What brand intermodal cars are best.

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Has anyone built the 5-car Walthers set? What do you think of them if you did?

What other intermodals are there and which are better.

Thanks in advance.

2

The models that match the trains that you are trying to model are the best.

See:
http://www.imrcmodels.com/ho/hocontainer.htm
http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=RTR+Well&CatID=THRF
http://www.ppw-aline.com/Intermodal.htm
http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=Freight&scale=H&manu=&item=&keywords=intermodal&instock=Q&split=300&Submit=Search

3

If you’re talking about the 5 unit spine car, yes, I have several of them. They’ve got to be the best rolling and tracking car of this type. My guess it’s the combination of smooth rolling trucks and a heavier car than most other brands because the main part of the spine is die cast metal. Also the fact that the weight is close to the tracks giving them a low center of gravity contributes to this. There’s a lot of other models that come under the intermodal heading, which ones in particular are you looking into modelling? From what I’ve seen, all the Walther’s brand cars come with smooth rolling trucks, and even the Superliner models I bought recently meet the weight recommendation of NMRA RP20.1. I can’t say I was favorably impressed with the Athearn spine cars, the trucks roll poorly. Not the norm for Athearn, though. I have several of these too, and none of them roll very good, the trucks seem to bind. Very disappointing compared to other Athearn models that I own. I also have one old Con-Cor spine car (I don’t think they’re available any more, even on Ebay). It rolls nicely, but the articulated coupling they use is flimsy and prone to breakage. The main reason I haven’t looked for more of them.

4

I have not zeroed in on specific cars to model yet. I do have six or seven of the Walthers 5-car spline car kits that are still in the box. I’ve not done the research as to what the difference is in 5-car 305’ and 265’ and when they are/were used in time frame.

I observed 5-car and singles and 3-car all on the same train in California last week.

Thanks for the info. [:D]

5

i have bult the 5 car well car sets from authern but i put all metal wheels on them to add alittle weight to the cars and thay run nice