Tim, Good to hear from you. As for your question, the answer is Mi-Jack! I need several for a module I am planning. James
Alan Curtis' brass masters/molds did make it to the US, but the company who purchased them left the scene many years ago. Where are those molds now, your guess is as good as mine. What I am about to say may be offensive to some modelers so please take it with a grain of salt and drive on. If you are all about modeling modern equipment, then forget about those 48' spine cars of Alan Curtis and those 48' well cars that MTL makes. 48' is so 1990's!!!!!! As we near 2020 you must think bigger! 53' wellcars, 53' spine cars, and 57' spine cars! Variety as well as majority counts! Variety of rollingstock components but majority rules. Unfortunately someone must have advised Hans R. that the 53' NSC ribbed side well car was the major runner of containers in the US. This couldn't be further from the truth as the 53' Husky versions dominate the Intermodal scene everywhere! Enough said! Have a wonderful day! Hobo Tim
Sounds like a modern version of the Mi-Jack/Taylor container crane is winning the vote. Hobo Tim Food for thought- What looks cooler, a 89' RTTX or a 89' XTTX flat car?
Ha, certainly not offended. But your comments (these and those about Shapeways) seem to paint some picture that there is a wealth of manufacturers and products in Z-scale. Heck, I model early/mid-2000's....EVERYTHING goes....there were still 48's around, yet tons of 53's too. Doesn't get more variety than that!?!? I would argue that at least the NSC car looks different than the 48 Husky in more ways than just length. So I'm happy to have that NSC car...got my first one just today and it looks VERY COOL! Now if we can just do something about Micro-Trains choice of paint schemes on their Husky's...ATSF...oye....53ft schemes...ouch. I'm figuring I'll be in a nursing home before they do those rare TTX and BN cars again. I guess they just weren't that common in real life... You remind of the guy on Trainboard the models dead-on-MODERN....railroads laying up Dash 8's and SD60's, he's putting his on eBay. Just curious if he's buying them back now. lol I still see the odd 48ft container or 45ft trailer on occasion. Back to Shapeways....are there alternatives? Seems you are suggesting we are forgoing good injection molded products for RP. Um...thinking we're just trying to find ways to build a prototypical looking freight car fleet, if you ask me. I see few "competing" products, and of course none of them are decorated...no simple feat. (in N, a little easier...at least there are decals) I can't even imagine that RP spine car staying on the tracks...
Plastic Injection is expensive but can better handle rough handling. When it comes to RP I am surprised that more people don't use RP to create the delicate masters so that they can reproduce their masters in stronger casting resins. But Hobo Tim, it's to hard to learn to work with RTV and make molds and I don't know how to use resins. Nope, not even those words. Once a person has created a model in RP, print it, clean it, paint it and detail it, they are so overly exhausted I guess don't even try to go the RTV/casting resin route. If you want one of what I made just pay Shapeways and before you know it the post man will be knocking on your door. That is the route I see the Z modelers go. Cheap and delicate is good enough for me! You just don't see many, if any, people trying to better the scale other than pushing RP as the greatest thing since sliced bread. STONY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish you lived next door! We'd be RP'ing masters to make strong cast resin Z, N, and HO items to go with professional etched details to fill voids in the scales. I have the will, just need the increased drive to carry on. You guyz help build the drive and I am greatly appreciated. I will start by doing more research on the newer Mi-Jacks/Taylors that are in use. Hobo Tim
Sorry for the late response! The tooling that Alan Curtis created was for the 48' spine car. Although unique in it's time, not so much any more that is why I chose the 57'ers which are all purpose (container or trailer). Still working on it. Tim
John, Time$ I$ Tough right now! I am building a plan, although slowly, will hopefully be secure in its structure to produce some great Z items. The plan relies on several factors, and one of which is the wife finding gainful employment which has destroyed any backup I may have had to begin my venture. I have the ideas, just not the recourses to enact them. Hang in there! Tim
This project has been suspended thanks to the difficulty in casting the skeleton design without a deck. Stay tuned for 57' Spine 2.0
