Hopefully someone out there could help me. I just picked up a nice 40’ plastic box car and can’t figure out the manufacturer. I’ve already looked at HOSeeker, but didn’t find anything. But, then again, I didn’t exactly know what I was looking for! I don’t have a camera, but I can describe the floor section and maybe we can come up with a match.
The floor has molded on parts, the coupler is body mounted and there is no coupler pocket, just four small holes that accept the coupler cover 4 pins that hold it to the floor. The coupler cover also contains the centering post. There is no screw hole in the cover. There are raised bolster pins, like Athearn floors have and the trucks attach with screws. The trucks are not distictive to my eye.
The floor also has the words ‘made in US’ printed on it in the center beam.
I’ve seen one of these before, but for the life of me, can’t remember who made it. Any guesses? Thanks in advance for your help.
It’s pretty tough with these limited clues. Even a cell phone photo would help.
What kind of couplers? Are the wheels metal or plastic? What road name? The most distinctive thing is 4 holes to mount the couplers - usually there is only one per coupler.
MB, Thanks for your reply. I don’t have a cellphone that takes pictures (although there were times I wish Ic did0. The couplers were horn hook, the wheels were typical plastic w/ metal axles. There is only one coupler centering post, just like Athearn, just no screw and it’s in the cover, not the pocket… The coupler cover is held on by glueing the 4 little pins on the cover to the 4 holes (about the size of a #65 drill bit) on the frame.
It’s a Lionel. I worked on one of those for a member of our HO scale club a few weeks ago and remember how weird their coupler mounting system was compared to other brands.
Thanks for your response. I thought it might have been a Lionel, but they have the metal weights on the outside and Talgo trucks, if I recall. Mine has the weight on the inside, a plate that spans the length between the bolsters. But, I’ve been wrong many, many times before (and I’m sure many times to come).
That car is Concor. I used to work for them. As far as I know thery are the only one to use that coupler box. It was developed overseas when Concor bought molds from Lilliput and converted them to use in the US. That coupler box had problems and might be one reason Concor cars didn’t do that well. When I worked for them we tried to change to a more normal box
Sorry for the delay in replying … I’ve been away from the computer for a while.
Thank you all for the info and replies you have provided. It’s always comforting to know that most questions can be answered by the sages on this Forum. Someday, I hope to repay the favor.