I’ve been out of modeling for awhile but, Accurail was the Gold standard in detail. I just bought my first PS1 Box Car from them and I was glad to see the high attention to detail on the car but, the quality of couplers and trucks is questionable.
Do they just expect your going to change out the couplers and trucks so they don’t bother?
That is up to you. just part of model railroading. They cannot do everything for us. to many variables.
rich
When I put together an Accurail car, I expect to change out the wheels and couplers. I prefer Kadee #58 couplers. I keep the truck frames and install Intermountain metal wheelsets after weathering the trucks and cleaning out the bearings with a truck tuner.
I buy bulk packs of both couplers and wheelsets. I like my rolling stock to roll freely with little friction, and to stay coupled unless I show up with my bamboo skewer to uncouple them.
That’s my opinion. Accurail manufacturers to a price point, and the disposable quality wheelsets and couplers help hold the line on cost. Both sort of work, but the one-piece wheelsets tend to wobble, and there are multiple negatives to Accumate couplers (force needed to couple, tendency to wedge open and uncouple when slack runs in, questionable compatibility with Kadee #58/158 “scale” head couplers, etc.).
Since I find the stock Accurail wheels and couplers unacceptable for quality operation, they are mandatory replacement items for me. Adding better components adds maybe a couple bucks to the kit price. Since there are price-sensitive hobbyists who wouldn’t appreciate such increases in the affordable kit market, Accurail probably makes an appropriate call. You can at least get a car operable with the stock parts and replace later if desired.
Note that I don’t think the trucks are inherently problematic at all, at least with regard to performance. With wheelsets from ExactRail, Intermountain, or equivalent, they work just as well as any other trucks. Detail quality isn’t necessarily great, and the roller bearing trucks especially aren’t up to the standards of the top brands appearance-wise.
Would you rather they added Kadee couplers and metal wheel sets to the kit, mark them up and charge you for them?
I always change out non-Kadee for real kadee couplers. If you remember back, Accurail gave you non-operating dummy couplers or an X2f type coupler. Once the Kadee patents expired, they made their own knockoff knuckle coupler which they started putting in the kits. They are also sold seperately, to replace on other brand cars. The wheels have remained the same - and I will not run plastic wheels so I always swap them out anyway.
Something else you might have missed - Accurail now gives you screws for the couplers and trucks, even though those nearly useless plastic pins are still on the sprue. So, like most everyone else still in business, they improved with the times.
I’m not so sure about “gold standard” in detail. Accurail kits certainly have finer detail than an Athearn BB kit, and go together about as easy. But plastic kits with details? Proto 2000 and Branchline Blueprint cars both have much finer (and freestanding) detail than Accurail, and are correspondingly at a higher level of difficulty.
I’m not knocking Accurail - over half my fleet is Accurail., They still give you a coupon in the multi packs of hoppers for decals with additional road numbers, which is great because I need a LOT of the 55 ton hoppers. The USRA 55 ton hoppers are also the basis for my early covered cement hoppers. Plus - Accurail still sells KITS, not just RTR. AND they are made in the USA.
–Randy
I like the accumate couplers rather than the Micro-Train couplers because of a little more realism. When the MC couplers are together with each other they bump and jolt when the train starts moving and stops.
Accurail isn’t the only company that supplies poor couplers or trucks.Many RTR cars has cheap KD wannabes couplers and rolls like the handbrake is set. Adding KD couplers and metal wheels takes very few minutes.
Now if you’re willing to pay 10 dollars extra for metal wheels and KD couplers you might want to consider taking the next step and buy the better RTR cars from Atlas,Red Caboose,Intermountain and KD…
I am used to working with Athearn Blue Box kits. I thought they were a good buy and well detailed. Although they did come with horn hook couplers that I always chanced rite over to Kaydee #5’s. So, now I guess like I did with my old BB kits, I’ll still need to buy Kaydee’s as well.
