In 2007, Tangent Scale Models started the trend of offering unparalleled railroad freight car replicas in HO scale, the likes of which had never been seen in the market. These highly-detailed replicas have consistently raised the bar for HO scale models with several hallmarks, including precision tooling, hyper-accurate stenciling, true to life colors, and era-specific details. Additionally, Tangent Scale Models are designed to operate perfectly by including CNC-machined wheels, correct weights, and correct coupler heights. Simply put: Tangent Scale Models offer detailed freight cars on a higher level.

Fast forward to this release: Tangent Scale Models sixth “Tangent quality” HO scale caboose offering. The era of “one size fits all” cabooses in HO scale plastic is over. Tangent Scale Models bring their passion and knowledge for translating real 1:1 railroad equipment from freight cars to cabooses.

Tangent Scale Models sixth caboose model is the HO Scale Chicago & North Western Railway International Car Corporation Bay Window Caboose System. This C&NW system covers their largest two individual orders of ICC bay-window cabooses, built 1966 and 1968. These 100 bay window cabooses served the final 29 years of the C&NW. Many served after the UP acquisition in 1995, and some continue in service today. Built at ICC’s Kenton, Ohio facilities, these 100 cabooses are easily-recognizable, with their bright paint schemes, bay windows, and classic ICC welded construction. This Tangent caboose marks the first “high-detail” Chicago & North Western caboose replica in HO scale, and was released in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Trainfest 2024!.

By 1968, the Chicago & Northwestern Railway had grown to serve 11 states, providing “The Midwest’s Finest Freight Service.” The railroad had been a loyal customer of International Car Corporation since 1954, ordering several small groups of cabooses over the years. C&NW made a large caboose modernization statement in 1966 and again in 1968 with two ICC orders of 50 cabooses each, delivered in classic bright red and black colors with yellow lettering.

Through the 1970s, these ICC cabooses would receive various new yellow paint schemes, as the C&NW rebranded itself, along with modernization elements like removal of running boards and sometimes plated windows. These cabooses were also part of the railroad’s massive caboose rebuild and modernization program in 1981 at the Clinton, IA, Car Shops, resulting in a rebuilt appearance, Safety Yellow paint (“Zito Yellow”), American flag decals, and even longer service lives. The cabooses served widely on C&NW rails, as well as offline in many instances either via run through operations or trackage rights.

The Chicago & North Western Railway and predecessors was a patchwork of rail lines crisscrossing the Midwest, from Kansas City to Duluth-Superior and from Chicago West into Wyoming. Perhaps you are modeling the modernizing C&NW in 1968, with new EMD SD40s pulling grain out of Boone, IA.  Maybe C&NW C628s in road freight duty caught your attention, working hard out of Escanaba on their way to Green Bay. Or maybe the double track across Iowa is your jam, with the “Fresh From The West” Fremont to Proviso daily freight and its hot connections to the GTW, CN and CR.  Perhaps a transfer run of SD18s laboring through Hoffman Avenue in St. Paul, MN helps you remember. Or maybe your Proviso-Green Bay road freight is picking up at Butler, WI and is ready to head out. If you like to take your time, the Rapid City, SD-to-Adams, WI manifest and its four-day schedule will keep you busy.

These cabooses went offline as well. They were regular staples across the UP Council Bluffs Sub on run-through trains between the CNW interchange at Fremont and North Platte, Nebraska. Also, there is photographic evidence of them all over the UP network, including going all the way to California and Oregon on UP trains in the 1980s and 1990s, prior to the UP acquisition of CNW. There are shots of CNW cabooses in Houston and Fort Worth TX on the post-merger former Missouri Pacific in the 1980s. The CNW cabooses also ran through onto other railroads “East of Chicago,” with sightings of them on Conrail, GTW, and Family Lines/CSX, as well as all over Chicagoland railroads.

C&NW trains are an incredible variety of equipment and power, something C&NW modelers have relished all along. Those road freights, unit coal and grain trains, hot TOFC and double stacks all look good, and Tangent has the perfect C&NW caboose for you, from 1966 through the 1990s.

