Intermountain forgets N scale in February

[wcfn100]

But the MTL and Athearn cars can be cut up for parts as well.  Definitely not as ideal as having ready-made IM parts, but it's better than nothing at all.
 

The MTL car can only really be used to make another incorrect car.  And you can't cut either up to make a car with an 8' door, because no one makes an 8' door.  There's room for a new model.

For me this is no different than the tired arguements I got about a 52'6" gondola and how the MTL was 'close enough' not to warrent a new model.

Jason

[sirenwerks]

The MTL car can only really be used to make another incorrect car.  And you can't cut either up to make a car with an 8' door, because no one makes an 8' door.  There's room for a new model.

For me this is no different than the tired arguements I got about a 52'6" gondola and how the MTL was 'close enough' not to warrent a new model.

Jason

I agree, Jason. It's curious that you hear arguments like that and then when a manufacturer releases a desired model suddenly people crawl out of the woodwork about how they wanted it for so long. Bryan Bussey, I don't want to make your or other manufacturer's lives difficult, but it seems counter-intuitive that more consumers don't speak up directly to manufacturers to ask for what they want.

[bbussey]

The MTL car can only really be used to make another incorrect car.  And you can't cut either up to make a car with an 8' door, because no one makes an 8' door.  There's room for a new model.

I think the seven-foot version is actually needed more, and the MTL carbody can be kitbashed to have either.  But the most likely manufacturer to release a 40' PS-1 with a seven or eight foot door is MTL.  It wouldn't even take much on their part to do the eight-foot door version, as the door part already exists and most of the car side tooling has existed since the beginning (40' double door).

For me this is no different than the tired arguements I got about a 52'6" gondola and how the MTL was 'close enough' not to warrent a new model.

Ah, I agree in part on this one.  The "close enough" 50' gondola models fro any manufacturer are not nearly close enough.  But an incorrect model outright is different than a desired variation of a reasonably accurate model.

I agree, Jason. It's curious that you hear arguments like that and then when a manufacturer releases a desired model suddenly people crawl out of the woodwork about how they wanted it for so long. Bryan Bussey, I don't want to make your or other manufacturer's lives difficult, but it seems counter-intuitive that more consumers don't speak up directly to manufacturers to ask for what they want.

I never said that consumers shouldn't ask.  They most definitely should.  All I said was that with the PS-1 series in particular, manufacturers aren't going to go down that road when it's generally understood to be MTL's domain, especially when MTL is supplying wheels and/or couplers to most of those manufacturers.  There are three manufacturers that I can think of that don't use MTL trucks or couplers - Atlas, Athearn and ExactRail - and I don't see any of those three tooling a PS-1 boxcar, just based on the models they've released in recent years among other reasons.

But with gondolas for example, and flats as well, I hope that we continue to see more prototypical models of them in the near future.
 

[wcfn100]

I think the seven-foot version is actually needed more, and the MTL carbody can be kitbashed to have either.  But the most likely manufacturer to release a 40' PS-1 with a seven or eight foot door is MTL.  It wouldn't even take much on their part to do the eight-foot door version, as the door part already exists and most of the car side tooling has existed since the beginning (40' double door).

Except Micro-trains does not make an 8' door.   :'(


Jason

[bbussey]

What is the door width on the 40' PS-1 double door and the 50' PS-1 boxcars (single door, double door and plug/sliding door)?  It's not 6' and it's not 7'.

[wcfn100]

What is the door width on the 40' PS-1 double door and the 50' PS-1 boxcars (single door, double door and plug/sliding door)?  It's not 6' and it's not 7'.

Right.

There's a couple ways to look at it.  Here's my take.

On an auto box car (double door), the opening should be 15'.  MTL uses two equal size doors on this car so this gets you a 7 1/2' door (I'm ignoring any overlap).  This is the same door they call 8' and use on thier 50' box cars.

Here's the reality.

