Micro-Trains - 535 00 310 - Caboose, Cupola, Steel - State Cars - 1776

Prototype History: The origins of the railroad caboose appear to date back to the 1840s when Nat Williams, a conductor of the Auburn & Syracuse Railroad (a later affiliate of the New York Central) became fed up with cramped and uncomfortable quarters to do paperwork (a common job of the conductor, whose responsibility is general oversight and control of a train, passenger or freight), which was usually done in either a free space of a passenger car or combine/baggage car. To fix this problem, Williams found an unused boxcar and using a simple box and barrel, as a seat and desk, set up shop in the car to do his duties. Not only did he find out he had plenty of room to work but also figured that he could use the unused space to store tools (flags, lanterns, spare parts, etc.) and other essentials to have on board whenever needed (such things become commonly stored on the caboose).

Perhaps the most striking feature ever applied to the railroad caboose was its cupola. According to the story, conductor T.B. Watson of the Chicago & North Western in the 1860s reportedly used a hole in a boxcar’s roof (which he was using as a caboose) to get a better vantage point of the train ahead. It is said that Watson was amazed by the view afforded from the position being able to not only see the train ahead but also from all sides, and to the rear as well. He apparently convinced C&NW shop forces to construct a type of open observation box onto an existing singe-level caboose with windows all around where one could sit and view their surroundings. The rest, as they say, is history and the common cupola was born.

Steel Cabooses replaced their wood-sheathed brethren after the second world war when the steel glut made the production and maintenance of steel cabooses far more efficient than wooden models. With the advancement of the End-of-Train device, cabooses slowly began to fall out of favor. However, in the early 2000’s, “shoving platforms” began to appear as a place to safely house a crew when a reverse move was required. Instead of riding on the side of a freight car, the crew member now has a safe place to stand, while guiding the rear of a reverse move.

Road Name History: Love it or hate it-- and there's not been all that much middle ground-- the State Car Special Edition series has been, by far, the most ambitious SE program in the entire history of Micro-Trains Line, going all the way back to 1972. Dwarfing the "Bicentennial" series, a mere fourteen releases produced in 1975 and 1976, this collection of rolling stock honored all fifty United States and also included a pair of FT locomotives and a caboose. Additional "member only" cars from the N Scale Collector's Society made by MTL in the same "look and feel" supplemented the main series; we've got those NSC cars included here as well.

Aided by a substantial marketing push in the second half of 2002, the first car in the group, January 2003's Illinois was a very quick sellout and jumped quickly to a high aftermarket premium. The second and third cars, California and New York, also command significant aftermarket values at times, but the Illinois is the key car in the series. Most of the other regular run cars, though becoming a bit harder to find, sell for a large discount to MSRP if you are patient. The NSC cars sometimes sell for more than MSRP but also sometimes not.

The series went through two catalog number changes in its history. Originally, the catalog numbers were by tens as is the practice for most MTL freight car releases. It was probably noted very quickly that the 21000's would have been almost out of numbers by the time that was completed-- the group would have ended at 21810!-- so a switch to single digit increments began with the South Dakota release, 21371. That would have ended the numbering at 21419, except that the eight digit catalog numbers began in January 2005 with West Virginia, 021 00 386.

From July 2008 through September 2012, Z Scale versions of the State Cars were issued. Please refer to the alphabetical listing here to view the release sequence, which was not the same as with the N Scale releases-- other than the Illinois car which opened the Z Scale series in July 2008. The images below are ordered by the sequence of N Scale releases... sorry, but they were done first! The N Scale Collector's Society issued only one "almost a state" cars in Z Scale, the District of Columbia.

Brand/Importer Information: Micro-Trains Line split off from Kadee Quality Products in 1990. Kadee Quality Products originally got involved in N-Scale by producing a scaled-down version of their successful HO Magne-Matic knuckle coupler system. This coupler was superior to the ubiquitous 'Rapido' style coupler due to two primary factors: superior realistic appearance and the ability to automatically uncouple when stopped over a magnet embedded in a section of track. The success of these couplers in N-Scale quickly translated to the production of trucks, wheels and in 1972 a release of ready-to-run box cars.

Micro-Trains Line Co. split off from Kadee in 1990 to form a completely independent company. For this reason, products from this company can appear with labels from both enterprises. Due to the nature of production idiosyncrasies and various random factors, the rolling stock from Micro-Trains can have all sorts of interesting variations in both their packaging as well as the products themselves. When acquiring an MTL product it is very important to understand these important production variations that can greatly enhance (or decrease) the value of your purchase.