Micro-trains Database

gdmichaels Jul 7, 2015

  1. gdmichaels

    gdmichaels TrainBoard Member

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    Not familiar with those. I guess I should be. Are those primarily focused on prices, like the blue and red books for coins from Whitman?
     
  2. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    They showed car body style, production date, old and new catalog numbers (if both were used), road name and number(s), variation information (if any known), then any price history for the auctions. No idea if still being printed.
     
  3. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    Several questions here...

    - The last three numbers of the Runner Pack are based on the previous release's last three numbers, if there were any. So going back to the Northern Pacific 'Savings Bonds' boxcar, it was 77010, so the Runner Pack numbers are 077 5x 010. Again, I have all of the individual numbers on my website in the Runner Pack table. In cases where there were no previous releases, an assignment is made by the MTL folks based on an unused catalog number for a single release. That's usually when I need to go to MTL to get those numbers for the UMTRR.

    - The NSC/NSE website has most of their numbers already, in tables by year. There is an NSC/NSE number for the entire pack and numbers for each component. I don't recall what year they did this, but they added a manufacturer code to the number, for example NSE "MTL15-01". The NSC/NSE numbers are not in any way related to the MTL catalog numbers.

    - I believe that Larry Lowery, dba "Gatco/EGatco" still publishes a guide.
     
  4. gdmichaels

    gdmichaels TrainBoard Member

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    I took the time with the April, May, June and July entries to link pics of the individual cars and engines rather than just show a body style example. I think this adds a lot to the checklist. While I was at it, I fleshed out the data for the various series (Nose Art, Beer Reefer, etc) so that all the cars in the same series are linked together as well as finding archival pics of most of these cars as well.

    I went ahead and added the first block of Atlas rolling stock as well. The 'Beer Can Shorty' tank cars. I didn't get them all as their is no comprehensive list like with the MTL stuff, but I was able to find a lot of them and included pictures in many cases of individual cars.

    Next, I am going to spend some time integrating the UMTRR data from the Multipacks table so that I have entries for both the packs as well as the individual cars. This is a lot of data entry but it is an excellent way to experience all the wonderful work that MTL has invested in their product line.

    http://www.trovestar.com/n_train/index.php?Collection=4
     
  5. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    No, there's no comprehensive list of Atlas releases after the 'First Generation' which I've already compiled and posted on my site.

    The 'beer can' tank car is what I consider to be the first car of the 'second generation' so that certainly works as a starting point.

    Old magazine advertisements and Atlas catalogs will help, but putting together a full list of Atlas releases starting with when production moved to the USA will be a daunting challenge. I'm happy stopping with the First Generation and the "Life after A1G" items that I've accumulated (E-R Models, Roco, Walthers). And every so often I come across something to add to those pages.
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2015
  6. gdmichaels

    gdmichaels TrainBoard Member

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    I added a link over to eBay from every item in the database with enough search criteria that it will actually find if a given car is for sale on eBay. I tested it out on an early MTL release:

    http://www.trovestar.com/n_train/zoom.php?id=20256 (GTW 516798)

    It seemed to find 3 items for sale as well as 2 closed fixed price items that never sold. Seems kind of cheap for such an early release. Did MTL re-release the same road number?

    I added some more Atlas items (recent stuff) to test how well it works. So far, so good.
     
  7. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I believe there were two different paper inserts. Is it a 20018? Or is it a 20010? I don't recall if this one also came with Rapidos, as some cars did.
     
  8. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    The answer is "yes"-- the original catalog number was 20018 and the later catalog number was 20010.

    The theory was that each roadname would get specific later digits in the catalog number, so "018" for GTW, "047" for NYC, "093" for SP, and so on. I think that was quickly found to be unworkable, so the catalog numbers by tens protocol was adopted. That worked until MTL ran out of numbers on the 20000 / 020 series, so they went with the trailing "6", for example, 20096. And they're about to run out of those also.

    (Aren't you glad you asked? o_O)

    Interestingly (well, to me, anyway, and possibly only me), this protocol appears to have been revived for many of the single release heavyweight passenger cars. For example, the PRR cars so far all end in 050.
     