The "6'" door is 6'-7" and the "8'" door is 7'-8".  So two doors that are supposed to be 24" in difference are only 13".  Now I know were basically talking about a half a foot difference which shouldn't be a big deal, but the 6' door is just as close to 7' as the 8' is to 7'.    So if you're willing to call the 8' door 8' than you'd have to be willing to call the 6' door 7'.

My point here isn't about MTL being wrong, it's 40 year old tooling made with bad information (the missing roof bowtie) so it is what it is.  It's more about the fact that they have this mess going with thier dimensions and I'd rather someone start from scratch than perpetuate this.

I have no doubt that if MTL made a 40' box with an 8' door, they'd just use what they have like you layed out, which again, wouldn't be so bad, but there are other issues that need to be addressed on the current PS-1 tooling.


Jason

[Puddington]

Congratulations on setting the bar high for tread drift gents....

[bbussey]

Jason,

So, in the last 40 years, has anyone ever informed MTL of the errors in the tooling?  Because to my knowledge they are unaware of it.  The missing bowtie stamping of the roof can easily be added, as that would be a minor tooling modification.  Perhaps it's possible to address the doors as well.  They do re-cut the body tooling from time to time as the tooling wears out.  Let's look at just the 40' PS-1 group specifically (20000-24000, 73000 and 74000 series).  What else besides the roof bowtie and door widths would need to be addressed to make the model more prototypical?

[bbussey]

Congratulations on setting the bar high for tread drift gents....

Well, there are two "no new InterMountain in February" threads active.

[wcfn100]

Congratulations on setting the bar high for tread drift gents....

You're welcome.

Jason,

So, in the last 40 years, has anyone ever informed MTL of the errors in the tooling?  Because to my knowledge they are unaware of it.  The missing bowtie stamping of the roof can easily be added, as that would be a minor tooling modification.  Perhaps it's possible to address the doors as well.  They do re-cut the body tooling from time to time as the tooling wears out.  Let's look at just the 40' PS-1 group specifically (20000-24000, 73000 and 74000 series).  What else besides the roof bowtie and door widths would need to be addressed to make the model more prototypical?

I didn't have the exact measurements at the time, but I talk about it here.

Jason

[Brakie]

I don't know Ed, a CR unit might look good with set of yellow handrails (I assume they just arbitrarily assign handrail colors without looking at photos).



 

And if I hadn't called, these locos wouldn't have had the U of M lettering.  They had no idea what I was talking about.  And again, something any single photo would have shown them.

 

Jason

Jason,I believe any gaily colored handrails is for the looks more the accuracy and what makes this sad is the majority doesn't care.

I fully believe once the majority starts caring then we will see more accurate models simply because we will be voting with our wallets..

Until that day comes what can I say?  :-[

[wcfn100]

Jason,I believe any gaily colored handrails is for the looks more the accuracy and what makes this sad is the majority doesn't care.

I fully believe once the majority starts caring then we will see more accurate models simply because we will be voting with our wallets..

Until that day comes what can I say?  :-[

Well I voted with my wallet on that one.  DM&IR with U of M lettering doesn't get more Minnesota, but the handrails killed it.  The sad part is that the preproduction photos had the correct handrails.   ???

I see these models collecting dust on hobby shop shelves from time to time, if I happen across one in the $40 range for some reason, I might go ahead and get one.

Jason

[Puddington]

Can't paint handrails.........? Guess you'll never buy that crap that Kato sells......

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I felt the same way. I wasn't paying retail for the CR 45-2s, but I did pick one up when they got cheap, ie, project priced.

Paying $90- 100 for a fixer upper is just stupid.

[Puddington]

I felt the same way. I wasn't paying retail for the CR 45-2s, but I did pick one up when they got cheap, ie, project priced.

Paying $90- 100 for a fixer upper is just stupid.

Virtually any Kato offering of their SD 40's, -2's or 45's is buying a fix me up....... They have serious omissions, paint and livery errors, handrail errors, filter and cover errors or omissions... yet I don't hear a huge outpouring of angst against them...just IM.....is it ok to give Kato yet another pass on their products ?