Metal rolling stock

[tatans]

Did (does?) anyone ever make boxcars etc. in HO out of metal, not brass? what would the reason be if they didn't? lack of detail?, surely today there are methods of forming or etching fine detail on metal, I see metal parts daily that have intricate metal details and and shapes and they must be mass produced by the thousands, maybe I have stumbled on to something, anyone have any answers to this worldwide question??? I mean by metal, tin or steel which I hope is the right term.

[cacole]

The new releases of Mantua products from Model Power are metal. They even advertise their products as the metal train. But they are way too heavy for actual use on a layout if you have even the slightest gradients.

[Rotorranch]

I have a few old Mantua ( I think ) box cars that are made from sheet metal. Nowhere near the detail as on even a cheap Lifelike or Bachman plastic car.

I also have a couple of the newer Model Power "Metals", and as mentioned, they are pretty heavy!

Rotor

[jimrice4449]

Roundhouse is a trade name for MDC, Model Die Casting. They used to make all of their kits from Zamac (lead/zinc alloy) I have an old Roundhouse 70 ton hopper and believe me it doesn't require any ballast! The rivets are a tad oversize but it fits in w/ contemporary stuff pretty well.

[jimrice4449]

Roundhouse is a trade name for MDC, Model Die Casting. They used to make all of their kits from Zamac (lead/zinc alloy) I have an old Roundhouse 70 ton hopper and believe me it doesn't require any ballast! The rivets are a tad oversize but it fits in w/ contemporary stuff pretty well.

[Billba]

Athearn, Varney, Globe, Ulrich, American Beauty, and several other manufacturers have made metal freight and passenger cars in the past. I have several from each of these companies, and do really like them. Most of these were made before the 70s, so you probably will not find many at your LHS. The best sources might be trainshows, from other modellers, or from online auctions like eBay, etc.

Athearn's metal line is made of stamped sheet steel, and can be made into nice models with some work. There are 40 ft. boxes, round roof boxes , reefers, tank cars, flatcars, and a cast 200 ton crane. Some of this line has been redone by other people, G. F. Menzies in 1970s - '80s is one company. I have picked the majority of mine up at train shows.

I don't know of many other metal car manufacturers available now, although Charles Cole mentioned Mantua. Metal cars do have some heft, and do sound pretty good going around a layout, IMHO.

[tstage]

Cacole and Rotor is correct. I saw and picked up (off the ground) one of the Model Power "Metal" boxcars a couple of weeks ago at my LHS. They felt much heavier than an equivalent assembled boxcar with the added weight. I thought the detail wasn't too bad.

Tom

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cacole

The new releases of Mantua products from Model Power are metal. They even advertise their products as the metal train. But they are way too heavy for actual use on a layout if you have even the slightest gradients.

The cars weigh 16 oz, as much as the F unit . Available here , of all places Menards.

[Anonymous]

The other problem with diecast metal bodyshells is that they aren't too good at fine detail - you need to add etched brass or plastic parts to the basic metal shell if you want fine ladders, etc. You can have decent cast-on detailing in HO but when you go down to N it becomes tricky - this is often a problem with N scale steamers where you want a metal body for weight but plastic offers crisper details. There are more than a few whitemetal kits available over here for rolling stock but these can cause problems - one type of passenger car kit in whitemetal was too heavy for the loco it was intended to run with (it gives the latest version of the loco a good workout too!)

[tatans]

Great replies, just a sidebar to the question, it seems a lot of replies have trouble with the weight, and gradients, how many cars are you trying to haul? and what steepness of grades do you have?? I have never put that many cars on a loco to stop it, if this is the case,either you have a very underpowered engine or 45 cars is too many, I haven't bought a new engine(steam or diesel) for a long long time, but I keep hearing how wonderful these new locos are, surely in 2005 with microtechnology as it is, they can make a small motor with 10 times the power of the old stuff, or am I a dreamer, do the new locos have that much more pulling power? ?

[nedthomas]

The Stewart/Bowser PRR G39 ore cars have a cast metal body with plastic details. This gives the car proper weight if run empty. Walthers also has some cast metal cars. Their inter-modal well cars and the new depressed center flat are a few.

[Leon Silverman]

Tatans:
Today's HO model engines' pulling power are never limited by their motor capacity, only the friction developed by the drive wheels. This is why you will always see a higher current usage when the engine is stalled instead of slipping. This may not have been the case with some older engines, particularly O-scale engines.
Today's an motors are powerful. Older style Pitman motors might stall if the gear train jammed. I have a Stewart Alco 630 diesel with a jammed gear train (out of the box, never previously run). The wheels would not turn, but the motor still was able to rotate the drive shaft going to that truck.