Hello fellas. I though a few of you may enjoy a quick review of my latest purchases :MTL Heavyweights. First off, I must qualify this review by saying that all of the body types utilize the same construction, so this will apply to the 10-2-1, 12-1 and Parlor car. When you open up the jewel case, you will find the clear plastic slip, cradle and most importantly, the Heavyweight passenger car. Underneath you can find info on the passenger car. Upon first inspection, it looks to be well proportioned, well painted (no thick paint) and built. The trucks do tend to hang a bit off of their pins. Be careful about keeping track of your wheel-sets (more on that later). To disassemble, twist the body slightly, this will loosen the press-fit enough for you to pull it off. Next, turn the body over and the 2 vestibule ends will fall out. Next give the car a shake and the interior/glass will follow. Beneath the interior is a formed weight. Notice how everything is keyed so I cannot be put back together the wrong way. Pull the trucks off by pulling near the bolster pin. The couplers are attached to the body shell by a pin. To remove the coupler, just pull up on the pin.
There are 2 issues about these cars that I wish Microtrains would address. Issue #1...The Trucks and the Wheels. The problem is that the outer 2 alxes tend to fall out of the side frames. The issue arrises because the sideframes are too wide for the axles. I have tried carefully bending them inward, but this hasnt fixed the issue. I am thinking that perhaps longer axles from Fox Vally might fix the issue. I have contacted Microtrains, but they have yet to respond to my email.
Issue #2: Couple distance. Ill let a picture do the talking. There is way too much daylight between the cars. Thankfully, there is a simple way to fix this (with a side-effect). What I did was make a jig out of a length of brass. This will become my template for all my passenger cars with diaphragms. This was drilled with a 00-90 clearence drill which will allow you to drill/tap for a 00-90 screw. Just hold the jig against the diaphragm and drill for your coupler...thats it. And the results, again speak for themselves.... The side effect is that you now need to run on broader curves because the coupler box will interfere with the truck on radaii tighter than 19".
In conclusion, these are great cars....long awaited my alot of N scalers, including myself. These will eventually be painted for the Canadian Pacific for use on my pike. I just wish that Microtrains would offer these in Undecorated so I dont have to deal with stripping paint. The Price point on these cars is just perfect. David B
Thanks for sharing your review..I won't be buying any simply because I model freight only on industrial switching layouts.
I haven't had the same problem with the trucks, but then again I changed the wheels out for FVM wheels almost immediately, so maybe I didn't allow enough opportunity to have that problem with the trucks. I have found on my Wheels of Time cars that have three-part trucks that sometime I just need to gently push on them to realign them and get the two sideframes parallel again.
Well written review; I have been working with these for a few weeks, so I'll chime in as well. The wheel issue hasn't been one I've run across, however, I went to Atlas metal wheels right away (I used those because my FV sets are back ordered) The fact that these are uber easy to disassemble are their most endearing feature to a painter. They come apart in less than a minute and reassemble just as fast. The window design allows the addition of individual blinds quickly and easily. The interior detail is good and, with some fine brush painting, you can have quite a detailed interior. The thin windows and frame construction allow for pasengers to be placed very close to the windows so they can be seen. Their coupling distance stinks; that siad there are a few ways, as David showed, to fix that if it's an issue. I understand why MT did this and frankly, I agree with their reasoning - there are but a few of us that care about coupling distance. The cars strip very well; a little paint stripper and off comes the gold lettering. The MT body primes well and accepts paint well too. I have now painted a couple of these cars and they are a joy to work with. One note David: The CPR didn't use the roof type A/C that Pullman cars did (no large roof blisters) so you will have to take "artistic licence" if you want to use the 12-1's and modify the 10-1-2's into an 8-1-2 if you want to be prototypical... and they only had 5 of the 8-1-2's (from Pullman's cars assigned to the SOO-CPR Mountaineer) The Parlor cars are paired window so they are not CPR correct (If you care, most wouldn't) but the CPR did have 28 chair parlors..... I am a huge fan of these MT cars and am awaiting the 2011 selection which is rumoured to include a coach (please MT, single window) baggage, diner (this is a crap shoot because most diners were unique so in all likelyhood a diner will match very few protottypes...oh well) and some kind of observation or solarium car.....more kitbashing material - yippie ! Nice review David, thanks !
David, I addresed the close coupling issue a different way. It allows for closer coupling and safe use of the cars on 11"R. http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=123513 I have a dozzen of theses cars so far and have yet to experience the problem with wheels falling out. I even have some of the trucks by themselves on other cars with no problems so far. To the guys that went to Atlas metal wheels, they are the wrong size and may affect the coupler height. The wheels in these trucks are 36". Atlas MT wheels are 33".
I was afraid of that but it hasn't caused any issues Tony.... still; when the van pulls up with the Fv wheels they will be used.
A jig with a dimensioned hole, but you fail to specify the dimensions of where that hole is applied. Might be helpful were anyone to try it, dave:tb-nerd:
The hole is dependant on your layout. If you have tight curves, you will not be able to enjoy closer-coupled passenger cars. For those who want to know, the hole ends up between the underframe casting and the coupler box mounting pad. You have to use a 00-90 screw as the pin they supply is too short to support the box in that location. Any further in-board and the knuckle will lodge on the underframe. David B
That may be true now, but as N scale contiues to "grow up," I think this issue will receive a lot more attention. I kept my layout to very broad curves (~24" min and #10 turnouts) specifically to avoid the non-prototypical look of too-long coupling distance and crazy overhangs on curves. I'm a passenger fan first (as I believe Mr. Puddington is), and my only concern with these MT cars is the coupling distance. David: if you get a chance, I would greatly appreciate seeing photos of a) the bottom of the car without the coupler showing where the new mounting hole locates plus b) a photo with the coupler showing how it now fits in between the wheels/truck sideframes. Thanks! Jack
Here, here Jack; I am a passenger "nut" and coupling distance does matter to me; what I was referring to was the "other" side of the hobby; those that either run their "roundy roundy" Unitrak system with their Micro Trains (and more power to them !) or the "MT Collectors" who never let the "factory air" out of the jewel case..... The number of prorto types like those found here are a small percentage of MT's clients.... that was all I was saying... Let's hear it for 24" curves !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:thumbs_up:
