I was looking through my 2005 Walthers Catalog and saw several pages on some decent looking Bowser cars. The cement hoppers and the covered hoppers caught my attention.
How do these cars rate? Are they comparable in quality to Athearn Blue Box, MDC, even Athearn RTR? Or are they a “Cut Above” as far as detailing and are more like the RTR cars from Atlas.
I’ve never owned any Bowser products before. I’ve just known about their steamers in the past.
Thanks for you input![:D][;)][8)]
Bowser kits are well made and are a cut above Athearn Blue Box, but not Athearn RTR or Atlas. I assembled 12 of their covered hoppers in an assembly line type operation with minimal problems on parts fit, but had to replace the stock wheelsets and couplers because I prefer metal wheels and Kadee couplers on everything so be prepared to invest a little additional into them if you also prefer metal wheels and Kadees.
I have a number of Bowser freight cars. They are very nicely detailed, with nice thin roofwalks on boxcars and cabooses, and very fine rivet detail. They do not, however, feature separate ladders and grab irons, as on Atlas, Proto 2000, Red Caboose, etc. I think they are definitely a cut above the Athearn Blue Box and MDC cars. The new Athearn ready to run cars do have separate ladders and grab irons, however, but they cost a lot more too! Go Bowser!
Regards- Richard W.
I’ve put together three of the covered hoppers good bang for the buck.Great paint and they assemble easily,definatly better quality than standard bluebox or MDC good price point too.I’d put them on par with accurail. Rob
Antonio–I’ve got several of the Bowser boxcars, hopper and gondolas, and they’re really nice kits–go together quite easily and look very good in a train. As mentioned above, I’d change out the couplers and the wheelsets, but I do that with practically every kit I buy, anyway. Their round-roof box and auto cars do an attractive job of ‘breaking up’ the usual contours of a freight. Haven’t tried the cement cars yet, but they look suspiciously like a re-tooling of some cement hopper kits that were around about 15 years ago and were highly thought of by modelers back then. If so, then they should be just fine, as I have several of the older cars. All in all, the Bowser kits are just fine in my book.
Tom
[#ditto] on the above espically the round roof box cars .If you ever find yourself with any borrowed Pennsy power their N5 series caboose’s with the super detail kits including the interor lighting and radio phone antenna are very nice indeed. I don’t know what bowser lists for in Walthers but Mikes die cast on E bay usually has several listed daily. Terry
I got some of the round roof 50 foot DD cars and liked them, and was pleased when I saw they were coming out with 12 car hopper sets for N&W and VGN. Then I saw they were RED. How much research does it take to know N&W and VGN never had RED hoppers? Sheesh.
Bowser freight cars have a common characteristic that you should be aware of. They generally weigh considerably less than NMRA practices. Even with Kadee metal couplers and metal wheels, they will still be underweight. If you haven’t already aquired a scale to weigh your cars, get one.
I like my Bowser kits and will be buying more. I feel they fit somewhere between BB, MDC and Accurail and the more craftsman type kits. I really love the wood grain detail on Accurail’s wood box cars and reefers and think Bowser and Accurail are close to the same class with Bowser having slightly more assembly. This too, depends on the kit. Box cars are easier and Bowser’s covered hoppers have more parts to assemble. I have found it necessary to add weight to most all the cars I build, so I don’t feel this is an issue. Also, you don’t get Kadees or metal wheel sets on many kits, so this isn’t really an issue, either.
Antonio, I think you will like Bowser kits and can be thankful there are manufacturers who still make KITS!! We need to support these people! Oh, oh!! We’re getting close to the old RTR vs KIT issue, again!
I have several of Bowser’s cabooses (cabeese?). They are fantastic kits. The detail is a step above Athearn and MDC, but not as good as some of the newer RTR’s out there. I like 'em, I hope you will too.
To borrow an old advertising jingle “try it, you’ll like it.”
Their 3 bay 100ton hoppers are the best out there. Excellent kits.
Good information, I will give them a try. Sounds like they are easy enough for the boys to assemble.
I don’t want to get the flamers rilled, but I don’t consider these to be kits - they are shake-the-box. I have several on my layout and they are nice looking cars. The time of construction is very short. As I see it, the quality is probably the best of all the shake-the-box construction. I wi***hat they had some outside braced box cars as that fits my steam locos better.
Have a blessed day and remember SANTA FE ALL THE WAY
Bob
Wow! You guys are outstanding! I really appreciate your feedback! Looking at the photos, the paint jobs on the Bowsers look pretty good, expecially the hoppers. I plan on having a small cement company on my layout and a Purina Feed Mill.
RE: Shake the boxes.
No no need to worry, no flaming. All opinions welcome!
I’ve heard the “Shaker Box” term for years. I don’t fully agree with it. Yes, the “challenging kits” do take a while to put together and can have many intricate detailing parts, however the basic definition of a model kit includes assembly. That’s like compaing a Semi-Truck and a Pickup Truck and inferring that the pickup is “not really a truck” when in reality they’re both trucks!
Just my humble opinion.
Weight is not a problem for me as I weigh most my Athearn cars down. I glue BB gun shot pellets into the bins of my Athearn Covered and Centerflow hoppers. All freight cars get the P2K 33" wheelsets. Boxcars get small flat steel weights inside, directly over the trucks. I no longer buy Athearn freight BBs as I’ve had so much trouble with the KD coupler boxes. I’ve had to replace several underframes.
So I’ll be looking forward to my first ever Bowser kits! I’ll start with a couple of covered hopper kits.
Thanks again! [:)][:D][;)]
In my opinion, Bowser’s HO covered hoppers are superior to Kato’s- they go together well (and STAY together), and have coupler boxes more suitable for use with real Kadee couplers. They’re easily the nicest kits in Bowser’s line.
Bowser has done a nice job filling in some of the gaps in available Pennsy models, too.
Antonio go to Bowser’s web site,if you don’t see the roadname(s) you like they will do custom runs just like accurail. Happy manufacturing. Rob
I did just that last weekend. I went to Walmart Supercenter and asked a worker where I can find kitchen scales in digital form to weigh food. Dont buy the cheap spring driven scale as cars I thought were 4 ounces were actually 3.4 ounces.
30.00 later I had a working scale weighing my cars. Ive found that my PRR N5 caboose was a shade over 2 ounces… gonna add another two ounces to it.
I own ONE - so therfor I’m an instant expert.,
It’s a fine car - second to Intermountain’s - but easier to put together.
Some Athearn RTR are just Athearn Blue Box that are assembled. Also, Athearn’s Blue Box kit of the 5344 square foot Pullman Standard bxcars was made to the same standards as the new RTR stuff.
I have a Bowser 100 ton, open top hopper, painted for SP. I agree it is a little better than Athearn. I have compared it to pictures of real H-100-34s, it seems to match them. There is a SP car class stencil on the side. However, the end does not have the SP, just the car number and information about the springs, yokes, and wheels (too large of a font). Other than the end lettering, it is a good car, I am thinking about buying more.