Does anyone have any experience with Ertl products?

[WilmJunc]

I saw some Ertl rolling stock while scanning through Ebay and have never heard of it before. Does anyone have any experience with Ertl products? How is the quality and detail?




Modeling transition era Boston & Maine

[dknelson]

I have three kinds of Ertl cars in HO, a low sided gondola, of the kind some eastern railroads ran, an interesting 40' flat car, and a wood boxcar of WWI vintage. I think they have since left HO (they also made interesting structures, built up and kits, and loads) in favor of their historic emphasis on 1:64 scale (S) and farm implements. Ertl of course is known for its collectibles. The cars I have feature very good detail and proportion, and the workmanship seems good. The paint jobs are also quite good. The trucks are beautiful but they do not roll well and the cars are not weighted correctly-- real feather weights (oddly the Ertl structures weigh a ton) They are also a bit tricky to take apart if you want to correct these flaws or alter the cars. I do not think Ertl was really focusing on the reality of scale model railroading, which is that people buy exquisite models and then start changing them and running them and basically wearing them out (slowly, we hope! :) . I think most Ertl collectors keep their stuff mint in boxes and thus would not care about operating characteristics. So there was a bit of a mismatch between Ertl's experience in creating good quality replicas and the demands of our hobby. But that is just my view.
I might add I bought my Ertl freight cars when they first got out of HO and were dumping the stuff on the market. I think I paid $4 each. The structures were really cheap then too. At that price they were a good deal especially as they are rather distinctive cars. The list price was considerably higher and I would never have paid list price given the problems the cars seem to cause.
Dave Nelson

[ondrek]

Ertl was licensed RDA's products in the 90's. RDA is doing their own now again. This is structures mind you.

I have the ERTL VT station. I got it off ebay, but RDA is offering it again under their own name. I have two of their other kits too. not bad.

Kevin

[Anonymous]

I recall the Ertl rolling stock was offered already weathered. The box car I can remember had been sprayed a light brown along the bottom edges. OK, but they were priced way beyond their value at the time in my opion. The same with structures, I think they may have been weathered. The only neat items in their line were flat car loads - small diesel generators, a steam donkey, some shipping crates and maybe a few more. Later these were brought out by Life Like.

Bob Boudreau

[orsonroy]

Ertl made three freight cars and several loads. The freight cars were relatively accurate models of three early steam-era freight cars:

1) the boxcar is a USRA 40-foot double sheathed car, upgraded with AB brakes and AAR cast sideframe trucks, making it a post-1930 model (the cars were built witrh K braked and Andrews trucks). The individual grabirons are nice, but are a bit oversized. ALL the paint schemes are bogus (usually, the heralds are twice the size they should be). The cars are WAY too light. The weathering attempt is a nice idea, but real freight cars do not weather that way. Add weight, new trucks, and a black wash over the cars, at a minimum.

2) the gondola is a low-sided 40-foor mill gon, built for the LV in the early 1920s. I believe all the paint schemes are bogus. As with the box, replace the trucks and give it a wash.

3) the flatcar is a WWI-era 40-foot flat, built for the ACL (I think). Replace the trucks, add a wash, and add a heavy load to bring the car near proper weight.

All in all, these cars were ahead of their times. These were almost the first RTR, highly-detailed cars on the HO market, which wasn't ready for them yet. With a $30 price tag, the attempt to sell them failed quickly. I picked up dozens of them at various fire sales for between $5-$10 apiece. The USRA single sheath box is the nicest plastic model of this prototype to hit the market, but it needs to be repainted.

If you can find them for $10 or less, buy 'em!

[Anonymous]

I have not ERTL model railroad products, buy I have diecast 1:18 scale model cars, and they are in the very good/excellent ratio. By

[trolleyboy]

I haven't bought the cars.They weer partially weathered but it all along the bottoms.I do recomend the flat car loads and the boxcar loads. They are offered by lifelike now but the quality isn't quite as good. The boxcar loads came with a plastic boxcar floor with crates and boxes glued to them.I usually lose the floor and I've used the crates and boxes for loading dock and freight shed details. They are very nice lettering and readable lables are printed on the individual boxes. They were expensive when they first came out but I've picked most of mine up for around 5 bucks at various hobby shops.Like it's been said by others if you can get the stuff for under$10 it's a good buy. Rob

[tstage]

Wasn't Ertl that geeky black kid with the glasses, who starred on some sitcom some years back?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tstage

Wasn't Ertl that geeky black kid with the glasses, who starred on some sitcom some years back?

Urkle.

Bob Boudreau