Con-Cor Bilevel ride height

[nickelplate759]

The Skytop Models C&NW diner got me thinking, and I put my Con-Cor bi-level C&NW coaches next to my Wheels o' Time cars.  The height difference is dramatic.  So, I got out my Carstens passenger car plan book (vol. 2) and my scale rule, and unsurprisingly discovered that although the Con-Cor bodies are fairly accurate, they ride about a scale foot too high.   I thought I'd just lower the bolster, but that presents a new problem - the body bolster is a tad less than a scale foot high. If I shave it completely off the car will still be a tad high, and the truck bolster will be resting directly on the floor. 

So.... I thought I'd inquire here.  Anyone lowered the Con-Cor bi-level coaches?       

By the way, although the Con-Cor coaches have the usual Con-Cor passenger truck, it happens at least to have the correct 8'6" wheelbase, so I'd like to keep it if I can.

George

George

[nkalanaga]

Do the cars have interiors?  If not, you could cut the section over the trucks out, add spacers inside on the remaining floor, and glue the cut-out sections back in, with reinforcing pieces on top, glued to the spacers.  I did much the same thing to lower their enclosed autoracks, and and to mount Marklin Z passenger trucks under Japanese N passenger cars for my narrow gauge.  It looks ugly, but if there's no interior detail, a few window shades can hide everything.

[nickelplate759]

Good idea, if a bit more work than I was hoping for.  Of course the easy way out is to raise up the (correct height) Wheels O' Time cars, but that would be shameful.

I wonder what the ride-height on the Skytop high-level diner will be?  I supposed I should build one and find out 

[nkalanaga]

No, raising a correct-height car isn't a good idea, unless one HAS to do it, like running it on too-sharp curves.  Even then it's a shame, but if that's the only way to make it work, so be it.  In your case I agree with you, leave the WOT alone.

Now, if these CC cars have a separate metal floor/weight and a cast-in plastic subfloor, like their ancient single-level cars, there's another way to do it.  You could remove the weight, cut the ends off, and make new body bolsters glued to the plastic subfloor.  I've done that to all of my MT 50 ft flats and gons, but never to a passenger car.  The drawback is that the middle section of the weight has the underbody details, and may sit to close to the tracks.  On the single-levels the "details" have no detail, so could easily be replaced by a slab of lead with some plastic blocks and tubes glued on.  You may also have to replace the CV truck pin, if it's one of their odd split pins, but that wouldn't be hard to do, after you've done all the other work. 

[nickelplate759]

I took nkalanga's suggestion and used that technique to lower the car .070".   OOPS!  Too much  !

I ripped that out and redid it at .040".   That seems about right.   The irony, of course, is that I could have lowered it .040" merely by grinding down the body bolster.

In the course of all this, I've discovered that the side doors on the Con-Cor Pullman bilevels are far too tall, and the C&NW paint scheme had been adjusted for the over all car height.  Next steps are therefore to strip the paint, add some styrene over the top of the doors to make them look shorter, and repaint.     I'll post a photo or two when I'm done.

[nkalanaga]

Glad it worked!

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Man that is a lot of work.