Since when did amtrack cars become a mile long? I bought a couple of amtrack cars for Christmas, but they weretwo miles long! They’re so long that they won’t even go around the curves! who ever saw an amtrack that only went straight!?[V][V]
85’. They are standard passenger cars. 85’.
And its spelled AMTRAK.
[#dots]
You need the 72’ Athearn or Con-Cor cars for tight radius curves.
Jim
Actually the Acela Express cars are 89 feet long.
i have heard that lifelike passenger cars run shorter than scale length. whitch is good if you need them to get around curves.
Prototype Amtrak cars are 85-89 feet long. Model and toy cars with Amtrak markings can be had down to (scale) 50 feet or so.
One thing to remember is that a 60 inch radius curve, which in HO is huge, would call for a severe speed restriction for passenger and freight trains if scaled up to 1:1 (435 foot radius.)
And I’m talking about the Amfleets and others… Notice I said standard[sigh]
Acela intermediate cars aren’t standard - far from it.
The cars you got are in fact the right length. I think you are used to the un-prototypical cars put out by athearn or con-cor.
YOUR CAR’S …aren’t too long.
Your layout is too small. Now what can you do about it?
We ALL have that problem.
That is one of the reasons I have never liked passenger trains. To me the cars look ridiculously long…but maybe that is just me. [8D]
I got some 85’ IHC passenger cars and I was a little shocked to see how long they looked on the layout. I got used to it.
I recently saw some long double door box cars (I think Athearn RTR) They looked like 2’ long O gauge with HO trucks on them.
And I am waiting for someone to start modeling the new Holland America ultra-domes by Colorado Railcar. They were originally planned at 18’1" high by 89 feet long. However, when they were in Denver Union Station last year I seem to recall they ended up being 95 feet long because an outside “balcony” was added on each level. I can’t wait until someone tries to get that around an 18" curve…
My staging return loops have 24" radius’ and they get through them ok, but at restricted speed (imposed by me). My nominal radius on the main is 30" and they run and look ok.
Mike in Tulsa
BNSF Cherokee Sub