Greetings, does anyone know if the bodies of Mantua Classics freight cars will fit onto the metal bases of the older Mantua models?
Bump. No one has tried this? Does anyone know if the Mantua Classics freight cars are made from the same molds as the old-skool Mantuas?
I'm not sure I understand the term Mantua Classics. I can, however, tell you that the same Mantua plastic gondola that came with a cast metal underframe, like this one...
...will fit just fine on the more recent plastic underbody, like this one...
...and that they can be made to look pretty-decent, too...
The only other plastic Tyco cars I have are four of these 40' reefers, all with plastic underbodies with varying degrees of sag...
...and when I was working on them to get rid of the sags, they were shortened to 36'ers....
...which won't fit on any Mantua or Tyco underbody, so I had to scratchbuild new ones.
Wayne
doctorwayneI'm not sure I understand the term Mantua Classics.
Thanks Wayne. Go to eBay and do a search for "HO Mantua Classics." Whoever owns the Mantua name now has been selling these in recent decades as "Mantua Classics," similar to Model Power selling cars made from old Marx HO molds. They are packaged in a red box.
I will always pick up an old Mantua/Tyco car with a metal base and metal trucks if they are cheap. Sometimes the bodies are beat up - broken steps, worn lettering, etc. - but the metal bases are in good shape.
I am thinking that this might be a way to rehab the old cars.
Interesting that you mentioned the gondola. That is one of the cars that I'm thinking of Frankensteining with the old metal base.
I thought the Mantua Classics ones were from when Model Power had the name and tooling. Since Wayne has shown that the old bodies fit the new chassis, I'm sure the reverse is true as well, and if the Mantua Classics used the same tooling, that will carry through.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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