Below is the list of Z scale Intermodal UPDATED to current listed in BOLD! If you see something missing (except current RP) please respond! Just a photo showing my Ottawa Yard Mule in Action!!!! In the Z_Intermodal group we have attempted to track all items that have been created for Intermodal. Here is a list. If for some reason I have missed something, please feel free to post it to this thread. Well Cars Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik - 48' Gunderson Husky Wellcar MTL - 48' Gunderson Husky Wellcar Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik - Gunderson Maxi-III (5 articulating 48' wellcars) TNT-Z - 48' Thrall wellcar TNT-Z - Thrall Drawbar (3 Drawbar 48' Thrall wellcars) TNT-Z - Etched brass kit to drawbar 3 or 4 MTL Husky's (BN 3Drawbar How-To) Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik - 56' Gunderson 2+2 Wellcars TNT-Z - Etched brass kit to modify an MTL Husky into an "All-Purpose" Husky. AZL - 53' NSC Wellcar(in the beginning promoted as a Thrall) Hobo Tim'z - Gunderson Maxi-IV (3 articulating 53' wellcars) Gerd - Freightcar America Dynastack (5 articulating 40' wellcars) Flat Cars/Spine Cars/Autoracks Alan Curtis - 48' five articulating Spine Cars Alan Curtis - 89' Channel & Smooth side Flat cars (can drawbar 2 together) Marklin - European Flat car (for Container or Trailer transport) Marklin - European Flat cars (capable of carrying 40' or 60' of containers) EDModels - 48' five articulating Spine Cars EDModels - 89' Channel & Smooth side Flat cars (can drawbar 2 together) Hobo Tim'z - 57' AP three articulting Spine Cars (2.0) AZL - 89' Flat car AZL - Bi-level Autorack AZL - Tri-level Autorack Rokuhan - KOKI 106 Intermodal car Containers Marklin - 20' and 40' Rib Side and 20' Tank-Tainer Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik - 20' smooth side and 40' Reefer MTL - 20' and 40' Hi-Cube TNT-Z - 48' and 53' Rib and Smooth side and 20' Tank-tainer Searails - 20', 40' and 53' Smooth side and 20' Tank-Tainers MakeMyModel - 20', 40', 48' and 53' Rib side MCZ - 40' and 53' Corrugated side AZL - 40', 48' and 53' Rib side Freudenreich Feinwerktechnik - New 40' Reefer w/external Cooling Unit Rokuhan - 12', 20, 31' and 40' Roadrailers TNT-Z - 53' Triple Crown eXact Modellbau - 53' (kit of 5) Searails - 53' (details unknown) Trailers Marklin - (size unknown) Nansen Street - 20' and 40' TNT-Z - 48' and 53' Arrowhead - 28' and 40' UPS Mark4Design - 28' UPS Searails - 20', 40' and 53' MakeMyModel - 20', 40', 48' and 53' eXact Modellbau - 53' Transport/Chassis/Misc Searails - Mi-Jack Nansen Street - Container forklift TNT-Z - Mi-Jack and Mi-Jack w/LED lighting Searails - 20', 40', 48' and 53' Container Chassis TNT-Z - Ottawa Yard Mule Searails - Container forklift and Kalmar type lifter TNT-Z - Intermodal Entrance Searails - Side Lifter Yard Truck Showcase Models - 40' and 53' container chassis Marklin - Container Terminal NOTE: In recent years the ability for people to create 3D models in Rapid Prototype materials has increased. I have not included these into the above mix as they are numerous to mention. All a person has to do is search the Shapeways website to view various shops where Z scale intermodal items can be purchased. Stony and SouthernNscale being the two largest of the Z scale creators. If you want one of what they have you purchase it through Shapeways. These items are, for the most part, only available from Shapeways. You will need to contact the shop owners to find out if they offer their creations in RTR otherwise you will have to finish the models yourself! To the best of my knowledge, and the group on Z_Intermodal, these are all the items that have been made for Z scale Intermodal. If you see an item that is missing, or questionable, please post it here. Hobo Tim
Rokuhan also has the A105, A106, A107, A108 series of 20' containers. http://www.rokuhan.com/english/products/accessories/
What are you referring to? There have been three versions of Roadrailers created in Z scale. The first was crude, the second was a masterpiece and the third fast tracked. Please describe your question!
NO NO NO! This is not my collection, it is what has been created for Intermodal operations in Z scale so far! My collection of Intermodal in Z scale is much smaller and all modern! Hobo Tim
Figured I'd take an opportunity to comment about AZL's recent Intermodal announcement at the NTS......Maxi-Stack I cars!!!! While it would be nice to have some Maxi-IV's I think the Maxi-I's were definitely 2nd place on my most wanted list of stack cars so I'm happy about that. And that might segue into Twin-Stack cars too since they are similar. We do sorely need 53ft equipment, but hey at least it's still Intermodal and ISO containers have needed some love too. The AZL announcement mentions included 40ft containers, but Hans alluded to possibly offering the cars sans containers as well. I figure the releases will echo Kato's N version for the most part. So that would be: TTX w/APL 40' Containers TTX w/Maersk 40' Containers BNSF "Swoosh" w/MOL 40' Containers AOK w/Hanjin 40' Containers MAERSK w/MAERSK 40' Containers TTX "New Logo" w/CAI 40' Containers To Which I would add... BNSF "Circle Logo" w Hyundai 40' Containers MAERSK Faded/Patched w/ Maersk Sealand 40' Containers If it were me, I would probably replace the MOL and CAI containers in the Kato list with something like China Shipping, MSC, or CMA-CGM which seem more common to me. But of course I admit my sample size and era/location preferences might be different from others.
This photo was taken at the 2005 NMRA National Train Show in Cincinnati, OH. A string of cast resin Roadrailers in Triple Crown decals in a Union Pacific Yard. These were the first attempts of making Roadrailers in Z scale.