And for those modeling the post-C&NW era, these cabooses have continued to see service lives on Union Pacific as shoving platforms for train/back up protection, from locations like Chicago and Minneapolis to Sheboygan and beyond! The cabooses even roam outside of traditional ex-C&NW territory – like work train duties in Kamela, OR on the UP main between Portland, OR and Pocatello, ID!

Tangent Scale Models want to be very clear. The Tangent C&NW Bay Window Caboose System is not a generic model painted red, like what you may “already have.” This is Tangent-Level execution of 6 different bay window caboose bodies, covering C&NW ICC Kenton 1966 and 1968 lots and combining for 6 different major build assemblies. These six different build options cover multiple eras, paint schemes and modernization programs, all with accurate lighting options plus era and road number specific details.

This system covers these prototype Chicago & North Western ICC lots:

C&NW 11100-11149 (Built 1966 - 50 Cabooses)

C&NW 11150-11199 (Built 1968 – 50 Cabooses)

The Chicago & North Western Bay Window Caboose System is a state of the art, dimensionally-accurate group of scale replicas with highly accurate “true-to-life” colors and precise letter stencils. Tangent Scale Models C&NW cabooses were designed from meticulous field dimensions, and includes incredible levels of detail such as multiple era-specific bodies, roofs, ends and bay windows, Non-Cushioned or Waugh Cushion Underframe options, brake system options, battery box, toilet vent, rooftop antenna, accurate era-specific window treatments, plus beautiful see-through steps, end platforms, and running board. Inside the model is a system of era and lot-specific ICC or C&NW Clinton-applied interiors. Tangent Scale Models C&NW cabooses include interior lighting, plus FRA Flashing End Light options that are appropriate for the paint scheme era of each replica. These “no fuss” track-powered interior and exterior lights are compatible with DC or DCC setups right out of the box (a simple wand included in the box activates the lights). Finally, Tangent Scale Models ready-to-operate replicas include “near-scale” draft gear box including side “key” detail, coupler lift bars accompanying Kadee scale couplers, sufficient hidden weights, and CNC-machined wheels to ensure the model operates as good as it looks.

Features for these replicas include:

– Dimensional accuracy – designed from meticulous field dimensions using real tape measures on two real C&NW ICC cabooses – see “thank you” section below for more details for Tangent Scale Models project field research

– Highly correct “true to life” colors

– “Hyper-Accurate” lettering including exact fonts and lettering placement

– Genuine Kadee® scale couplers

– “Near-scale” draft gear box with beautifully-rendered side “key” detail

– Multiple road numbers for each scheme, as appropriate

– Road and Era-specific details for each RTR scheme, including multiple body, roof, bay window, underframe detail, truck and side window combinations

– Six different road and era-specific bay window body options

– Four different era-specific bay window options

– Four different roof options

– Apex “see through” running board

– Accurate Waugh Cushion Underframe where appropriate

– Railroad and era-specific underframe details to match as-built ICC and modified configurations

– Multiple roof configurations for different vent mounting locations

– End steps and walkways that carefully replicate the prototype Apex walkway pattern

– Unapologetically fine etch metal side and end window screens, where appropriate

– Underframe and truck axle drive generator options

– Seven different end railing/marker light options, based on ICC lot and era

– Wire “coupler lift bar” detail per prototype application

– Three different C&NW-specific interiors – chairs, bunk, desk, lockers, ice chest, sink, oil bunker and the most detailed Vapor Corporation TCHA55 Caban heater in HO Scale! The interior is fully painted with era-specific colors

– Full underbody details – brake system with brake rods and piping, release rod and more – all based on the prototype and era!

– Beautiful side wire curved grab irons, intricate ICC end railings in plastic with accurate wire top ladder hoops

– Consumer-applied optional metal red/green “flag” paddle parts included for appropriate eras

– LED illuminated FRA end lights with a proper “decaying” flash that can be controlled on or off – on each end – independently, where appropriate

– LED illuminated interior lighting “warm” lights to replicate incandescent bulbs that can be controlled on or off

– No complicated decoder. No complicated programming. No complicated electronics. DC/DCC compatible track-powered “no fuss” interior and marker light lighting – simple and easy to operate with included wand

– CNC-machined standard RP25 .110” tread 33” wheels (Yes, semi-scale .088” wheels are available separately!)

