# Great Trains™ information



## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

To fill everyone else in, last night in the chat room we were discussing Great Trains™ as I just won an F40PH Conrail auction on E-bay and had never heard of this company. A few people knew a little about them so that was informative but I also asked the seller about Great Trains™ and this was his reply:

*"Hi, I bought the train at an auction. The train was made in 1989. Great Trains was in business for only a year or two and was a part of the American Standard Car Co. Inc. It is listed in the 1989 Walthers Large Scale Train Catalog. I have made you a couple of copies of there products that I will send you. It has the box but there is not very much information on the box. It is a quality made train that I believe you will enjoy. I will ship the item tomorrow with insurance for the full amount. Thanks for the bid. Ronnie*"


I thought this was interesting as it is a G-scale manufacturer that has fallen but also one I had never heard of. I'll share more when I get the locomotive. Thanks for reading.

-Will


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

The 1989 Walthers catalog is probably the best source of photos and information about Great Trains. I still have mine.

Pictured on a couple of pages are Great Trains' single level passenger cars, F40s, Superliners, and a special Rio Grande set. Several photos are in color. The scale is 1/32 if you were not informed before. In addition to the above mentioned, there was an F unit too. However few seem to have been made, as I've only ever seen one photo.

Pretty nice equipment and the entire product line was american "modern" prototypes. This was somewhat rare in a "G" scale world then dominated by LGB. Most other american prototypes available at the time were heavily narrow gauge in flavor.

Too bad Great Trains couldn't make it. I think they were slightly ahead of their time.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

The fallen G scale mfgr list is much longer than the living one unfortunately Will.....


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## pimanjc (Jan 2, 2008)

Too bad someone doesn't take one of the superliners and use it to mold replacement bodies. If I had the basic body, I bet windows and trucks could be added. They would look great behind my Genisis.


JimC.


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

*Will*
*Congrads on the Conrail (despite you bidding against me







)*

*Here is two MLS posting thread about the F40 and other GT's units.*
*
GT_Link**1

* *GT_Link2*


* Matt Here is an MLS posting thread with the Great Trains F-7

GT_Link3
*


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

I'm not sure they'd look very good behind the Genesis. They're 1:32, and significantly shortened, too. (They were built when the "R1 rule" was well in play.) I forget off the top of my head the exact scale of the Genesis loco, but if it's not 1:29, it's a bit larger, adding to the dwarfing effect. 

For what it's worth, the Great Trains locos used Northwest Short Line motor blocks. They're pretty decent motor blocks; I've used them for a few projects over the years without issue. 

Later, 

K


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## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

Well "The-other-Ray" which, I assume is in reference to the awesome Ray Manley, I hate to have bidded against you, but on the bright side, I will not be competition in the future. I do and will pay some big bucks for Conrail nostalgia, unfortunately. This is a good thing and a bad thing. For me a good thing in that I will get some great Conrail show-offs in G-scale but a bad thing in that other Conrail fans will be a little angry at me =( . I hope you aren't too angry about it. If for some reason I ever decide to sell it I will come straight to you since you have told me this. Competition does suck I agree. I'd rather us be friends ^^

-Will


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Yep GT made some good stuff, Ray got my Superliners and my F40bash, as the threads above show, at least he has a layout big enough to let them roam. I find it really surprising that these molds never resurfaced after GT went under, or that no maker has yet to make either Supers or the F40 again in any scale.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

They ended up with a guy in Salt Lake. Used to have some ads in Garden Railways, 'Silver' something was the name. Not sure what happened to him.


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## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

Recieved the locomotive and just figured I'd share for all who are interested. The scale of the pics is terrible looking for some reason but you get the idea....

-Will


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Neat model, wonder how much detailing could be done to improve it? 

I would do something stupid like try and do a broken arrow/bloody nose SDP40F out of two of them, soft spot for those as a neighbor crewed them out of Columbus (the City of Broken Glass) OH to Indy when I was a kid.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow, looking at that level of detail I guess I did a pretty good job on my custom F40 chassis I did for that body shell  

Nice to see these are still avaiable from time to time.


