A recent (the most recent?) issue of "Railroad Model Craftsman" (the issue with the "Consider the commuter, Pt. 8" article) had a news item about Microtrains bringing out an N-gauge kit for modelling the rail shipment of Boeing 737 fuselages from Wichita (where a subcontractor builds them in what, during WW II was a Boeing B-29 factory) to Renton, WA, where Boeing puts wings on them and otherwise finishes things. (This operation is described, with route map and many photos, in the August or September 2019 issue of "Trains.")
(((I have seen one of these kits: very pretty. Includes a 1/160 737 fuselage -- otherwise hard to come by, since the model airplane community doesn't use the same scales as model railroading-- two flat cars (one to carry the load, one to allow for overhang, since the fuselage is significantly longer than an 89 foot flat), and the "icicle breaker" structure mounted ahead of the fuselage on its flat to protect it. Very nice!)))
QUESTION: I have seen a reference to a similar kit being available in HO. Does anyone here know if there is an HO kit for the Boeing train, and if so who makes it?
(((Of course no commercial model airplane company does anything useful like making 1/87 B737 fuselages! I did check to see if there is a work-around: if you are willing to compromise a little in accuracy -- window size is maybe the most noticeable defect -- a 1/144 model of one of the wider-bodied Boeing jetliners, I think the 777, which IS available as a model airplane kit, is within 1% of being the right width to represent a 737 in HO scale.)))
(((I have seen one of these kits: very pretty. Includes a 1/160 737 fuselage -- otherwise hard to come by, since the model airplane community doesn't use the same scales as model railroading-- two flat cars (one to carry the load, one to allow for overhang, since the fuselage is significantly longer than an 89 foot flat), and the "icicle breaker" structure mounted ahead of the fuselage on its flat to protect it. Very nice!)))
QUESTION: I have seen a reference to a similar kit being available in HO. Does anyone here know if there is an HO kit for the Boeing train, and if so who makes it?
(((Of course no commercial model airplane company does anything useful like making 1/87 B737 fuselages! I did check to see if there is a work-around: if you are willing to compromise a little in accuracy -- window size is maybe the most noticeable defect -- a 1/144 model of one of the wider-bodied Boeing jetliners, I think the 777, which IS available as a model airplane kit, is within 1% of being the right width to represent a 737 in HO scale.)))
