MTL Blows it Again...NOT!

[ljudice]

Go to http://www.nscaledivision.com  --- April MTL Releases...

Milwaukee Covered Hopper --->>> Wrong car, right???

[Mark5]

hey I have one of those Evans Covered Hopper cars ... in a foobie 1964 scheme!

Those tankers sure have big "feet"  Interesting choice for paint scheme on the 1st release - I'll wait for a more journeyman scheme.

[Chris333]

I'll take a 3-domer.  

Err, wait. Is the car supposed to be yellow? Athearn does it in HO as Grey:
http://www.athearn.com/newsletter/061306/3_Dome_Tank_061306.jpg

 :

[tom mann]

Milwaukee had 10 of those Magor-built 4750 hoppers - which are externally identical to the Evans.  So I would say that MT has made a wise move here.  I'll pick one up.

[Mark5]

I'll take a 3-domer. 

Err, wait. Is the car supposed to be yellow? Athearn does it in HO as Grey:
http://www.athearn.com/newsletter/061306/3_Dome_Tank_061306.jpg

 :

Dunno, but I do know Athearn is not trustworthy in the accuracy of schemes. I look forward to the Irwin report!

[ljudice]

I stand corrected!  I might get one also!

[Mark5]

thread from a few months back on the triples:

http://therailwire.net/smf/index.php?topic=14437.15

This is the scheme I'll buy whenever they get to it:

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/shpx42.jpg

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/acfx/shpx111ajs.jpg

[Mark5]

Here's the copy from my Seaboard "Evans" Covered Hopper:

"This Evans 100 ton 3-bay covered hopper is painted aluminum, has large black ‘Seaboard’ lettering and runs on black Barber® roller bearing trucks. In 1964 the SAL received a shipment of 100 3-bay hoppers with a capacity of 200,000 lbs. from Magor to be used for shipping grain."

The M-T hopper has the lower brake wheel mounting, which of course were not built that way for some years after 1964.

I got it cheap, so I'm not all that mad about it.

[jmlaboda - RIP]

"This Evans 100 ton 3-bay covered hopper is painted aluminum,

There in is the problem... the car was not painted aluminum... it was built out of aluminum, as were, likely, the MILW cars.  Aluminum is a difficult metal to paint and hoppers of this sort typically had lettering and stenciles but no body paint... and they weathered to a dark gray very quickly (within a couple of years).

Evans and Magor were early proponents of lightweight cars and they built a number of different types of aluminum cars for a variety of roads.  While the most famous of them were Southern's "Big John" hoppers a number of other roads also purchased hoppers like the "Big John", and even two bay versions, for various haulage.  (Southern did, in the late-70s/early-80s, begin to apply light gray to their aluminum hopper cars and coal gondolas in an effort to keep the lettering, report markings and stenciles viewable longer and this seemed to help out a great deal.

[Chris333]

Looking more into the shell car.

The Athearn models look silver on the actual model and they do the same 2 road numbers MT is doing...

This is my tankcar vote:
http://www.steamfreightcars.com/gallery/tank/crx9092main.html

Ohio cities gas, but says Struthers, PA
There is no Struthers, PA. Struthers is in OH. Then is says it was built in Sharon, PA, but that plant is in Masury, OH.

Now to be fair Struthers and Masury are both about 1 mile from the OH/PA state line.

[sirenwerks]

The tricky paint schemes are just a method of distracting everyone from the fact the MTL took a huge step backwards and cast the roofwalk on to this car.

[DKS]

The tricky paint schemes are just a method of distracting everyone from the fact the MTL took a huge step backwards and cast the roofwalk on to this car.

They've been doing that with their ACF 2- and 3-bay cars all along, so I'm not sure if it's so much a backwards step as no step in any direction. While it does away with the added cost of tooling separate parts, as well as designing a means of attaching them (which would compromise appearance, the way it does on their boxcars and such), it does make it a pain for folks who want to replace them, say, with etched metal.

[John]

What I find really interesting, and I think it is a good move, is the issue of 2 road numbers on several of the models ..

[tom mann]

Three thoughts, and then I'm off to weather.

1)  The Milwaukee Magor hoppers were aluminum, so the description could have said that instead of "painted".
2)  Since the roof walk on the MTL Evans hopper isn't elevated (like it is on an ACF hopper, for example), it isn't quite of a distraction.  
3)  Replacing the MT trucks with 100ton Atlas trucks and 36" FVM wheels make for an awesome car.

[John]

Three thoughts, and then I'm off to weather.
3)  Replacing the MT trucks with 100ton Atlas trucks and 36" FVM wheels make for an awesome car.

what does that do to ride height?