MTL TrailerTrain cars question

[crrcoal]

Anybody here know what the build dates are on the MTL brown TTAX cars are? Are the yellow cars newer? Im looking for 60's to 74 timeframe era for piggyback service. Thank you!

[jagged ben]

The yellow 'TT' scheme is newer and debuted in 1970 or 71, if I recall correctly.  So the change happened right in the middle of your era.

I could be wrong but I believe the brown scheme is not actually correct for the MT cars.  They were built in the 70s and never appeared in that scheme.  They are a good stand in for similar cars though.   

BLMA and Trainworx have made cars in both schemes that are all correct. 

Atlas has also made the same prototype as MT, in the yellow TT scheme, with body mounted couplers and finer hitches.   Depending on your layout radius and interests you may or may not prefer it over the MT.

[crrcoal]

Thanks Ben! The reason I was looking at the MT cars was they seem more readily available. I'll keep an eye out for the Atlas and BLMA but stand in's will be ok too (3' foot rule)

[wcfn100]

The MTL brown cars are marked as new in '68.  I can't remember the month but I think it's June or earlier because that's my cut off date.

As for accuracy, it's not 100% but is about 95%.  Or in a different perspective,  it's closer that any pre-54 paint scheme Atlas puts on their new PS-1 boxcar and those are well accepted.

Do a search from the main page here for 'ttax' and you see we've discussed this a few times.

If the MTL car was a little redder and had a white deck it'd be a pretty great car for its age.

Jason

[crrcoal]

Ok great! Thanks Jason!

Happy Thanksgiving all!!

[nkalanaga]

The white deck can be done with some masking tape and a spray can, if one wants it.  I haven't bothered on mine, as I, and most people I know, have never seen the deck of a clean TOFC car.  But I have repainted boxcar roofs the same way, and it isn't a hard job.  Just make sure the tape is tight, so the white doesn't bleed onto the sides, and you won't have to reletter anything.

[bbussey]

As for accuracy, it's not 100% but is about 95%.  Or in a different perspective,  it's closer that any pre-54 paint scheme Atlas puts on their new PS-1 boxcar and those are well accepted.

The BLMA and Trainworx TOFCs in TT brown are accurate to their respective prototypes and a far better option than the MTL model for that scheme.  The MTL model is not 95% accurate because the scheme pre-dates the prototype that the MTL car is based on.

Regarding the Atlas PS-1, the nitpicking of a model being inaccurate for certain specific paint schemes due to minor detail variations is ridiculous, and it certainly isn't comparable to MTL releasing schemes on a model of a prototype that never wore the scheme in any iteration of said prototype.

[James Costello]

The MTL model is not 95% accurate because the scheme pre-dates the prototype that the MTL car is based on..

Have we actually verified what ACF class the MTL flat is based on?

[wcfn100]

The MTL model is not 95% accurate because the scheme pre-dates the prototype that the MTL car is based on.

The paint scheme is correct for the PSH10A flat car which is the prototype for the Micro Trains car.  And these cars did come out in 1968 so the paint does not predate the car.

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1621236

It's no different than Atlas putting 1947 schemes on their box car.


Jason

[crrcoal]

So the MTL based cars could be found all over the rail system then? or were they road specific? Reason I ask is I am trying to put together a Lehigh Valley "Apollo" Train. It doesn't have to be 100% down to the rivets correct but meet the Allen McClelland rule of "close enough".

Thanks again guys!

[Pathtimber]

 I have assembled several valley Apollo trains on my layout, and I use the Atlas and BMLA cars, and also don't forget about the Trainworx 85' flatcars as well! They all run together nicely.

That said, if Athearn makes the channel side flat I'd buy like forty of them. And we still need brown ACF trailer train flats as well.

[nkalanaga]

Crrcoal:  These cars could be found anywhere TOFC ran.  The whole idea behind Trailer Train was that it supplied the cars, so that member roads didn't have to buy and maintain their own TOFC fleets.  It also made it easier to find the right car for a service, as everything was centrally coordinated.  If there was a need for a new type of car, or newly equipped car, TTX would handle it, rather than the individual roads having to decide whether they would buy or rebuild their cars.

Most major railroads were members, and the cars could also be seen on smaller roads, members or not.  The non-member roads had to pay per diem, as with any other foreign car, but it was still simpler to pay one car owner than many.  As the mergers of the last 50 years have decreased the number of railroads, the number of owners has also gone down, with Wikipedia listing these:

    Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.
    Canadian National Railway
    Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.
    CSX Corporation
    Ferromex
    Kansas City Southern Railway
    Norfolk Southern Corp.
    Pan Am Railways (Boston & Maine Corporation)
    Union Pacific Railroad

[bbussey]

The paint scheme is correct for the PSH10A flat car which is the prototype for the Micro Trains car.  And these cars did come out in 1968 so the paint does not predate the car.

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1621236

ASH10A, not PSH10A.  And while that is the number series used for all MTL "TT-brown" cars that have been released over the decades, none of the dozens of TT yellow cars ever have been numbered in that series — and never has the TT class designation appeared on any of the brown cars while it has appeared on the yellow cars.  Based on the number series used for the numerous TT-yellow MTL releases, which far outnumber the TT-brown MTL releases, the model prototype does not pre-date the scheme.  Also, unlike with the PFE reefer, MTL never has stated what the prototype is for the TOFC.  So the actual prototype of the model is inconclusive.

Based on your prototype ASH10A photo, can an MTL TOFC pass for a brown ASH10A?  Yes.  Is it the prototype the model was based on?  Unknown.

[James Costello]

Here's the only written review of the MTL 89'er I've come across and it's by a historian I trust.

March 1992 Railmodel Journal - D. Scott Chatfield

"Micro-Trains recently released a proper length flush deck car in N scale. It is based on ACF's mid-Seventies all-purpose flats, like Trailer Train's later ASH20As and much of FECs fleet. Southern Pacific and Texas-Mexican also has this specific variation."

and

"For the first run, Micro-Trains painted its TTAX red and numbered it 970257, a good number for an early ACF (remember the jacking pads are about the only things that changed over the years). But I'm baffled as to why the choice of a Pullman Standard deck number (252650) for the second run's yellow car."

So I would take the yellow lettering with a grain of salt....but I'm not sure there is any noticeable difference between an ASH20A and the earlier ASH10A  either, especially in N scale. YMMV.

[mplsjct]

Well, seeing how most layouts aren't 100% accurate for what they represent, I would think the MTL car will work just fine. I have Trainworx and BLMA cars, but until now, I hadn't known the MTL cars were reasonably close for the brown cars, I think I will be picking a few of them up.

crrcoal; Bluford shops has a timeline of railroad events on their webpage, it lists 1970 as the year TrailerTrain switched from the brown to yellow scheme.