Walthers uses metal axles and a Kaydee knock off coupler for about the same price. That is why I was surprised when I received the Accurail kit.
If you don’t like the Accurail trucks, send them to me. I’ll be happy to take them off your hands [:D]
Oh, wait… PS-1’s probably don’t have roller bearing trucks, do they?.. Never mind!
The current Walthers models are RTR, and have metal wheel sets and Walthers own metal couplers(Proto MAX, which are good). Older stock Walthers kits had plastic wheel sets on brass axles and plastic couplers. The price now is a lot more, not the same price. Accurail kits are in the $15 range, and Walthers RTR are in the $25 and up range.
I too have lots of Accurail cars. The ‘Accumate’ couplers(sort of an Atlas clone) that are provided are tossed and I replace them with Kadee 148 ‘Whisker’ couplers, and I-M wheels sets. If you shop around for discounted ‘bulk’ packs, you can get the cost down to about $2.50 for 4 wheelsets and $1.50 for a pair of couplers. That is only $4.00/car to upgrade them to the best that is available!
Jim
I’m surprised no one has reacted to the “gold standard” in detail comment. While Accurail has produced good quality modest priced kits for many years, I don’t think anyone ever considered them a gold standard in detail, however. Thats the first time I’ve ever heard that.
Casting my mind back say 20 years to say 1995, Intermountain would have likely held that crown for their much more highly detailed kits. Proto 2000 hit shortly after and were very inexpensive too.
Getting back to the couplers and trucks comments, Rob answered it well. They keep their costs down by providing functional parts so the cars will work well enough out of the box. I’m sure Accurail expects the more descriminating modelers to replace the couplers and wheelsets. The trucks are probably ok for many - you don’t have to change those out.
I guess the bottom line is, I need to think about how much money, time and where am I willing to start from. There are so much available to Model Railroads today it can be overwhelming.
riogrande, I’m talking about (way) back in the mid to late 80’s. : )
Accurail kits are truly the “Gold Standard” in my opinion! Easy/quick to build, adequate detail for my needs and the details don’t break off with the least little touch. Best of all, they are kits that are still being produced and the price is pretty much right on! I have Intermountain, Branchline, P2K, Red Caboose and many other kits. Yes, they have finer and more detail and I like them also; however, most of those (if not all of them) no longer produce kits. So, I loves me some Accurail! Branchline was taken over by Atlas, do they produce them in kits?
The gold standard is and was Tichy, they did the Ertl stuff and a lot of other companys, including parts for Intermountain stuff.
I did mention the detail in my post. And if it costs $10 to add a pair of Kadees and 4 metal wheelsets, you must be using gold plated wheelsets. A 12 pack of Proto 2000 wheels (fit Accurail trucks perfectly) is $6.99 at Kleins, that’s enough for 3 cars. If you prefer Intermountain, they are slightly more, but 100 are $64.99. Still well under $3 per car.
Yes, Atlas still has kit versions of the Branchline cars.
–Randy
I’ve been in the hobby since the 70’s but I’m trying to remember if Accurail existed in the mid 80’s? Wow, you have been out of the hobby a long time! [:P]
Cheers Jim
I do agree that Accurail makes nice kits and could be a gold standard for kits in it’s class, but not the gold standard in detail. Words mean things! The detail part that is! That said I do like them too and have some myself where they are good for my era and local.
I just checked the old Atlas forums and it looks like Atlas has offered kits based on the Branchline tooling
It isn’t that long ago when the first thing you’d do with every manufacturer’s kit was toss the (horn hook) couplers. At the very least the Accu-mate couplers, which I am not crazy about, are Kadee compatible and can be used. The wheels are not the best, but then check these forums and when people ask what the best (metal) wheels are, the responses are all over the place, so it is unlikely Accurail would do any better if they supplied metal wheels, and many of us would just have a more expensive part to throw away.
Dave Nelson