MTL 60' boxcars

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I should have clarified.  Why some and not others during respective periods in the company's history?  Most of those models were tooled in the Kadee era, and some of them within months of or even simultaneously with other models that were compromised.

It's a good question.

I've never really thought about it.

I actually just thought of another potential reason... it has to fit in the existing boxes.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

That would explain why they never made a cushioned under frame. I would bet that there were several tool makes working at the time and they just did things different ways.

Though this theory is a lot more believable than FEMA auto racks

[bbussey]

thanks,  i have more questions on this, but need to start a new thread....

It may be better to answer specific questions in a private thread or via email.  But regarding fidelity to prototype, better options for custom painting your own models are the new Atlas models for the 40' prototypes and the venerable Athearn/MDC models for the 50' prototypes. The Athearn models can be lowered via BLMA's ASF 70-ton trucks (friction or roller), which overwhelmingly were the trucks of choice on the PS1 prototypes.  They also can be swapped in seemlessly on the Atlas models, thus freeing up the 50-ton Barber trucks for use on models of older prototypes that need lowering.

[bbussey]

That would explain why they never made a cushioned under frame. I would bet that there were several tool makes working at the time and they just did things different ways.

Not really, because they use trucks with extended coupler pockets to simulate extended draft gear. And that has been the case since the drop end gondola models were introduced in the mid 1970s.

[unittrain]

Are the MTL 60' sliding door hy cubes the correct height (the ones that are the same as the Conrail X64 class)?

[bbussey]

The single-sliding door car is height-compressed.  As far as I know, the smoothside-rivited double-plug door model is the only 60-foot version that is uncompressed.

[Kisatchie]

The single-sliding door car is height-compressed.  As far as I know, the smoothside-rivited double-plug door model is the only 60-foot version that is uncompressed.

Woo hoo! I just put a bunch up for sale in the Trading Post.


Hmm... and that's probably
where they'll stay...

[unittrain]

I just got some time to look over all my MTL 60' hy cubes and found they don't need lowered they ride at the same height as my Bluford and Trainworx hy cubes, if you lower them the roof line will not be the correct 17' from top of rail. The waffle side car is .03" short on the box and .03" needs added to the depth of the sill going downward over the trucks, and the sliding door car is shortened also by .03" on the box in the downward direction.  All three versions are the correct 17' above the rail. These cars are not so bad after all, I have been begging manufacturers for correct versions but really the only uncorrectable discrepancy is the shortened boxes by .03" which really is not much.

[unittrain]

Just checked the greenville car and like Brian said it is accurate no .03" compression just needs sill depth added so I am starting to buy more of the greenvilles looking forward  to NSR article by Scott on adding sill depth. The prototype dimension for the waffle side is interior height of 12'-9" and the MTL car is about 12'-4" but the shortage is from the bottom up cause the car rides at about 17 scale feet from top of rail about 1.26"

[bbussey]

That's actually good news on the sliding-door cars ... because a new door and door track along with an added sill as will be documented in the Nov/Dec NSR saves those models without losing the factory deco jobs.  The waffle car is tough to justify because the waffles are compressed.  But it's good to know that the remaining 60' excess-height boxcar bodystyles all can be salvaged with little work.

[John]

with all the grafitti and crud on modern box cars, it should be easy to hide any sill extensions

[tom mann]

I just got some time to look over all my MTL 60' hy cubes and found they don't need lowered they ride at the same height as my Bluford and Trainworx hy cubes, if you lower them the roof line will not be the correct 17' from top of rail. The waffle side car is .03" short on the box and .03" needs added to the depth of the sill going downward over the trucks, and the sliding door car is shortened also by .03" on the box in the downward direction.  All three versions are the correct 17' above the rail. These cars are not so bad after all, I have been begging manufacturers for correct versions but really the only uncorrectable discrepancy is the shortened boxes by .03" which really is not much.

Yes, that is exactly problem.  The overall height is correct, but they lack the squatted down look of the prototype to allow for coupler box clearance.