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Suggestions for improving MTh freight cars


du-bousquetaire
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Hi folks:

I just thought that it would make sens since this forum is read by a lot of MTH users to comment on some things wrong with the present offering of MTH for 1/32 freight cars, and which could be very easely overcome by them, to make more appealing equipment. This is in the hope that they read this forum now and then. One thing that shocks my eyes is their box car door. Look as much as I can on the net (I live in France so can't see the real macCoy any more) I cannot find one example of this diamond shaped folds on each of the longitudinal ribs of the doors. Why don't they contract out  the mold for a Youngstown door or some real typical door, that way we will be much more tempted to buy these box cars, en masse. Now I may be missing information on this type of door modeled by MTH, it may have existed, but it seems to be a rare fish in a big wide ocean.

Incidently we have a symiliar problem with the reefer door.  Their reefer is accuratly proportionned to represent a car built in the late '30 to early sixties, by the mid sixties roads were most often building 50 footers or mechanical reefers, which have different caracteristics and dimensions. Yet it is equiped with a pug door which only appeared in the early to mid sixties. If they would come out with a double hinged refrigerator door the car would be a perfect scale model! And would have a huge appeal to the 1/32 scale comunity especially since they modeled some rare liveries like Cudahies and Wilson car lines, Nedham and so on which are very interesting. This anachronical mishap is really surprising.

 

A bit more difficult to resolve would be to place the bolster in the right position about a foot and a half closer to the ends so we wouldn't have to spend an evening modifying the cars once we buy them. This is very typical of American freight cars they really have the outer wheel set nearly flush with the ends. But MTH has put them way inside, probably to fit their out of scale couplers. if they insist on keeping this disposition, on the basis that, that is where the business is, it would be nice if they fitted the cars with an alternate bolster in the right position so that modelers working with kadees and using wide curves and pointwork could just put the truck in the correct position.

Outside of these I find the hoppers nearly perfect as is; the bolster issue doesn't seem to be as critical in this case (probably for reasons of balancing out the load on hoppers these trucks may have been set further in on the prototypes...)

 The flat is also a very good model all I did to mine is to lower it by taking 5mm out of the bolster thickness. it metamorphoses the car wich is a very good replica of a standard AAR design and I weathered the wood planking.

I have no comments about the tank car as it is too modern a prototype for me, nor the caboose as I built my own.

I haven't tried it out yet but PIKO sells spare parts and this could solve the problem on the box car (order the youngstown door from them) but we would still have to do a paint job wouldn't we?

I hope this helps out, as many of these things would be easy and economic for them to correct.

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 I've read complaints over them looking too toy like. They are built pretty tough. I would like to see them go further into G with some more modern rolling stock. I think they make their G scale cars like the O scale versions. It would be cool if they made their Premier line in G scale. I would buy more if they were available. The coal hoppers look very good to me. I'm still hoping for more G MTH!

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The fact that they are built pretty tough Joe is good for us in live steam outdoors, I have a bunch of Accucraft box cars and reefers but I don't ever take them to shows or exhibitions any more, they suffer too much. Allright they are near scale in every respect, which I like, but it is too fragile. As long as they stay on the pike they don't get too much of a beating but if you take them to exhibitions, wow! MTH cars are just as sturdy, even sturdier than MDC but are scale . If only they would fix those minor isssues I speak about in this thread we would be all set. Lets all hope for more MTH I would be especially enthusiastic about a 70' mill gondola myself. A good 40' steam era tank car would also be on my bill. I can understand how many modelers today want modern cars though.

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 I don't think MTH caters to modern G scale equipment. After the Dash 8.... nothing. You might be closer to getting your requests than I am. With all their older era equipment already released and the need to make smaller equipment go round tight curves, I'd bet on you!!

I'd ask Santa for big stuff like modern refers, and big box cars, etc.

