New Intermountain War Emergency Box Cars are out!

[arbomambo]

I received my ATSF cars yesterday...one of the roofwalks was 'bowed' but that's an easy fix (have to expect that with dissimilar materials). I'll change the walkway grabs to metal and change the wheelsets to FVM versions...very nice cars
Bruce

[Sokramiketes]

This Alton car came together ok.  I was able to pop off the roof in order to galvanize it.  I weathered it to see what looked bad and what dropped away, and decided to change out the corner grabs on the running boards with .008" wire.  I may still swap the ladders and stirrups.

Anyway, the important parts of the tooling are there, and the car can be turned into a nice model, which is all I ask for anymore.

[arbomambo]

Anyway, the important parts of the tooling are there, and the car can be turned into a nice model, which is all I ask for anymore.

They do look nice and I agree!
Bruce

[Mike C]

The new roof grabs are a 100% improvement !  IMO the stock roof grabs are the worst part of the car , I could get along with the rest of the details . I think if the stock grabs were seated properly it would also improve the car's looks to an acceptable level .

[Cajonpassfan]

Agreed, that and the wheels...
Finally got my "missing" Northwestern car, and now that I'm over my initial excitement of having the "war emergency" cars made in the first place, I see some of the shortcomings a bit more clearly. The grabs are godawful... Still, with a bit of work, these can be made to look very nice and fill a BIG void for us transition era guys, and they tell a story, one of wartime steel shortages, ingenuity, and hardships.
Here's a few shots of the C&NW car, as is, with the original roller skate trucks, and with replacement Fox Valley wheels....I do love the roof and mine came with a fine straight running board and brake wheel attached...
Otto K.

[Cajonpassfan]

Continued...
As to the ride height, the top of the car is right on, scaling off at just under 15' at the running board. That's accurate.
The challenge is the floor elevation, which should be at about 44". However, the MT coupler gauge puts the botom of the floor at close to 44 scale inches, 43.68" according to my caliper. That would result in the floor elevation to be just a tad too high, the thickness of the floor.... but of course we have this very same challenge with every car where the MT standard is used for body mount couplers. Truck mounted couplers are worse, to allow for swing clearance....
Otto K.

[bbussey]

The ride height is pretty close to accurate, as close as you can get and still mount MTLs under the floor.  I've swapped in FVM wheels and new roof grabs on my pair, and the remaining details are fine for me.  My roofwalks also are perfect.

[Cajonpassfan]

Well, a couple more shots, weathered and with the "roof handles" clipped. I'll replace those with wire, the rest of the car will have to do for now...
Otto K.

[Sokramiketes]

Continued...
As to the ride height, the top of the car is right on, scaling off at just under 15' at the running board. That's accurate.
The challenge is the floor elevation, which should be at about 44". However, the MT coupler gauge puts the botom of the floor at close to 44 scale inches, 43.68" according to my caliper. That would result in the floor elevation to be just a tad too high, the thickness of the floor.... but of course we have this very same challenge with every car where the MT standard is used for body mount couplers. Truck mounted couplers are worse, to allow for swing clearance....
Otto K.

Yeah, I started carving in the 90 degree index slot for the MTL coupler, into the bottom of the floor.  Then set the ride height from there by filing the bolsters a bit.  Then threw it all back together and the coupler was high by about the thickness of the top of an MTL box... so I went back to a full coupler assembly.  Thanks for confirming with measurements. 

I did file off the nubs on the bolsters and like the appearance better, even if the overall running board height is a touch low now.

[bbussey]

@Sokramiketes — Mike, you also have the 2001/2004 coupler boxes to play with if you want to make additional minor height adjustments, as they are of thinner profile than the 1015 box and will accept the 1015 knuckle.

[Sokramiketes]

@Sokramiketes — Mike, you also have the 2001/2004 coupler boxes to play with if you want to make additional minor height adjustments, as they are of thinner profile than the 1015 box and will accept the 1015 knuckle.

Thanks, Bryan.  Do those also help get the screw away from the axles due to their thinner profile?  Even with counter sunk brass screws, it seems like that screw head is always right where the outboard axle wants to be. With an FVM wheelset on each end, pulling opposite polarity on a metal underframe like, say an Atlas offset side hopper... well, I hate melting sideframes!

[bbussey]

Yes, but you would need to mount them upside down (lid up), and increase the countersink in the box-bottom with a drill bit to recess a flathead screw.  I don't heat-seal them, as the screw holds everything together.

[Nato]

       Does anyone here even remember or own the model that Con Cor did of these war emergency cars, they were pretty nice cars in their day. It is nice to see IM releasing these even with minor flaws. To echo what several other posts have mentioned I have several of the reworked Roundhouse MDC boxcars by Athern with metal roof walks that either warped, or loosened up. This is an easly correctable problem on the IM cars.                                         Nate Goodman (Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.

[peteski]

With an FVM wheelset on each end, pulling opposite polarity on a metal underframe like, say an Atlas offset side hopper... well, I hate melting sideframes!

Very simple solution: Flip the wheelsets in one of the trucks 180 degreees. That way the uninsulated wheel will be on the same side on both ends of the car.   

[Sokramiketes]

Very simple solution: Flip the wheelsets in one of the trucks 180 degreees. That way the uninsulated wheel will be on the same side on both ends of the car.   

Oh, I got to that point pretty quick!  But those pesky screws still cause some drag if there isn't enough clearance.