Spectrum Passenger Cars

donde3 Dec 10, 2000

  1. donde3

    donde3 New Member

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    Anyone have any experience with the Spectrum Heavyweight Passenger Cars? Recommended?
     
  2. doug

    doug E-Mail Bounces

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    I have 8 of these cars. They are a nightmare!!! I have had so much trouble with these cars!!!! Example: Very sloppy axles causing low coupler height, next:Sideframes so low they short out on the track.For the money, I would buy simple old athearn cars. They don`t look as good,but what does looks do if you can`t run and enjoy them?
     
  3. StickyMonk

    StickyMonk TrainBoard Member

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    <font color="336633">i have a few of them i got them to use on my buisness train, i replaced the couplers between the coaches with Roco close coupling mech's so they thouch, but as they keep derailing al the time and shorting out they have been side lined, i will look into replacing the trucks with some IHC sprung ones (i think they are IHC), and the worst gripe about them is that they dont have flush glasing....</font>

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    Matthew
    wheres all the C636's????
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    stickymonk.com
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  4. donde3

    donde3 New Member

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    Thanks so much for the feedback, guys. You kept me from making a BIG mistake! Would the Code of track make any difference at all? The distance from the top of rail to the side of the car would be the same, I think, so the shorting would probably persist.
     
  5. StickyMonk

    StickyMonk TrainBoard Member

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    <font color="336633">yes it wouldnt matter what rail size you used. This is something that HO scale is in desperate need of GOOD quality coaches like the Kato N scale ones, or even like the European ones made by Roco in HO</font>

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    Matthew
    wheres all the C636's????
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    stickymonk.com
    Matts Photo gallery
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  6. tigerman

    tigerman TrainBoard Member

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    If Spectrum are a "problem" coach, what does the team recommend as a fairly priced alternative?
     
  7. StickyMonk

    StickyMonk TrainBoard Member

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    <font color="336633">it all depends on how much work you want to do, and what you call a fair priced one, personally until someone does some decent coaches i might get some Brass Car Sides coaches and use these as overlays on Concor or Riverossi coaches, but then again i would still replace wheels and maybe trucks on them but you are looking at about $25 per coach for the sides....

    from what i have seen ConCor seem to be the best of the bunch if you put decent wheels on them.

    i wouldnt use Athearn coaches as they are to short only 72 foot long instead of the correct 85 foot.
    </font>

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    Matthew
    wheres all the C636's????
    [​IMG]

    stickymonk.com
    Matts Photo gallery
    TrainBoard member #257
     
  8. >>
    i wouldnt use Athearn coaches as they are to short only 72 foot long instead of the correct 85 foot.
    <<

    Perhaps so, but they roll and track well and if you have sharp curves, they look much better than the longer ones. Of course, they really aren't of any particular prototype. :)

    Seriously tho, the Spectrum cars are close to some prototypes and good looking, but you will need to replace the trucks if you want them to run well.

    Roger

    Roger Hensley - rhensley@anderson.cioe.com
    == http://cid.railfan.net/eci_new.html ==
    == East Central Indiana Railroad ==
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  9. doug

    doug E-Mail Bounces

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    I think when you spend $20 per Bachman car, they should run as good as they look. I don`t have any Rivarossi coaches because I hear the wheel flanges are wrong. Is that true? I have some code 83 track where flanges that`s too big won`t work.Athearn cars are cheap and run well.At least with Athearn, you can afford to modify them as nescessary.

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  10. Well, that used to be true (flanges), but their locos now have RP-25 contour wheels so I would expect that their has been a change in their passenger cars as well. However, there are so many Rivarossi (and AHM) cars out there that you can't be certain which you would get.

    Yes, the normal flanges are too deep to run on code 83.

    As to the cost of a car, it really depends upon what you want. I personally think $20 U.S. is too much to pay for a car with crappy wheels, but if it is exactly what you want, then you will pay it.

    As for me, I run Athearn passenger cars with a Con-Cor(?) baggage and a Rivarossi RPO waiting to join the fleet. And, yes, the baggage and RPO have been re-trucked. All of these cars are shorter and look and run well on my short radius curves.

    Roger


    [This message has been edited by rhensley@anderson.cioe.co (edited 15 December 2000).]
     
  11. Alan

    Alan Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I think that $20 for a passenger car is cheap. When I was modelling Swiss and Belgian railways in HO, Roco passenger cars were $50-$60 each!

    But they are superb in every respect, especially the close-coupling mechanism, something American models have not yet acheived.

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    Alan Curtis. Moderator. Member #12

    The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale!

    www.alancurtismodels.com
    Andersley Western Railroad
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