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Con-Cor International N scale Aerotrain
The finish on this looks beutiful; is it plated, or just really well painted?
I ordered the Aero Train, and although it was very well scaled and detailed. The running qualities left a LOT to be desired. The main problem was it just wouldn’t stay on the track. It would stay on the track…most of the time, just running the basic 3-car set. But I had ordered the full 10-car set, and this is where the trouble started. The cars are just too light, to track correctly. Because the cars are so light, and the wires between the cars so stiff it was impossible to keep it on the track. Turnouts would derail it…the minimum curves I have our 19" and it wouldn’t stay on the track on these curves. I’m using Atlas code 55 track.
I finally sent it back to Con Cor, and they worked on for several months, and they also had problems running the 10-car train. So I wound up getting a refund. Its too bad they didn’t work the bugs out of this train, because it looked really nice. But with a price of $869.94 with the extra cars…that made a pretty expensive static model. For that kind of money, I expected a great running train.
I might add, that before this purchase, I bought their Zephyr train. This is a fantastic looking model…and it runs as good as it looks. Too bad the Aero Train didn’t turn out the same way.
My N-Scale railroad is set about the time this train ran, but the $429.98 price tag is way out of line.
Our experience with this model is not very positive. The train derails constantly on turnouts and in curves. We tried to shoot a short film of a running Aerotrain, but were not able to shoot more than 5 seconds without a derailing train.
Friends with a lot of experience in scratchbuiling locomotives, face the same problems. The rigid wires and the play in the wheelsets can be the reasons for these problems, according to them.
Very frustrating that a beautifull, interesting and expensive model has so many problems.
Great looking train. But this is not a positive experience. The train derails a lot with the 3 car set is there some cind of way to fix this so it wont derail.
Great looking train. But this is not a positive experience. The train derails a lot with the 3 car set is there some cind of way to fix this so it wont derail. Thie is N-scale
I am totally disappointed with the performance of my n-gauge aerotrain. The cost,$ 429.99 is way over priced for its poor performance. If the H-O gauge set performs the same way, I will not be buying one. I might sell my n-gauge on e-bay to the highest bidder. Sorry, no rating on this one.
My experience has been similar to Bob Freitas. I have really enjoyed the smooth, trouble free, operation of the Zephyr and expected the same from the Aero Train as well as the M-10000 but have not seen it. The magnets, while making the diaphragms look good, seem to make the trains too rigid to clear the switches and curves without a truck going on the ground. Overall, I would grade the Zephyr a B+ and the Aero Train and M-10000 a C-.
My layout is in this era and I would have loved to have the Aero Train since I love streamliners. But as others have commented the price is steep if the train does not perform well. After having problems with the GS-4 Wartime UP loco which again was great looking but priced a bit steep for it’s performance I am leary of purchasing future Con-Cor locos. Maybe this is indicative of some Con Cor N Scale. I have 3 different sets of Con-Cor PA A-B-A loco sets which are excellent.
I love the body its a nice shape i am 11
I, too, am very dissappointed in the performance of my 10-car Aerotrain. To begin with, I was annoyed that I had to remove the shell from each and every car to hook up the wires. Annoyance became frustration as it could not make even a single trip around a simple oval of Kato Unitrack with 11". Disassembling and tinkering with the wires helped some but I agree that the combination of the magnets in the diaphragms and the stiffness of the multitude of wires linking all the cars makes the train very stiff and, further, impossible to store without, again, dissassembling each car. Kato manages to manufacture stunningly detailed Japanese bullet trains that perform flawlessly out of the box for a fraction of the cost of this model. I am very dissappointed.
I am rating the article a 1 because it fails to acknowledge the hassle involved in assembling the train or to even mention the derailing issues that seem so rampant with the model. I expect that a review would actually be a review and not an unpaid advertisement. It damages the credibility of the magazine when such glaring problems with a model are glossed over.
As with so many others that have weighed in, I too had a terrible experience buying the Aerotrain. I opted for the basic 3-car train, and can attest that it is not only the 10-car add-on that has trouble. The first one I purchased derailed on every turnout and many of the curves. The diaphragms were too stiff, and kept ‘swinging’ the last car off the tracks. Before the warranty ran out I sent it back to ConCor for a replacement (for which I had to pay for postage.)
When the replacement arrived and I had assembled it, I could not get the lighting to work. I called ConCor and at their suggestion sent it back. They took a very long time to replace it, and when the replacement arrived – the lights still didn’t work! I was concerned that I was not assembling it properly, but their tech person confirmed that what I had done was correct. I sent it back again, and this time demanded that they assemble it at their shop before sending it out. They agreed to do this, although it required special packaging.
Finally, one year after I had made the original purchase, I received a model that runs reasonably well and has lighting that works. It still derails pretty regularly, but at least can make it around most of the layout. And as others have pointed out, it looks great!
I should mention that the folks at ConCor were very friendly and accommodating throughout the whole process. Nice people – just a terrible train!
I gave the review a 1 rating because it is absurd and irresponsible for Model Railroader to tell their readers that “ConCor has done a great job” with such an obviously flawed item.