This is really an ebay question–occ. available in my road name. Gather they’re no longer produced by Athearn, at least I couldn’t find anything about it on their website. My questions are: (1) Quality/detail of product(from the photo looks “OK”) (2) Ease of assembly–I still consider myself a newb even though I’ve been back in the hobby over a year now, at least as far as scratchbuilding is concerned.
Thanks,
Jim
If you are fairly new to the hobby, and looking for passenger cars that are easy to assemble, run well (even on smaller radii), and don’t look half bad, you are looking at the right cars. Bear in mind that they are shorter than most streamlined prototype passenger cars, and don’t follow any particular prototype, but are good cars for a beginner nonetheless.
The Bev Bel cars are no longer produced. Bev Bel used to take Athearn cars and paint them up in schemes other than what Athearn offered. If I remember correctly, the paint and lettering on the Bev Bel cars was a little better than the Athearn stock offerings.
Edit: They are also easily upgraded with interiors ,Kadee #5 couplers and details such as diaphragms as well. I have seen some really nicely done Athearn passenger cars. I had quite a few when I started out and beyond, and still see use for them in some kit-bashing projects. The Athearn passenger cars can be found in kit and ready to run form in many retail outlets.
csmith9474’s comments are right on the money. Bev-Bel took undecorated Athearn (and AccuRail?) products and custom painted them in roadnames that those manufacturers did not produce, so you’re actually getting a stock Athearn passenger car.
I am sure they did some other manufacturer’s cars too. I am not sure about Accurail, and I want to say they did some Roundhose cars. I remember seeing the Bev Bel labels on boxes other than Athearn. They did put out some pretty nice cars.