Head end cars we would like to see

[Upstate Gator]

The brass sides for the troop car conversions are listed at http://www.prototypespecificproducts.com/n-scale-model-builders-page/

Although there is an "add to cart" button, there doesn't seem to be a way to access the cart and checkout. There is a contact phone number. There is a note farther down the page that all items were in stock as of April 2015. The N Scale section was updated in September.

They have a wider variety of sides than Bill's, but they will require a lot more work.

I purchased four sets of the sides a few years ago. They are a couple of feet too short for the Micro-Trains troop cars, but if you cut off the stirrups on the brass sides, they'll probably look OK. (I didn't think of this until after I started the model in the photos.)

Ben

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[jmlaboda]

I purchased four sets of the sides a few years ago. They are a couple of feet too short for the Micro-Trains troop cars, but if you cut off the stirrups on the brass sides, they'll probably look OK. (I didn't think of this until after I started the model in the photos.)

Yah, the MR Warehouse sides are misproportioned in all scales they offer them in and Model Railroader provided such a bad review that most modelers simply haven't bothered.  They should be considered junk unless a person likes wasting their money on trash.

Someone offered etched brass sides to convert the MT Troop Sleeper cars, but they quickly disappeared and I haven't seen them advertized since.  I was lucky that I purchased two sets from them at a National Train Show some years ago:

Rasputen, looks like you have some of these sides.  Sad really, they could have done them so much better (especially so for the price)...

[Rasputen]

The sides are a little short, but I only noticed it when I went to epoxy them in place, so it was too late.  You could easily shorten the car by the appropriate amount and no one would notice.  I still think these were a great idea, and the rivet details were well done.

[thomasjmdavis]

I would have ordered stuff years ago from Model RR Warehouse, if I could have figured out how to do it on their webpage, which is more complicated than assembling a Western Railcraft kit without instructions.

I think, in their defense, it might be noted that the sides came out years before the MT cars were available (being, I believe, the "Cannonball" kit line), and I think were made to fit an existing boxcar of the time.  I have an RPO that is made up of a Bachmann coach with brass sides (not sure who made them) that predate even the JnJ sides (mine has 5 windows, the JnJ had 4- working on decaling it for C&EI).  It is shorter than a MT car, but the sides still look pretty good. Likewise, many of the early passenger sides were made to fit the Con Cor cars, which are also a bit short (ALM cores include a "spacer" that lengthens them a couple feet).  And it also works the other way around.  Take for example the Con-cor Budd RPO that measures 70'- pretty clearly stretched to use as much of the existing baggage tooling as possible.

[tuxachanie]

How about a nice 60' baggage like Southern Ry and Mobile & Ohio (later Gulf Mobile & Ohio) had?

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Would it be economical to produce just the sides via shapeways to use with Micro-trains heavyweights as a core? I'm debating whether to take the time to learn how to do this and try it. The hefty price tag on the full cars I see on shapeways is a bit out of my budget as there are dozens of heavyweights I'd like to have that aren't made otherwise. Or would it be cheaper to find somebody that can etch some brass car sides?

Tony Howe

[thomasjmdavis]

There aren't that many custom etchers who will take on an N scale heavyweight because of the surface detail, and some charge a base charge plus $x per side, others just require a minimum order of one or two dozen sets.  Just looking at the photo, I would think you could do a kitbash from the MT baggage cars (Erie prototype) and come up with a pretty credible model.  I would think the trucks would be the hard part- looks rather like a PRR truck.

Another option, depending on how close is close enough, would be the Skytop 60' kit, which sure looks like a cut down MT baggage.

[eric220]

How about a nice 60' baggage like Southern Ry and Mobile & Ohio (later Gulf Mobile & Ohio) had?

(Attachment Link)

Not sure that logo is going to catch on...

[Upstate Gator]

 

Amazing logo. I do like the car.
Ben

[chicken45]

Not to go all Robert Langton on you guys, but:

The Swastika (also known as the gammadion cross, cross cramponnée, or wanzi) (as a character: 卐 or 卍) is a symbol that generally takes the form of an equilateral cross, with its four legs bent at 90 degrees.[1][2] It is considered to be a sacred and auspicious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.[3]

I learned about this back in 1989 or so because Nintendo Power told me it was a Manji.

[peteski]

Swastika might have been around for a very long time, but unfortunately Hitler and the Nazis gave it a very bad association.

Although, as the WW II is fading further and further into history and new generations of people are coming into this world, the negative meaning of swastika might also be fading into history.

[ChristianJDavis1]

I learned about this back in 1989 or so because Nintendo Power told me it was a Manji.

I know what that is from! Never finished that game (then again, I did not get it until about 24 years after it came out).

To get back on track, though, I would like (and would buy) anything PRR. I know it is unlikely to be fulfilled in a ready to run format anytime soon, but it is not realistic to expect manufacturers to cater to one prototype that is not necessarily interchangeable among roads. In all honesty, more variations on heavyweight baggage cars would be appreciated.

[SandyEggoJake]

Oy vey! Classic TRW topic drift!  Taking bets which will happen first; A) Tom locks this thread down, or B) someone posts their head end need is for 1930's era german stock cars.

Seriously, that car looks to be an easy splice of the Riva Rossi 85' baggage-express.  But as already noted, the trucks will be the tough part.  Look on fleabay for old Bachmann shorties to scrape for those... or join the chorus of those of us begging Bmann to reissue them and/or for someone else to develop a similar die (IIRC, the MT's don't have the leaf springs).  I could use a dozen 4 wheel friction bearing leaf spring express trucks myself to finish off some Fine N Scale express cars. 

 
 

[OldEastRR]

Having a conversion kit for a car you want is only part of the answer. You need the correct decals, too. I don't know, maybe Skytop issues the specific decals for the its car conversions. For a craftsman, or a guy who says "let's see if I can do  this", rebuilding, kitbashing, side-converting, or whatever for any  specific passenger car is doable. But without the proper markings, you've got only half a model. Sometimes you can grab individual decals from various sets to recombine into the lettering you need, but usually not. The only route then is custom-made or self-printed decals (on your own printer, with your own artwork), both of which are expensive.

[eric220]

Oy vey! Classic TRW topic drift!  Taking bets which will happen first; A) Tom locks this thread down, or B) someone posts their head end need is for 1930's era german stock cars.

As the one who started the thread drift, let me implore for an end to it. I intended my comment to be an irreverent, lighthearted reference to the perversion of the swastica from the time that the Mobile and Ohio used it to the modern interpretation as a symbol of intolerance. Further discussion on this matter will invariably lead to option A. Let's let this thread continue with no more references to Goodwin's Law.

[arbomambo]

I've had no problems finding decals for any of the Skytop Models builds....














or any of the other builds of head end cars....