Page 7 - July August 1998

UNCOUPLED CARS
(All items by the Editor unless otherwise credited)
BEANERY
‘O’
Lawson Little
Freight Car Wrap-up...
Having gone on at some length re- garding Weaver and Atlas cars, now is the time to complete our coverage of the subject of freight cars.
Before finally leaving Atlas, however, a few words on just what types of car are available. The range, which was originally produced by the Austrian firm of Roco, comprises sliding-door boxcar, stock car, and plug-door insulated boxcar (sometimes sold as a reefer, which it isn’t - no roof hatches or mechanical compartment); all these are 40-foot cars. There is also a 50-foot gondola, a ‘shorty’ ore hopper and a 4-wheel bobber caboose. Decorated versions haven’t been manufactured for years (apart from cus- tom-painted runs), but still turn up quite regular- ly at swapmeets. Undec. kits are still made how- ever, (cost around $15-$18) and are well worth modifying as described last time.
The good news, however, is that Atlas are returning to the ‘O’-scale market in a big way. Whether they re-issue the above cars, either as original or in re-vamped form, remains to be seen, but they have already announced an entirely new car for 1998, in the shape of a 51ft. ACF 3-bay cylindrical covered hopper; this will initially be available either undecorated or paint- ed for EL, CR, MKT, CB&Q and two private own- ers, Wayne or Grace. Price will be $48, some- thing of a premium on Weaver cars; both 2- and 3-rail trucks and couplers are included, rather a waste but presumably to simplify inventory.
Atlas have also announced their first new loco’s - an EMD SW8 lettered for ACL, CNW, EL, GN, NYC, T&P or CP, and an SW9 for B&M, CNJ, C&O, PRR, UP or WP, price for either about £250. A switcher is a long-felt need for O-scale. Several smaller manufacturers produce freight cars in the U.S. The original Athearn series, which feature silk-screened metal sides on a wood body, has passed through several hands since Athearn decided to concentrate on HO; they are currently sold by All Nation. Two other makers, Intermountain and Red Caboose, sup- ply “state-of-the-art” plastic kits which feature dozens of individual parts to be fitted by the customer. They aren’t particularly difficult (with one exception, mentioned below) just time consuming - imagine the old Airfix OO wagon kits, but with five times the number of parts - well 123 actually, in the IMT boxcar kit, I’ve just counted them! The end result, with care, can be contest-quality; I’ve built a few IMT cars and was only defeated by the trucks, which need about five hands to assemble. I eventually gave up and fitted Athearn trucks instead, (One U.S. modeller has made a nice sideline in marketing instruction manuals for IMT kits - it runs to 21 printed pages! I have a copy if any- one is interested).
So far, IMT and Red Caboose have only issued a handful of different types - 40ft single- and double-door boxcars, ‘proper’ reefers, flat cars,
Scale Corner
FREE GIFT:
If anyone into Digitraxx DCC needs a free Challenger CT4, please contact...
Pat Janes at 19 Fair View, Chepstow, Gwent NP6 5BX
FOR SALE:
HO brass ATSF 2-10-4 “Madame Queen”, painted, weathered, excellent runner, £350 or exchange for SP or ATSF loco.
also WANTED:
HO Ulrich GS gondolas. Any road.
Contact Paul Doggett on 0161 764-2327
ESTATE SALE:
HO Japanese brass NYC 4-6-4 (Boxpok drivers), 12 whl. tender, unpainted, no original box, mint/unused; HOn3 Westside 2-8-0 #74 C&S/RGS, mint, boxed, unpainted; Z Scale “Marklin Miniclub”, large quantity locos and rolling stock, American/Continental outline.
For details ring John Kelsey on 01332-512580
FOR SALE:
To a good home - HO scale RIVAROSSI S1a 2-10-2, Big Boy, GE U25C AT&SF, C16 0-4- 0, plus Rivarossi and Life Like freight cars.
Send SAE for details to Mr. K. Anderson, 26 Derwent Drive, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 7PB
FOR SALE:
HO brass, NYC M1 0-10-0 (lightly weath- ered) by Custom Brass £170 ono; NYC L3a Mohawk 4-8-2 (clean) by Key, £250 ono; B&O Q4b 2-8-2 (no auxillary tender) Westside, £250 ono. All painted and decalled, original boxes, little used.
Phone John Weston 01424 844515 (Bexhill on Sea)
FOR SALE:
Unused & boxed, formerly display, HO items - all prices plus P&P: BALBOA brass EMD E8, A&B units, Santa Fe livery - £100; WALTHERS TRAINLINE Alco FA1 & FB1 units in Santa Fe livery, both powered - £37; IHC Track Cleaning Caboose, with track cleaning fluid, Santa Fe livery - £11; ATLAS Extended Vision Caboose in D&H red livery - £10.50.
and WANTED:
HO/HOn3 Shinohara Dual Gauge Points.
Contact Derek Frow on 01225 832934
PLEASE MENTION ROUNDHOUSE WHEN REPLYING TO ADVERTS - PRIVATE OR COMMERCIAL, THANK YOU.
a 55-ton twin hopper and a nice ‘40’s-period tank car; however all these are particularly suit- able for steam and first-generation diesel era layouts, unlike much of the Weaver range. What they lack in variety of type, they make up for by choice of livery and number range; all have between 4 and 24 number options!
One other range, albeit no longer made, is worth mentioning since again, it often turns up in the second-hand market. In the 1960’s the German firm of Pola added U.S. models to their ‘Maxi’ O-scale range. They produced a selection of freight cars quite similar to the almost contemporary Atlas range, namely 40-ft boxcar, plug-door boxcar (again, curiously, sold as a reefer), flat car, 40ft gondola and bobber caboose - perhaps both Pola and Atlas were advised by the same consultant! The house cars are to a lower profile than the Atlas ones but are still acceptable for a slightly earlier build date.
In 1972, Pola quoted to supply Lionel with cars, but the American firm instead offered to buy the dies and make the cars themselves. Pola agreed, and were paid $20,000 for the tooling, but they must have retained duplicate dies, since the cars, which had been marketed by Rivarossi in Europe and American Hobby Corporation of Philadelphia in the U.S., remained available from both sources for at least another ten years!
Lionel duly introduced the cars in 1973, along- side their existing range, but the exercise was a marketing disaster. The Pola vehicles were prop- erly-proportioned and emphasised the deficien- cies of the home-designed cars. Dyed-in-the- wool U.S. collectors opted for the traditional range, and after three years of trying to move the inventory, Lionel quietly dropped the ex- Pola cars; the dies for a caboose and a hopper car were never even run. Perversely of course, the cars are now highly prized by Lionel collec- tors!
A few final comments on car weighting. Tank cars have open underframes with no hiding place for lead, so the best option is to save all those offcuts of lead which piled up when you were working on your hoppers, and tip the required quantity into the tank before sealing it. Flat cars are even more of a problem; small rectangles of lead can be glued in the spaces under the floor, or alternatively the under- frame spaces can be filled with lead shot and boxed in with plasticard, but the car will still be underweight. A suitably-weighty load will solve the problem in one direction, but if you are operating your layout properly at least half the journeys will be empty; in this case follow the prototype and only run them at the rear of the train. ●
AUGUST 1998 7