Not a lot of information out there on the various forums that I can find.
On my own level I did pick up 2 of the UP 50ft double door cars and ordered the third one. Seems like a great deal considering everything else is $20 or more anymore. On sale for $13.99 so seemed like a good time to try them out.
Assembly was straight forward and easy, much like the blue box kits of yore. After a little tweaking of the truck screws to get them just right they are also reliable running on the club layout. All in all they keep the price realistic and I will definitely pick up more releases as the come.
I also finally gave in and preordered a UP Big Blow from them. So just trying to find out as much as I can and who else has what opinions on their stuff.
Thanks
Considering a few tank cars. Lots of discussion on the ARF, and I think the owner of ScaleTrains also post there.
Mike.
I think it’s great that there is a new HQ model train manufacturer and from all the video’s and from what I know about the personnel, I have a high confidence that ST will make every effort to offer a variety of great model train products at different price points.
My interests are 1970’s and 1980’s SP/DRGW so at present ST does not offer anything besides the 50’ box car and I already have quite a few of similar box cars from Atlas. I expect eventually ST will offer some models that work for me and I will be pleased to patronize them. Likely it will take a couple years before they have a good variety of products and include enough things that don’t duplicate models I already have, such as the Evans 50’ box car or the 2-bay Air Slide covered hoppers.
I certainly saw their booth and their displays at last fall’s Trainfest here in Milwaukee – it was hard to miss! – and it all looks like very nice stuff. The tanks cars are too modern for my era but I am a tank car nut and really enjoyed studying their display samples.
I think their idea of gradations of quality and detail matching gradations of price is a very interesting one. One issue is, will all three levels be supported enough to maintain (or stated another way, will the guys very fussy about freight car detail put their money where their demands are?). The other big issue is getting shelf space from hobby shops for the entire 3 level line.
Dave Nelson
I’m using the 2 50ft cars I have decorated for UP behind my FEF-2 and in front of the passenger cars.
They are my stand in express cars until I can find some affordable ones[:D]
After some minor tweaking they have done very well running wise.
So has anyone else sprung for the Big Blow turbine yet?
Quite a few peope have already mentioned they have ordered the big blow turbines. If I had an extra five or six hundred to spend, I’d buy one but I don’t - I can barely keep up with new products that fit my modeling focus on a tight budget.
I hope Scale Trains succeeds. With their recent announcement of the 4566 Airslide hoppers, they have a product that actually interests me, and their 4180 Airslides may as well depending on paint schemes (Tangent already has a great model of the same car, in multiple carbody variations). They appear to have a commitment to producing accurate models, at least in their premium Rivet Counter and Museum Quality lines, although I question what I’ve seen of the lower cost offerings so far.
I picked up one of the Evans 5100 boxcar kits out of curiosity more than anything. I painted the underbody and trucks, and added some decals for ACI labels, consolidated stencils, and U1 inspection symbols to match prototype photos.
Unfortuantely a lot of the small lettering is missing or incorrect. The prototypes had a lot of distinctive markings that are absent from the model. Scale Trains opted for a limited set of generic lettering that seems to be the same on nearly all the kits, and omitted items like the arrow markings on the doors, manufacturer’s logos, safety stencils, and all kinds of other little stuff.
Other manufacturers like ExactRail have proven that lower end cars with cast-on details don’t have to take a back seat to the more expensive ones in terms of lettering. For customers who care, adding the missing stuff is an extra cost in time and money that negates the value proposition of the initial price of the model. The same applies to the Operator series of RTR cars as well.
I replaced the stock couplers with Kadee #148s (#5s don’t fit with their own centering springs, and the stock springs don’t even fit well into the draft gear boxes), another extra cost. My sample had mold parting lines inside the body bolster mounting holes, so the truck screws bottomed out part way through, and due to the soft metal the screw head
I have two of their tank cars, while I am very impressed with the Rivet Counter series, (I found them on sale, quite cheap as opposed to the suggested price, so oreder them early on.) I do not like the rotating bearing caps. They pop off at the slightest thing, sometimes just looking at them funny! Out of the two cars, I also have to reassemble one of the couplers, as the knuckle pin was not in the coupler, so there was a loose pin, loose knuckle and loose spring. While neither of these issues are something that I can not fix myself, for some, they might be.
They are slightly irritating, either way, as the bearing caps are dinky, so are difficult to reinstall, if you find them. (The bright blue does help with spotting them though.) The knuckle pin, might be just enough to cause me to replace the entire coupler if it comes loose again. (Not that big of a deal, I tend to keep on hand a extra coupler or two {or 12 [:)]} but that does add to the already upper-level pricing.) The only issue I can see, currently, is there would be zero chance of aftermarket wheelsets fitting anywhere on the Rivet counter series trucks, if anything were to happen with the stock wheelsets. (Due to the rotating bearing caps needing a special truck and special axle end.) Fortunately, overall, very impressive cars. (No, I will no be spending that much money to acquire a unit train, but together with my other cars I will have enough to run a unit train between them.)
I do wish them the best, and hope to see some of their other offerings, hopefully at a good enough price point that more folks take the chance on them. (I have on order two box car kits, once the shop gets them in I can examine them better.)
I appreciate the kits being offered as well, we need more manufacturers doing that!