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## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

Yes true, it's age certainly does show lol. I doubt very highly rivet counters had any of these. 

-Will


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Will 

Were is the smiling face? Surely you're happy to have it. It may not have the level of detail a USAT train has, but it is still a great looking locomotive. 

Now if only I could get the seller to pay me my 15% finder fee. LOL

Randy


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## Bills (Feb 20, 2008)

Intresting loco. I think there is something wrong with the aspect ratio of your pictures, or my monitor..


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

*Will*
*Is the red light between the number boards missing or just pushed back? *
*It looks the wires are showing thru the windows. *
*You do have the common missing parts (Horn and steps)*

*JimC*
*If I get a chance, I post a photo of the Superliners behind and next to a Genesis.*
*It would be nice to have more superliners....HINT....;^)......*

*Vic*
*U Did GOOD on the chassis. I did attach the centercab motor blocks.*
*BUT the gearing between it and the NWSL was not even close.*
*Monty the engineer was not pleased....IS HE EVER.....;^O....*
*He never liked the name "Meatball Express" either...*


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## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

LOL I was tired, I had just woken up to UPS ringing the doorbell. It is missing 'other_Ray', yessir.

-Will


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## Jim Kelly (Jan 2, 2008)

I’ve been looking forward to writing this about Great Trains for quite a while. A while back, I was the lucky buyer of 3 C&NW passenger cars in 400 colors…but without trucks, wheels or couplers. I found LGB #67380 US passenger wheelsets fit ok with SanVal’s metal and actually the the cars couple a bit closer.

I had a Great Trains Rio Grande Prospector set and sold off the cars, and some of them found their way to The Other Ray on The Other Coast. He had his F40PH and I kept mine, planning to change the colors from Orange and Black to Yellow and Green. Then Ray and I swapped shells, so what is finally covered in Krylon Fusion paint shown in this picture was Ray’s old green and white Burlington Northern.











The first paint effort started OK using Scalecoat C&NW colors but on a second coat touch up, it turned into an orange peel, reticulated mess. Started over after stripping the shell down again. This time, I got some expert advice along with decals from Stan Cedarleaf who recommended Krylon. My approach was minimalist detail, mostly straight lines to mask. Then the painted shell was sprayed with satin finish, decals applied, and a final a gloss coat. The Krylon colors aren’t exactly a match for C&NW but who’s to know?

The result isn’t as spectacular as Ray’s Superliners but it’s a keeper for me.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Ray -oops!, my bad, I'm pretty sure you can still get NOS bricks from NWSL, but I'd bet those centercab bricks will outpull the NWSLs any day


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

*Vic *
*You can be 'MY BAD' all you want







*
*Now that I have the Superliners.....







* 
*JimK*
*They look GREAT together - Glad that we were able to work it out.*


*Pardon the dark photos (back up camera on a cloudy day).







*

*Here are two shots of the GT Superliners vs LGB Genesis.*
*They dont look tooooo bad using the 10' rule....DARN NICE...imho.... 
*


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Thats a dam BIG engine! 

...and I thought my FA1 looked big next to the Supers /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/shocked.gif


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## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

I forgot to add these pics concerning Great Trains. These are scanned ads from the Walthers catalog in 1989 sent to me by the seller. That was nice of him to give me a little history on Great Trains. Enjoy...

-Will


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

*Vic/et-al*

*Since I had to replace the 'frosted' windows, 
I thought to try and 'kick-it-up-a-notch'.*
*I now have frosted shadows.*
* 


* *










The gap between cars could not be crossed even by Evil Kenivel(sp?),*
*so I used some USA vestibule's to keep the folks safe-n-dry.*

*







*


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

I saw some more were on ebay last week.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow Ray, those diaphrams REALLY look good!









