red with large Santa Fe logo, so, to be prototypical, you.d have to repaint it "mineral red", which is the typical steam-era, brown-ish, boxcar color.

Wow.  That Sunset model ATSF wood caboose is nice but not for $375

RickO posted:

This ones probably a little late for the 2-10-10-2 but its different.  Mth 20-91031

Both MTH and Lionel released similar cabooses to this with a very simple NYC scheme similar to ATSF's of the early 1900s.  If you can match the paint, all you would have to do is replace NYC with ATSF.  Just another option.

To really get what you want will need a complete repaint like John did.