Autorack Side by Side

 

A couple of weeks ago I purchased a couple of Intermountain autoracks. A couple of months ago I purchase a couple of the new Walther’s Proto autoracks. So I thought I would do some comparison.

Firs off they are both excellent cars. Paint is crisp and well done with clean lines.(Walthers is BN and Intermountain is the UP) All the labels and stencils on the cars is legible and well done. I would call it a tie here. All couplers were at the proper height and the wheels were all in gauge on the NMRA gauge. Both cars are very free rolling and have excellent wheelsets. Weight is 6.6 oz for the Intermountain and 8.8 for the Walthers. NMRA recommended for a 12 inch car of this size is 7 ¼ So Walthers wins there.

 

 

The sides of both cars are well done. Walthers did an excellent job but Intermountain went above and beyond with those see through sides. Hand brakes, roof, and underbody details are pretty comparable between cars. I think another tie here. The ends are another story. Intermountain has the opening doors but they seem to be pretty fragile I would not be opening them very often. I also had some difficulty getting the one I open closed again. Intermountain has couple cut levers and the Walthers does not. Neither have air hoses. Because they are fixed I think Walthers has better door detail as you can see door latches and other items that are lacking in the Intermountain cars. On the other hand the Walthers car has a little flash the should have been cleaned up at the bottom of the door. You might also notice some bare plastic that got missed in painting in the photo as well. I think Intermountain did better on the river detail as well.

 

Over they are both excellent cars. I do think the Intermountain is a little better car in terms of detail. One thing to keep in mind in there is a significant price difference as well. The Walthers is MSRP of $64.98 vs $99.99 for the Intermountain. I would point out though that I got them both from Model Train Stuff online and paid $53.99 and $69.99 for the Intermountain. Although I will be changing out the Walthers couplers for Kadees so there is a few bucks less difference in the end.Bottom line is they are both good cars and I will probably buy more of each in the future. I need another dozen or so of these cars and I will probably buy both brands again.

 

Virtual Train Convention

 

Good evening (or morning as the case may be). I had the privilege to attend the National Model Railroad Association’s national convention last week. Due to COVID issues the event was held virtually. I cannot say enough about the experience. The crew in California did an amazing job with it. Especially considering the relatively short time they had to prepare. The clinics were very well done. Having two concurrent sessions and then breakout rooms where attendees could interact with the presenters was nothing short of brilliant on the part of the organizers. This is hands down the best Zoom event I have attended over the last year. Thank you so much to the organizers.

 

My attendance was a last minute decision as I registered the night before. My initial impression was that why pay for a few days of model railroad videos similar to what I can get for free on You Tube. Boy was I wrong. Yes, some of the layout tours were actually links to You Tube Videos. However, the various breakout rooms that were taking place throughout the week is what really made it for me. In addition to the breakout rooms associated with clinics, they had rooms dedicated to other topics like layout design or particular railroads or groups of railroads. I hopped into a few vendor sessions and learned about some great new products. After his presentation I am definitely going to need some Dwarvin lighting once I get building the layout and structures for example (check them out at: www.dwarvin.com/). The chance to interact with the NMRA president was a pleasure as well. I don’t know if they will do another virtual convention like this again but if they do, I urge to sign up.

 

For those who are not familiar with the NMRA check out their web site at www.nmra.org. The NMRA is the group that has established standards for model trains. They are why an Athearn locomotive with a Soundtraxx decoders can pull cars by Tangent or Bachmann over track made by Atlas or Micro-engineering. But the groups is so much more than either standards or national conventions. The NMRA is about comradery in the hobby. It is about meeting other model railroaders in your local area or from around the world. It is about interacting with members around the region or on your local division. It is about education and learning about model trains and how to build, paint operating them etc. It’s about having access to a growing library of videos or even getting access to materials in their hardcopy library. The growing list of manufacturers and retailers that participate in the discount program could pay for one’s membership. Like I said check them out at nmra.org and if you like what you see join. Their 9 month rail pass (trial membership) for under $20 is the best deal in model railroading.