I’d like to get/run some intermodal cars as part of shortline…possibly as part of mixed freight. The issue I have is my 24 inch radius on one of my curves, and 26" radius in another. I was looking at the Walthers “Front Runners” which seem era appropriate and short enough, nad IK do think TOFC looks cool, but I’ve heard horror stories about them because of their fixed axles, derailing constantly. Then there are those 48 and 53 foot well cars, but those sizes are the size of the well, not the length of the car, right? Are there any intermodal options appropriate to the 80’s/early 90’s that are about 65 feet or less?
Athearn’s Impack cars work well on 24" radius. It’s a 5-unit articulated TOFC car, but it carries 45’ trailers maximum, so each platform is a little over 45’ long. They’d work well for your time period. Walthers made a 5-unit spine car that carries trailers and/or containers up to 48’ long, so it’s not much longer than the Athearn car.
Neither of these are in production…you’ll have to hit the swapmeets or eBay. But they look cool, run well and are worth the effort.
I just checked the National Steel Car site, after being referenced by the 53’ well car listing at Walthers. It looks like the stand-alone’s length is 71’4". Alas.
Does anyone have recent experience with Walthers’ Front Runner? I read some posts from the past that bludgeoned them for tracking badly and derailing and not getting through No. 4 tunrouts. I know that the Front Runners posted on the Walthers site are reissues, and maybe they have made some corrections. They would be awfully cool on my road, but I don’t want to layout the bucks for a bunch on them if they operationally stink. Any input here?
With the Front Runners, I would run them with a trailer that has additional weight added to it. That might solve the tracking issues, as the cars themselves are very light. As mentioned above, articulated spine cars should do alright as well.
The spine and impact cars run well around 24 inch curves. I ran a train with eighteen of them just last night. Individual well cars will run on good (read kink free) 24 inch curves but will do better on 26 inch or larger I have some 30 and 32 inch curves and never have any problems with the well cars on them. 24 ich curves for the three and five unit well car sets (those with permanent drawbars connecting the cars) are a different matter and you will most often need to “adjust” the drawbars and coupler pockets to allow additional clearance for smoother running on 24 inch curves.
Front runners look neat, but nothing in my experience makes a front runner track better. I’ve tried weight, loosening the wheels, tightening the wheels, narrowing the gauge, widening the gauge etc. I have gotten two of my four to track “ok” (notice small ok) but I don’t run them much. Periodically I tinker around with my other two to see if I can get them to run.
Trust me, have I ever told you something that wasn’t true? Well, trust me anyway. Front Runner’s will barely make it around a 22" radius curve (If I’m not mistaken the box says, Minimum 24" Radius), and they will definitely not, I repeat, NOT, negotiate a #4 turnout.
There is, of course, if you’re modeling modern CR/NS, the tried and true Bowser Triple Crown RoadRailer. Other “road” names are available as well, if your from the South or West. I think they even come in Amtrak livery for the tail end of a LD train
53 foot Semi Trailer with Rail bogies at rear, and “drawbars” on the front. I’ll be adding weight to mine to meet NMRA standards, but they seem to operate flawlessly “out of the box” so to speak(though they are a kit).
I was checking on E-Bay and they have this “McKean” model of, essesntially, a 50’ flat car with hitches in TTX colors. I’m not sure that’s anything close to prototype though.