I had contemplated reworking one car end into a cab car unit but.... not trying to tell ya what ta do.. just reminiscing


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

Vic[/b]
Thats a neat idea - I did look at some cab cars. 
I did not find any Amtrak but did find some on your coast.[/b]
the_Other_Ray[/b]

Here is a end shot of the Superliner vs MTH coach.[/b]
*







*

Here is a side shot of the Superliner vs MTH coach.[/b]
Like someone said, maybe GT had to run on R1 LGB track.[/b]


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## Ltotis (Jan 3, 2008)

If abyone finda a 2 pair of Great Trains F40 trucks I have a friend who needs them. 
lao


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

*LAO - two truck's sent to Wayne*

*How's this shell look to yo*u?[/b]


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice job Ray! I looked at chopping down a Great Trains obs. coach for another coach for the Zephyer, but decided building one from scratch would be easier. Evergreen makes some siding in 24" that would work, some for the roof also. I have some plans, so may do one, just for grins.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice paint job, was that my old shell?


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

*Vic*

*Happy to report: *

*Monti and the MEATBALL EXPRESS are alive and well keeping the pine needles off the SS track.* 

*He is dragging a rake of now 5 Superliner cars.*
*
Monti was last seen "SHOWING OFF" his new GREEK nose stripes between the CNW 
(Cry, Nash, Whine) **and DRG Ski ( Bum ) trains in a drag race.

*











*New Born Sleeper Superliner - Decals not even attached *


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## aankus (Jan 5, 2008)

Quick question since we are discussing Superliners & Genesis locomotives. 
I just ran mine for the first time and noticed that the Genesis ran with BOTH RED 'rear' lights as well as the 
standard whites in forward running mode ?!? 
I'm sure others have noticed this as well......is there a 'fix' out there for this seeming anamoly ????


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## Trains West (Oct 4, 2008)

put a dioide inline to the fwd and back lights ...... one with the stripe toward the bulbs one with the stripe away from the bulb ...


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## aankus (Jan 5, 2008)

Thanks for the quick response !


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

[/b]


Matt/JimK/K/Vic[/b]


"Shortened"....."dam BIG"........Well, Ralph must have listened to his customers.[/b]


Here are 4 photos from his last batch of cars as: RB Model Maker.[/b]


No, I did not stretch them on a RACK nor feed them YEAST - [/b]


They are 'FRESH' out of the "Ralph Brown Model Maker" box.[/b]
...Did I mention these are GARGANTUAN *cars?*

the_Other_Ray[/b] 

*-Front car 22" long vs Rear car 32" long*











* Windows just like the real one - Rivet detail around the glass....*









*
-Plenty of Seating for the passengers comfort....aaaaahhhhhh









Even a Stairway to the lower level. 









*


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

OOOOOOOOO sweet..........Ray i need to talk with you!!!!!!!!!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$


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## Jim Kelly (Jan 2, 2008)

Ray, you have outdone yourself and all of us Great Trainers. What a loss that these didn't see the light of day. 
Well done, my friend. JimK


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Jim Kelly on 26 Nov 2009 07:51 PM 
Ray, you have outdone yourself and all of us Great Trainers. What a loss that these didn't see the light of day. 
Well done, my friend. JimK 


* -
JimK Yes...The sad part is that the cars have sat for 2 years. 
I have been looking for details of GT and ASCC with 
only BreadCrumbs+Here-say results.

BUT always time for some more EYE-CANDY thanks to Ralph.
the_Other_Ray

Oh, well time to strech the legs.......









Or get some ZZZZzzzz's.......










*


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Haven't seen interiors before, other then in the 1989 Walthers catalog photos. Interesting that the sleeper interior follows the original floor plan before the upstairs restroom (next to Economy/Roomette #1) was installed. But they omitted the toilet/shower partitions in the Deluxe/Bedrooms as well. So maybe just not included in these models.


The true length lounge is outstanding. The tinted windows might be a tad dark, but overall very impressive model. 

If something similar were offered today, they'd be a huge success. More so if they were in 1:29 scale. 

Do you have any photos of the lounge lower level interior? I would be interested in which version they chose to model. The upstairs follows a Superliner I Lounge interior very well. They even hinted at the upstairs bar.


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By San Juan on 27 Nov 2009 12:23 PM 
.....snip........ 

