I just received (as a gift) a Model Power Metal Trains boxcar from my inlaws.
The immediate observation is that it’s WAAAAY too heavy right out of the box. It should weigh about 5 oz; it actually weighs 12.
Moreover, I notice that some of the paint is already wearing off the sharp corners, after just two days of handling.
Does anyone have any experience with these things? Do they run well when they’re that heavy, or do they have to be modified? If so, what’s the best way to lighten them.
Is the worn paint typical, or did I get a bad sample?
I can’t throw it away… it will have to stick around to grace the layout when my in-laws visit. But I’m wondering how much trouble it’s actually going to be.
I’ve only seen one of these several years ago, and you’re right, they are way too heavy – far beyond the NMRA recommended weight.
All the time it was on our club layout, it just sat on a siding and was never ran, as near as I know. I don’t think it could have been pulled up the 2 percent grades on our club layout.
I don’t recall the owner of it having any problem with the paint wearing or peeling off, though – but after taking it out of the box it was never touched until he removed it from the layout.
I beleive I have one of those, a CP Rail caboose. It’s one of my favorite cars, KI like the weight and haven’t had any problems with peeling paint. If you don’t want it, I’ll take it…[swg]
You coulkd swap it for an Athearn or other boxcar in the same paint scheme and hope they don’t notice…[(-D]
You haven’t met my mother in law. She’d notice if I breathed on it wrong. [(-D].
I’ll try putting some weathering on it and varnishing it. That might cure the paint issue. I’ll try running it and see what happens. I’m sure it won’t like my 3% grade, though.
I have a couple of the flat cars, and these are actually very nice. They are all metal and heavy, but then they are only flat cars so the weight is about right. They have seperate grabs, nice deck detail, and are cleanly molded. About the only thing I don’t like is that a Kadee #5 doesn’t drop in (perhaps a whisker would…the Kadee #5 box spring’s hole won’t fit over the post). I’ve been using the sprung knuckle couplers that come with it for over a year, and so far no failures.
As for the rest of the collection, I’ve stayed away from them. The paint colors they used look way off, and the cars are just too darn heavy.
i sell lots of these cars and never had one come back . most customers like them due to there weight as when backing up through switches they do not derail .
Last fall a friend of mine got one of their cabooses decorated in the CP Rail “Pacman” scheme. I was failry impressed with it, nice low sheen paint with lots of markings, end railing detailing, metal wheels and Kadee coupler clones. All for $10.00. I asked if he ordered anything more from the shop to get one for me, which he did. Not a bad value for the money. Minor problem like no glazing in the windows that I could fix myself.
I recently got a digital scale and just weighed it - 7.97oz, almost half a pound! Guess that is more than the NMRA recommended weight!
That’s the one I have. I’'m very happy with it, the only downside is that those curved grab irons by the end platform are molded on. Other than that, a great model!
I have owned a Model Power Heavy Metal F7 locomotives, and the metal caboose. Bought both of them about 6 months ago, but sold them off to pay for On30 equipment. The caboose was way too heavy in my opinion, but it was still a nice car. The caboose stayed on the track very well, and never derailed, but it’s rolling abilities is only marginal. I did like the sturdy and strong construction, and the detail level was fine for me. I really liked the F7 diesel engine, I believed that engine weighted 20 ounces, so it was a great puller. I installed both with Kadee 148 whisker couplers, which worked fine. The engine also has a can motor, dual flywheels, and a 9-pin dcc plug. I would have kept both, but decided to switch to On30 recently. I never had any paint problems.
Actually, I like the both the color, clean lines, and detail of the paint. It’s just rubbing off on the corners and the points of the roof battens. Small spots, but the shiny steel is very obvious (I know: “break out the rust-colored paint and weather it, you dummy!”).
The weight does worry me, as I’d be pulling it with a variety of motive power, including a 0-4-0 tank engine that is almost 50 years old. I had thought about pulling the roof off (if I can do it; it doesn’t obviously come apart) and drilling some holes inside to lighten things a bit.
If the frame is metal too, maybe you can switch it with a plastic one from Athearn. That might take a couple ounces off, and no-one can really see the frame anyway.[:D]
I have two tank cars. Santa Fe and Shell. They are good cars, stay on the track nice and can be used in operations. A small note about that. When placing them in a consist, I have found that they work better towards the beginning of the train (3 or 4 cars back from the engine). Box cars being what they are you can put it right in back of the engine. We don’t use them a lot in interchange service on the layout, but they are always used at club shows in one of our trains, usually a steam drag freight.