A new centerbeam offering: Jackson Railcar

[Rossford Yard]

They look great of course.  However, I found some old RC Cen Beams at the Plano Train Show for $16 each at an estate sale, and for that price they are more then good enough.

[GaryHinshaw]

I just received my pre-order of the 2nd run of Rapido centerbeams and several of them have mildly warped beams... I have not done a careful survey yet, but it does hint that they may be from the same factory as the Jackson cars.  (And maybe a different factory than the first run Rapidos?)  The paint is pretty glossy too, but that can be dealt with when weathering.  Still waiting from my Jackson order.

[haasmarc]

On the Rapido cars, how can you tell which models have the open Z bracing on top?

[GaryHinshaw]

On the Rapido cars, how can you tell which models have the open Z bracing on top?

As far as I can tell, the only way is by inspection.  I purchased 21 cars(!) from the 2nd run and the only one that had the Z-brace beam was the CNIS car, left-most in the picture below:



I got at least one of every road name except Ontario Northland, so it's possible the ON has it too.  I can also confirm that in the first run, the CN and MSDR cars had Z bracing, but good luck finding any.

On the subject of warping, I am encouraged.  I inspected all the 2nd run Rapido cars I received and only 1/21 had a problematic warp: the BNSF flat at right above.   There were 4 or 5 that had a very mild warp (the UP patch car in green above, for example, but it's almost imperceptible).  The rest are fine, like the yellow TTZX flat.   All in all they are quite nice!  (But they still need the N-Possible treatment.)

Still waiting for my Jackson order...

[GaryHinshaw]

My Jackson order showed up today: 2 TTZX and 2 NOKL cars.  The ride height and weight match the Rapido cars and the details are reasonably well executed, but 3 of the 4 cars I received had a noticeable centerbeam warp, comparable to the one poor Rapido example above.  For example:



So kind of disappointing.  I'm going to hold off on ordering more until I see how the upcoming Atlas cars look.  In the meantime, I'm going to see if I can straighten these ones out a bit by clamping a lumber load in them.

[robert3985]

My Jackson order showed up today: 2 TTZX and 2 NOKL cars.  The ride height and weight match the Rapido cars and the details are reasonably well executed, but 3 of the 4 cars I received had a noticeable centerbeam warp, comparable to the one poor Rapido example above.  For example:



So kind of disappointing.  I'm going to hold off on ordering more until I see how the upcoming Atlas cars look.  In the meantime, I'm going to see if I can straighten these ones out a bit by clamping a lumber load in them.

@GaryHinshaw - Gary, you might want to try the boiling water trick.  Warped resin-printed structures often warp after a while, due to many factors.  I learned that immersing the print in boiling water for a few seconds (the length of time depends on the size/mass of the print) will either straighten the print up, or allow it to be bent back to straight.  So far, in my experience (I haven't tried this on a piece as long as these cars) with 50' flatcars, they stay straight after being corrected.

If the finish and any possible adhesive on the model isn't water soluble, doing this might be a fairly easy fix for the warpage problem.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Mark5]

Ouch, that warpage is nasty. 

I'd be demanding a refund or replacement.

[robertjohndavis]

Ouch, that warpage is nasty. 

I'd be demanding a refund or replacement.

Yep. Modelers set dangerous precedents when we accept expensive flawed models. Can you we fix these? Maybe. For the price we should not have to try.

[GaryHinshaw]

I have reached out to Midwest.  I'll keep you posted.

Yep. Modelers set dangerous precedents when we accept expensive flawed models. Can you we fix these? Maybe. For the price we should not have to try.

The market will decide how Jackson ultimately fares.  If this is the best they can do, they won't last long, but I hope that is not the case.  It's a tough business.

[turbowhiz]

My Jackson order showed up today: 2 TTZX and 2 NOKL cars.  The ride height and weight match the Rapido cars and the details are reasonably well executed, but 3 of the 4 cars I received had a noticeable centerbeam warp, comparable to the one poor Rapido example above.  For example:



So kind of disappointing.  I'm going to hold off on ordering more until I see how the upcoming Atlas cars look.  In the meantime, I'm going to see if I can straighten these ones out a bit by clamping a lumber load in them.

Are the coupler setups well and truly identical to the Rapido cars, with a 1015 type box with the mounting post being part of the car itself?

As a data point, 5 of my recent Rapido cars were perfect, and one had a very mild warp like your UP patch car.

[GaryHinshaw]

Are the coupler setups well and truly identical to the Rapido cars, with a 1015 type box with the mounting post being part of the car itself?

Not 100% identical, but very similar.  The centre post is indeed integral to the (metal) floor, but there is an etched metal spacer that is just resting in place and can accommodate the nub on a standard MTL shank:



When I do the N-P conversion, I will replace that part with a printed part per my Rapido conversions.  The part may require a slight modification, but nothing too significant.  The centre sill will need to be filed back a bit to clear the N-P spring.  Unlike the Rapido car, the outer portion of the sill is metal - not plastic - so a bit more effort will be required there.

[milw156]

I picked up 3 at Lombard Hobbies while I was at the Chicagoland RPM and all 3 are free from warpage. However,  the trucks seem to have more " play" in them( than the first run), and one didn't handle the module joints all that well. On home layout I didn't have any issues. Anyone else notice this?

[GaryHinshaw]

^ I think you're referring to the 2nd run Rapidos here, right?  The play in the trucks is equally horrible in both the 1st and 2nd runs.  When I did my N-Possible conversions on the first run (link) I also printed some bushings that greatly stabilized the trucks and improved their tracking significantly.  They are some of my favourite cars now.

Link to the Tinkercad files if you're able to print your own.

[milw156]

Did you put the shim between the screwhead and the truck so as not to change the ride height?

[GaryHinshaw]

There are actually two pieces to the system: there is a bushing around the screw and a washer around the post.  They act together to hold the truck more securely.  Without them, the trucks can wobble longitudinally on the two nubs on either side of the post.  The bigger washer does not change the ride height, it just helps to restrict the range of longitudinal rotation, together with the bushing.