So far I’ve put together 4 models sold by branchline trains. They are two blueprint series reefers, and two pullman 12-1 passenger cars.
Compared to walther’s gold line kits, these kits are worth it! They have more details, epsecially with regards to underbody details. The paint matched my existing Bachmann George Washington trains perfectly. The parts come off the sprues easily without popping or breaking. The little flashing left over also comes off easily with a sharp XACTO #11 or your fingers. Parts also fit into their holes easily without having to re-ream them.
A reefer takes me about 3 hours to put together. My second passenger car took me about 6 hours. (And another hour to retrofit with lighting)
For those of you who are interested, I’m might put up a photo comparison of Bachmann, Walthers, and Branchline pullman trains. I’m also including assembly tips for the later.
I only have one problem now. My George Washington passenger collection is up to 8 Bachmann, 2 Walthers, and 3 Branchline kits. The train is so long (Almost 14 feet) that my Bachmann 4-8-2 won’t haul it up 2% grades any more. I was thinking of kitbashing another 4-8-2 into a second George Washington, and having one going South, and one going North on my layout. (C&O did have two George Washington trains from my understanding) What do you guys think?
I do like Branchine. I have assembled both their Blueprint and Yardmaster series kits. The Yardmaster ones are less expensive, and aren’t as detailed as the Blueprint kits, but are still very good cars. Well worth the investment.
I have a few Branchline cars - 6 coaches and 4 or so sleepers.
I love the Branchline cars far more than my 1 Walthers Heavyweight. The Branchline HW’s capture the look better than the Walther cars, the details are awesome, you can customize as you build, and I enjoy building the Branchline cars because they go together so easily.
I hope Branchline will do some more coaches, some parlors, diners, obs, etc. NH prototypes preferred.
I can’t agree more. I’ve put together three of the Blueprint series and one of the Yardmaster series boxcar kits and they are great. The Yardmaster is not AS good and less detailed than the Blueprint series but still a good buy. One of my LHSs has a HUGE stock of Branchline kits. My only minor complaint would be that Branchline doesn’t have more variety to their line other than boxcars and passenger cars.
Tom, the narrow product line may be one of the reason the kits are so good. They have decided to do a few things very well, rather than a mediocre job on a lot.
The LHS with a “huge stock of Blueprint” wouldn’t be a small but stuningly packed store in Willoughby would it? I had the chance to visit this shop a couple of times over the years and have been really impressed with the inventory packed into the available space. If my memory serves me right it is where I got my first Branchline kit.
What I most like about them is that it’s a small, independent company apparently (hopefully) doing something exactly right in a very small corner of the market - must be some real rail enthusiasts there, with both feet on the ground!
Wish list:
70ft heavyweight baggage car (and with the 70ft undercarriage they could make Pennsy’s P70 too!)
car sides for a 80ft combine
4-wheel passenger car trucks
round roof for 80ft coaches
(One can always hope the market is bigger than you’d expect!)
Simon, that makes sense. I would rather have fewer selections with good to great detailing vs. a large variety and mediocrity.
Yep - the VERY one. (Nearly knocked my socks off the first time I visited it.) Stewart’s Hobbies is one of three LHSs that I try and frequent here in the Cleveland area. They are all a least a 1/2 hour drive from my house.
I feel that Branchline should do more HO freight cars such as gondolas and flatcars for Southeastern US railroads such as NC&StL and WofA both of which are CSX fallen flags.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Branchline kits result in an excellent product, but it took me 7 hours to build my first passenger car. For the same money, I could buy a Walthers car and be running it for hours.
But that’s rather beside my main point, which is that they have to work on their tooling. They forgot to take into consideration the thickness of the paint when they made the tooling, which results in none of the parts fitting correctly on the coaches, and on the sleepers everything below the frame needs fixing (they did fix the fit on the parts above the frame).
Also, their directions on the underbody are rather poor. There’s no direction, really, on what cars had what A/C and what was used where. It’s a total guess when you’re building them if all you have are the car directions.
IMHO, stay away from the coaches unless you are a skilled modeler (due to the several modification one has to make to get it together), and only attempt the sleepers if you have the patience to spend several hours working on them.
