Guess this is what I get for buying mostly older kits on eBay - I just did some newer Accurail kits and wow, did they change a bunch of stuff. Mostly designed to snap together now - although I still glued things, I don;t trust it to stay without glue.
The real big change is the 55 ton open hopper - the weights go ont he INSIDE now? And the end platforms are two pieces now instead of the former underframe piece that had the ends and center sill. Not sure if I like this, but the brake cylinder now has the air lines to the triple valve - ingeniously cast all as one peice even. The instructions say to mash over the mounting pins - liek this was an old metal kit. I just glued like usual.
ANd of course it wouldn;t be Accurail if there wasn;t some small quirk - on the older 55 ton hoppers it's the little detail that is supposed to represent the ratchet to open the hooepr doors. I'm sure half of mine are int he incorrect orientation, plus there is really no way to hodl that tiny piece in palce and glue it. On the gons I just did, it is the brake lever and chain, there's just one tiny spot where it can be glued, hope it stays on and doesn;t get broken off. Haven't finished the hopper yet - we'll see what quirk pops up on that one.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I just put together one of their AAR Offset-Side triple hoppers about a week ago, with the weights hung on the inside slope. I used silicone adhesive to hold them in place, as I usually do.
As you pointed out, Randy, installing the individual end platforms was definitely different. The triple hoppers have end braces, as well.. The instructions said you didn't have to glue in the end braces but I did anyhow.
LOL! I agree with you about the louver mechanism for the hopper doors, Randy. The picture is NOT detailed very well in order for you to figure out the correct orientation of the part. And, even if you do have it right, gluing it in place is somewhat precarious, at best. I use tweezers and still find it a challenge. Do you still have to install them on the newer hoppers?
I do think Accurail did a great job on their 41' steel gondolas. Yea, the brake lever and chain could maybe be a little better designed. Overall, though, it's a winner for me. I think I have 4 or 5 of them now.
I'd have to say that my favorite Accurail kits are still the 6- and 8-panel wood boxcars. The shells just look terrific and I love the rough (vs. smooth metal) exterior appearance to them.
Accurail kits are a great deal for the money and I'm glad that they are still intending on making kits. Since they are relatively easy kits to put together, I'm sure that that will help them continue along that path.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I've always liked Accurail's offerings, especially since they offer so much that's suitable for my late '30s modelling era. I usually add a few details, and re-paint/re-letter many to suit my own tastes. They're today's version of the "Blue Box" car, but with more variety and better details, yet still at a reasonable price.I noticed that the offset side 2-bay hoppers include slope sheet braces, a detail missing from most plastic hoppers and I believe that they're also now included on the 3-bay cars.
I don't mind snap-together construction if it's solid, but I don't like having to glue things together if there's a chance that I may have to, at some future date, take them apart again. If all other options fail, the major components of most rolling stock can be altered to allow assembly with screws.
This Athearn caboose is an example. With new scratchbuilt ladders secured to both the end platforms and the roof, it would have been impractical to remove the car's floor for maintenance work, such as replacing window "glass" or re-securing loose weights.
By sectioning the floor, the centre portion remains easily removeable while the end platforms stay in-place. If they need to be removed (highly unlikely) a couple of screws are readily removed - the ladders, of course, are another matter.
To Accurail's credit, they did replace the pin-mounting system for trucks with screws, then later did the same for the coupler box covers. A great product and "Made in America", too.
Wayne
I wasn;t trying to be negative, it was just a big change from the 2400 and 2500 series hoppers. Most of mine all had screws and not the pin - although I have a huge stashg of the pins since even after they included screws they still had the pins on the sprues. Also a huge pile of Accumate couplers if anyone actually wants them, since I repalce them with Kadees.
I almost missed that - didn;t get that far yet with this one, btu yes, they actually have slope sheet braces int here too. Overall it is more detail than the older ones. No door opener detail on these, different type of doors - the doors are a seperate peice, not just modled on. I did just order another pair of 2400's from Klein, to replace the one partially finished covered hopper conversion the dog chewed.
The gons ended up nice - they aren't 100% accurate but they are close, and per my color guide there still were some in service in my era. They are lettered with the proper class and dates are pre-1950 so it works for me.
I do love those outside brace boxcars - that plastic looks more like wood that some wood cars. I wish they;d rerun the Reading ones, it's close enough again to work for me. I even have a picture showing one of those types of cars in revenue service int he early 70's - it HAS to be revenue service since it's in the train of a railroad other than the one it belongs to. So a few of them scattered about my mid-50's era would be fine. Plus I need some different boxcars - the 8 Branchline ones I have are allt eh same class, I liek the tranistion era look of a varied roofline with allt eh different types of boxcars in service at the time - all slightly different in height and varying greatly in roofs, ends, and doors. That nee F&C car looks nice, although all but 6 covnered to cocoa bean hoppers were gone by my era - and those were sitting permantly on a siding at the Hershey plant and no longer in revenue service. Maybe I'll build one for the club for the new Hershey modules.
