I have 12 log cars that I bought, assembled and painted about 6 years ago. I really like the way they turned out and would like to get more. Unfortunately I do not remember the brand. They came in a blister pack and I believe they were either MDC or Roundhouse. There is no name on the bottom but the coupler covers look like the flat square/rectangle Roundhouse type. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Can you provide a picture, or some DNA or something? Right now, we don’t have a lot of evidence to solve this particular cold case.
MDC was Roundhouse. Are the cars metal or plastic? If they were bare white metal they are MDC, which is now owned by Athearn and they have not come out with any new ones since the Athearn takeover. I have 2 dozen of these cars purchased at different times over the years.
I’m baffled by your statement that they came in a blister package, though, because mine were in yellow cardboard boxes, 3 cars per. Blister packaging tends to indicate that they may have been a Kadee product.
Rivarossi has some nice looking skeleton log cars, so you might want to check them, too. Rivarossi is now owned by Hornby of England and they are made in China.
If the MDC product is made again by Athearn, they will be ready to run and will be made in China, but there have been no announcements from Athearn that they intend to ever make these cars again.
Check Kadee’s web site at http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page126.htm
Rivarossi’s skeleton cars are pretty nice. A few years back I came across about 50 of them at (Of all places) Walmart in Harrisonville Mo. This was all they had as far as model railroad stuff. Since then I check Walmarts when ever I travel. Last Christmas I found a bunch of Athearn John Deere tractors at a Walmart in North Dakota. How does this happen???
The manager of our local Wal-mart says that they never know what they are going to have until the truck arrives because they have no control over stockage. There is supposedly a big computer in the sky somewhere that determines what goes onto each truck and to which store, and the local manager just has to sell whatever comes in. We have three major Wal-marts within 30 miles of each other, and they all stock different items.
Here is the URL for Roundhouse trains. They are very slowly introducing new items.
http://www.roundhousetrains.com/Default.aspx
Put it in your Favorites folder and check once in a while. Athearn/Roundhouse has a news letter you can subscribe to and get announcements of new products. Other wise, check ebay.
When you find the manufacturer, do a Google search for the log car.
Rich
Here are a few photos I took this evening (sorry about the quality). I have only seen the blister pack once (when I purchased these) and that is why I am having trouble finding more. They are made of metal with plastic piping, brake wheel and add ons. They had a good amount of metal flash around the bodies that had to be removed. Kind of like the frames on an ore car from roundhouse. There were no logs or chains included. I seem to remember replacing the wheels with metal ones but could not swear to it.
If the photos do not show on this page here are links to them.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w171/groggit/DCP_2289.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w171/groggit/DCP_2287.jpg
Sorry about all the repeat photos…have no idea how that happened.
Those sure look like Rivvarossi cas, and if you don’t want them, I’m sure we I could find a good home for them [:-^]
Those are definitely the Model Die Casting (Roundhouse) skeleton log cars. Especially your comment about having to remove a lot of flash from the metal casting convinced me of that without even looking at the photos.
I also will say MDC Roundhouse, I have several and yes they did
come in a 2 pack in a plastic blister. Haven’t seen any in years
but I’m sure they’re out there somewhere.
Here’s a closeup photo of an MDC log car showing the detail. Google found this site right away, and if you dig deeper using Google you might be able to find some for sale.
http://www.modelrailroadphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=2588
They look the same as my Rivarossi cars. I also have the MDC cars, not the same thing at all, much shorter.
Having worked for MDC for years, they are definitely not the MDC cars. The MDC cars were simply the underframes from the old time tank car with a few detail parts. As far as I know , they were only packed in boxes - 3 to a box. MDC never had any blisterpack capabilities.
They look like Keystone Locomotive Works log cars.
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/key/key107.htm
I did a Google search for “log bunk ho scale” and eventually found something that looks close.
Rich
I thought so but can not find a picture of them anywhere.
Now that you have mentioned it, I remember. Exactly correct…2 in a pack. It turns out that I only have 8 and not 12. Sure would like to get more. They were fun to build and paint. Not overwhelming but every car needed some work. I just need to dry brush some highlights on them and ready to roll.
Lots of fun to build. The excess flash actually made them just enough work. Skeleton log cars. I will try to search using skeleton as a key word.
If it is Keystone, look at the link I provided
http://www.kitbashdepot.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=38&products_id=375
Rich
Grog,
Kadee disconnects on the left, and Rivarossi skeleton car on right.
Sue