If something similar were offered today, they'd be a huge success. More so if they were in 1:29 scale. 

Do you have any photos of the lounge lower level interior? I would be interested in which version they chose to model. The upstairs follows a Superliner I Lounge interior very well. They even hinted at the upstairs bar.



Using my 'Manual display generator' (aka Pencil) - 
If the 1:1 Superliners are 85' long, then 1:32 would meaure out to ~30" and 
1:29 would be ~34" - The body length of these cars are 32".

Sorry but the only lounge/cafe car, the 2nd level floor has been glue in place.
the_Other_Ray.


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

dupe


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

Sorry - Wrong interior photo above - They are the 'short car' version. 

Here are some more photos of the Coach and Diner...
....No table cloth's included....sorry....;^).. [/b]


*Long ( 32" ) car in rear, Genesis Loco in middle, Shorter ( 20" ) car in front 
- All starting with Right side together.* 

*







*

*Diner and Coach looking Inside to the Left* 

*







* 


*Diner and Coach looking Inside to the Right*


*










Diner and Coach looking Inside to the center. There are stairs in this coach 
but are missing on the Diner. Thru the Stair hole, you can see the 
'fishing weights' that have been added to each of these cars.*

*










Metal Wheels and Plain Bolster but with Detailed Plastic Side Frames and bushings.*


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

*Just completed the exterior body of 3 G-gauge Super Superliner Sleepers.

The fourth car is just about done but TODAY was 1 first GREAT weather day,
so out to the track and not sniffing glue.....8^)....Just running trains....aaaaahhhh...**

*


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Nice Job Ray looks sweet..........


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Nice!!! 

Later, 

K


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## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice Ray! Looks great!


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

You are the GREAT Trains Man!


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Ray, what sound card are you using? Sounds like there was some clickety-clack and other sounds on it... 

Regards, Greg


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 06 Mar 2010 08:17 PM 
Ray, what sound card are you using? Sounds like there was some clickety-clack and other sounds on it... 

Regards, Greg 
I think I know where it came from, and it is not a sound card







Likely from one of the many "Shave & a Haircut" Amtrak video clips on YouTube. 


Those true length Superliners are just awesome. They look just like the real things.


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks for the nice words Guys.[/b]

Matt is correct. The same horn concert 'clip' is on [/b]
this video with a credit line at the end.[/b]

Eight 32" Super Superliners on 45mm test [/b]trac[/b]k.

[/b]


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Looking good Ray, nice that you brought them to life.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Wow those are just so impressive.

They look better than my HO Superliners. Don't know why as the HO ones are more detailed and more realistic. Maybe it's just the size of the Great Trains Supers that makes them look so impressive. Quite a trainset that you must be very proud of. I'm jealous


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

Hello All,
I love the amtrak superliner cars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just purchased 4 from the ebay world!!! 

Where did you get the shells from to make those? If you do not mind me asking?

Cheers 
Scott


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

*Scott*

*Welcome to MLS and the G-Gauge world.







*
*I replied to your PM. *

*I was able to get the carcus of 10 cars from the Estate.







....sorry - no more left...







*
*The exteriors had to be completed and the interiors have been a challenge.*
*I do not know how many of the 32" cars were made but I will bet darn few.







*
*There are no molds used to make these cars but sheet styrene and tons of CA* *glue and lots of applied small styrene panels.*


*I have no plans to make a production run nor to sell these....*


*I do plan to bring all 10 cars to the Fall ECLSTS 
........BUT I think I will need my own ZIP CODE..










*


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## WSOR (Jun 27, 2010)

Noticed this on the Custom Model Product's website:

Amtrak Superliner Cars

They are a little expensive ($950 each), but they are the 32" superliners. Anybody else know about these?


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

those are sweet but pricey just might have to jump off the deepend for those things!!!! 

Ray they are just like yours do they have the models or are they new models??? 

Cheers 
SCOTT


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

*WSOR*
*Welcome to MLS - Dive right in - the waters just fine.....







*
*







*

*Scott will be going into the DEEP-END soon....