Best of all, besides made in the USA instead of China, is that Accurail still makes KITS. I hope they don't stop - if I ever get that basement for a real empire I will need a LOT of hopper cars, and those coupons for renumber cecals willc ome in handy - and you cna't beat kits. They may not be particularly difficult to assemble, but a stack of them makes a nice relaxing evenign of assembly-line building, and they look nice when done.
Randy, I didn't perceive your words to be negative at all, simply a comment on changes noted.
It's kinda funny to hear that the hopper weights are now inside the car. I have a Bowser GLa hopper on my workbench on which the owner wanted the car number changed. He likes his rolling stock heavy, so installed the kit-supplied weights on the inside of the slope sheets, as per the instructions (they're then covered by a separate plastic piece detailed to represent the visible slope sheet). He then ordered additional weights from Bowser, cut them shorter, then cemented them over the centre slope sheets, too. Painted and weathered, even these are barely noticeable.
Big open cars are tough to weight - that's an inengious trick. Great for runnign empty - but with loads they will end up like the club-owned cars on the modular layout - they weigh a ton. They hav at or just over RP weight WITHOUT the loads, and a cunk of hydrocal with coal glued on top is heavy, even for a short car, so when the loads are added they are some heavy cars. However, on occasion we roll out a 100 car train of them, and I've seen some sloppy handling, even on a curce up a grade, and they simply stick to the rails. But then I've deliberately done sudden starts and stops around curves with mine that have just the stock weights and they don't come off the rails either - and that includes a caboose that rolls more like the brakes are set than not. So how much is enough weight? To make helpers an absolute requirement - a lot - that 100 car over-RP weighted train can be pulled with a single 4-8-4 that does NOT have traction tires. That's on the flat though, or with just a much slope as the venue might have in their floor. The only grade is relatively short and not terribly steep. Only a fraction of the train is ever on the grade at a given time. I do have few light cars, but they don't seem to give any trouble, even what torture-tested. The Kato covered hoppers in particualr - despite 4 large brass slugs in each one, they are extremely light. Luckily they don;t glue together so it's a simple task to add more weight - I just haven't done it because even with those light cars in the middle of a train it won't stringline even with sudden starts and stops caused by someone shorting the track.
One thing always leads to another - wouldn't you know it, every truck in the 41' gon set is tight and the wheels barely roll. No problem, a few quick turns witht he truck tuner tool will fix that (kind of odd, usualyl with Accurail there's only one or two out of a bunch that don't roll freely). Of course, I also find somethign missing from my tool box. Checked the workbench, not to be found. So, that was the excuse to order a new one plus the replacement undec 2500's to continue with the covered hopper project. Naturally, the day the order arrives I will find the missing one, but it's such a useful gadget.
doctorwayne A great product and "Made in America", too. Wayne
A great product and "Made in America", too.
Nice car Wayne! Very clever how you did the underframe.
Chuck - Modeling in HO scale and anything narrow gauge
I just talked to Accurail a week or so ago. I'd bought a O.B. wood end Box car that came with roller bearing trucks. They sent me two pairs of trucks, one Bettendorf and one Arch bar. In the process of discussing the mistake. The representative stated that Accurail has no intentions of quitting the production of kits, which I find to be great news as my hobby is building a model railroad, not buying a model railroad. So if this information is important to you too, support this company! I think their kits are fantastic and if I feel the urge to make them even more scale, it's a simple matter of adding the details I like!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
I had heard both from a dealer and from Accurail themselves that they would continue producing kits, which I am delighted to hear. My understanding is that Accurail's venture into the RTR market wasn't as financially rewarding for them as they had originally hoped. So, they decided to ramp up the kit side of the business again and seem to be doing well.
Of the 103 pieces of rolling stock that I currently have, 45 of them (44%) are Accurail. As long as they keep producing rolling stock that fits my era (early 40s), I am more than happy to support them.all I can.
Could I also encourage anyone of you reading this that if you like what Accurail has done or is doing, send them an e-mail and tell them so. I have done this twice (once for the 6-panel wood box cars and the other for the 41' gondolas) and each time received a reply. (Not that I was expecting one.) Accurail DOES read your e-mails and it really means a lot to them when they hear that they are doing a good job.
I have done so in the past and also received a very courteous reply very quickly. I really like their kits and the molded detail that seems to be very well done and is very durable unlike some of the more detailed kits details. That is very important if you will be frequently transporting your cars to a club layout and don't want to keep replacing ladders steps etc.
I have a shelf full of cars that need grabs and stirrups repalced because they broke of, mostly from storage and transporting them int he original boxes with padding added. So far none of the stuff I take to shows ahs been dmaanged int he padded carrier I picked up, but I intend to repalce this with a better system that actually stands the cars on their wheels for future transport and storage.