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That's right, the Bolsters are wrong.
I did not notice this error, I think I'm blind. :wacko:
you can cut out the bolster from the ground, asymmetrically, turn and glue together again.
That's a lot of work.
I changed the Truckbolster.
Made a new hole with a milling machine.
7mm more on both sides, which is 1.5 feet.
Looks better, right ?
Tomorrow is the test run, I hope it works.

 

The first Picture shows before...

 

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Its not that difficult or a lot of work and it makes a clean and sturdy job. I have been operating with cars like this since three years. First I started like you did, Dash 8, by making a second pivot 7mm towards the ends of the car but on the second one I realised that not only I could reglue the bolster sawed off in two places. but it would be screwed down to the floor by the doorguide screws in the middle and by the draught gear screws in the end, making for a firm and sturdy job of it. As I didn't retouch with paint (I am so lazy!), it is easy to see where I sawed, note that I added a strip of 2mm thick styrene (plastic card) to shim what the saw had cut away. With gary raymond wheels,kadees makes a very nice car and looks very good right next to my Accucraft cars.

P1050282

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Thank you for your reply

 

It works fine, no Problems.

I have not cut the underbody.

The Truck Bolsters are very wide, it is sufficient for 7 mm offset.

Of course, the Bolster is not above the other, but no one can see.

I think for the Box cars it's the same job, I only have a few.

It's worth it. That looks much better.

The first is the C & O from 2010 or so, with Ball Bearings and SV Wheels.

 

By the way, I would like to see a new Production of cars like

Row and Company, Eastern Railways etc., Stock Cars, short Hoppers, Gondolas.... for my small indoor layout. Modern Stuff is too long for my curves…and my eyes...

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Yes Dash 8 , it would be nice to see some of these again, Custom model products had plans for a very interesting line of cars (including some of PRR design I particularly wanted to have) but those plans were shelved when the owner died last year, unfortunatly. Meanwhile we shall have some nice things from Accucraft starting wth the C&O three bay hoppers, (50' flats and gondolas announced).  I appologise with my last (empty) post, I wanted to post some photos but it didn't work. I shall try again.post-50-0-71557200-1420298533_thumb.jpgpost-50-0-51464500-1420298573_thumb.jpgpost-50-0-24023700-1420298624_thumb.jpg

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Very beautifull job on the bulkhead flat and the C&O box car Dash 8, and I like the simplicity of the solution you use for the trucks. Mine is quite simple actually too, just two saw cuts with the hack saw. How does the trapeze shape sheet you moved to its correct position (on the axis of the bolster, or where it should be) stand up in service, I find it quite difficult to glue the polycarbonate which MTH uses although I was able to obtain some chloroform from a plastic specialty house. It is especially difficult to keep the PRR railphone antenas  intact, I am now replacing strategicly placed  ones, with ones I turn from square brass rod. But then I operate in the garden environement. Here is the freight with an ABA F3 on the point and a pair of PA 1 pushing up the rear to help the train over the grade. those MTH cars fit in well with the Accucraft ones.

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Thank you for your nice comment.
I have a few pictures taken from the actual conversion, a Harley Davidson
Box car.

 

You have a very nice garden and a great layout, what a long Train…
And a nice area.

I see J&M Boxcars, right?

It is difficult for me to explain, my English is so bad, but I like to try it.
This 2part adhesive ( Stabilit express ) works with metal, brass, wood and many plastics.
The surfaces are roughed, the brass oxyid must be removed.
Take sandpaper, rough.

