True Line Trains 50' Paper Box car

[wm3798]

I'm sorry, but those close ups just verify in my mind why added on details aren't always the best looking.  Those ladders look incredibly fat, as does the door hardware.  Overall, I think it's a decent looking car, but this is clearly a case where all the add-ons have driven up the cost, while at the same time driving down the appearance of the car.  Compare this to the much finer cast on details you find on this MDC car...



They might lack the depth of the added on pieces, but they look more in proportion, and more believably to scale.  Slap a little weather on it, and run it at 30 smph, and no one will be any the wiser that you paid $5.99 for the car, plus couplers.

Lee

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Well the CN box is the wrong phase.
Here is a sample from the number series:
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=747475

The car looks like it represents a 4015XX series:
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=732005

[Puddington]

Oh dear............not a good week for TLT.......... :-\

[cv_acr]

Well the CN box is the wrong phase.
Here is a sample from the number series:
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=747475

The car looks like it represents a 4015XX series:
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=732005

Proto1000/Walthers made the same mistake on the HO cars, including numbers in the low 401xxx series which are older cars of a very slightly different style, renumbered from a different series in 1969 about the same time as the newer 400350-400999 cars were acquired. Later cars in the 401500+ series are identical to the 400350-400999 series. Note also that a good chunk of the cars above 400350 were renumbered early on with CNIS reporting marks, eg. http://freight.railfan.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=cnis400395&o=cn

All in all, that's a minor issue, as it only requires changing a car number. But nice to see these companies doing their research.

[Robbman]

True-Line dished out the money and did the design... so we should just suck it up and pay whatever they're charging... my god man, what's wrong with you... thinking a model should at least look like the prototype...

A judgement call on the artistic side of tooling is a little different than putting the door track in the wrong location, no?  Man, I've never seen you so butt-hurt before.   :-*

Butt-hurt?  Are you talking about how yours is feeling from being a shill?

[Sokramiketes]

True-Line dished out the money and did the design... so we should just suck it up and pay whatever they're charging... my god man, what's wrong with you... thinking a model should at least look like the prototype...

A judgement call on the artistic side of tooling is a little different than putting the door track in the wrong location, no?  Man, I've never seen you so butt-hurt before.   :-*

Butt-hurt?  Are you talking about how yours is feeling from being a shill?

Nice try, I haven't done any work for FVM and am not on the payroll.  What exactly are you accusing me of?

[wm3798]

Obviously he fancies you.

[Puddington]

Nah.... some people just like being negative Lee.........it's like an "art form".......

[Robbman]

True-Line dished out the money and did the design... so we should just suck it up and pay whatever they're charging... my god man, what's wrong with you... thinking a model should at least look like the prototype...

A judgement call on the artistic side of tooling is a little different than putting the door track in the wrong location, no?  Man, I've never seen you so butt-hurt before.   :-*

Butt-hurt?  Are you talking about how yours is feeling from being a shill?

Nice try, I haven't done any work for FVM and am not on the payroll.  What exactly are you accusing me of?

Your obviously making up lame excuses for your friends... you don't have to be on the payroll to be a shill.

IM made a judgement call on the nose angle on their standard-cab EMDs that is obviously worng (it's a set angle after all)... is that artisitic to you as well?

[Sokramiketes]

Nice try, I haven't done any work for FVM and am not on the payroll.  What exactly are you accusing me of?

Your obviously making up lame excuses for your friends... you don't have to be on the payroll to be a shill.

IM made a judgement call on the nose angle on their standard-cab EMDs that is obviously worng (it's a set angle after all)... is that artisitic to you as well?

I have a lot of friends in this industry, so I'm going to ignore the shill comments or else I'd be stuck only commenting on MTL...

Can you tell me more about the judgement calls on rivet size and grab iron dimensions you made on the TopGons?  And why don't you change your signature or mention that you're under employ of BLMA when you post about the TopGon project?

Let me know if you still want to keep digging this hole.  I'm game.   :-*

Love,

[Robbman]

It's no secret I designed the TopGon for Craig...  if someone doesn't know that, they haven't been paying attention to any of the forums.  Last time I checked my EIN, I wasn;t under the employ of BLMA either.

I could tell you all about the calls we had to make to account for injection molding it in N scale and HO scale... but none were for 'artistic judgement'.  I didnt change the angle of the slope sheet becuase it didn't look right to me...

[Puddington]

Do you guys really have to polute my thread on TLT cars with your issues...... perhaps you could focus on the issue at hand; if indeed you have a salient point of view on the matter.....

Gezz! >

[ljudice]

Duel!!!!

Technical drawing pencils at 50 paces!!!!

[central.vermont]

A few more shots of them from post at the A Board:

http://www.modeltrains.com/PICTURES/PICTURES%20-%20Non-brass-1/True%20Line%20Trains/TLT-500000-899999/TLT-600002-2%20copy.jpg

http://www.modeltrains.com/PICTURES/PICTURES%20-%20Non-brass-1/True%20Line%20Trains/TLT-500000-899999/TLT-600008-1%20copy.jpg

Weak that they messed up the door rail, but since the doors don't open I can live with it. Ride height certainly needs work.

OK back to the TLT discussion.
Their not my era but I have been following this thread just the same. Kinda
curious what kind of response anyone gets from the manufacturer.
Also looks like from these shots that they are even putting on pizza cutters!!!!
I can't see why anyone would tool a new car nowadays and NOT put low
profile wheels on!!!!!   
Hope they get things right before they move on to a new car in the steam era!  ;D ;D ;

Jon

[Robbman]

Duel!!!!

Technical drawing pencils at 50 paces!!!!

STAEDTLER to the ready (yes...it's all caps)