Fleet Friday: Amtrak Turboliner

     I got sucked into the hype around the release of Rapido's Amtrak RTL Turboliner.  These trainsets ran from the 1970's to the early 2000's along many Northeast routes.  They look amazing and they really are models that make you want to own a set even though you don't model Amtrak.  

    

    Although Amtrak does make an appearance on my layout with trains in both Toronto and Montreal, I just didn't feel I could justify paying for a set that would run on such a small portion of my layout.  In a moment of compromise, I ordered one of the extra coach cars in the Phase V scheme.  I think it'll look great as part of a train arriving at Union Station every once in a while.

   

     My unnumbered coach car arrived last weekend and it really is impressive.  It's full of the detail that Rapido is known for.  I also ordered replacement couplers for my car since it will be part of a consist that uses Kadee knuckle couplers.  The Kadee #18 medium coupler did the trick.  The Turboliner used a different style coupler from the standard knuckle couplers found in North America.  Rapido modeled the couplers that were found on the Turboliners.  This car will show up mixed in, just for fun, on the Maple Leaf or Adirondack trains when I want to add interest to my Amfleet consists.   

    I'll wait patiently for my preorder of Rapido's second run of VIA's Turbo Train.  This is the Turbo that I'm really excited about and will run on every inch of my layout.  No ETA for these trains as of yet.  The new Turbo Train will replace my original Turbo Train seen here on the layout.  More about this train in a future post.