Other than the superficial–what roadname it is. My guess is that there is a certain level of detail involved, period correctness of decals, etc. as well.
But what about the mechanics? Is there a type of truck, wheels, balance, etc. that one can look for? For instance I notice that some cars uncouple too easily and others don’t ride the rails, some are top heavy, etc.
What are good brands and are there variations within the brands? What brands should I give a free ticket to eBay? What brands should I keep around for future projects even though I don’t have a use for them right now?
What guidelines would you use for picking them out of the Walther’s catalog?
Since I’m trying to closely model reality, I base my car purchases on how good a job each individual model comes to representing reality. A secondary consideration is the road name, since I regularly strip & repaint models. While this leads me towards the higher end models (Branchline, P2K, Westerfield, Sunshine, etc), I don’t overlook shake the box kits, IF they come close to accurately representing reality. Accurail, Bowser and Rib Car Co. fall into this category, as do certain models from Roundhouse and Athearn.
As for trucks, wheelsets and couplers, they don’t make any difference in my purchasing decision. It’s actually pretty rare for a model to get this feature right, so I keep a big stock of replacement trucks on hand (transition era models are only about 50% accurate in this regard). And I’ve standardized on P2K wheelsets and Kadee #58 couplers for my entire fleet, meaning I’ve got to change virtually every car.
Guidelines for picking stuff out of the Walthers catalog? How close does the car come to the real thing, do I need one (or more), and do I want to shell out the dough for the car. (some cars, like the USRA double sheathed box, are made by several manufacturers [Westerfield, Funaro & Carmelengo, Accurail, Ertl], so it becomes a cost/labor analysis when I look to those cars).
Spacemouse, Given your position as you have related to me, I would buy all the Athearn Blue box, MDC, Branchline Yardmaster and Accurail kits I could get my hands on that fit your period. You mentioned you have a 4-4-0. Roundhouse (MDC) makes/made truss rod cars which would fit very nicely. Steam era or transition era cars will go with your Northern and 1st generation diesels. Branchline Yardmaster, Athearn MDC & Accurail makes plenty of these. If the kit building aspect appeals to you. C&BT Shops, Bowser and others make some cars which are a step up in difficulty. If you like more of a challenge, Red Caboose, Intermountain Branchline Blueprint and Life Like P2K are good choices. However, if you haven’t built models with small delicate detail parts, only invest in one kit, to see if you like the challange.
As I don’t buy and do not use RTR cars, you will need to get information from folks whom do.
Simply put I look for Atlas,Athearn( BB,RTR and Genesis) Walther’s (RTR) and MDC cars.Then I know I am getting some of the best cars made that fills MY needs.I have some Intermountain and KD cars as well.
As for road names anything goes just like the prototype.Now.as I mention before I collect short line boxcars so I have a large collection of those cars probably more the the law allows.[;)][:p][:D] I tend to keep my cars in their correct eras instead of mixing car eras up.
Now to make a car that operates trouble free you will need to by pass freight cars with truck mounted couplers,if you don’t already have them, then you need a NMRA gauge and KD coupler height gauge to insure the wheels are in gauge and couplers and trip pins are the correct height…
I don’t worry about how correct or incorrect a car is for a given road name because I buy the car simply because I like it…[:D][B)]
That’s not to say I want a CSX,BNSF or NS car that is completely wrong(say) such as a 40’ boxcar with a roof walk or a 34’ open hopper car.[8]
I second the recommendation for the Kadee coupler height gauge; also lay in a supply of the Kadee fiber washers (they come in two sizes) for raising the height of the car above the trucks. I keep my coupler height gauge mounted on a short section of old brass track glued down on a 3’ piece of 1x3, which lives right under my layout since I use it so much.
I’ve found just about every Athearn kit I’ve ever built needed a washer or two on one or both trucks to raise the coupler to the right height ,though the newer kits are a bit better, and I’ve had a couple not need any adjustment, or adjustment to only one truck. Once that’s done, though, unintended uncoupling problems pretty much disappear.
The detail on the RTR Intermountain and Kadee cars are incredible! For the price, they are worth it. There is no way I would have the time or patience so put on some of the more intricate parts plus the RTR cars don’t have any glue marks!!!
