What a surprise, a big Walther’s box came today.
My dad got some “toys” for his birthday. New Intermountain assembled Hi-Levels. His birthday isn’t for another week but he opened one coach to see how it looked upclose.
Since we have used original Train Station Products (TSP) kits for many years it is interesting to compare the cars.
Here are my impressions of an Intermountain Assembled Hi-Level Coach.
Paint and Finish
First off the lettering is fantastic. The Santa Fe font is far superior to the TSP kits, and is not off centered like one of my TSP Step-Up coaches. The lettering is very crisp, and I’d say perfectly done.
The body painting is very shiny. It looks like brand new stainless steel. I can’t remember if the TSP cars were ever this shiny, as we’ve had them for many years and they could have faded. But the consensus is they were not super shiny. I kind of like the shine, looks like metal and not like the cheesy “chrome finish” that was used on some models in the past. The only down side is everything is shiny, including the diaphragms. So some weathering will likely be needed.
The interior is very nice. The seats look good and best of all they’re painted in a Zuni Turquoise color. The color is actually very good for the coach seats. I went nuts trying to find a suitable color for my homemade interiors for the original TSP kits. However, the entire interior is painted this Turquoise color, so I’ll have to repaint the floor, and a few other things to be more realistic.
Another nice painted on feature are the blackened grills. This looks realistic a
I have tried both Preiser and Woodland Scenics seated passengers in my hi level cars, and found the Preiser peeps to be far superior. They do seem to be pretty good cars. How is the weight??
My biggest dissappointment was the fact that they lack the roof grabs, bearing caps and the end yokes. That is one of the biggest reasons I steered clear of the Intermountains. I get Detail Associates stuff wholesale, and the wholesaler that I go through seems to have an unlimited supply of the hi level detail kits for some reason. I had to order several extra packages of cut levers cause the hi levels had em on both sides of the ends. I just ordered the glazing for my cars, and once they are in, time to get the airbrush out.
It doesn’t appear that they used the AMB windows. The Intermountain windows look a little thicker and less transperent. It likes you noticed this as well. The wheelsets that TSP uses are Jay Bee wheels, and I haven’t seen a straight one yet. I complained to Mr Wright about this but he insisted they are great (just like their working diaphrams).
I wouldn’t hold my breath on the lounge.I spoke to both Intermountain and Mr Wright about this, and form what I interpreted, it ain’t gonna happen. I know there are some prototype models out there somewhere because Mr Wright said that he wasn’t happy with the way the windows were coming out. Oh well. Just a good excuse for me to purchase another brass passenger car.
All of the hi level coaches are molded with the baggage door, so they should not be numbered for the 60s batch. I do like the blackened grills, and I think that I have figured out how to do it on my cars. I more concerned about the diner than anything.
Thanks for the review.
Great reviews. I’ve been considering adding a couple of these to my own roster. One question, though. What was the difference between the “Step Up” car and the “High Level”? Thanks for any light you can share on their history.
Mike
It seems underweight to me and there’s no weight inside. The heavy Jay-Bee wheels and interior help, but it’s not enough. I added weights to my TSP versions and I’ll likely do the same for the Intermountain cars.
The Jay-Bee wheels are very smooth rolling though. I like them a lot over TSP’s wheels. I used Kadee wheels with my TSP cars and they are really superior…however they are not electrified, and I’m now looking at adding interior lights, so the Jay-Bee wheels should be good for that.
The lack of end yokes is a plus for me as there is one section on my line were the radius is very tight. So I need talgo trucks to get through this section. Also the reason why I need a TSP lounge…the Overland lounge likes wide curves [xx(]
The lack of roof grabs is a bummer, and the TSP kits do not have the holes pre drilled either. Oh and the working diaphragms, well the assembled cars don’t have them, but I thought for sure they would. Nope, just the basic rigid ones. Maybe not such a bad thing though [;)]
The “Step Up” for the most part looks just like a regular Hi-Level coach. However at one end of the car, there are steps that go down to a normal single level car height. They are very similar to today’s Amtrak Superliner Transition Dorm. The typical El Capitan had two. One in the front (behind the locos, baggage, and dorm car) and one as the last car of the train (with a marker light and drumhead).
The Hi-Level dorm cars were old single level baggage dorms, with an airfoil adapter to make a nice transition from the low level equipment to the Hi-levels. Some say it was for aerodynamics, but it was mostly for aesthetics. Of course no prebuilt (plastic) model is available in HO scale for these cars. Union Station makes a kit for the Pullman version of the dorm, but I prefer the Budd car and I do not believe any kit is available for it yet. Maybe one day TSP
The old TSP wheels are Jay Bee. I would imagine the wheels on the RTR cars are Intermountain wheels. I found that the rigid diaphrams are a plus because the working ones are no good. They also look more prototypical too!
It makes sense they would use Intermountain wheels. All I know is they look great, and are very smooth rolling.
The above post reminds me that I believe you can buy the transition coaches with the seats only facing one way. On the prototype, the rear seats were reversed to face forward.
The TSP folks told me back in 2002 that they were planning on producing a baggage/dorm, I guess just like the lounge. Don’t for get that the Santa Fe historical society offers brass car sides for the P/S car. They are made by NKP Car Company, and are available directly from them for about half the price. Below is the car that I did using the sides and a core kit and detail parts from TSP.
Edit: I built the steam ejector AC using styrene and have since replaced the bowed partition in the interior. If you want to model this car I have all the info you could ever want, so let me know.
I will also say this, installing the roof grabs are a real PITA. That is one of the few things that I have to force myself to do on any of my cars. I actually tried to use the spacing on the Overland cars as a guide, but the grabs on their cars actuall appear to be too close as opposed to prototype pics. I haven’t even messed with installing the NIBs, and I don’t think that I will.
I have also found a great source for roof vents if anybody is interested.
MAJOR CORRECTION!!!
The Intermountain cars are weighted! That’s why they track so well. I couldn’t even see the weights. They’re neatly hidden under the interior.
I’m really liking these cars the more I get used to them. They track great, and the wheels are a big reason for this. I’m guessing they are intermountain wheels the more I look at them. But whatever they are they are just so smooth.
I would definitely recommend these car to anyone looking for ready to run Santa Fe Hi-Levels. The price compares to that of building and fully equipping a TSP kit, so the Intermountain cars may seem pricey but are not really after all the work and extras you have to put into the TSP kits.
Get them while you can though as these sell out super fast. And for you early Amtrak fans, Intermountain has just released Hi-Level coaches in the early phase I scheme. I can see some early Amtrak Super Chief’s using these cars. Remember Amtrak did use the Super Chief name for a few years. It later became the Southwest Limited.
Hi,
Does anyone know which Type/ brand paint is used on the Intermountain/ TSP El Capitan cars? I have the Overland Lounge/ Dome and the plating is awful…I want to match the car to the other cars. Other than steaked plating, the tinted glass and a terrific interior with lighting are the plus features…Thanks for any help!
Dave
Yeah, the plating is a bit rough on some of the Overland cars. I would contact Intermountain directly. I contacted them by phone once,and they were really nice.
http://www.imrcmodels.com/index.html