MTL 60' boxcars

[unittrain]

I've been looking to do some extra detailing on my MTL 60' waffle side and smooth side boxcars I'm currently thinking on adding the deeper side sill to the Milwaukee Road car as per prototype http://www.krunk.org/~joeshaw/pics/milw/60ftwaffle/milw4294-1-medium.jpg , I have heard the MTL 60' boxcars cars are compressed and was wondering if the box is to short height wise or length wise, if it is too short in height is that just do to the shallow side sill? Just wondering as I want to get these as proto as practical.

[ljudice]

I thought the Berwick car looked right, just too high.

[ednadolski]

http://www.krunk.org/~joeshaw/pics/milw/60ftwaffle/milw4294-1-medium.jpg

That's Tom's boxcar.   

Ed

[tom mann]

I made that one a long time ago (2004 ).  Much lowering is required:











You can see the height compression differences between the model and actual boxcar here:



I love this car.  I made another one a few years later but never photographed or (posted it) for some reason. 

[bbussey]

The model with riveted sides and double plug doors (MTL 102000 series) is correct in the body height and rides at the correct height overall.  The "chop" was taken out of the lower sill.  Extending the lower sill to it's proper height corrects the model and improves the look tenfold.  Scott Lupia modified some of them and submitted a how-to article to NSR.  It is slated to appear in one of the upcoming issues sooner than later.

[tom mann]

The model with riveted sides and double plug doors (MTL 102000 series) is correct in the body height and rides at the correct height overall.  The "chop" was taken out of the lower sill.  Extending the lower sill to it's proper height corrects the model and improves the look tenfold.  Scott Lupia modified some of them and submitted a how-to article to NSR.  It is slated to appear in one of the upcoming issues sooner than later.

Yeah, that would be neat to see.  The problem with just lowering them (as I did) makes the model look too long. 

[bbussey]

It's near-impossible to fix the waffle cars since, as your comparison photos showed, all the features were rearranged height-wise to compress the model.

Incredibly, the 40' appliance car is not compressed and is a great candidate for lowering.  But the model is either of an uncommon prototype, or an amalgamation of multiple prototypes.

[tom mann]

It's near-impossible to fix the waffle cars since, as your comparison photos showed, all the features were rearranged height-wise to compress the model.

A black suit wearing older man smoking a cigarette Ed K told me years ago that his theory of why this was done was so that the magazine reviews would state "overall height and width dimensions match the prototype."  I, myself, believed it, as it seemed like a perfectly rational explanation.  I've dismissed other conspiracy theories over the years, but this one seemed too much like real life.

[bbussey]

Perhaps. But it is curious why all of the models weren't height-compromised. All of the USRA boxcars, wood and steel, are correct. The stock car is accurate to the NYC prototype. The first wood caboose is accurate to the SP prototype. The riveted mechanical reefer is an accurate FGE prototype, and the steel ice reefer is an accurate PFE prototype. The aforementioned appliance boxcar, the end-door auto boxcar, and drop-bottom gondola are accurate. Some of these even stand at the correct height over the rails. So, why some and not others?

[tom mann]

So, why some and not others?

Probably different tool makers over the years with different philosophies...

[unittrain]

Tom thats a vast improvment over the stock model! thanks for all the insight guys, Maybe someone will offer some correct 60' hy cubes soon as they are important cars for us late 70's era modelers! There are plenty of prototypes to choose from, I was hopeful that Exactrail may do their berwick and greenville boxcars in N but time will tell as they have not done much N at all lately.

[ljudice]

Tom thats a vast improvment over the stock model! thanks for all the insight guys, Maybe someone will offer some correct 60' hy cubes soon as they are important cars for us late 70's era modelers! There are plenty of prototypes to choose from, I was hopeful that Exactrail may do their berwick and greenville boxcars in N but time will tell as they have not done much N at all lately.

Don't hold your breath...


re: Microtrains - what about the 40' PS boxcars?  Are they compressed?

[bbussey]

The less said about the PS1 models, the better.  Suffice to say that there are accurate 40' and 50' models from other sources.

[bbussey]

Probably different tool makers over the years with different philosophies...

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.

[ljudice]

The less said about the PS1 models, the better.  Suffice to say that there are accurate 40' and 50' models from other sources.

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