Good afternoon, I am looking at adding a few well cars to my existing fleet. Since I am sort of modeling in the BN/BNSF merger era, I am thinking 90s and early 2000' timeframe. Could realistically backdate into the 80s as well. I know for Husky Stack cars, the most available ones are Athearn and Micro-Trains. Before Athearn, there was Roundhouse as well. I have also looked at the Deluxe Innovations Maxi III cars and even the older TwinStacks. Out of all of these cars, which would you choose? How well are they weighted? Running qualities? Details? Paint? I am thinking of getting 6-10 cars. I will also be using the Jacksonville Terminal Company containers; 20', 40' and 48'. I know those containers are somewhat expensive, but I like the pins, the magnetic connections and the detail. Thanks in advance for your opinions.
I am an HO modeler, so I can’t help you on specific brands, but most intermodal trains have a mix of single unit (Husky) and articulated cars like the Gunderson Maxi series. If I wanted to model a realistic train, I would say more than half of the length should be articulated cars. The Twinstack, while one of my favorite cars, is pretty rare, so for a BN layout, I would consider it last. I can’t remember the last time that I have seen one on a BNSF train. They are more common on UP trains. In the early 2000’s the 40’ and 48’ wells were more common. The 48’ container was not popular for very long, so some 48’ wells have been cut down to 40’ or lengthened to 53’. However, you wouldn’t see those rebuilt cars at the turn of the millennium. The 53’ container was just coming into being, but the MAXI IV 53’ wells were not as common as the MAXI I 40’ well. Don’t forget about the KATO Maxi cars. I haven’t looked at their N scale prices, but their HO well cars are nice. The N scale cars are made of some composite material, so they have weight and should run well. By adding weight to the lower container, you could add weight to other brands like Athearn if you care concerned about them being too light.
Well, the Athearn/Roundhouse cars, M/T cars, and the Deluxe innovations cars, are all pretty nice. I have some of each and I can tell you, the weight will be from the containers. With weighted containers, they all run well. The Kato well cars are nice but don't have any so can't speak to those. Another well car to consider is the Wathers car. These are metal so have more weight when empty. They run well empty but even better when loaded. Don't think you will go wrong pairing any of these with JTC containers.
I see you are thinking of only 6-10 cars. stack trains only run well cars and trailer cars. so 10 cars is small. I run 60 to 100 car stack trains. you just need to have the trucks,couplers,and weight good.
60 to 100 cars!!! You must have a massive layout!! Any videos? I think all are pretty good. Older mdc's are pretty light and might need some help. Kinda excited to see the JTC cars when they get here!
I run that train at our train shows. I saw the JTC well car at the mas. show they are doing the single and drawbar cars. not the 3 car artick's yet.
The JTC cars look pretty cool. With etched platforms, they will rival most HO cars in detail. Walthers has those same cars in HO scale, although I don’t own any. Their website says they will be diecast, so they should run well even empty. However, the NSC single units were built in the mid-2000’s, so I don’t know if that would be too late for your 1990-2000ish timeframe. The JTC website says their cars have a 2006 build date.
13yr's ago at our Nov. train show. we had a big set up with 10 clubs. and me and 4 members ran a 242 car container train. with 5 engine's up front, three in the middle. the train ran for a hour with no break aways or derailments. all dc it was fun.
I missed the JTC 3ok drawbars!! DaveMc I posted some pics awhile back of the atlas single cars. Not sure if those are of interest or not!
I ended up ordering 7 of the Athearn cars from 2 sources. I got the 3 pack of the BN/BNSF scheme (the BN America logo), 2 of the regular BN/BNSF scheme, 1 BN only and 1 Trailer Train. Most of these are getting tough to find. I have been looking at some photos of the prototypes on the Railroad Picture Archives to see what containers they used. I am assembling a list of containers. One thing I am finding is that I want an assortment of containers and maybe only one of each on many of them, yet you can only buy two packs. Is there any interest from others about splitting packages of containers? Just a thought.
I got the 48' cars as they are a little shorter. I figured I could use 53' containers on top if appropriate.
remember those cars are very light. the JTC containers have magnets but you will need to weigh the bottom container.