For the trucks I take a little milling machine.
The holes for the ball bearings, or for the bolster in the image, etc.
At first the truck bolster is milled flat on the bottom.
Then turn around and enlarge the hole to 7mm, an elongated hole.
I use a 6 mm end mill.
The centering does not change.
The brass plate is extended from 6 to 7mm.
With a reamer.
Glue the brass plate on the edge with the elongated hole.
When the glue is hard, finished with a reamer.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Dash 8 I wish my German was as good as your English. Very nice track work! I also use hand made trackwork, the inner track on my layout in the photo is hanlaid and so are the switches they work very well and have been in service since 1982. I did a bit of consolidation lately because I used brass spikes and no steel ones on the switches. Brass tends to slip out with the constant switching from rainy weather to dry spells. It used to hold pretty well by pushing the spikes back in every year, but recently there just was too much  play and I rebuilt the switches with a copper wire clip from under the tie which has a U shape and holds the rail once they are bent around the rail base, replacing a few oak ties where necessary. with Sunset model switch throws that make a positive lock (particularly good for electrical contact in relation to DCS operation, makes for much more reliable operation. It is also nice for steam as when a very heavy and expensive loco is going down the track at express speeds, with a heavy train in tow, you dont want a point blade to be half open. Sorry, this post really doesn't belong to the subject of improving MTH cars.

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Hallo du-bousquetaire,

 

You have a lot of repair work to the track every year.
This is a very big difference to indoor.
I never repair the track, track cleaning, finished.
My Turnouts are glued, I thought that does not work.
Now, after more than 20 years, I can say it's good.
Previously, there were few parts for the construction a turnout.
My Turnouts are simple, but it works.
Turnout engines from Feather, not digital.
I can operate DCS or DCC.
In the beginning I had problems with DCS.
I had no desire to DCS.
After a few years I got a new TIU with 4.1, much better.

For this topic, a few pictures according to your idea
The Harley Boxcar is no real, but I use it for Track cleaning.
The Bolster has been stable with a sheet
I do not like Trackcleaning Cars. This looks better.
Hard to see on the last picture.
This goes well with trucks of  MTH

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  • 1 month later...

Actually depending if there has been a lot of  subzero temperatures or not I have little maintenance to do, except cleaning out pont blades here and there pushing in a few brass spikes that thend to slide out, creosoting now and then , and a bit of tweaking every spring. The main maintenance chore on my track now 33 years old, still with its original oak ties,  is getting rid of the moss that invades it over every winter. This is very time consuming and has stopped my gluing down the ballast on the outer plastic (Tenmille) track with scale sized ballast. Because as it becomes invaded with moss, it is very hard to scrape off without ruining the ballast.

 

Now it is time for a tie replacement and thankfully as I will retire this summer it should get done over next year. I must explain that my track is screwed with brass screws to a concrete base about 5" thick (road borders obtained at a construction supply house) The main problem that occurs now and then is when that shifts either because of frost, or more rarely because of roots growing under it. I used to have a lovely lilac in the center of the large curve near the depot that made a very pleasant shade near the loco steaming bays. I had trimmed it like a parasol. Well once I had established that it had completly knocked the large radius curve out of its alignement and was pusshing the whole steaming bay towards the house I had to destroy it. A two year undertaking that solved this issue, it was the biggest chore in thirty years!

 

I see a lot of track that is floating on ballast and goes up and down like a roller coaster, not very prototypical and very dangerous if you plan to run live steam without radio control. It is strange that this practice is so common with people who use telelens to film their layouts where it shows most. Using a concrete sub base permits the use of scale rail too, which is a definite step in the right direction towards more realistic outdoor railroads. My generation was raised as model railroaders with code 70 rail, seeing all this ovesize rail is quite a regression, I feel. Well I guess it is the rise and fall of the art of model railroading...

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  • 8 months later...

Hy Jan:

 Sorry but I have been extremly busy these days with family and other matters and some building of SNCF regional cars for a friend, So didn't contribute to this thread since last summer. Since one of the things done has been to renovate 13 meters of my track, with new ties as I had already done 2 meters it's now 15 meters renovated. Some portions of that track had been laid back in 1978! The oak ties were like balsa wood by last summer... This is15 meters out of 50 meters, next summer I will renovate another 12 meters which should bring me to portions which were laid in 1982 with a different wood for the ties (the lumber dealer called it asian oak at the time but I don't know the real name for it, alas.) Which has not rotten at all so it won't have to be renovated probably. This makes my track look like american right of way as the tie spacing is very close now.

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