LT WT and LD LMT on the sides of modern Intermodal Equipment?

Denali_Subdivision Nov 18, 2022

  1. Denali_Subdivision

    Denali_Subdivision TrainBoard Member

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    Do modern intermodal equipment still have these capacities stenciled near the center of the car or has this been phased out? Example below.

    IMG_1625.JPG

    For the most part, from the photos I've seen, this data has been painted over and now just have a Load Limit unit capacity on the upper left and right side of the wells as shown on this Micro Trains BN Husky Stack.

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    Reason I ask is I am in the process of building several modern era N scale Intermodal Unit trains. Patching equipment, lots of re-numbering, weathering, and adding details. I am trying to be as accurate as I can down to the smallest of details. Ive noticed that the older Roundhouse Husky Stacks have LD WT and LD LMT stencils, where as the newer Athearn and Micro Trains have unit capacity only. This seems to follow suit when looking at prototype photos as well. Is this common practice now a days for railroads?


    On a side note, and I thought this was kinda strange, Roundhouse did some odd things with the data on these cars. According the data on the Maersk cars, they should have 38" wheels. Its even printed on the side of the car! Never heard of a stand alone well car that had 38" wheels. Was it ever a thing, or did Roundhouse really go out in fantasy land with these ones? Would seem to make sense there was never any prototype Maersk 48' wells.

    Here is whats on the Maersk cars. Photo of the weight and brake/wheel info stencils. LD LMT 124800 per unit. LT WT 176200. 38" wheel stencils

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    If my math is correct, thats a total combined gross weight of 301K for a single unit well car, and the empty car weights more then its own carrying capacity. Which in that case I could see why they would think would need 38" wheels! Thats crazy! LOL. Someone clearly got their numbers mixed up OR were confused how LD WT and LD LMT are defined. The first BN car I posted above is much of the same, that one with a combined gross weight of 304,500K with info to the right that states no more then 150K combined load weight. Does not say 38" wheels however like the Maersk. Needless to say, Ill be removing this data and replacing it with the correct information. In all fairness and giving credit to Roundhouse, I must say that for the most part the pad printing is pretty crisp and legible on these cars for being as old as they are. One of the reason I've purchased so many of them thus far. They are great starters for upgrading details!
     
    Kurt Moose, gmorider and BNSF FAN like this.
  2. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    The Maersk car is a total fantasy model. Maersk never owned 48' Husky Stack well cars. They did own Maxi I 5-unit articulated well cars though. The articulated trucks have 38" wheels, and the ends have 33". The Husky Stack has 33" wheels only. I suspect they reused the artwork for a Maxi I and simply pasted it onto the Husky car, which is why the wheel diameter and capacity data is incorrect.

    If you want a totally accurate model, changing data is won't help you, since this car never existed.
     
    Kurt Moose, gmorider and BNSF FAN like this.
  3. Denali_Subdivision

    Denali_Subdivision TrainBoard Member

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    I appreciate the reply, your suspicion on the reused artwork does seem like a plausible answer and I wouldn't doubt it if thats what happened. And yes I am aware the Maersk Husky Stacks are not prototypical and the product of Roundhouse's imagination. It will be the one unit train I have that won't be "realistic" per say in that aspect. Aside from that though, I do want to make them have the same characteristics as the modern day cars. Hence why I was asking about the data stencils regarding the weights.
     
    BNSF FAN likes this.
  4. Mr. Trainiac

    Mr. Trainiac TrainBoard Member

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    Probably depends on the car you're modeling. Railroads put artwork in different locations, but just scrolling through some videos I took on my phone recently, it seems like load limit is a lot more prominent. Like you point out, the light weight stencil may even be missing. I can't find it on some DTTX cars.

    Part of the reason may be the rise of articulated well cars. Weighing cars like these is impractical with a normal car scale, since they are so long and multiple units rest on one truck. The way they meet GRL may be different than for a traditional railcar.

    However, it may be worth going on a car-by-car basis. Relettering all your well cars to eliminate the light weight stencil seems a bit drastic. There are as many exceptions as there are rules in railroading, so I wouldn't trust the fact that all 'modern' well cars lack this stencil.

    If you want some sort of plausibility with the Maersk car or other well cars that you are going to patch, find a prototype equivalent. The Maersk Maxi I's went to BNSF in the 237000 series: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rsList.aspx?id=BNSF&aid=S162&rid=237200

    Here is a BNSF patched unit with a new road number, but the original light weight and load limit data are still visible: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=133452.

    Here is an ex-BN Husky patched for BNSF, also retaining the original data location: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=966799

    If you're going to patch, I would keep the data and only change the road number. Again, research what type of car you are going to patch them into. The BN car in your first few photos would probably end up in the BNSF 203000 series. Look for photos in that number series rather than blindly patching and altering car data to match a perceived 'modern' standard. Even if modern cars do lack light weight data, plenty of older cars are still floating around.
     
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  5. Denali_Subdivision

    Denali_Subdivision TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks again for the reply and the links to the pictures. It appears you are right when saying there is no right answer as to what weight data is displayed. Some do, some don't. You had me spending hours the last couple days researching BNSF Husky Stacks, Maxi-III's, Drawbar 3-unit husky stacks, and also looked at the ex-Maersk Maxi-I's you linked. Its really helped me in deciding what I will be doing as far as making my unit trains and what road numbers to run on my models. Ive composed a list and am working on getting some custom re-numbering decals made.

    I will say, it appears that most, if not all of the single unit well cars as well as draw-bar connected wells that I saw have the LD LMT & LT WT on them. For the most part I've noticed that units with shared trucks (Maxi-I, Maxi-III, Maxi-IV) have the unit weight stenciled. But, as you pointed out the ex-Maersk/BNSF Maxi-I's still the the LD LMT & LT WT on them, so as you said both do exist.

    As far as leaving the weight data on the Roundhouse models, I still think I am going to change this info. I plan on leaving the LD LMT & LT WT letters on them all, but changing the weight numbers to what they should be. I don't know why, but that incorrect data really bugs me and if I don't change the numbers its all Im going to notice and think about when I look at these cars lol. Thats probably my OCD kicking in, but it should be fairly easy to do with minimal effort on these. The pad printing comes off very easy with some 91% alcohol and a Q-Tip.
     

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