*
*But I will flounder in the shallow end with those cars..
.....sweet....brass....sweet.....*


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah, at almost a grand a car, that will be a major dive! 

Not just brass, they are apparently made from SS too... (and I'm sure brass bits in other parts).... 

Regards, Greg


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By WSOR on 27 Jun 2010 01:20 PM 
Noticed this on the Custom Model Product's website:

Amtrak Superliner Cars

They are a little expensive ($950 each), but they are the 32" superliners. Anybody else know about these? 

Interesting find, but they have to be kidding charging that much for such an inferior and incorrect product.

I'm a long time Amtrak traveler and model Amtrak in HO scale. I'm such an Amtrak nerd that when I travel I take notes on particularly odd Superliner details. So trust me, the diner in the photo displaying these expensive brass models is not good. 




Where can I start?

Well first take a good look at the model:











What jumps out at me right away are those atrocious trucks. They are not at all close to a Superliner I truck. The Great Trains trucks are far better. Pretty surprising.

Then the lettering is all wrong. The main body striping is phase III, well sort of as the white stripe is far too narrow. The car number location is phase II. For phase III it should be on either end of the car in the white stripe. The white Amtrak letters are strange as they should be black and in the white stripe not the red. Again some phase II aspects showing up on a phase III model. The car type (Dining Car) appears to be missing as well. It is not next to the lower level entry door. And it clearly is not on either end of the car in the white stripe. And although they screwed up the number location, at least they got the number right. 38012 is correct for a Superliner I diner. To me it seems they copied the incorrect Great Trains lettering.

The details are a little lacking as well...no diaphragms and it appears there are no red marker light lenses on the end.


Any pluses? Well yes, the window placement is excellent for a Superliner diner. And the paint color choice is pretty good as well. The red and blue striping appears to be correct. But the body finish could be shiner. It looks to be painted platinum mist rather then unpainted stainless steel. The length is also good. 32" is close to the prototype 85' length in 1/32 scale.


Perhaps the diner in the photo is just a quickly slapped together pre-production prototype. One can only hope. As its shortcomings are terrible for such a high priced item.



Just for fun, let's compare the above 1/32 scale model to two HO scale models. _ Note the two HO models do not have car numbers as they come with a decal sheet so you can number it whatever you like._ 


First a phase II Superliner I Dining Car:











And next a phase III Superliner I Dining Car


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

Have more info on the cars in the ad. They are just like Ray's! They are not stainless or brass!!! I talked with the owner of the cars! Will try to include pictures


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

all five cars


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

Here are some of my great trains cars putting windows in using plexiglass and window tint for cars


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

Scott[/b]
>>.....snip....They are just like Ray's! They are not stainless or brass!!...snip.....[/b]
........THANK GOODNESS I am not alone......[/b]
Here is a shot of just the side walls.....no tab-A into slot-B..

[/b]
*







*


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

You guys are the true model railroaders!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
I wanted to put up more pictures but he sent them in pdf form.

Scott


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## pimanjc (Jan 2, 2008)

Rock and Oak,
Your pictures did not come through. 

JimC.


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

*Guys*

*I got a "Message-in-a-bottle" from Scott with this picture of "HIS" new train......







*

*







*


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## Chucks_Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

The_Other_Ray, Those big Superliners are friggin' COOL!! 

Thanks for posting the pic's!!


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

I feel like I won the lottery with these. I bought a baggage car from a guy on ebay and he said he has the ability to make the stickers for the great trains cars his ebay name is h.randy_yahoo_com so his email is [email protected] 
See attached pictures of baggage car. Said he custom makes the box car as well for amtrak. I keep going deeper and deeper!!! 
cheers 
from your fellow great train lover!


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

okay how does one upload a photo here again it is like sending a man to the moon. click on my profile name to see picture of baggage car.


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

I think I figured it all out about how to upload a photo=) YIPPY!
New baggage car!


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

Got my new BABIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

Here is how darn long they are there are five of them and I am 6'1


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)

-








taken from the second floor they are end to 
end in the living room!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)




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## rock and oak rr (Jun 26, 2010)




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