Questions About the Quality and Handling of Con-Cor 72' Passenger Cars

[BradKT]

Can anybody tell me anything about Con-Cor and the quality of their 72' HO scale streamliner passenger cars?  Is their quality comparable to Athearn?  Is the quality better or worse and in what respect?  What other manufacturer would they be comparable to?  Do they use 4 or 6 wheel trucks and how do they handle on curves?  How do they handle on Bachmann EZ-track?

Can Con-Cor knuckle couplers be replaced with Kadees?  Can I use #5s pr #14 whisker couplers...or do I need to use a longer coupler?

I am looking at their 72' SP Golden State streamliner passenger cars.  Anyone who has had any experience with 72' HO scale Con-Cor passenger cars (or who just knows anything about them), please fell free to chime in.

Passenger cars over this length that have 6 wheel trucks seem to cause me too many derailment problems.  My turn radiuses range from 18" (inside track), 22"-26" (middle track) to 30" (outside track).

[ABC]

I have some Con-Cor cars, I would say they are comparable in quality to IHC/AHM, which is worse than Athearn in my opinion. They will run fine on 22" radius and up, and are problematic on regular 18" radius turnouts and 18" and lower curves. I would suggest longshank couplers with the radius track you have, anything below 24" usually requires longshank. They will be fine on everything except your inside track. All that I have seen and own have 4 wheel trucks.

[BradKT]

ABC: I have two additional questions:

(1) Were your Con-Cor passenger cars the 72' cars or the 83' cars?

(2) Do they come with the weights or do you have to add the weights like you have to with the IHC passenger cars?  

As an aside, I have had three brand new complete IHC car sets (8 cars each..RPO, baggage, diner, sleeper, vista dome, observation and 2 coaches)) for at least 2 years  that I have never used (except to open the boxes and look at them) and I am wondering if they are worth the risk and trouble of changing the couplers (after cutting off the horn hook couplers) and adding the weights or should I just sell them off while they are still brand new and untouched and get the Con-Cor passenger cars?  The car sets are UP, SP Golden State and California Zephyr.  I even have the weights that go with them (the weight for each car comes in about 24 pieces that have to be glued in both on the floor and under the carriage)...as well as the Kadee adaptors and couplers.

I don't want to work on them and then have them not work on my RR layout because they are longer then 72'.  I have a few Walthers  passenger cars that are the 83' length that didn't work out...and they had 6 wheel trucks.  I am seriously considering getting rid of the IHCs before I do anything with them..

That's why I am looking at the shorter 72' Con-Cor passenger cars.

[ABC]

1. they are 72'
2. You need to add your own weights, they are not included.

I have 2 complete Erie sets (stream line & heavy weight) & a Erie Lackawanna and a Pennsy set made by IHC. The streamlines have 4 wheel trucks and the heavyweights have 6 wheel trucks. I have done the following to each car. 1. Weighted to NMRA specs 2. Replaced trucks and wheels 3. Added interiors to 3 sets (except for baggage & RPO cars) 4. Removed the horn-hooks and McHenrys 5. Added kadee long-shank couplers ontop of styrene to ensure the correct coupling height 6. added E-Z peezy lighting to 2 sets
After doing all this the cars are solid with no issues, but they might have trouble on 18" radius though.
You can buy top of the line cars from Rapido for $45 or less if on sale. It cost me about $12 to upgrade each car. I bought two sets together for $40 each, one for $50, and the other for $60. So it works out to about $20 each, but it is a lot of time and work. If you're not prepared to put in a lot of work (interiors and lights aren't necessary), I'd sell them and salvage what you can because they may not like 18" radius. The 72' con-cors would be more likely to work on 18" radius, but I have not tried it. Before committing to the con-cors see if you can see if they run on 18" radius without any issues.

[BradKT]

Does anybody make weights specifically for Con-Cor passenger cars...like, for example, Athearn does for its passenger cars?

If the answer is no, how much weight did you add to your 72' passenger cars?  I assume that you added them at each end.  If not, what did you do?

[Doneldon]

Brad-

I doubt if anyone makes custom weights for the Con-Cor cars.  They are about 10" long so they should weigh roughly six ounces.  You can use stick-on weights, lead, old nuts and bolts or anything else to get the weight.  I don't think the location of the weights will make a big difference as all of the weight ends up on the wheels eventually and model trains don't move at speeds which would make the location a major issue.  Use a postal scale to check your final weights.

                                                                                                                                                      -- D

[RAM]

The weights can go any place, but I would place them over the trucks.  The good old one cent coin make good weights.