Hey guys, do you know where I could find cars like these? (I found this pic on a google search, the guy’s layout is amazing) Could you take a guess as to what company makes them? My brother has a set for the PRR put out by Athearn, I am looking for something similar in the fleet of modernism “loewy” scheme, but I can’t seem to find them anywhere.
I also really want to get some N&W powhattan arrow cars but I don’t know what companies still make them…I thought MTH was going to release these, but I can’t find the MTH catalog now and I am not sure if they are going through with them. Rapido makes some, but my hobby shop is sold out…[:(]
Are these called streamlined observation cars? If so, I would really like to find one in the PRR fleet of modernism style (I already have several sleepers put out by branchline) but I can’t find any baggage, diner or observation cars for this style.
Just looking at the photos, I’d say that the cars are from a myriad of Mfgrs. I think I see BLI, several different Walthers trains (especially the Milwaukee and Great Northern obs), even what looks like an IHC or a Rivarossi obs on the Union Pacific train.
I’d check with Walthers or Rapido, since they seem to be leading the field in streamline passenger cars. However be warned–these cars are full-length and work best on a 24" or larger radius. IHC produces full length streamline cars in a great deal of road names, but they are not prototypes of any particular cars, and they do need some work (mostly wheel replacing and re-weighting) to work well. However, they work well if you need a non-representative streamliner without paying the price of the more accurate Walthers or Rapido.
And looking again at the photo, there is also the possibility that this person has done some altering and ‘kit-bashing’ with some of the cars, adding lighting, interiors and lighted drumheads. Tomar makes a good selection of lighted observation drumheads for passenger trains, however they are not a ‘quick’ install. I’m working on adapting one of their drumheads right now for my “Royal Gorge” passenger train, and they’re a little tricky. However, the result is definitely worth it, IMO.
Thanks Tom, just by luck I found some IHC fleet of modernism cars at another hobby shop tonight (45 minute drive), they look excellent, cost me $100 for the set of 8, but the problem is they are a little light, as you just mentioned, they tend to wobble from side to side, the couplers also are very cheap, I hope this can be remedied, other than that, I love them.
They are IHC (premier?) I was not aware there were different levels of quality for IHC unless I read that wrong, I know the company has a poor reputation among modelers (my brother tried to talk me out of buying them) but I would say they make some nice stuff.
Thanks again for the tips, I will look into getting the lighted drumheads, I love those!
The IHC’s can be made into pretty smooth running cars. I have a set that I kinda/sorta pass off as a post-WWII “City of San Francisco”–at least until I can get the real thing, if anyone ever comes out with it. What I did was tune up the trucks with what is called a Truck-Tuner–it’s a neat little device that scours out the inside of the truck journals, and then installed Intermountain 36" wheelsets, then put some lead sheet weight inside the cars over the trucks themselves. As to the couplers–McHenry makes knuckle couplers that snap into the trucks and replace the horn-hooks supplied. Not the best solution, but they’ve worked so far. If you want better coupling, Kadee makes couplers that can be adapted to the trucks.
What the IHC’s need most of all, though, is decent weight and smoother-rolling trucks. IHC also makes interiors for their cars–or you can get interiors from Palace Car, Co. As to lighting, I haven’t tried it yet, but I think it can be done, probably with the newer Rapido self-contained lighting systems used in their cars, that don’t depend on wheel pickup. Same thing with the Tomar drumheads–I’m working right now adapting the Tomar 1.5 volt battery pickup to the drumhead, and it looks as if it’s going to work okay, but since this is going into a Walthers solarium car, it’s going to be a real trick hiding the wiring and the battery box.
Good luck with your IHC’s. As I said, with a little tweaking, they can be made into smooth running cars.
You can buy interior and lighting kits for IHC cars.
I have thought of loading a baggage car with rechargeable batteries, and connecting the train with mini plugs. Real passenger trains have a bunch of cables and hoses running between the cars, so it would not look out of place.
I have about 12 IHC streamline passenger cars and finding the correct McHenry coupler is a bit hard since most hobby stores don’t have then in stock. Most of mine still need better wheels and interiors one day. I also got some of the flat 1/2 oz lead weights and added them to get the cars to balance better.
I probably have between thirty and forty IHC and former AHM passenger cars and have never had a problem with wieght issues. I run them in 8-12 car trains. I suspect if you are having problems it has more to do with the radius curves you are attempting to get them around rather tha car weight. 85’ car were reccomended for 30" radius curves and larger when they were first available.
I have a train’s worth of the IHC streamliners. I weighted mine up to NMRA standards, installed metal wheels and interiors (both from IHC). I lit mine with home made axle wipers (tin snipped out of phosphor bronze weather strip) and the Walther’s lighting kits. It’s a plastic dohickey with three small lamps and a voltage regulator the fits in the ceiling of the cars. The Walther’s dohickey fits the IHC cars with just a few holes drilled in the “window” plastic. I had to cover the car ceilings with shiny Christmas wrap tape to keep the roofs from glowing in the dark. I got better lighting by painting the car interiors a light off white. The factory pure black plastic interior soaks up too much light.
I painted a bright red stripe down the sides of mine, right thru the window area. Does nice things for the looks of the cars.
At my LHS I have seen D&H streamline sets by Con-Cor, but they are REALLY CHEAP LOOKING and they are as light as a feather. but they are good for a temporary solution if you are good at upgradeing.
