Mexican Roadnames

[gmhtrains]

Since my original post last May regarding HO models with Mexican roadnames, I have been able to pluck a few NdeM 40-foot and 50-foot boxcars off eBay. I can create other NdeM equipment (stock cars and tank cars) with Microscale decals that have been available for years, and welcome the new FCP (Ferrocarril del Pacifico) decals that Microscale just released in December, 2013. Although other model companies such as Intermountain and Fox Valley Models are producing modern Mexican cars, I will continue to model the early 1980's era when there were still five major railroads serving the country. Variety was greater then just as it was in the U.S.

A highlight of my Mexican modeling came last summer when I operated several one-hour shifts on the local HO club's portable layout at the local county fair. One afternoon an Hispanic family wandered into the room. The children were of course excited by the trains, but the father's "take it or leave it" expression quickly changed when he spotted the NdeM train I was running as something familiar from his childhood.

Even if Bachmann has not produced any Mexican roadname products in the past, I would highly encourage the company to consider testing the market with a sample freight car in the future. NdeM boxcars are quite common, but something distinctive as a Chihuahua al Pacifico  or Sonora-Baja California boxcar should appeal to modelers of Southwestern U.S. railroads as well as Mexican railroads. When Ch-P or SBC boxcars occasionally appear on eBay the bidding quickly soars to the $40-50 range.

Gil Hulin
Eugene, OR