PRE-ORDER: Rapido 1084024 - Comet Car Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Operation Lifesaver: Coach #649 - HO Scale

Introducing our long-awaited HO scale Comet 1 Railcars!

In the early 1970s, Erie Lackawanna acquired 155 Pullman-Standard “Dieseliners”, funded by the State of New Jersey. These passenger cars featured modern lighting and climate control, supplied by a diesel with head-end power (HEP) capabilities. General Electric’s U34CH locomotive was the diesel teamed up to operate these push-pull cars. The EL/NJDOT fleet consisted of 35 cab cars, 110 “trailer” coaches and 10 bar cars, wearing a striking black window band with red striping on top of a brushed aluminum carbody. All cars featured automatic low doors, since high level platforms were uncommon on the EL system.

In 1983, NJ TRANSIT took control of these operations from Conrail (EL’s successor) and the NJDOT. Between 1985 and 1987, Bombardier rebuilt 32 cab cars (three had been wrecked previously) which included high door conversions for use at high level platforms. The coaches were also rebuilt, however 61 retained their low doors while 45 received the high door conversions. Low door coaches retained their EL-delivered 1700 series numbers while the high door cars got 5700-series numbers.

In the early 1990s, some of the fleet was reassigned to Atlantic City service. All cab cars assigned to AC received high visibility orange and black “tiger” stripes on their cab fronts. By the mid-1990s, all of these cars were assigned back to their home territory on the Hoboken Division, where they regularly ran until their retirement in the late-2000s.

The “Comet” name was created by Bombardier to honor CNJ’s Blue Comet train. They were often seen in six car consists with U34CHs, GP40 locomotives as well as the rebuilt F40PH-2CATs.

For those interested in the EL/NJDOT delivery cars, we hope to nail down licensing for a future release. Stay tuned!

The Rapido HO Scale Comet 1 Railcars feature:

• Operating ditch lights on appropriate models per era
• High door cab cars and low door trailers
• Free-rolling, highly-detailed inside-bearing trucks with roller-bearing axles and metal wheelsets
• Full underbody and unrivaled interior detail
• Accurate painting and lettering, both inside and out
• Prototypically accurate tinted windows
• Metal side grab irons
• Constant interior lighting in DC and DCC
• Controllable cab car lighting in both DC and DCC
• MoPower capacitor for uninterrupted DCC lighting
• Suggested minimum radius: 22”

First release road names and schemes include:
• NJ TRANSIT (Pre-Ditch Lights) 2 Low Door Coaches and 1 High Door Cab Car — 1985+
• NJ TRANSIT (With Ditch Lights) 2 Low Door Coaches and 1 High Door Cab Car — 1996+
• NJ TRANSIT — Tiger Stripes (Pre-Ditch Lights) 2 Low Door Coaches and 1 High Door Cab Car — 1985+
• NJ TRANSIT (Pre-Ditch Lights) Single High Door Cab Car — 1985+
• NJ TRANSIT (With Ditch Lights) Single High Door Cab Car — 1996+
• NJ TRANSIT — As-refurbished Single Low Door Coach Car — 1985+
• NJ TRANSIT — Ditch Light Era Single Low Door Coach Car — 1996+
• FrontRunner — (Also Leased by Metrolink) Single Low Door Coach Car — 2007+
• CSX Safety Train — Ditch Light Era Coach 794 / “Patriot Eagle” Single Low Door Coach Car — 2008+