Hi guys
when you assmeble freight cars which do you find the most pain in the butt to putt together for me that would be Coal Hoppers and hoppers. I know that pretty much all the cars go together easily but, for some reason these two can be a headache for me.lol hope to hear some feedback
Jeremy
Um, I wouldn’t complain about any of them anymore. At least not after looking at scratchbuilt models.
Stupid scratchbuilt shed that that falls over whenever you breath near it…[:(!][;)]
the athearn husky stack container cars
They are 56 HO scale feet long and aren’t even wieghted
also the wheels are placed too close together
None because i buy Ready To Run.
Jeremy,
Once a friend asked me to assemble 12 Walthers tank cars. These were a pain. Now they are assembled by some poor soul in China (who probably thinks they are a pain).
What kinds of problems are you having with hopper cars? Let me know maybe I can help.
Stan
I also get frustrated with Athearn husky stack cars. The cars are way too light and some seem to be permanently tilted to one side or the other, probably because of the crappy links between the cars.
I have to agree with Elias. Those Gunderson, and Husky Stack cars don’t give you anyplace at all to put any weight on the car. The only way to actually get any weight into them is to weight the containers that fit in them.
I once assembled a ‘boatload’ of MDCs tank train cars. Those puppies take lotsa cleanup and careful/patient assembly. They were very trying to say the least.[xx(][:p]
i’m having some problems with a 40’ Athearn boxcar. i can’t for the life of me slide the doors on. they won’t stay on. i’ve never had this problem before with the other kits that had doors that you had to attach.
i bought my first Gunderson Husky Stack car, good thing it was RTR. i think i may put some weight in the bottom container though.
athrean boxcars and MDC tankcars
Walthers Arctic stack cars are my achilles heal. Nicely detailed but take forever to assemble them.
I never had a problem with Athearns stack car.
Gordon
Any Proto 2000 freight car kit! Total pain in the butt.
Proto 2000 tank cars are a PITA to build, but any of the rest of them are a snap.
A real challenge is assembling a resin hopper, especially a flat kit. I loathe building them! (of course, I’ve got four of them on the shelf, along with five resin covered hoppers, waiting to be built…)
Anything with 6 axles, or articulated.
I have a M O W that has 6 axles and
constantly will give a hassle on the track.
Another of mine are the newer Athearn 50’ box cars with the add-on drop-steps and grab irons. I always end up breaking at least one drop step.
Guys, I have experienced most of the problems you are talking about.
Hawks05, is you look inside the Athearn 40ft boxcar you will see little plastic “clips” that hold on the door rail. Carefully pry away the door rails with a small screwdriver. Put the doors on and reinstall the door rails. I wind up doing this all the time.
With a Proto kit, you just have to use a real sharp knife and go very slowly removing the parts from the spru. Usually I will enlarge the holes predrilled in the car so the parts go in better.
Stan
The doors on Athearn 40ft boxcars are sometimes a challenge, but I work the rail and the slider clips on the door with a real long taper knife, cleaning up any “flash” from the casting and usually no problem. But if thats the worst, who is complaining ! Beats scratch building for me !
Any car with Bachmann EZ-Mate couplers because you spend all of that time then the couplers fall off.
Heh heh you youngsters should try one of the old craftsman kits from the 1950s-60s, such as Ambroid.
The older Walthers tank cars were a pain because the metal wire at the bottom does not stay put, and it is rare to get the ends to really look good without gaps. The Accurail autorack bi levels and tri levels are time consuming but not really difficult
Hardly difficult to build, but a frustration from an operating standpoint: the Athearn B&O prototype coal hopper has been frustrating model railroaders since the day it was introduced. Somehow the physics and balance of this model were wrong from day one and it is very difficult to get it to track correctly.
Dave Nelson
since I’ve got a challenge to my patience, I built two of the Proto 2000 kits, an NYC boxcar and a PS2 covered hopper. The hopper tried my patience more than once with the very thin diameter parts for the brake lines going into and out of the 3-way valve. The experience I gained on the hopper enabled me to put the boxcar together with a minimum of trouble. I think I gained something by doing it that way, but I did find that I needed to enlarge the holes for the grab irons, etc. in order to get them in more easily.
Most of my stock is R-T-R, though, and as more and more manufacturers are going to R-T-R, I think we’re losing something there in the way of a sense of accomplishment, not to mention that kits are somewhat less expensive than R-T-R for the equivalent in quality of the parts.