MTL heavyweight baggage car

[Mark5]

I would have expected to see this at MB Klein by now.  I'm getting ready to place an order for some scratchbuilding supplies and I don't see the April MTL releases there yet.

Current month MTL releases generally appear on the MBK website on the 2nd saturday of each month.

Mark

[arbomambo]

just received an email from Pete stating that my two Erie cars have shipped...
anxious to have this one in hand!
Bruce

[thomasjmdavis]

Bruce,
Looks like you will get yours before I get mine.  Would be very interested in a report on whether M&R sides fit.

Thanks,
Tom D

[reinhardtjh]

Current month MTL releases generally appear on the MBK website on the 2nd saturday of each month.

Mark

Bingo!

they're in a M.B. Klein's.  So that means this week I have a trip to Hobbytown to visit @SkipGear.   H32's and B70 "stand-ins" 

[arbomambo]

Just saw that as well...mine is 'out for delivery' so they should be waiting when I get back to the house...one will go straight to the Fast Mail consist and run around Kingman Canyon a few times before getting the Railway express lettering...the other will get used, REAL QUICK, to measure the M&R sides for the 70' baggage, and the fishbelly baggage...!
Bruce

[Dave V]

Bingo!

they're in a M.B. Klein's.  So that means this week I have a trip to Hobbytown to visit @SkipGear.   H32's and B70 "stand-ins" 

Placed my MBK order this morning along with scratchbuilding stuff for my N scale stamp mill and some Z scale couplers for the CMRy locomotive.  Then off to the Academy for the Founder's Day parade.

[Chris333]

I didn't see, but would imagine MBK got the same amount of PRR and Erie cars. Right now they have less PRR then Erie. PRR must be selling?

My cars were on my porch today     Off to give them a test run...

[glakedylan]

got email today from LHS that my two PRR's are on the way
local but not to an area I drive often so mail works well
should be here Monday

[arbomambo]

WOW!!!!!!!
...for me, on a number of fronts!...
first, here is the car in the current Fast Mail consist... (Would have been interchanged in Chicago)












but for the REALLY gopd news (BAD news for my wallets!)...

This car, as I had hoped, is PERFECT for all of my ATSF 70' baggage car builds!!!!!!






now, all I have to do is budget enough for 10 (at a minimum) of the undecorated versions!
Bruce

[thomasjmdavis]

Thanks for the shots of the M&R sides Bruce.  I am making an executive decision to NOT try to disassemble the couple I have more or less complete on old RR shells.  But my total estimate for MT cars might have been low.  Will need to check on how many unbuilt sides I have when I get home later.  Then will have to add up all the Dearborn station roads that had something close.  I have 2 Erie "in the mail", but if the M&R baggage fit, then the fishbelly and the mail-baggage also fit.

Gonna be busy this summer.  Just extending the station tracks for all the new head end traffic will be a chore.

Wonder how many thousand units we would have to commit to for Joe to move the undecorateds up on the production schedule?

Tom D

[bbussey]

MTL's standard timeframe on offering undecs (or painted/unlettered as is usually the case on the heavyweights) usually is four months after the initial release on a model.  So figure August or so for the baggage car, and imminently for the diner.

[arbomambo]

Sounds like my wallet will get some breathing time...I can just strip some Pennsy cars until then.

[Chris333]

This is my first time "playing around" with MTL PAX cars. I have 2 sleepers, but they have sat in their boxes waiting for single window coaches (hint). On these baggage cars I moved the couplers inward .100", thus narrowing the gap between cars by .200". I could have gone a tiny bit closer, but I have 13" min curves. Also now that my couplers are pushed in I had to zip the sides of the coupler boxes to narrow them so the wheels don't rub.

[bbussey]

The baggage and dining cars were designed for and come equipped with 1016 couplers for the 9¾" radius capability, purposely, so that all you have to do is swap in 1015 couplers for the closer coupling (rather than drilling/tapping new holes further inboard).
 

[Chris333]

The MTL drawing for the 1015 and 1016 show all identical dimensions. It doesn't show shank length. What is the difference in inches between the two?