First batch of Intermountain 3281 Covered Hoppers are on the water

[mu26aeh]

The ones I reserved in February 2016 didn't make it this run.
They're still showing as "Taking Reservations."

I think I'm 50/50.  I didn't save my email I guess so can't remember which ones I ordered

[vermonter_railfan]

Got the first 3 in today from Midwest Model Railroad... Waiting on Lombard to add theirs so I can hopefully get all 6 CMEX cars.

Regardless the car is amazing. It has body mounted MTL style couplers, the detail is on par with their 5161 hoppers, the cars are heavy for how small they are. If I can find my scale I'll get an actual weight.

These cars, atleast for me, are a smidge wobbly. I'll have to investigate if it's a issue with the car or wheels.

[mu26aeh]

After seeing pictures, can't wait to get mine.  Might have to get my hands on a few more and say buh bye to some of the Atlas cars I have

[GaryHinshaw]

Great!  It looks like they used a lot of the tooling from the 5161's (including the goofy inset stirrups).   My order was shipped a few days ago, but it usually takes 2 weeks to make it across the border.  We'll see if I have to pay a "retaliatory" tariff when they do.   

Oh, and how about a closer look at that semaphore?   

[turbowhiz]

Great!  It looks like they used a lot of the tooling from the 5161's (including the goofy inset stirrups).   My order was shipped a few days ago, but it usually takes 2 weeks to make it across the border.  We'll see if I have to pay a "retaliatory" tariff when they do.   

These should be super easy N-Possible scalebox swaps by the looks of it, sweet! You'll get your hands on them before I will by the looks of it Gary.

These are technically not subject to Canadian retaliatory tariffs since they are manufactured in China. If the sending retailer properly fills out the customs declaration is a whole other story... Or if the CBSA properly assesses it. Its train tax roulette!

[samusi01]

These cars, atleast for me, are a smidge wobbly. I'll have to investigate if it's an issue with the car or wheels.

I’d start with the wheels. Had an IMR covered hopper a few years ago where the axle was not centered on the wheel. Unfortunately I don’t recall off the top of my head the axle length to replace IMR wheelsets.

[vermonter_railfan]

Oh, and how about a closer look at that semaphore?   

Sounds like a 3D upgrade kit might not be a bad idea coming from you. Haha

But not to hijack the thread too much, the Semaphore is from ATSF N Scale Models (don't remember Dirks TRW handle). The signals are on my Free-moN that represents Bernal, NM. They actually operate and work with the MSS (Modular Signal System) that we utilize with Free-moN. I posted a video on YouTube from the Amherst train show that show them in action.

Here's a pair of photos

[GaryHinshaw]

Beautiful semaphores and module!!

Sounds like a 3D upgrade kit might not be a bad idea coming from you. Haha

I do have replacement stirrups for my 5161s, and it looks like they would work with these 3281s as well.   I'm waiting on converting all of these hoppers to N-Ps until my 3281s show up.  At the moment there is a bit of an issue balancing ride height and coupler height on the 5161s and it will likely be the same issue with the 3281s.  (They ride a bit too high out of the box.)

[vermonter_railfan]

At the moment there is a bit of an issue balancing ride height and coupler height on the 5161s and it will likely be the same issue with the 3281s.  (They ride a bit too high out of the box.)

I can confirm that they are the same height as a stock 5161 from intermountain. I ended up testing a car with some FVM 36" wheels instead of the included Intermountain ones. The car does roll better and smoother in my opinion.

I attempted to also try a pair of Tangent trucks (which have a lower bolster like BLMA) but even with (and without) the spacer the car did not roll well. Feels like the axles are dragging on the car.

[Spades]

5161's (including the goofy inset stirrups). 

I don't know if anyone knows the answer to this.  The offset extends to IMR Autoracks and some of their Hoppers.  When scaling from HO to N. Did they keep the HO offset dimension or is it a manufacturing/material requirement?

[jargonlet]

I don’t know about the ho to n scale thing but from someone who sees these cars in a local yard daily, I have to say that stirrup looks horrible. With that said I am still really excited to pick up my preorder from my local hobby shop soon.

[GaryHinshaw]

Once you notice the stirrup, it's hard to un-notice it.  Here is a before/after comparison shot of a 5161 I lowered and replaced the stirrups on:



The LEZ coupler on the lowered car sits a bit too low, so I'm going to have to re-engineer that part of the conversion when I upgrade the 5161s and 3281s to N-Possible couplers.  But the stirrup conversion should carry over on both models.

[Spades]

Once you notice the stirrup, it's hard to un-notice it.  Here is a before/after comparison shot of a 5161 I lowered and replaced the stirrups on:



The LEZ coupler on the lowered car sits a bit too low, so I'm going to have to re-engineer that part of the conversion when I upgrade the 5161s and 3281s to N-Possible couplers.  But the stirrup conversion should carry over on both models.

It would be awesome if there was a product line say like Gary's Details by Hindshaw Hobbies.  Actually Gary, I have always been impressed by your modelling.  Especially the 3D prints such as the tank car end platforms

[turbowhiz]

Once you notice the stirrup, it's hard to un-notice it.  Here is a before/after comparison shot of a 5161 I lowered and replaced the stirrups on:



The LEZ coupler on the lowered car sits a bit too low, so I'm going to have to re-engineer that part of the conversion when I upgrade the 5161s and 3281s to N-Possible couplers.  But the stirrup conversion should carry over on both models.

Fantastic looking stuff here for sure!

Seems that your stock example there has what looks like a MTL 70 ton truck w/couplers equipped with 36" metal wheelsets?

My examples of the 5161's came with different trucks, IM specific is seems. They appear to be legit 100 ton axle spacing. They have a 1015 type clone but its truck mounted. Very low!

But the car ride height is much better... Maybe not quite spot on like your LEZ adapted update, but way better then then your stock example. The ride height of these IM trucks is identical to the BLMA 100 ton trucks.

Scaleboxes without hats pretty much "just work" in this application with new style stock truck ride height in at least the 5161 run my examples came from. It will be tricky to get them much lower... Maybe a scale inch or two, but its splitting hairs at some point; There are enough other other subtle errors (like the crossmember thickness by the looks of it) that its going to be hard to pull off. The assembly quality in my examples is also a bit dodgy... Some of the bolters are not level! Ughh.

Still not sourced any of these 3281's yet.

Stock example compared to stock example truck mounted coupler chopped off and scalebox body mounted with no hat:



Stock truck mount coupler height:



NP scalebox coupler height w/stock truck:



Prototype reference photo I took: These are both Trinity 5161 cars coupled here:

[basementcalling]

Still not seeing them listed anywhere except N scale Supply. Not the only set of cars to arrive recently and seemingly take a short cut to some shops and a long track to others. I know some places are better at listing new arrivals quickly than others, but the listings that are up don't even include the same road names when looking at NSS and HogTrainz. Waiting for Lombard to get in the game.