I have small radii, so I can’t run the big cars either. Over in the Coffee Shop I found out about a company that understands this problem, and has cut cars down to a non-prototypical length of 60’ they should work easily. The company is OK Streamliners. Search for them on Google, and you’ll find their webpage. The cars are all aluminum, but you have to order a catalog from them to see pics of the cars. It comes fro the low, low price of only $3.00. The cars also have a great price. I don’t remember exact figures but I think about $25 will pick one up for you.
Spacemouse,
I might have missed it in your other posts, but what size track radius do you have, or anticipate
having. It sounds as if you might be putting your cart in front of your horse, so to speak. When
I first started, I wanted everything and I wanted it NOW. As a result, I ended up with some items
that I will probably never use. And some money spent that I will never get back[:D].
Take your time and pick your rolling stock to fit your layout, not the other way around. Good luck, Dave
I will be using this exclusively at our local club. The tracks are mostly long straights with 4-5 ft radius turns. The tightest turn I know of, and I’ve only been there once, is a helix that turns around a 3 foot radius.
I still would like 72’ cars. But I have only found one company–the one I posted, that has the right color scheme. Athearn had them, but they have discontinued them.
My home set is mostly 18" turns which I will be using old small steamers.
My passenger cars are just over 6.5" long (is that about 47’?)
The paint job is factory and My LHS puts the signwriting on, NZR Kingston Flyer which is a tourist train in the South Island.
Well in that case, just about any rolling stock should do fine on 4-5’ radius. Just some are better
quality. IHC passenger cars are cheap, BUT (and this is a big but) you will have to do some work
to be happy with them (ie. metal wheelsets, couplers, lots of weight). In the end you will be better off
with a higher priced line. I learned this first hand, after sixteen IHC cars I ordered. I have installed:
Kadee conversion coupler kits #508 @ $3.50 per car
Intermountain 36" metal wheelsets @ $1.70 per car
That’s an extra $5.20 per car x 16 cars= $83.20
Plus they need weight.
Now here’s the kicker… the detail (or lack there of) stinks. In order to get these cars the way I
would like them is going to cost me more money and time than if I had ju
With this being your first passenger train I would stick to tried and true and not dump a lot of money into a car. Athearn cars are inexpensive, nicely painted, well detailed, reliable and stay on the track. They are forgiving on bad trackwork, handle switches better than the longer cars, and if you want a longer train just buy an extra car or two and you will have more passenger train then you need. Purchasing exotic passenger equipment at this stage in your hobby life is just not necessary or wise. As the length of the passenger car gets longer you get into issues of track quality, switch performance, derailing issues that are sometimes difficult to correct unless you are well qualified to address bad track problems, etc. You want to be able to put a train on the track and have it operate without issue. Stick with the basics until you have mastered some of the skills of modeling. Don’t do too much all at once or frustration can replace excitement.
Fools tread where angels fear to go is a worn-out phrase, but in HO it might be appropriate. Take small steps before the leaps and keep your pocket book intact along the way.
Athearn is the first place I looked, but they have discontinued everything. I’m only looking at getting a few cars for the moment so I can participate at the club.
Athearn is far from discontinuing their product line. Athearn products are readily available at almost every hobby shop, the largest line of diesels and cars available on the planet. Athearn moved into a new plant near Long Beach, California and has expanded production as well as increased the number of new offerings. There may be companies come and go, but Athearn will be with us for years to come. It wouldn’t be far off to compare Athearn in HO as you would cars to General Motors.
Walthers will no longer be the distributor for Athearn and that is why you will not see their product line in that catalog. Athearn dates from the 1940’s and has been expanding ever since. Quality to the line continues to improve and their Genesis series of diesels is considered some of the best HO locomotives ever made.
Many years ago I was an Athearn distributor in Southern California. While we had problems with some of the other brands Athearn was always the one we could count on for product.
My understanding was that only the kits were to be discontinued. Ready to Run cars should be available, and I would think that most hobby shops would still have a supply of both kits and ready to run.
Athearn might have chosen to reduce the variety of passenger cars in their line but from what I understand there is no intent to eliminate passenger cars from their catalog. Athearn might have made a recent decision to eliminate the cars completely but that would be very surprising since they have all the dies and machinery paid up and it takes so little work to stamp out a run. I would welcome input from anybody with recent information from Athearn.
eBay would be a great source for used Athearn cars. There just isn’t much that can go wrong with the models. If they show up as clean and complete they are going to be reliable. They have been made for at least 45 years, maybe longer, so there are at minimum tens of thousands of them out on layouts operating. I remember one year that Athearn announced they had ran almost 15,000 at one clip to satisfy holiday demand, so you shouldn’t have any problem finding some at very attractive prices.
Looking quickly on eBay there is a dealer offering brand new Athearn kits in packages of 6 cars for $45-49 per set.
Other dealers offering used 5 and 6 car Athearn sets from $25 on up. Now these are prices that won’t break the pocketbook and will give you a reasonably nice starter passenger set that will be reliable and can handle rough track as well as any cars made.
If you decide to move up to scale length and have the curves and track work to handle them you can easily sell the Athearn, as they are popular. But for a car that kids can handle and enjoy without fear of damage, and a car that can easily be put onto the track, or re-railed when they come off, the Athearn line has to be near the top for basic enjoyment.
Pennsy passenger equipment is popular and was one of Athearn’s top sellers. I suspect that if you made a few e-mail inquries of the large HO stores on the internet you could probably within a few weeks find yourself with a garage full of the cars. Con Cor also makes a nice car, as do others, just sometimes the extra money you are paying for these cars will not get the operational results you might expect by spending more for a model. Many of the cars are priced based on the prototypical realistic details that are incorporated into the model, and that is often not in the best interests of a layout where kids might enjoy playing with the trains.
On Walthers page 132 2004 ed, bottom of second column, there is a listing for 70’ passenger cars. The color scheme is tuscany red with deluxe gold. Am I getting warm?
I got a quick e-mail from a former shop owner in New York that use to stock Athearn.
Trainworld in New York has all Athearn lightweight and heavyweight passenger cars on sale for $5.99 each. Kit and ready to roll, same price. Just use this type of pricing as your guide when you are looking at other products.
Tuscan red with dulux gold or gold leaf lettering would be correct for Pennsy passenger equipment.
Chip,
I have a set of Bachmann Spectrum Heavyweight cars that I purchased about ten years ago. The craftsmanship is excellent for the price I paid. They are standard length (80’ I think), but they should work well on the club layout you are planning to run them on. I have run mine on 22" radius curves, and other than looking funny while going around the curves, they ran great. I think even some of the shorter cars would still look funny with tight turns. On the club layout, you should be fine with any passenger cars you want to run, so you should not need to have the shorty cars you’re looking for. When it comes to running them at home, well, it’s a different story.