Opinions on modern passenger cars?

Garden Railroading
1

I’m thinking of investing in a modern aluminum-style passenger set in the next year sometime. The sets I’ve looked at are:

Aristo Streamliners (PRR, probably with an Aristo FA-1 or E-8)

USA Trains Aluminum passenger cars (PRR or Amtrak, probably with a USA PA-1)

LGB Amfleet cars (with LGB Genesis)

I think MTH also makes a 1:32 passenger set.

Does anyone have an opinion on one or more of these? Or, better yet, has anyone had the opportunity to compare any of them firsthand? Are there any other manufacturers I should be considering who make similar sets in 1:29 or 1:32?

Any and all opinions are appreciated.

2

I’m rather fond of the USA streamliners. I think they’re hands-down the best looking passenger cars on the market right now. They’re also the most expensive. If I were into standard gauge and wanted a passenger train, that’s where I’d put my money.

LGB’s amfleet cars look good in photos, but I’ve never been a fan of those cars. Bring out the Superliners or Horizon cars, and we’ll talk. But the Amfleet cars look (and feel) like airplanes without wings. I do give credit to LGB for one thing–both the prototype and model have 100% plastic interiors! [:D]

I’ve seen MTH’s cars, and they’re nice, but they’re “the correct” scale as opposed to the de facto scale that will match your freight equipment. I’d still go with the USA Trains cars.

Later,

K

3

I have aristo cars, so far 7 fluted, 4 havey 1 smothside all have worked well on 8ft dia track.I am planning a new railroad with 9, 10, and 11.5 dia track. I like SP but only have 1 Daylight car and 3 (USA F3)engins to pull it. The 4 heavys are PRR w/ 1,4-6-2 or 2 U25’s, and 7 fluted are AT&SF with a FA/FB and U25. Having grown up in Philadelphia and living near the electified part of the main line GG-1’s have alway’s been of interest, but G size is beound my reach $$

4

I would go with the Amfleet cars. I am saving up for them myself. They are awesome cars that come equipped with metal wheels, interior seats and interior lights. I believe that through the mail order guys, they are also a little cheaper than the other two brands. Plus, they are the most modern North American passenger cars on the market. The cars track well and can negotiate any radius, but look best on nice wide sweeping turns.

5

K Strong is right , they are the best looking cars out there right now . I have the full 11 car Santa Fe set and each car is a work of art .Can’t wait to see the whole train running behind my A-B-A set of F-3’s this year . Heres a picture of the train with the first six cars I purchased a couple of years ago . Since then I got the second vista dome , coach , and baggage , rpo car and combine . I also have a Aristocraft green Santh Fe heavy weight rpo car to add to the train if Iwant to make the train even longer .

6

If I were in your shoes, I would pick the USA Trains cars. I run Aristo and USA and I have absolutely no problems out of them. They are very reliable trains.

7

8

Chapka,

<> Before you spend your money on passenger cars, I would highly recommend you looking at the new LGB Amfleet cars. I had the oppertunity to hold, carry, play with, and run the Amfleet cars and the Genises over this past weekend at the largestest train show I’ve ever seen here in Pittsburgh PA. Those LGB Amtrak cars are nice! [8D] [:)]

9

I have a number of Golden Mounrtain carriages which are easily the best i have ever seen as far a quality, luxury and detail goes. Luxurious seating and lighting, they even have wash basins and toilets in them. These are part of the Orient express stable and they are outstading, expensive though.

Rgds Ian

10

First time I saw the Genesis my first impression was that it was uuuugly. After I saw one on the store shelf I had to take it home. I am eating crow. It is a thing of beauty.

11

I like the Amtrack passenger stuff too . Haven’t seen them up close yet but by the look of them in this thread I might be running that train too this year .

12

I have a set of Aristo SF Streamliners. JJ, Stan, and I ran a combined consist of locos and streamliners together at Marty Cozad’s September Run.

I converted the lighting on the Streamliners. Each car has it’s own switch, battery [3v], and uses either LEDs or Maglight bulbs. JJ converted his lights from track pickup to MU’d stock lights to a battery in the baggage car. Both systems worked well, and were necessary since we both use battery power instead of track power. I have added passengers from the USAT sitting passenger set to the dome car. The truck coupler mounts were shortened 3/4 in. With a few other minor modifications to the trucks and some axle greese on the bolsters, the cars are a pleasure to run.

At a recent Garden Train Tour, which had about 700 visitors to my layout, the Streamliners were a hit! They looked and ran great behind the Warbonnet F3-A/B-FB battery car.

On the down side, the Streamliners aren’t very forgiving of bad track work. For me, that was a good thing, motivating me to fix some known problems.

Of the LGB, USAT, and Aristo streamliners, the Aristos are the shortest. The Older LGBs are larger than 1/29th. I have only seen pictures of the newer LGBs, but they look good. The USAs are significantly longer, which could make a difference

13

Now see, I’ve been tring to get Jack to come to our 07 Sept meet and bring a whole butt load of Amfleet cars so we can get some good cover shots of them. And yes, a little weathering on them is important, we don’t want none of this shiny kids toy stuff. heheheheh thats a joke.

14

Accually Marty,

The New Amfleet cars are not nearly as shiney as the cars in the above photos posted by pimanjc.

Hope this helps. [:)]

[img*]http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/Bucksco/Amfleet%20samples/P1010197.JPG[/img*]

PS, I can’t get the photo to show up here. Sorry

15

I’m kind of partial to the USA Streamlined cars. They are expensive but the detail is very nice and they look more prototypical. I don’t have any but I’ve seen them. I’m in the process of building a layout in my basement. The layout is going to consist of a double track oval so that I can run trains in two different directions. I’m going to be using 9 and 10 foot radius curves. I’m hoping that the USAT Streamlined cars would be able to clear because I know that they are long.

16

Jr

with USAT factory couplers you can run them on 10’dia , thats what I have for storage tracks.

I’d buy one and use it as a test car while building your RR.

17

These carriages look pretty good on the outside but how detailed are they on the inside?

ie padded seats with high backs, amenities, opening doors with handles etc.

Rgds ian

18

One late, very late evening I was looking inside my USAT diner car wondering if any one was in the rest room. NO, but the TP has hanging on the wall.

19

Remove the “*” from the “img” tags.

Later,

K