Presentation of the freight truck article

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I am very close to completing the article. I need to find a few random trucks (6 wheel trucks from Model Power and Bachmann's cranes, Bachmann's old Arch-Bar trucks, CS Models Express trucks), but the bulk of the writing and research is done.

You guys voiced your opinion before, and I have grouped the trucks by type, but I have been running into several road blocks when it comes to presentation. For example, some dates of use for certain trucks are gray at best - when did the first roller bearing truck of MTL's design first roll? Its almost impossible to tell, so organizing the truck list by usage date could be inaccurate.

If I go by manufacturer name, it gets even worse. Atlas makes a 40T and a 50T Bettendorf truck. But Bettendorf is a style of truck, not just a company. Many model trucks are clearly Bettendorf design but do not match the ones from Bettendorf. Another example would be Bowser's PRR trucks. All have PRR designations, but only two have known names (Crown and Barrett-Whitehead), so where does that third truck get listed? I won't even bring up the previously mentioned nameless MTL roller bearing.

So, what would you do? Would you try and list the trucks by approximate (and guesstimate) date of introduction, or go alphabetically the best you can.

[wm3798]

I think that for the practical purposes of most modelers, some generous use of asterisks and broad ranges of dates will cover a lot of the ground that's missing.

This also holds open the possibility that once the article is published, readers can contact you with some of the missing details.  Just be open with your readers that you've gathered all you can, and any additional updates they can provide (and verify) would be helpful.

That gives you fodder for a follow up article!

Lee

[Iain]

Somewhere I have both the trucks from the MP crane and the CS Models trucks you seek, I'll try to find them and post photos.

[BCR 570]

Daniel:

I recently re-trucked a Bachmann crane and probably still have the original trucks.  Let me know if you need a photo.

Tim

[SquirrelHollow]

I have a fair number of MP passenger cars, if those are the 6-wheel trucks you are referring to.  If they made any... I may have some 6-wheel freight trucks.  I have my brother's entire HO & N scale collection available to me.  He has boxes, and boxes of MP equipment.

It looks like I have some Bachmann arch bar trucks, also.  I've had them for over 15 years, and think they've got 5-10 years on that.... Are they in the age group you're looking for?

[Walkercolt]

It's not a perfect world. Many N-scale trucks are imaginary due to limitations of size and other factors. I greatly appalude your effort, and the "era" of a truck will be determined by it's design ie: "built-up" trucks like Fox, Arch-Bar, were no longer legal for interchange after a certain date. Friction bearing trucks had a "cut-off" date too. Road-specific trucks you'll just have to identify by type and road and approximate dates of service. If the "nit-pickers" want "exact" data, they should go to Historical Societies sites and such. About 15 years ago someone in Model Railroader tried this in HO, and had the same limitations you've found, and there have been lots more types of trucks (or conversions for standard trucks) for HO than N. At some point, you have to say "good enough", or you'll go crazy and give-up on it all together. Do your best, and it'll be better than what we have now: nothing. Go for it! If people have more information, I hope it will be given in a positive, constructive manner. Nuf' said!