I agree with all the recommendations so far, as far as coupler height is involved watch out for the modern Covered Hoppers, many of them are sold with 33" wheels and should have 36" wheels. In Athearns case this raises the car to the proper height so no shimming is necessary to have the correct coupler height. A good rule of thumb is that 70T cars need 33" wheels, 100T - 36" wheels, and 125T - 38" wheels. Some intermodal cars have 28" wheels due to height problems and some of the articulated units have a compbination of 38" - 28" Wheels.
Also on the subject of wheels, replace all your plastic wheels with metal wheelsets as they roll better and do not pickup track gum as readily so less wheel cleaning is needed.
I follow some of orsonroy’s criteria in picking out rolling stock. Since accuracy is very important to me, I want my stock to be as prototypically accurate to the time period and era that I am modeling.
But, unlike orsonroy, I’m not quite as savvy yet at whether or not a paint job or details are close enough to the prototype - I hope to be better at it some day - so I usually steer toward the BLT (built) or NEW date on the side of the car. Since Branchline is about the only company to print these dates on the outside of their kits, this pretty much precludes me ordering any kit online or otherwise that I can’t open up the box and look at first - along with my reading glass case. [:)]
As far as personal choces and experience, I really like Accurail rolling stock - although they are pretty much limited to box cars and hoppers. But, even in that limitation, there is a wide variety of cars and styles to choose from. They’re fairly straight forward to put together and are very handsome looking cars. I particularly like their wooden or wood end box cars - very rugid looking. (Reminds you of the lines out in the ol’ west, like the Durango & Rio Grande Western.)
P2K and Tichy are definitely a couple of notches above that. Their detailing is pretty phenomenal and you’ll spend a few hours putting together one of their tankers, box or flat cars. (They are also limited in the variety and amount of stock.) On the P2K’s, you can get them completely unassembled, partially assembled (aka “Time Saver”), or RTR.
For sheer variety, Athearn Blue box is probably the way to go, but their detail is not quite as nice as the above mentioned other brands. Roundhouse (MDC) is known for their selection of some older, early steam kits. I built one of their wooden cupola cabooses. Took some time because their directions weren’t the most straight-forward for someone just starting out in MRR. I got the impression that they were making some assumptions (or presu
Nobody has mentioned the NMRA track and wheel gauge yet. This is also an indespensable tool in my opinion. Between the Kadee coupler height gauge and the NMRA gauge, you will have most of what you need to tune up your cars.
I model the Northern Pacific, which must not have been as big of an interchanger as the eastern roads. I see photos of N.P. freight trains where the Northern Pacific Herald was on almost 1/2 the cars in the train. This is how I remember the road, also. I love box cars,too! However, I have very few roads which are not close to home. C.B. & Q., C.N.& W., S.P., Santa Fe, D. & R.G.W., etc. and a few of the bigger eastern roads.
I don’t know if my statements above apply to every line.
I found if I cut off the coupler boxes on Athearn cars and replace with Kadee coupler boxes screwed to the underside of the car, this goes along ways towards making the coupler heights correct. I also weight per the NMRA. However, that’s a topic you don’t want to get Brakie involved with!
DeSchane said:I found if I cut off the coupler boxes on Athearn cars and replace with Kadee coupler boxes screwed to the underside of the car, this goes along ways towards making the coupler heights correct. I also weight per the NMRA. However, that’s a topic you don’t want to get Brakie involved with!
Oh, Hi Brakie!
LOL! Do as s you please and do what you suits your tastes.I agree with cutting off the Athearn coupler box even though I still have quite a few cars that still has the Athearn box attached by a 2-56 screw.The main thing to watch out for is the frame being warped or the weight being bent causing the coupler to shag.
Accurail makes kits that are REALLY easy to build–they are, arguably, easier to assemble than Athearn blue-boxes. But the details are nice. Throw the couplers and wheelsets in the trash and replace them with Kadee #5 couplers and Intermountain 33" semi-scale metal wheelsets.
I have a mix of Athearn BB and Walthers freight cars - the Walthers cars are mainly intermodals though I do have one of their 41ft Amtrak MOW hoppers (these are great, take Kadee #5s as a straight swap and can be picked up cheaply as a triple-pack - keep forgetting to buy a multipack when at my LHS). Passenger cars are mostly Walthers with a couple of Athearn Bilevel commuter cars, all seem decent enough, the Athearn cars only need Kadee #58s fitting to make a really decent model. I would second the suggestion that you fit Kadees and metal wheels to everything, added expense but well worth it. Hope this is of help!
