Here's a question for the better informed:
Athearn has announced the CalTrain set with the F59 which is wrong but the cars are right. The Kato sets would have the wrong cars for the "Baby Bullet," but the right engine? I guess I'd have to get both, repaint the F59 and find/build an F40PH-2, correct?
I ride Caltrain to work three days a week. It's not unusual to see a Nippon Sharyo car set pulled by an MP36PH, it's quite rare to see a Bombardier set pulled by an F40PH. The "Baby Bullet" moniker is applied to certain limited stop runs on the schedule, while they are usually MP36/Bombardier sets (since they can carry more passengers/bikes), they aren't always, and the MP36PH/Bombardier sets are also used for local runs. Caltrain almost always runs 5 cars trains, two cab cars (one mid-train, both are fitted to carry bicycles on the lower level), one handicap access coach, one coach with extra space for luggage, and one standard coach. For the Nippon Sharyo sets, typically two of the coaches have rest rooms, the rest have an additional set of windows (and seats) which the Kato cars apparently lack.
