I'm trying to get recommendations for two things:
1) Burlington Rouge decals that go on the stainless steel Budd cars. Simply say "BURLINGTON" up top and "Silver Dorkus" and a bunch of other stuff down at the bottom.
2) Trucks for said cars, preferably with the coupler arm installed already that will also do electrical pickup.
Thanks tons, in advance.
I'm no expert on Burlington, but several companies make Burlington (assuming CBQ, not BN) decals. Have you tried Googling it? As Firescale suggests, if you can't find them, several companies will also make custom ones for you. You can even make your own, if you have a color inkjet or laser printer.
Kadee and Walthers (and others) both have several models of trucks available -- you just have to know WHICH trucks you need. Any truck with metal wheels can be made to pick up track power (for lighted cars?) with the addition of a simple copper or brass wiper (both of which can be purchased as well). Now if part of your problem is that you don't know which trucks belong on those cars, I'm not the guy to help with that, either.
Now the other problem: couplers. Good quality HO trucks (including both brands I mentioned above) don't have couplers attached, because truck mounted couplers usually perform poorly and experienced modelers usually won't use them. Body-mounted couplers are the hobby standard. Both companies I mentioned above have durable metal couplers and mounting boxes; although you may have to drill and tap holes if your car bodies don't have them. You can also get cheaper plastic knock-offs, which will save money in the short term but won't hold up. You will also need a coupler height gauge (~$10) to mount them at the correct height.
For an idea of what is available, visit the Walthers website (
www.walthers.com). They are the biggest distributor in North America and have a huge catalog. While you can buy from them, it's best to shop for deals, because they always list at MSRP so they don't compete with their dealers. To purchase, eBay works, if you're careful, and there are dozens of good online vendors. My two favorites are MB Klein (
www.modeltrainstuff.com) and Trainworld (
www.trainworld.com).
Hope that helps.