I bought a couple of Branchline boxcars just after Christmas. I like them, fairly easy to uild, but the wheels that came with them suck so I changed them over to Proto.
I’ll buy a few more, if I come across ones I want.
You’re forgetting that Branchline fixed the coaches in subsequent runs… I have 6…
Not counting the first 3 which I sent to the parts pile because of the problems… For 9 total.
After doing 1 or 2 I can put them together in 2-3 hours not counting time to dullcote and dry.
I think your complaints are exaggerated (which you have been known to do, no offense…)…
David,
Did Branchline re-run the single window coaches? I can’t recall any ads for them since they first came out. They have been a glut on the market, due to the fact that these cars are usually found at a deep discount at just about every show and hobby shop I go to. AFAIK, Branchline ran the single window coaches once…but I could be wrong. If they re-ran the NH cars, they didn’t change the numbers…
Branchline did not fix the parts common with the single window coaches…like the underframe, trucks, etc. These parts on my NH sleepers still don’t fit without modification. For a $40 kit, the parts should fit. They did fix the parts not common to the single window coaches, like the sides, interior, roof, etc.
As far as my complaints being exaggerated, which I apparently have been known to do…yes, I am offended. What the heck do you mean by that? What have I ever said that was exaggerated? Was it when I said the $1500 L-1 model had the wrong lettering on the tender (which it did)? Was it when I said that the Athearn RS-3 is missing the steam gen. vent (which it still is)? Please quote me, directly, where I have exaggerated any complaints, David, because yes, you have ticked me off.
The coaches/sleepers are ~$39 MSRP if memory serves me. There are also numerous auctions on eBay which they can be had for significantly less. I also got my local hobby shop to order mine.
Paul,
This is my second year of modeling since childhood, and I never had any such problems. Every part did fit in the appropriate slot/hole. Some parts are EXTREMELY small, especially with regard to their connection points. If you wet the part first with Testors liquid, the part goes in a lot easier! So it does take a lot of patience and time. I would definitely not recommend these to people who don’t have steady hands and good eyes. On the plastics model hardness scale, I would give it an 8/10. But the effort is worth it!
Also, pullmans went through several transitions over the years with regards to air conditioning. Some had none, some were retrofitted with ice boxes, and some were mechanical in nature. This is why branchline doesn’t tell you which to apply, as it is up to you which period to model. I also noticed several details on the branchline kit the walthers kit is missing, like the yoke, and parking brake wheels, and chains.
I’ll be doing a detailed analysis of each soon when I start to put together my 3rd kit.
Wonderful kits! I’ve put together about five of their Blueprint series, and for an old fart whose eyesight isn’t what it used to be, they go together extremely well. I’ve also got some of their Yardmaster series, and though not as highly detailed, they’re still fine cars (both series need a little additional weight, BTW). I’ve built one Branchline Pullman (SP) and EVERYTHING goes where it’s supposed to. If i’d have known better, I’d have held off on the Walthers and opted for strictly Branchline. Great stuff! Luckily, the owner of one of my LHS’ feels the same way–he’s always got a good supply in stock.
Tom [^][^]
Yes, Paul… As I mentioned before on the NHRHTA forum, Branchline re-ran the coaches, SEVERAL times. Which is how I came up with a #13 Pullman Green version. THe original green unit numbers were something like 7800, 7803, and 7815. I also have a 788x, 782x, and another. There is another number I am after too. (I don’t have those numbers handy)
They re-ran the original 3 and subsquent new numbered coaches had corrected parts. I was able to put all 6 together without any other needed modification than grinding the bolster. Other than a few flicks of a file on the windows that was it for getting things to fit. I found the holes for parts and grab irons to be perfectly drilled. I didn’t have to ream them out or anything.
I stand by my statement and use your first post here as an example.
Have you looked at the label on the box for the sleeper?
Voila - it says ICE or MECHANICAL AC right there and the instructions I found to be quite sufficient. Turn the car over and match the shapes starting at one end and working your way down.
Up until recently I wasn’t familiar with all the parts but I figured it out.
What parts? The brake gear and other details fit fine on my coaches… The AC equipment and battery boxes, and brake gear fit fine on my sleepers too - and I put all the details.
I noticed you are the only one complaining about the fit of parts in this