MTL PS2 Announcement.

[oakcreekco]

I remember those Athearn gondolas being made of cast metal and their paint jobs just smoothed out the details even further. The Atlas hopper has been around forever and the tooling is very old (aren't they Trainman now?). I'm glad that MTL is starting to update and care about ride height. These 2 cars look like they have very fine details.

Agreed. A very welcomed addition with some very nice features.

[muktown128]

These PS2 hoppers look good and will be a nice upgrade over the Atlas model.  I would have liked to have seen an etched metal roof walk since it would be thinner than than the see-through plastic roof walk.  It won't keep me from buying this model though.

@MTLJoe is there a particular reason for making the roof walk out of plastic instead of etched metal since there are etched metal parts on this model?

Scott

[Sokramiketes]

@MTLJoe is there a particular reason for making the roof walk out of plastic instead of etched metal since there are etched metal parts on this model?

Scott

Probably because they look better straight and thick than thin and wavy/falling off the model.  <grin>

[peteski]

Probably because they look better straight and thick than thin and wavy/falling off the model.  <grin>

Well, there is more than one way to skin the photoetched cat.  But first, does anybody know the thickness of the 1:1 roofwalks?

If 1:1 ones scale to be closer to photoetched  rather than to the molded plastic ones, then the way to prevent waviness is not to glue them on, but mount them with tabs inserted in slots in the plastic body.  I seem to recall some models have long photoetched parts attached that way.  That also makes them easier to custom decorate (since roof walks can be removed and reinstalled).

The plastic see-through ones MTL now uses on some of their cars look ok (better than the older, thicker solid ones from the past).  But how long will the molds keep on making them without flash starting to cover the openings?  Plus they do look a bit too thick (I'm saying that withotu actual 1:1 size reference). 

[thomasjmdavis]

Ah, I see what you mean.

N&W 71324 (Blt 01-1957) has the "channel", right? https://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=20334

Mark

Yep. 

That said, a lot of railroads had multiple versions of these cars- so, worth checking to see if there was a second delivery of the version MTL is doing, unless you have a specific cutoff date.

[Angus Shops]

The photo from MT shows roller bearing trucks. Would roller bearing trucks be accurate?

[oakcreekco]

The photo from MT shows roller bearing trucks. Would roller bearing trucks be accurate?

Yes, depending on the "era" it's operating.

[wcfn100]

Yes, depending on the "era" it's operating.

It depends on the railroad too.  I know the CGW adopted RBs earlier than some other roads on these cars.

Jason

[daniel_leavitt2000]

We are ironing out the last few production set ups and should have these out soon.

Thanks

Joe
MTL

The sample looks great!

These look to be new trucks. Are these the Symington-Gould RB side frames with new kingpin placement? Are they under slung?

[oakcreekco]

It depends on the railroad too.  I know the CGW adopted RBs earlier than some other roads on these cars.

Jason

Yep, very true.

These CGW/CNW cars would be the Era/roads that I would love to see MTL do.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1620447

[nkalanaga]

The GN had 2-bay "cement hoppers", not necessarily PS, with roller bearings in 1951.  These were the original square-hatch style, like the rather clunky Deluxe Innovations (etc) cars, and I still wish someone would make a good model of them.

Most of the GN's were the older "ACF-style" cars, with the square hatches, from ACF, PS and GAC although they had one series of PS-2s built in 1958.

[thomasjmdavis]

This is a case where photos are our friends- a lot was going on with freight car trucks in the 1950s- so the cars were likely delivered with a variety of trucks according to the specs provided by a given railroad.  And also, over time many cars would likely have had their trucks updated.  There are certainly photos of these cars riding on roller bearing trucks in the 70s, although the photos of new cars that I've seen show friction bearings.  Google is NOT being my friend (or Duck Duck Go or any other search engine), and 98% of results I get are photos of models in various scales from hobby shop ads.

The trucks for any given delivery of these PS-2s are probably dependent on the railroad.  The ATSF cars were delivered with ASF A-3s with friction bearings (BLMA unless MTL tools one up).  But for roads that had adopted roller bearings, the Symington_Gould would make sense. (And I agree that is what it looks like in the photo).  MTL also makes an ASF A-3 with roller bearings which might be appropriate for some of these cars delivered in the late 50s.  And it would not surprise me at all if some were delivered with Barber S-2's, or something else. 

This discussion reminds me that I need to order more BLMA ASF friction bearing trucks. 

It does amuse me (when I'm not thinking about the cost), how many manufacturers go to great lengths to put the correct brakewheel  style on a car, only to then put a 70 ton car on a generic 50 ton "Bettendorf" (often as not misidentified) truck.  So, good to see that Joe and the crew are at least thinking about what trucks to put under this.

[nkalanaga]

Another truck option, not available in N scale, is roller bearing adapters in older trucks.  Usually the only evidence is the removal of the journal box lids.

At least two series of the GN cars came with what looks like "Bettendorf" trucks, factory-equipped with Timken roller bearings, and somewhat unusual journal box lids.  Except for the lettering, one would never know they had roller bearings.

[bbussey]

I’m fairly certain the MTL roller-bearing truck first introduced in the 1970s is a 70-ton Symington. It definitely is not an ASF A-3. BLMA and ESM offer the ASF A-3 Ride Control 70-ton roller bearing truck. ESM will introduce ASF A-3 trucks with journal boxes refitted with roller bearings on the next run of the GSC Well Car and they will be available separately as well.

[Snark45]

To MTLJoe:

Will the hatch covers be available separately?

In addition to buying your new PS-2, I'd like to upgrade my fleet of Atlas hoppers...

Thanks for this release!

Regards, Harry