Railroad Model Craftsman Product Review
Rapido Trains has recently released premium-quality super detailed ready-to-run replicas of Amtrak’s Horizon cars for HO scale.
Rapido Trains Amtrak Horizon Passenger Cars
Review by Harry K. Wong/photos by the author
In the late 1980s Amtrak was in desperate need of new equipment to operate new state-sponsored regional corridor trains in the West and Midwest. However, Amtrak’s traditional sources for new passenger cars namely Budd and Pullman-Standard had either exited or were in the process of exiting the passenger car manufacturing business. Bombardier Transportation answered the call by taking an existing commuter car design the Pullman-Standard Comet I/Bombardier Comet II and adapting it for longer-distance corridor services. The earliest Comet I cars date to 1970-1973 and were built for Erie Lackawanna’s suburban service (paid for by New Jersey Department of Transportation). They quickly became the standard for commuter o