DM&IR Ore Cars

[Beatthe9ers]

I'm looking for DM&IR, HO scale Ore Cars, the smaller (26 foot?) version, with the traditional maroon and yellow coloring.  Walthers makes some and I've seen some Roundhouse as well.

I've been scouring the internet, which I know is usually the best way to find things, but I thought I would throw up a flare on this forum as well.

New or used, RTR or kits, I don't really care.  What I am most interested in is finding out what my options are and then making a decision on where to spend my money.  Like I said, I am aware of the current Walthers offereing and have seen a Roundhouse version.  But those are the only two.

Anyone got a bead on these things or interested in selling ones you own?

Parker

[richG]

Here are some choices.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=DM%26IR%2C+HO+scale+Ore+Cars&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8

Ebay search.
http://toys.shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQLHQ5fPrefLocZ1QQ_dmptZModelQ5fRRQ5fTrainsQQ_sopZ1?_nkw=DM%26IR+Ore+Cars&_sacat=19128&_fromfsb=&_trksid=m270.l1313&_odkw=&_osacat=19128

Rich

[Frisco]

I would recomend the Walthers ones. They are a bit spendy but a quite a bit nicer compared to the MDC ones.

[richG]

Just remember, there are online sites with better prices than Walther's. Some are in my links I posted.

Rich

[WGL]

  A few months ago, I bought 3 Bachmann Premium HO Silver Series DM&IR 26' iron ore cars with "blackened, machined-metal wheels with RP25 contours; body-mounted couplers; non-magnetic, blackened-brass axles with needlepoint bearings; Celcon trucks; & added weight for optimum tracking.  They were $13 each.  I think I bought them at MBKlein modeltrainstuff.com.  I like them.  I bought a bag of "iron ore" at a hobby shop for them.  Since I'm from the Mesabi Iron Range, & my dad worked in open pit mines for 35 years, I wanted utmost realism--except that I should have 100 or 200 of them in a train.   

[wjstix]

The only accurate models of Missabe 24' ore cars are the Walthers ones. They've done a couple of versions over the years including IIRC the older style with the herald instead of the reporting marks, the more recent ones with "DMIR" stencilled over the herald, and DMIR taconite cars with taconite extensions. There was even a limited run of cars lettered for the Duluth Missabe and Northern maybe 10 years ago or so.

Before the Walthers "Minnesota" cars came out in the nineties, the only ore cars in HO were the Roundhouse/MDC ones which have been around for many decades. They are good models but are based on Upper Michigan ore cars, which are slightly higher and slightly narrower than Minnesota cars. So yes you can get MDC Missabe ore cars but they're not as accurate as the Walthers ones.

The Bachmann ore cars also aren't based on real DMIR cars, I don't think that type was used in the Great Lakes region??

[jschmid]

walthers just announced a new type of ore car, im pretty sure its the 26 foot one.

[Beatthe9ers]

Thanks for the information.  I see the new Walthers offering.  Six months out and $170.  Hmmm, I will have to ponder than one a bit.

[richG]

When Walther's gets them in stock, check around. There are online sources who will sell the cars at about 20 percent off of Walther's prices.

Rich

[Steve Magee]

Now, if only someone, preferably Bachmann, would release a DM&IR Yellowstone to pull 'em

Steve Magee
Newcastle NSW Aust

[pdlethbridge]

I saw a set of roundhouse cars on ebay

[Woody Elmore]

a half century ago the Varney company made ore cars - they turn up on Ebay once in a while.

I remember a fellow having a train of ore cars and they were die cast - he pulled them with a Hobbytown of Boston RS-2. Were those die cast cars made by Ulrich?

[wjstix]

a half century ago the Varney company made ore cars - they turn up on Ebay once in a while.

I remember a fellow having a train of ore cars and they were die cast - he pulled them with a Hobbytown of Boston RS-2. Were those die cast cars made by Ulrich?

I believe the Varney ones became the Roundhouse / MDC ones. They were originally all-metal but MDC changed the bodies to plastic ones.

It appears the new Walthers ore cars are a new version of the Upper Michigan ore cars as used by the CNW, LS&I and others...althought they are apparently going to offer it lettered for the DM&IR too. I can't tell from the pic it it's accurate (i.e. higher and narrower than a Minnesota car) or if it's just an outside braced version of their previous Minnesota car.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/932-40501