  9. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    Actually, that seems to have "found" the image of the GTW 516798 from my UMTRR "Car One" page...

    eBay has rules about "borrowing" images from their site, and so do many sellers. (So do I, for that matter.) Let's be careful out there...
     
  10. gdmichaels

    gdmichaels TrainBoard Member

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    I added the August releases. I look forward to the UMTRR report to assign proper item numbers to the SHPX 3-pack.
     
  11. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    That's assuming that I get them... I have a query into MTL now. We'll see if I have them at "press time."
     
  12. gdmichaels

    gdmichaels TrainBoard Member

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    Looks like you got em :)
     
  13. gdmichaels

    gdmichaels TrainBoard Member

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    September releases are added.

    http://www.trovestar.com/n_train/index.php?Collection=4&Release_Date=2015-09-01

    The individual cars for the Wind Turbine set will have to wait until the UMTRR report is out. Also the id numbers for the components of the Shell Runner pack are likely wrong though the body style and 'middle digits' should be accurate.

    By the way, if anyone is interested in helping improve the quality of older cars or would like to add Atlas, Kato or other manufacturers' cars to the system, please use Google to log into the site and request access (via your profile) to the 'N Scale Trains' section.

    Enjoy :)
     
  14. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    The Shell Tank Cars in Runner Pack #108 are definitely not 065 00 090. 65090 / 065 00 090 is the catalog number for the yellow and red tank car with the large "SHELL" - of which, I am told, there are many more models across generations and scales than there ever were actual instances of the prototype.

    My best guess for the individual catalog numbers for those is 065 5x 870, but that's "unofficial" (pun intended) until I hear back from MTL.

    The cars in the Trailer Train Wind Turbine set will most likely be in the 071 series, but the individual numbers within that body style over time have been too unpredictable for me to even venture a guess.
     
  15. gdmichaels

    gdmichaels TrainBoard Member

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    I will get both multipacks fixed up once the UMTRR comes out. Thanks for your help :)
     
  16. gdmichaels

    gdmichaels TrainBoard Member

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  17. gdmichaels

    gdmichaels TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks to the UMTRR all the Sep releases are now accurate.
     
  18. glennac

    glennac TrainBoard Member

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    I notice you folks only go back to the 1990's. Any plans on going all the way back to the 70's?
     
  19. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    No plans. As there are reprints of earlier Micro-Trains they'll be reviewed.

    Frankly, it takes long enough to just do the new releases as they are issued.
     
  20. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    OK, this should close out the topic...

    I checked again with MTL and it turns out that the databases ARE available from the new website. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the MTL page, and under the "Extras" header you'll find "Databases."

    Or this works:
    http://micro-trainsline.com/databases

    I've validated that the September 2015 releases are included in the main N Scale Database (Excel version).

    With respect to the question about the last three digits in the Runner Pack... "it depends." The below applies to new releases.

    Normally it's the next available slot in the sequence for that body style as if the car were just a single release. For example, if a single sheathed boxcar for the AB&C Railway were 028 00 100, then the Runner Pack for the XY&Z release would carry numbers 028 5x 110.

    However, that "next available slot" might be assigned when the decision is made to do the Runner Pack, which may be many months before it's actually announced. In the meantime, other cars (028 00 120, 028 00 130,...) might have been released, so it would look like the number is "out of sequence" to us even though it wouldn't be inside MTL.

    And then there is the case of using up numbers that were previously skipped in the numbering sequence.

    All bets are off for body styles that don't seem to follow a regular pattern, like the 071 body style, the 89 foot TOFC flat cars, or for the 020 body style, the 40 foot steel single door boxcar, which is about to "run out of numbers" again after having gone through the tens (010 to 990) and almost through the sixes (006 to 996).

    For reprints, it's usually easier: the catalog number of the previous release is utilized. So when the CSX Ortner Hoppers are released in October, they should carry 125 5x 070 since the previous release back in November 2008 was 125 00 070.

    All that having been said... I still check with MTL to make sure that I have the individual numbers right.
     

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