New boxcar from Rapido

[Englewood]

I bought a six pack of the SP cars. One doesn't roll very well, and the other five are okay. I'll give the trucks a little spread when I have some time to see if that helps.

[kscessandriver]

I've got 5 of the 6 I ordered (curse you Factory Direct Hobbies for not waiting and sending them all in on order), and I'm happy with them. They seem to roll ok, I'm happy with the finish. Of course it would be great to have somewhere to actually run them, maybe I'll work on some track someday...

[kiwi_bnsf]

My dozen Rapido B-100-40 boxcars arrived, and I really like them — the freestanding detail is excellent, as is the extended draft gear, and etched coupler crossover plates.

I would agree with the comments above that the trucks are the weak point with this model. The mouldings are a little soft and the springs are not as well defined as Micro-Trains or Atlas/BLMA tucks. They would be okay after being heavily weathered, but the wheelsets are not compatible with my ME Code 40 track in yards and sidings, and with the axles being a non-standard length, I was motivated to experiment with truck swaps.

The Micro-Trains 100T trucks ride too high and would require milling down the bolsters, which I was keen to avoid.

The Atlas/BLMA 100T truck is compatible and instantly gives the correct ride and coupler height. The only problem is that the Rapido bolster expects a custom Rapido truck with a narrow diameter hole for the bolster pin, and so there is too much play with the BLMA truck. You could probably drill out a hole for an Micro-Trains bolster pin, but there is not much material to work with, and I was concerned that I would ruin a model.

After fossicking through my truck spare parts, I found that it is possible to cut down a Micro-Trains adapter pin to act as a bushing. (These adapter pins are included in the sprue that comes with most Micro-Trains trucks).


If anyone else wants to try this, here is my method:

1. Mount the MT bolster adapter on round a wooden cocktail stick to give it internal support and razor saw away the hexagonal head. The trick here is to saw at an angle against the hexagonal head so that you preserve as much of the thickness of the bushing as possible (this is important as you want the truck screw to tighten down on this bushing — not the truck). Once perfected, this process took me about 2 mins per bushing working slowly and rotating the cocktail stick. Resist all temptation to clean up the bushing too much — thickness is the deciding factor here, and the truck will be swivelling on the perfectly concentric nylon exterior of the bushing so any roughness on the face of the cut doesn't matter…

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2. Fit the truck, fit the bushing, and carefully tighten the Rapido screw down onto the bushing…

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3. Boom! You should now have a freely swivelling and pivoting Atlas/BLMA truck, but with no side-to-side play…

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(Atlas/BLMA 100T truck upgrade on the left, stock Rapido truck on the right)



This is a bit of a compromise as the prototype does not use ASF Ride Control trucks, but the truck frame tops are largely hidden as they are recessed, so I can live with it.

I now have Code 40 compatible wheelsets, trucks with nice spring detail, and good running characteristics. I have tested these on my nasty 15" turnback curves in staging without any issues with the wheels rubbing or fouling the underframe.

Hope this helps if someone else wants to upgrade these.

Cheers

[bbussey]

Tim, I like your solution and I may apply it. I ended up spreading the sideframes slightly and swapping in ESM wheels. But I’m still not happy with the sideframe relief. The BLMA trucks can be painted freight car red, lacquer-based paint should hold.

Also, it should be possible to slice the MTL bushing with a fresh razor blade without distortion or having to worry about loss of material due to the width of the saw blade.

[ridinshotgun]

Tim, I like your solution and I may apply it. I ended up spreading the sideframes slightly and swapping in ESM wheels. But I’m still not happy with the sideframe relief. The BLMA trucks can be painted freight car red, lacquer-based paint should hold.

Also, it should be possible to slice the MTL bushing with a fresh razor blade without distortion or having to worry about loss of material due to the width of the saw blade.

Could this be a 3D printed part that one of local 3D artists can print up a sheet? (Since I will be getting a large fleet of these)

[Lemosteam]

I will admit I probably went a bit too thick with it too.

Honestly, I just hate that Tamiya flat clear. Like, I'm thinking I'm just going to throw the can out.

Before you toss that out.  A friend online shared that if you put a dime thickness washer (~1.25mm) under the nozzle, it will prevent heavy coating from the Tamiya can as it will restrict how far you can press the nozzle down.

[kiwi_bnsf]

Could this be a 3D printed part that one of local 3D artists can print up a sheet? (Since I will be getting a large fleet of these)

The Micro-Trains bolster bushings have two advantages: they are made of nice slippery delrin plastic and they are already the perfect diameter to match the BLMA trucks.

If you don't have a friend who already has lots of Micro-Trains parts to spare, you could invest in some ten packs of 100T trucks (which are handy for lots of other conversions — such as Atlas 90T coal hoppers, and many boxcars). I use lots of the 1036 offset bolster version of their 100T truck:

https://www.micro-trains.com/index.php?route=product/product&search=1036+truck&description=true&product_id=422

There is also the standard 1139 centred bolster truck:

https://www.micro-trains.com/index.php?route=product/product&search=1139+truck&description=true&product_id=2094


I converted all twelve of my Rapido B-100-40s in about 2hrs using this method.

Cheers

[peteski]

If you contact MTL directly you can likely order that tree of parts containing the bolster pin, washer, and adapter for a very affordable price.  They do sell parts not listed in their catalogs.  I have bought bulk quantities of Z-scale coupler mounting screws, trip pins and 1023 coupler boxes.

[sd75i]

 My car seems to roll fine. 

[ridinshotgun]

So does anyone have any idea what size screw is used by rapido to mount the trucks?  While converting my cars tonight I found out one of the bolster hold stripped out at the very end.  Without the truck the screw can grip fine but with the ruck installed I just don't have enough purchase to hold it all together.  A slightly longer screw would solve the issue but none of my screw gauges are small enough to measure the threads.

[kiwi_bnsf]

So does anyone have any idea what size screw is used by rapido to mount the trucks?  While converting my cars tonight I found out one of the bolster hold stripped out at the very end.  Without the truck the screw can grip fine but with the ruck installed I just don't have enough purchase to hold it all together.  A slightly longer screw would solve the issue but none of my screw gauges are small enough to measure the threads.

I had the exact same issue with a couple of the screws when converting mine to BLMA. I just put a drop of CA where the screw hole is, and then placed the screw. After a couple of minutes it set up pretty well, and there is no truck binding as the truck swivels against the MicroTrains bushing (not the screw).

[ljudice]

Very happy with mine except why do manufacturers almost always render the faded golden west logo in red - when it always fades to pink?

[nkalanaga]

Peteski:  You buy 1023/1025 boxes in bulk too?  It's a lot cheaper than throwing out the truck-mounted couplers, isn't it?

In fact, last time I looked, if one has a supply of boxes, it's actually cheaper to buy trucks with couplers, than to buy trucks without them and 1025 couplers separately.  And 1025s are a lot cheaper than the assembled 1023s.

[peteski]

Peteski:  You buy 1023/1025 boxes in bulk too? 

Well yes, but I didn't buy a very high quantity. I just needed about a dozen for the GOEMON couplers I bought (to experiment with them).  MTL does sell them in bulk if you inquire.

[ridinshotgun]

I had the exact same issue with a couple of the screws when converting mine to BLMA. I just put a drop of CA where the screw hole is, and then placed the screw. After a couple of minutes it set up pretty well, and there is no truck binding as the truck swivels against the MicroTrains bushing (not the screw).

Yeah that is what I did for the single one I had issue with but used some acrylic glue in place of CA.  Seems to have worked but I would still like to have some screws the same size but longer on hand in case I have any more issues.