Conrail (CR) N7A Early Green Repaint 1976+ DSI/SLCC Bay Window Caboose

• Product: Despatch Shops Inc. NYC Lot 782 – N7 Class Steel Bay Window Caboose
• Scale: HO Scale 1:87.1
• Truck: Tangent Barber 70-Ton Gould roller-bearing truckswith separate brake beam parts
• Wheels: CNC-machined standard RP25 .110” tread 33” wheels
• DC/DCC Lighting Features: Interior Lights and marker lights

Conrail (CR) “N7A Early Green Repaint 1976+” gives us a glimpse into the very early days of Conrail.  Blue was not yet assigned as the official caboose color, and the earliest repaints of cabooses and other fright equipment was indeed PC green.  Yes, you read that correctly.  This is not a patch out of a former PC paint job.  This N7A is a full green repaint by Altoona’s paint crew in early May of 1976.  The prototype and model feature a modernized appearance per PC practice, who removed the running board and end ladders along with adding additional end railings and the signature PC-style replacement smokejack.  The model’s fully-painted interior features black seats and stove, and light green cabinets and walls which was the selected interior color. The interior is lit, as are the tiny pairs of red marker lights on each end that PC applied to these cabooses. Notice the “POOL” denotation on the end doors of this caboose was used to denote its pool service status (i.e. it could run everywhere). Accurate ACI and those distinctive PC/CR COTS panels have been applied, which was standard for this era.