Micro Trains June cars in person

[bbussey]

Experts
please advise if the body height is compromised.  Based on the proto-photo this car may need to lose a full foot or more in ride height.  Want this car but if it is 'squashed' like the FMC I think that will cause me to pass on it...

I don't remember if the 60' excess-height boxcars are selectively compressed (as the FMC modern boxcars and the 3-dome tank are).  But it should be relatively easy to check by taking a digital caliper to the current eaves height as-is and multiplying by 160.  If the number alreadymatches or is close to the EXH dimension printed on the car side (prior to lowering the model), then that pretty much points to the model being selectively compressed.

[oakcreekco]

Yes, the 60' car are "selectively compressed".............but I can live with that.

[JoeD]

I'm going to check with the tooling guys and review the underside and see if we can lower the bolster.  The wild card in all this is keeping the coupler centers where they are supposed to be without putting a hump in the end decks )


Also, some of the wheel issues are being addressed. 

Joe
MTL

[tom mann]

If you study this photo, you can see some of the places where height compression occurs:



Joe: what wheel issues in particular?

[JoeD]

It's all I can say right now...stupid I know.  But we are doing new wheels for the Heavyweights (36")...makes sense to address other problem wheels at the same time.   ;D

[Ryan87]

Joe can you say if 36" low pro wheels are somewhere in the future?

[wm3798]

Are you saying that my next MT purchase shouldn't be ordered with pepperoni and extra cheese? ;D

Lee

[GonzoCRFan]

That Penn Central X78 looks fantastic.  I am glad MTL finally got around to producing it.  It took 10 years, but it was worth the wait. One less car to paint and decal!  Now what am I going to do with the undecorated one I bought five years ago to paint and decal into this scheme?   Maybe another Conrail X78 is in order.

Yeah, and the funny thing is, I custom painted that exact car number for my own fleet about 3 years ago. I was SURE MT would be releasing it soon after I went to the trouble.  ;D

[Dave V]

Okay, did a little work.  Filing down the bolsters helps:



I painted the end post and railings white and also added some weathering using acrylic washes after spraying the car with Dullcote (mask the windows first!).  Some FVM metal wheelsets cure the pizza cutter problem:





She still rides high, but much lower and we'll start having swivel problems with the trucks...



Also added ACI labels and weathered the X78:



In the NOT Micro Trains category...:

Also nabbed this Raritan River car at a train show for $5!  I weathered it with subtle washes.  CR took over RR in 1980 and got their 100 Sieco boxcars with it, which are a near exact copy of the Athearn car:

[JoeD]

Yep...real soon.

Joe can you say if 36" low pro wheels are somewhere in the future?

[bbussey]

Yes, the 60' car are "selectively compressed".............but I can live with that.

I can't.

I'm going to check with the tooling guys and review the underside and see if we can lower the bolster.  The wild card in all this is keeping the coupler centers where they are supposed to be without putting a hump in the end decks

If you body-mounted the couplers, this wouldn't be an issue.

[bbussey]

Okay, did a little work.  Filing down the bolsters helps:



She still rides high, but much lower and we'll start having swivel problems with the trucks...

Dave, if you can lower the car further, the couplers will not be an issue if you use #2004 knuckles in the #1015 coupler box.  Then, you get the offset shank that has been on all prior MTL caboose models since Day One.

You can also ream out the hole in the coupler box and use a flathead 00-90 screw to mount the coupler, rather than using the #1019 pin if that is what will interfere with the trucks.  The screw will sit flush with the coupler box and buy another millimeter or so.  FVM wheelsets also have a thinner and more true axle than the MTL 1008s.


bb

[bbussey]

It's all I can say right now...stupid I know.  But we are doing new wheels for the Heavyweights (36")...makes sense to address other problem wheels at the same time.

If you start using 36" wheelsets in your standard truck frames with couplers, the couplers will sit too high.  So unless you retool the Barber RB and other frames (or start body-mounting the couplers), that's not a future option for the modern tank, covered hoppers, etcetera.

[JoeD]

I know that.  The 36" wheels initially are for the Heavyweight Passenger trucks.  New Freight trucks will need to be designed to use the larger wheels where necessary.

Joe



If you start using 36" wheelsets in your standard truck frames with couplers, the couplers will sit too high.  So unless you retool the Barber RB and other frames (or start body-mounting the couplers), that's not a future option for the modern tank, covered hoppers, etcetera.

[/quote]

[Ryan87]

Yep...real soon.

Joe can you say if 36" low pro wheels are somewhere in the future?

That makes me very happy...