Hello.
Being new to the US railways world, I need your help about H0 heavyweight cars reproduction.
I’m ready to order some items from USA and I’d like to buy those cars too. I’ve seen on the Web the Walthers ones and so I’d purchase them. Are they good models? Do they have body applied couplers? Or truck applied ones?
Thanks a lot.
I only know three words in Italian; one word is “Ciao” and the other two are “Sophia Loren” -
Anyway, ciao ETR_500;
I am an N-Scaler but I just happened to have my 2007 Walthers HO catalog handy so I checked to make sure of my facts before responding to your post.
Couplers on Walthers’ passenger cars are body mounted. You will find, in fact, that - with a few exceptions, of course - that all HO-Scale rolling stock of American prototype manufactured or marketed by American companies are going to have body mounted couplers.
I have some Walthers replicas of Budd stainless steel cars, and I am pleased with the detail. The heavyweights are constructed similarly. Yes, the couplers are on the body.
They should be operated on wide curves. You need to install the wire detail parts yourself after you drill the very small holes. If you want interior lights, Walthers sells a separate kit for the lights.
Best wishes to you.
Garry
All walthers passenger cars run well, as long as:
Hello again ETR 500…
If you prefer truck-mounted couplers for heavyweight cars … consider Athearn brand. Athearn cars are now produced “Ready to Roll” and all you need to do is place them on the track.
Advantages of Athearn cars: (1) trouble free (few derailments or other problems). (2) good paint and lettering. (3) Operates on smaller radius curves than most passenger cars. (4) prices are lower than most other brands.
Disadvantages of Athearn cars: (1) not scale length; 72 scale feet and not 85 scale feet. (2) They do not have diaphragms included. (3) Less details than Walthers, Branchline, and others.
Although they are shorter than scale, they are proportioned well and look acceptable. You can purchase Walthers brand rubber diaphragms and glue them on to the ends of the cars.
Best Regards, Garry
IHC is another manufacturer of low cost (under $10), truck mounted coupler, heavyweights. They are low on detail but are longer than the Athearn cars. Some have complained about their plastic wheels, but mine all worked reliably right out of the package on my tight 18" radius figure eight, with a steep grade. Many people upgrade these with metal wheels, couplers, and/or added weight. I’ll likely only upgrade the horn/hook couplers with truck mounted McHenry couplers and save my metal wheels for a possible future upgrade.
My experience with IHC’s is that they needed weight added. My experience with truck mounted McHenery couplers is that they could jiggle enough to uncouple while train is moving. Lettering on some was not as neat as with other cars. I added weghts and installed long-shank Kadees directly on the car bodies. Metal wheel sets to replace plastic ones improved rolling qualities.
I have several of the Walthers Heavyweight passenger cars and I am very pleased with them all. When you take several factors into consideration they are a very good value.
In the past I liked the Rivarossi cars but the downside was, metal wheels were an added expense, interiors were an added expense, diaphragms, etc. all added up to additional cost and time. And lighting was next to impossible.
The Walthers heavyweights have interiors molded in reasonably correct colors (unlike the lightweight cars that were all beige color… and a real pain to paint correctly) with the addition of the lighting kit these cars really “shine”!
The first thing I do is replace the McHenry couplers with Kadee #5’s with the pin cut off. Also check the tightness of the truck mounting screw… sometimes they’re a bit tight and don’t allow the trucks to pivot on uneven track.
The Walthers cars track very well and the close coupling almost make the diaphragms touch which is about as close to perfection as you can get.
Given all the extras that are included with the Walthers cars they’re a good value. My only wish is that they would include DRY TRANSFER car names instead of the thick, shiny decals that they provide. If you decal the car name on the side you have to apply a gloss coat otherwise the decal does not sit well on the matte finish no matter how much decal setting solution you use.
Thanks for your kindness and liking, gmpullman, heartland division CB&Q, Tek34, Hoople, R.T.POTEET…[:)]
R.T.Poteet, with regard to italian words, I deeply hope you know other ones too, like “Ferrari”, “Leonardo da Vinci”, “Cristoforo Colombo”, “Michelangelo” and “Raffaello”…[:)] Unfortunatelt, it should be “Al Capone” too… [:(!] for that I feel ashamed, while, for above mentioned italians and italian brands I feel proud…[tup]
Reading your suggestions, I think I’ll go for Walthers… Eventually, I will ask you for advices again…