None of the broken ones are Accurail, they are Brnachlien and Proto 2000 kits that have (or had) scale size details only plastic that htin is VERY fragine. Once I get matchign paint I will repalce them all with metal details. Accurail, while cruder compared to some of these cars, still look quite nice and they indeed are durable. And the news of continued kit prodction is MOST welcome. Even better, they make kits for all different eras, so there's somethign for everyone. It's great that ANYONE would continue to produce kits, but someone who makes only kits of 1980+ models, well, I'd have little interest in their products.
I hear ya', Randy. While Kadee doesn't make kits but does make beautiful RTR rolling stock, they concentrate on the 50s and newer. (I think maybe one boxcar is dated for the 40s?) So, while I can admire there stuff, I won't be buying any of their product because it doesn't fit my era.
A few years ago, I bought a club car produced by Accurail. When I assembled it, I replaced the plastic pins with screws. Basically, I heated up some old sprues and stretched them while hot. I then glued a piece of the sprue into the pin hole cemented with CA and drilled and tapped it for 2-56 x 1/4" screws.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Medina,
I've never bothered to fill in the bolster hole on the old Accurail kits. I just inserted a 2-56 screw and tightened it down. (Obviously, keeping it just loose enough so that the truck rotates freely.) I've never had a problem with a truck stripping out either.
trwroute Nice car Wayne! Very clever how you did the underframe.
Thanks for your kind words, trwroute. That Athearn caboose was made in America, too, while the ladders, screen doors, and some of the detail parts were made in Canada.
Another nice thing about Accurail is that they have a custom decorating service available, too. If the customer provides some reasonably well-done artwork or photos, they'll put lettering to suit on pretty-well any of the rolling stock which they manufacture. You need to purchase a minimum of 48 cars, certainly manageable for club members or for groups looking for fund raising ideas. There's a little more info HERE.
I was hoping to get a run of custom-decorated cars done as a memorial to a friend who passed away last year, but am awaiting the artwork from his estate.
As mentioned, Accurail cars are quite sturdy, but you can doll them up if you wish, too. The Standard Car Company offers a half door kit to convert any of Accurail's 9-panel single sheathed boxcars into door-and-a-half automobile cars:
...and with a pair of suitable doors, anyone can change their 7-panel boxcar into a doubledoor car:
They also offer undecorated kits and ones that are painted but lettered only with the dimensional data - great for creating roadnames otherwise not available or for creating free-lanced rolling stock. Accurail cars represent two classes of home road boxcars on my layout:
...and the entire fleet of home road wooden refrigerator cars in interchange service:
I have a couple of Accurail EG&E gondolas, too,
...and many more Accurail cars of all types lettered for prototype roads.
Just wanted to add a quick note of praise for Accurail and another reason to support them.
For a variety of reasons I was missing coupler box covers on three 55-ton hoppers that had been out of service for a while and were sitting on a RIP track up on a book shelf above the layout. I sent an e-mail to Accurail earlier today, asking them if it were possible to purchase replacements covers for them.
Well, Eric Cote just sent me the following reply:
Hi Tom,No trouble at all on the replacement coupler covers. If you'll send your mailing address, I'll get some shipped right away. If I remember correctly, the NYCs are mineral red color and the N&W and Wabash ones are black?No worries on sending $$s for them. I think they can fit easily in an envelope and go by 1st Class (they travel better than I do!) Will get them to the post office on my next mail run.Have a great evening!Eric Cote Accurail
Needless to say, I will continue to give Accurail my business.
tstage Needless to say, I will continue to give Accurail my business.
I agree, Tom. I sent Accurail an e-mail a few days ago, basically lauding their decision to continue producing kits and the selection of equipment which they offer. I also added a couple of suggestions/requests - not really expecting any reply or results, as they were quite specific to my personal modelling interests. A couple of days later, I received a very nice reply from Dennis Storzek, not only thanking me for the kind words, but also dealing, in some detail, with my additional remarks. I was already a loyal customer, but this type of response has really reinforced my appreciation of Accurail products and of the people behind them.
tstage I hear ya', Randy. While Kadee doesn't make kits but does make beautiful RTR rolling stock, they concentrate on the 50s and newer. (I think maybe one boxcar is dated for the 40s?) So, while I can admire there stuff, I won't be buying any of their product because it doesn't fit my era. Tom
Kadee does sell kits -- they are undecorated, however. They can be ordered direct on the kadee.com web site and I occasionally see one in a shop. The Kadee kits (like the hopper Kato offered) simply press together. No glue is required, eliminating the chance of glue spots.
Accurail also offers a unique service of printed renumbering decal sets that match the color and lettering styles on their freight cars. If a sheet is available, there will be a coupon with ordering information in the kit box. The color matches are very good.