I pretty much come from the same place as orson and others. I am looking for cars that match my era and that could possibly have run on the road. I am not too picky about this, but I try to be as close as I can
What I am looking for in a car is fine detail. Fine detail to me means (among other things) separately applied grab irons, correct size strirrups, separately applied ladders, finely detailed brake gear, delicately cast rivets boards etc. To my eye these aspects improve a model’s realism enormously. I started out by shaving off the grabs and ladders on Athearn and MDC cars and drilling and appling wire grabs, new ladders and strirrups. This was more work than assembling a craftsman style car kit. I now buy the high detail kits on sale and on Ebay and build them instead of detailing old stuff.
I have been replacing my Athearn and MDC cars with Red Caboose, P2k, Intermountain, RGM, Westerfield and scratchbuilt cars. While craftsaman stock cars and tank cars can take a long time to build, the boxcars (prepainted) don’t take that much extra time and they do look great.
I am also not above buying RTR, but only if it is a deal. I have picked some ERTL RTR boxcars for a good price as well as their flats (4.00 each on the flats). I see RTR P2K stock cars at pretty good prices on Ebay as well.
I realize that not everyone cares about the detail and certainly I would not be buying these cars for little kids, but I happen to think the extra time and expense is worth it.
cars that ROLL. That means they have good trucks - or I replace them - and
I replace a lot of them.
Having started when ATHEARN , KADEE, and CENTRAL VALLEY, were all metal and rolled only 5 inches, I adopted new standards as better products came along. Currently it’s KATO. I judge everything by comparison and keep a stock on hand.Are there better?, maybe - E.B.comes to mind ( they bought LINDBERG).
INTERMOUNTAIN’s cars with their metal wheels and Delrin side frames roll. In fact their cars are MY STANDARD to judge all others by. Do I have others? Yes - but I think it behooves everybody to have at least ONE, as an example of what a car can be - and what you’ could be missing.
I used to buy tyco rolling stock to “fit” my train set in the late 70’s I was a child then and plastic horn and hook couplers were the rule. The track was flat so it was not revelant what kind of grades.
I recall switching from Tyco after my big brother exposed me to the “good stuff” He was showing me Athearn, Varney, Cox and others that were quite good quality at the time. Most of my stock was the Kaybee toy store variety. Back in those days they actually sold trains in HO scale at Toys R Us, Kaybee etc The LHS was for those who understood such things as PFM (Pacific Fast Mail, Kaydee couplers etc…)
I have a Intermountain Western Maryland AAR steel boxcar that was RTR. That car was very expensive at $26.00. However, it is a very good car in any train I want to put it with. It does not derail, break details etc. In general that car sorta behaves itself and does not attract attention. (derailments etc)
That one boxcar sparked a desire to tweak my Athearn Blue Box boxcars to higher levels of performance. Some of the cars have bad underframes which can easily be replace and correct that “lean” Others have wheels and trucks that just plain causes trouble everywhere they go. They are being replaced with P2K Wheels and trucks (Trucks only for the worst offenders) Of course Kaydee couplers all around. .015 shims are applied as necessary to keep the couplers at a height. The trip pins are bent up slightly to stay out of switches, frogs, crossovers etc etc. In short I will continue to work these Athearn cars until they achieve the performance equal to that Intermountain WM boxcar. Eventually all cars in my fleet will be able to run just as well.
The next thing I look at is weight. A 40 foot car in HO should weight at least 4 ounces. Ten United States Coins in the penny denominations = 1 ounce. A 50 foot car gets 5 ounces gross weight. If I weigh down the light RTR or Kits, they will stay on the track and perform like they should. Really “massive” rolling stock such as t
Hi spacemouse I look for fine detail ie wire grabs well detailed door latches etc. as such i’ll grab branchline’s blue ribbon line or P2K and intermountain.I model mostly canadian freight so sylvain resin caboose and car kits are also on my shopping list. i’ll grab athearn BB and Mdc usually for kitbashing parts and trucks for the sylvain kits. Most resin kits come without couplers and trucks. My only other have to have is metal wheels personally I find them easier to clean and they roll better if the kit comes with them I leave them alone if they don’t I’ll buy P2K wheel sets. Rob