Anyone have some MT Nn3 30ft boxcars?

[Specter3]

I was wondering if anyone had an MT Nn3 30 ft boxcar that would see if standard gauge trucks fit on it. If they do these would make good 1880-1890 boxcars.

Thanks

Ryan

[Chris333]

If you have any of the old Bachmann cars, then this might help:

[mionerr]

I haven't tried that conversion; I was going the other way, putting narrow gauge trucks on the old timer Bachmann cars.
Here are my thoughts.
I'd try putting bachmann old timer trucks or MDC old time trucks. You'll have to adapt the mounting system since the pins and the holes they go into are smaller on the Nn3 cars.
The Nn3 cars are essentially the same as Z scale cars; they might be easier to come by and less expensive? In either case I imagine you'll need to repaint.

[jimmo]

The Nn3 cars are essentially the same as Z scale cars; they might be easier to come by and less expensive? In either case I imagine you'll need to repaint.

Easier to come by and less expensive than Bachmann oldtimers? Not in my experience.

[nkalanaga]

"Go not to the elves for advice, for they shall say both yes and no."

Yes, you can put MT N scale trucks on the Nn3 boxcar.  Drill the bolster 5/64 to fit the new pin and the underframe works fine.

No, I wouldn't try it.  You'll have to remove the steps, and even then, the journal boxes stick out past the sides of the car.  It looks very silly.  Most standard gauge cars of that period were about 9 feet wide, compared with 7.5 to 8 feet for the narrow gauge. 

If it was me, I'd get some Evergreen scribed siding and build my own.  Wooden freight cars are easy to build in plastic, and the ironwork can be made very easily with paper.  Emboss the rivets and bolts with a dull straight pin before gluing and they look fine on the tracks.  Larger bolts can be done with Grandt Line NBW castings, and truss rods are easier to add during construction than to retrofit to the MT cars.

One car you may want to look into is the frameless tank car from Republic Locomotive Works.  These are based on the UTLX "Gramps" cars from the D&RGW, and the prototypes were standard gauge cars on narrow gauge trucks.  They're probably a little too modern for the 1890s, but I believe they date from before 1920.  Putting standard gauge trucks on them would be easy and prototypical.

[Chris333]

The MTL Nn3 boxcars where re-released either this month or last month. So you should at least be able to find them. But I think they are small for standard gauge. Fine-N-scale makes some nice early N scale boxcars.

[jimmo]

If you're going to go to MT for narrow gauge cars, why not check out their early standard gauge car line? Isn't that what you're looking for in the first place?

[nkalanaga]

MT's Civil War era standard gauge cars are a little too early for the 1880s and 90s.  There was a lot of innovation in the years after the war.

[Specter3]

The War Between the States series from MT is too early for what I am looking for. The 1890s -1910s had boxcars that looked like more modern gear but were sized from 30ft and up. The 36 ft cars can be done nicely with the Fine N Scale cars and the Roundhouse/MDC cars you can still find on occasion. But below that is what I am looking for. Was there a Bachmann 34ft car like in HO scale? I have not seen those in person. But there were many 30 and 32 and 34ft cars in this period and pictures show the large differences in size of these cars. MT has many nice reefer cars that work well for the period. I may try to bash some smaller cars. I have dove into hacking up some passenger cars so if those turn out servicable then some boxcars should be easy, right? LOL.  Thanks for the replys.

Ryan

[crappie]

  Try RLW,he has a few boxcars.

[Specter3]

Found a rather inexpensive Nn3 car on ebay. Here is what it looks like with N scale trucks sitting with a 34 ft car and a 40 ft car.







Similar size differences to some of the cars here:



But it definitely is way smaller.