MDC ready to run 50 ft passenger cars: roofs detachable?

caboose63 · June 16, 2008, 1:19am

Does anyone know if the roofs and underframes of MDC’s ready to run 50 ft passenger cars are detachable?

doctorwayne · June 16, 2008, 1:55am

The ones that I have were kits. The roof is so removeable that I had to cement a block of styrene to the underside of the clerestory, at the centre of the car, then run a long screw up through the floor to hold the roof in place. There is no underframe, as such, as these are trussrod cars. The sides of the car have the floor as part of the casting, and there’s a separate sub-floor which fits into place under that. If yours is an assembled car, you should be able to remove the roof with a little judicious use of your X-Acto knife around the joint between the eaves and the letterboards. [swg]

I don’t know if they’re still available, but I bought several roofs separately, as I want to modify them for use on some scratchbuilt headend cars.

I modified my cars as I built them, as all have been downgraded to work train service on my '30s-era layout.

Wayne

TwinZephyr · June 16, 2008, 9:45am

The roof is glued to the car body. The roof has a moulded-in flange that fits against the inside of the passenger car sides. To remove the roof you will need to break the glue joint between the roof flange and the car sides.

don7 · June 16, 2008, 8:45pm

I was just about to buy a set of the 50’ Overland coaches.

Is it a simple or difficult undertaking to break the glue joint?

I will look for the kit version rather than the RTR version if it is likely to do damage to the cars.

PASMITH · June 17, 2008, 9:45am

The ones that I have were kits. The roof is so removeable that I had to cement a block of styrene to the underside of the clerestory, at the centre of the car, then run a long screw up through the floor to hold the roof in place. There is no underframe, as such, as these are trussrod cars. The sides of the car have the floor as part of the casting, and there’s a separate sub-floor which fits into place under that. If yours is an assembled car, you should be able to remove the roof with a little judicious use of your X-Acto knife around the joint between the eaves and the letterboards. [swg]

I don’t know if they’re still available, but I bought several roofs separately, as I want to modify them for use on some scratchbuilt headend cars.

I modified my cars as I built them, as all have been downgraded to work train service on my '30s-era layout.

Wayne

Good looking MOW’s!

Peter Smith, Memphis

doctorwayne · June 17, 2008, 10:28am

Thanks, Peter. I was disappointed when Horizon took over the MDC/Roundhouse line, as it was a great source of parts for scratchbuilding and kitbashing. My LHS often buys up the stock of hobbyshops that have gone out of business, and I picked up the cars shown, along with several of their Pullman Palace car kits, at a good price. I made some of the latter type into MoW cars for a friend who models the CNR in the late '50s, and the rest became CNR passenger cars, some of which I re-sold, keeping a couple for myself - some cars of this type saw service as passenger cars into the early '60s and are perfect for my '30s-era layout.

I built this one with the trussrod underframe, although many of the prototypes were eventually rebuilt with steel underframes (some of which also retained the truss rods):

This combine, lettered for one of my free-lance roads, got a new underbody, which included a steel, fish-belly underframe:

I added the Baker Heater detail on the roof, as the car is often used in mixed train service, where steam heat is not always readily available:

Wayne

PASMITH · June 17, 2008, 1:10pm

Thanks, Peter. I was disappointed when Horizon took over the MDC/Roundhouse line, as it was a great source of parts for scratchbuilding and kitbashing. My LHS often buys up the stock of hobbyshops that have gone out of business, and I picked up the cars shown, along with several of their Pullman Palace car kits, at a good price. I made some of the latter type into MoW cars for a friend who models the CNR in the late '50s, and the rest became CNR passenger cars, some of which I re-sold, keeping a couple for myself - some cars of this type saw service as passenger cars into the early '60s and are perfect for my '30s-era layout.

I built this one with the trussrod underframe, although many of the prototypes were eventually rebuilt with steel underframes (some of which also retained the truss rods):

This combine, lettered for one of my free-lance roads, got a new underbody, which included a steel, fish-belly underframe:

I added the Baker Heater detail on the roof, as the car is often used in mixed train service, where steam heat is not always readily available:

Wayne

I certainly agree with your comments about MDC being purchased and having so many old timers ( That were perfect for bashing) disappear. Thanks for posting some more pictures of your great work)

Peter Smith, Memphis