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.

First Ever Layout Update

 

 

I know the headline might be a little misleading as I have not yet started to build. However, with the 1 to 1 scale build on the room progressing, I am trying to finalize the track plan. Thanks to those who commented on the previous incarnation I post a few months ago. I hope to post a revised track plan soon. However, in the mean time I have been experimenting with deck heights.After work today I went out to the train room and used some lumber scraps to do a mockup. The deck heights as shown are 38 and 57 inches. I am 5' 11" and will play around with these for a few days. One thing I might add is to cut some cardboard and add a fascia/valence to the upper deck to see how that impacts the lower deck. There is too much info available online so I will just add to the mix. Especially for those with multiple decks, I would be curious what heights work for you. Feel free to post below.

Train Room update

 

The electrical rough in is done and waiting for inspection. One the rough passes inspection then it is time for insulation and drywall. Should start to really look like a room.

American Limited Tank Cars

 I just purchased a couple of the new American Limited Models tank cars. These models represent the GATC 16,000 gallon tank car.I must say these are pretty nice cars. These are some of the nicest detailed tanks I have. I purchased the NP 102018 and the SPS 38618. The cars appear to be pretty much identical

 

 

 

Lots of nice details but also the paint jobs are crisp and the various stencils and markings are impressive.

 

 

 

With magnification you can see even the smallest writing is readable. I don't normally carry a magnifying glass to try to read the COTS stencils when I am running trains but it is nice to know you could. If you are able to zoom in not only are the stencils readable but they are appropriate for the individual car. For example the SPS car above was re-lubed by the SPS in Oct of 1971, It was built in September of 1949 and re tared by the SP&S in November of 1963. The NP car has similar detail. Another thing on these cars is that the have ACI labels and yellow wheel inspection dots. Perfect for my 1970s time period. That is a really nice touch you don't see a lot of manufacturers do.

All the wheelsets are in gauge. Three of the four couplers are at the perfect height. The B end on the NP car is slightly low on the Kadee height gauge. And I do mean slightly as you can see in the photo. They appear to be metal couplers painted a rust color. Also they have shelf couplers typical of tank cars.

The only real complaint I have is that both cars are about an ounce light per NMRA recommended practice.A seven inch car should be 4.5 ounces according to RP 20.1

If you want more information on the National Model Railroad Association standards and recommended practices see their web page at: https://www.nmra.org/index-nmra-standards-and-recommended-practices

 

 

These cars are stenciled for the late 70s given the ACI labels and the wheel inspection dots. I found a picture of NP 102018 on the http://www.rrpicturearchives.net web site. The picture is from 1979 as this car is a very close match. except the model no where near as dirty. I did not finds pics of SPS 38618 but I did find pics of other cars in the series that looked to be a very close match to the model. From the pics I found online it looks like at least some cars from the SPS series made it into the late 90s in MOW service. Overall  these are great cars for the price. The weight is the only complaint as I don't see any way to open the cars to add weight. I would recommend. Also If anyone has any ides for adding weight please leave a comment.

Midwest Model Railroad Company

 

I just received an order from Midwest Model Railroad in Independence, MO. I must say that I am impressed. I placed the order on Saturday. It was shipped that afternoon and arrived in my mailbox in Washington on Monday. It was superb service. I may have to shop there more often. By the way I purchased a couple of the new American Limited NP tank cars. some Kadee couplers and some detail parts for a couple of other projects I am working on.Check them out at https://midwestmodelrr.com/

Extruded foam Not just for scenery

 

 

We just finished the interior framing. Before we did the framing I put extruded foam insulation in between the purlons. They are 2x4s so 1 1/2 inch thick sheets fit flush. I thought it rather unusual that I was using this stuff for insulation. I though they just made this stuff for model railroad scenery. I guess you can use it for insulation too. Once that was done we built stud walls between the posts. This will let us drywall and finish the walls and ceiling in the the train room. Now we wait for the frost to come out of the ground so the electrician can run power to the building. Once the electrician is done and all inspected then its HVAC, drywall,trim, paint and flooring. 

Although I have been pretty busy doing the 1 to 1 scale building The UPS man brought me a nice treat yesterday. A box from Scale Trains. Got one of the brand new SD45s and and some covered hoppers. These are my first freight cars from them and they look great. Hopefully I will get some pictures and get a review posted in the next few days.