California DOT Bi-Level Cab Car

These are N scale 3D printable files for the California Department of Transportation (CDTX) Bi-Level Cab Car — specifically the cars built for Southern California service, featuring the smoother exterior carbody profile of the earlier CDTX bi-level generation. Originally introduced for the Los Angeles to San Diego corridor, these cab cars have also seen service on the Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin routes in Northern California, making them appropriate for modeling any of California's AMTK state-supported services. Available in two decal variants: Northern Scheme and Southern Scheme.

The cab car is the essential control car of California's bi-level push-pull consists — fitted with an engineer's cab at one end, it allows the locomotive to push the train from the rear while the engineer controls the train from the cab car at the front, eliminating the need to run the locomotive around the train at terminal stations. The cab car always leads the consist on one direction of travel, making it the most visually prominent car in the California bi-level fleet and an essential component of any prototypically accurate California corridor train.

The Southern-built cab cars are physically distinguished from the later cars built for Northern California service by their smoother exterior carbody — the Northern-built cars feature more pronounced exterior fluting, a difference in carbody construction rather than livery. This listing represents the Southern-built cab car specifically. The two decal options reflect the different livery schemes applied to these cars across their service history:

• Southern Scheme — the livery associated with the cars' original Pacific Surfliner corridor service between Los Angeles and San Diego.
• Northern Scheme — the livery applied to these cars when assigned to Northern California services including the Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin.

Pair with the California DOT Bi-Level Coach Car and California DOT Bi-Level Café Car also available from Out of the Box Models to build a complete and prototypically accurate California corridor consist.

After purchase, your digital files will be available for immediate direct download from your order confirmation. These files are for Personal Use Only — if you are interested in a commercial license, please contact us.

Please allow a few weeks for 3D printing and shipping. Decals are shipped separately — please allow some additional time for decal printing and shipping after ordering.