– All-New precision Tangent Scale Models 70-ton Gould Rebuilt Roller Bearing trucks with separate brake beam part, or 70-Ton Gould Plain Bearing trucks with separate brake beam parts, as appropriate for each paint scheme

– Recommended age 14 years and older

Chicago & Northwestern (C&NW) “Zito Yellow – We Originated Safety First 1981+” ICC CNW Bay Window Caboose

• Product: International Car Company Bay Window Caboose
• Scale: HO Scale 1:87.1
• Truck: All-New Tangent Scale Models 70-ton Gould rebuilt roller bearing trucks with separate brake beam parts
• Wheels: CNC-machined standard RP25 .110” tread 33” wheels
• DC/DCC Lighting Features: Interior Lights, Red FRA Flashing End Lights
• Eras: 1981-2024

– C&NW “Zito Yellow – We Originated Safety First 1981+” w/ FRA Red Light duplicates an important milestone in the life of these C&NW cabooses. The Clinton, IA Car Shops rebuilt most of the C&NW caboose fleet in 1981. These changes were significant, and at Tangent they wanted to replicate these features accurately. The Clinton Car Shop changes included a full rebuild of the roof details, sides, bay windows, interior and trucks. These details are worth getting right, just ask any C&NW modeler! This is the first version of the “Safety Yellow” paint scheme, a.k.a. “Zito Yellow,” and features the slogan “We Originated Safety First.” The cabooses have a Zito Yellow body, green roof and end railings, white step wells and black underbody and trucks. The body lower sill edges are reflective yellow, (but not under the bay window!), and this feature is carefully duplicated on the model. The sides feature the most popular C&NW caboose scheme ever, with red and black “Employee Owned” ball-and-bar logo and what is the most detailed reproduction of a C&NW flag in HO Scale history. Right after delivery from Clinton, the cabooses received their distinctive “third” box in the COTS box grouping. Fun fact: this third COTS box included details like the Toilet Service date, Washed date, Inspection date, and Assigned station and train codes. The Clinton rebuilt roof features a new and relocated toilet vent, and the complete removal of any running board bracket remnants. The whip antenna detail is still there. Since this group of cabooses are part of the 1968 ICC delivery group, eagle-eyed modelers will notice a different smokejack location on the roof! The side body windows are completely plated over, with scale thickness steel plate features. This translates to an all-new body to do this type of detail correctly. The 1968 order of cabooses have a slightly different bay window height, and on top of that, Clinton rebuilt the bay windows to flush safety glass and sliding screens. The interior was modernized, and these Tangent models feature new, single and double high-back crew seats, relocated toilet room, Caban TCHA-55 oil heater with screened railings, oil bunker, sink and Gloekler electric ice box. Underneath, this group of 1968 caboose models feature a Waugh cushion underframe with complete brake gear and piping details. It’s all there, including the relocated retainer valve, air piping to the bay window, replacement knuckle holders, a beautiful battery box with separate bottom grate detail and separate release rod for the AB Valve. The 1968-style end railings have two variations, matching the prototype photos for each of the SKU car numbers. The ends are also equipped with a Klasing 1150 handbrake, separate modern brake wheel and the train line air release valve. The model rides on Tangent’s gorgeous and all-new 70-Ton Gould Rebuilt Roller Bearing caboose trucks with 33″ standard .110” tread CNC wheels. Clinton rebuilt the prototype caboose trucks to roller bearings, so the Tangent trucks mimic this neat detail: if you look inside the “removed” lids area, you can peek at the Timken cap detail. One of the axles is equipped with an outboard Dayco belt-drive axle generator, matching the prototypes exactly. For lighting, this Tangent C&NW model is equipped with red FRA flashing end lights and “golden” interior lights, mimicking the incandescent bulbs of the real cabooses. A wand is included to operate the lights – easy with no fuss! Each of the 8 numbers has slightly different graphics placement for logos, flags, COTS boxes, side reporting marks and other data, based on individual car photos! Do not miss this caboose, perhaps one of the most-requested cabooses from Tangent Scale Models!

Looking for more Tangent Scale Models Cabooses? Click here!