BLI cyro cars are in at MBK.

[C855B]

@Jbub , I really appreciate the heads-up on these esp. since I didn't pre-order. My usual go-to (NSS) indicated they had enough coming in to cover pre-orders plus some, so they will have a pair set aside for me either in my preferences.

I'm surprised this Praxair/Linde plant west of UP's West Colton yard is still around:



It was a point of interest during my railfan adventures back in the '70s. Notice the slightly more modern but familiar-looking cryo cars in their yard.

[Ike the BN Freak]

I'm pretty sure these come with body mounted couplers (everything else I have from BLI is body mount).

Mark

Unless the production run has body mounts, the samples that Ken had at the NTS had truck mounted

[Jbub]

Unless the production run has body mounts, the samples that Ken had at the NTS had truck mounted

Also the literature does NOT mention body mounted couplers.

[Mark5]

Unless the production run has body mounts, the samples that Ken had at the NTS had truck mounted

Well crap - that would be a first for them. Deal breaker for me. 

[GonzoCRFan]

The re-stock is in. Just ordered mine. Most appear to have 8-10 left in stock for the single cars.

[bbussey]

Thanks for the head’s-up.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The re-stock is in. Just ordered mine. Most appear to have 8-10 left in stock for the single cars.

Which one did you get? I'm having a hard time finding one that works for either the 80s or my PC stuff.

[Point353]

I'm having a hard time finding one that works for either the 80s or my PC stuff.

Airco, UTLX 80046, Wayne NJ, 1979: http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/utlx/utlx80046akg.jpg

Liquid Air Corp, UTLX 80071, Durand MI, 1980: http://s3.amazonaws.com/rrpa_photos/31053/March%2063.JPG

[GonzoCRFan]

Which one did you get? I'm having a hard time finding one that works for either the 80s or my PC stuff.

Honestly, I just bought the 5 I thought looked the coolest. I didn't do it with any prototype fidelity in mind. More or less hoping that if oddball tankcars sell well, we will see more of them.

[haasmarc]

These cars look nice but there are several issues that keep you from just putting them on the track and enjoy running them.

1) Cars wobble back and forth as they roll.
2) Cars won't couple unless lots of force is used.
3) Wheelsets aren't in gauge.
4) Wheelsets fall out of trucks.

I will show fixes for all of these.

1) The wobble appears to come from loose trucks.  The pins are installed fully but there is still too much play for the truck to fit correctly close to the body.  I just removed the truck pin and shortened it a little.  Now the truck is held closer to the frame and the little pins that are designed to limit wobble have a chance to work.
 


2) I will say that I am not impressed with the trucks, couplers or wheelsets on these cars and I will probably makes changes but you can make them work to be at least runable.  There are several issues that cause problems with the coupling.
    a) Flash.  The biggest issue is there is flash in the female part of the knuckle which keeps the trip pin from moving easily and allowing the coupler to open.
 


        After the flash is cleaned out it should look like this:



        When reassembling the coupler, don't tighten the screw too tight or the coupler won't swing at all.

    b) The hole in the coupler halves that rotate on the post in the draft gear sometimes needs to be filed a little bigger to allow the coupler to swing more freely.
    c) The trip pin is sometimes installed incorrectly.  It can be sticking straight out instead of angled to the side, which makes the trip pins hit and keep the cars from coupling.
    d) The centering pins don't always hold the coupler in the center.  Not much you can do about this one without replacing the coupler.

3) The wheelsets are almost all too narrow.  They hop through frogs on Atlas code 55 switches.  I regauged some of them but I am not happy with how well they stay in gauge.  Fox Valley wheels take care of this nicely and look better.

4) Several trucks have the side frames bent outward.  The side frames are very thin.  I bent them back straight but time will tell if they stay straight.



The outer wheelset is barely hanging in there.  Note the trip pin is also straight and not angled.

I will probably convert them to z-scale couplers and maybe change out the trucks down the road, but at least with these tweaks they can be run.  Kind of crappy that you have to do all this work just to run a $40 car.

[peteski]

And now time and time again we accept mediocre functional design and build quality just because the  model depicts a unique, not previously offered in N scale prototype.  Sort of like it was the accepted thing to do with brass models has now migrated to mass-produced plastic models. We buy them based strictly on their looks. 

Looks like the couplers are poorly designed semi-clones of MTL couplers.  Not only the plastic "springs" look way too thick and stiff to be functional, the magnetic uncoupling pin is not properly angled to work. But no matter, with those plastic springs, even with properly positioned uncoupling pin, the magnet would never have enough strength to swing the coupler far enough to uncouple.

[Mark5]

Thank you Marc, at least for confirming that these are truck mounted.

If I do pick one up, will have to figure out a body mount option ...

Mark

[haasmarc]

Thank you Marc, at least for confirming that these are truck mounted.

If I do pick one up, will have to figure out a body mount option ...

Mark

Mark,

Yeah, I don't understand it.  The H32 was body mounted, why not this one?  I will probably attach a 905 to the frame somehow eventually.

[Chris333]

Yeah they kept the same crappy trucks and wide wheels. They changed the one thing they shouldn't have.

Probably someyhing to do with 9.75" curves. 

[CONRAIL FAN]

Just received my two from MB. Very detailed models and worth it. One thing that stood out on the box was the Prop65 cancer warning. Is this cause of model itself containing something like lead or the moisture packet in the box?