There was enough of a break in the weather this evening that I was able to swing by and pick up my '40 20th Century Limited passenger cars that came in yesterday. Here’s a few pics for those interested:
So far I’m VERY impressed with the quality of the MTH cars. Each car is outfitted with a keep-alive cap for “flicker-free interior illumination”. It takes about a minute for the cap to completely charge up on the track and the same amount to discharge, once you remove it from the track.
MTH did a very nice job with the interior and exterior detailing and lighting. The diaphrams on each end are nicely done. (They probably would have been closer together on the prototype.) The undercarriage detailing is crisp and well done.
MTH also provides a handy 7-page pamphlet covering accessing the interior, setup (in regards to lighting and couplers) and a troubleshooting section.
The cost for these jumped up considerably a few months prior to their release. Thankfully, I was able to get them at discount for just slightly over original MSRP. I’ve seen decent discounts on places like eBay.
[Added]: Pictured in the link above are the 5-car passenger set and a 4-4-2 sleeper. Here’s the specific info on those:
I’m curious about the radii of these cars, also, especially since they have the full-width diaphraghms like my MTH Daylight set. On the Daylight cars, the couplers can be set for either a 22" radius, or close-coupled to a 40" radius, but nothing in between. I’m wondering if your Limited cars are the same.
I ended up changing out the MTH couplers for Kadees–the ‘whisker’ type (can’t remember the Kadee #), as the MTH couplers tended to ‘flop’ in the coupler boxes.
Other than that, my Daylight set is absolutely drool-inducing–just wonderful. Your Limited set looks just as good.
Thanks for posting this mini review, Tom! These cars look to be pretty accurate representations of the '40 Century. I’m glad MTH chose to print the car names on the sides. I have bunches of the Walthers car name decals sitting in a drawer because I just can’t get the gosh darn things to look right no matter how much decal solution I use.
I never thought I’d be buying any MTH products since I am not impressed with Mr. Wolf’s business practices but I have to admit that I’ve swallowed my pride and ordered a set.
All those capacitors charging up at once will sure put one’s DCC system to the test for current inrush! P.S. I think the photos look just fine!
That’s why it’s an initial review. Since I just picked them up last night, I haven’t had that much chance to take them through their paces; nor do I have the layout to do so.
To answer your questions:
Prototype accuracy - To be honest I’m not an expert on the TCL to make that judgement call. I’ll have to leave that to someone with more knowledge about the prototype than myself. They look very good to me.
Rolling characteristic - The cars rolled very freely on both straight and curved sections of track. I only have R22" curves on my layout. So, while they rolled well, they looked pretty ugly negotiating them. [+o(]
Curve handling/minimum radius - MTH states that these cars have a minimum radii of 22". As mentioned, they rolled freely - even through my tight curves.
Coupler action - The cars coupled together nicely and stayed together through the curves. I would, however, probably question whether they would continue to stay connected on curves as tight as R22" - especially if you have an opposing curves separated by a section of track at a good clip. It goes without saying that they will both look and operate better on curves twice as large.
[quote user=“twhite”]
Tom:
I’m curious about the radii of these cars, also, especially since they have the full-width diaphraghms like my MTH Daylight set. On the Daylight cars, the couplers can be set for either a 22" radius, or close-coupled to a 40" radius, but not
I don’t think pride has anything to do with it. Got to admit I’ve not heard much from the legal department about MTH. Time will eventually heal all wounds if it stays that way. I eventually forgave Athearn after they finally replaced the MRC decoders/sound with Tsunami. It could happen to MTH too.
The Daylight set is very nice and this set looks to be very good also. The close coupling feature on the cars cannot be used for most layouts. My train has one coupler in the close range and one in the normal range so the cars are much closer but having both sets in the close mode will cause derailment on most turnouts. The problem with that arrangement is the cars must be used in the correct order in the train.
I purchased both the BLI observation and the MTH set with the observation. Both have certain features that excel but the MTH cars roll extemely well. Not so with the BLI cars.
I just checked the 7-page pamphlet that came with the 5-car set. There is indeed two settings for the couplers for the 20th Century Limited cars: R22" curves and R42" and > curves.
Since, by your own admission, you do not have the proper layout to do these cars justice, forward them to me at your earliest convenience so that I may give them a proper home. My NYC E/9A awaits your mailing. [(-D]
The SPCPC (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Passenger Cars) has been notified of this proposed arrangement. It would be in your best interest to act expeditiously. [:P]
I took a look inside the Observation car last night after I removed it from the track. While the keep-alive cap was “discharging”, I was pleased to find that MTH used golden-white LEDs to illuminate the interior of the cars. The handy pamphlet that comes with the cars gives detailed instructions on how to remove the shell to access the interior - if needed. It seems far less complicated (and better engineered) than what I’ve heard about removing the roof off the Walthers passenger cars.
On the New York Central Modelers Yahoo Group, the cars themselves received a generally good review for accuracy, but the questioned MTH’s choice of cars for the trains and that certain cars were under represented and others over represented. Also they did not give the modeler a sufficient choice of proper cars to replicate a full 18 car train.
Also while not the 20th Century Limited set the Empire State Express set should have gray diaphrams should be gray and not black. MTH stated that there were no extra diaphrams to correct the problem and that they were told the black diaphrams were correct. MTH does not contact historical societies to find out the proper information to build cars and just do whatever they want to, unlike some of the other manufacturers/importers.
I noticed that the tail sign which is, of course, the signature jewel of the Twentieth Century Limited, is a bit oversized… and FLAT! It should be contoured to match the radius of the car end. That’s too bad since it is the first thing your eye is drawn to when seeing the end of the train as the boarding passengers did in Chicago and new York.
Wouldn’t it be nice if one of the brass photoetching outfits such as Gold Medal Models would make a retrofit tailsign and include some of the other NYC name trains which had similar cast aluminum signs.
Somehow, MTH still seems to have the Toy Train mentality… but they are coming around[:|]
Not exactly a full 20th Century Limited train, I ran all but one of the MTH cars individually around my layout last night behind my Atlas HH660 switcher. Accept for the RPO 6-axle car, the other 4-axle cars navigated the R22" curves with no mishaps. In fact, there is a small section of R18" (with R22" easements on either side) and the cars went right through that without complaint.
Looks like I’ll get to keep them after all, Rich. [swg]