I have just bought my first Intermountain kit from the train show this past weekend, 5 bucks, great low price. I got the CNW 4750 covered hopper. I noticed there is no weight included nor on the instruction or part list. Is this normal for these kits? What kinda weight have you used then? They seem like very nice kits.
Thanks, Mark
Mark, They are great kits with nice detail. I have built a dozen of them and buy them anywhere I can find them, which is getting to be more and more difficult. They do not come with weights, so you will have to supply your own. The last one I bought included an ad in the box from A-Line for their moldable lead putty. There are lots of other sources, so check out the Walthers catalogue. Use the NMRA weight recommendations as a guideline. There should have been instructions. If you will PM me with a fax number, I will fax a set to you. The only drawback to these cars is the trucks. They are flimsy and fall apart. I have epoxied a few together and they still seem to be working after three or four years. I replaced the rest with Kato 70-ton Barber trucks, which are not correct for the prototype but they fit nicely without any need to modify the bolsters. John Timm
I will echo what John said about Intermountain. I have over 400 covered hoppers (grain traffic) on my Santa Fe and the majority are IM, both kits and ready built. I do have to admit a growing addiction to the Tangent cars however. I also have a healthy number of P2K, again kitbuilt and ready built.
Grab the kits where you can and when you can. They are a dying breed.
Bob
Intermountain makes drop-in weights for these cars- you can find them under the “Detail Parts” section of their website to order them. They are stock #P40030-41- you get six weights per set for 3 bucks. The newer Intermountain kits had a little insert that mentioned the weights for sale seperately, but I’ve bought older kits that make no mention of them at all.
You must have stopped by the same booth that I did at the show- I bought an L&N PS-1 50 foot boxcar for 5 bucks. As soon as I get the weight into that, I can finish repainting it into a GM&O!
I think we all bought from the same guy
At $5 it was too good to pass up
