Passenger Car Trends

[hobo1]

DONT HOLD YOUR BREATH BACHMANN WILL NEVER PRODUCE THEM

[Guilford Guy]

DONT HOLD YOUR BREATH BACHMANN WILL NEVER PRODUCE THEM

We'd be good friends! Positive + Negative charges always seem to attract!

[pdlethbridge]

have you thought of shortening a backmann car to see hit looks? If you did, switch to a 4 wheel truck, it would look better on the shorter car. cutting out 2 or 4 windows would give you a 70' or 60' car  right here    l       l

doing it there along the edge of the raised part of the siding will keep you from cutting into that bottom detail and give you a smoother appearance

[Yampa Bob]

I thought about it....for about 3 seconds.  I'm not spending $25 for a car to chop it up.  I like buying those cheap things for about $7, much less at yard sales. 

Like I said, I really don't need any more cars, just received a shipment last week of Overtons and Overlands.  It was just an observation of the current trend.

Anyway, I won't put any car over 50' on my layout.  See, I can be just as stubborn as others LOL.

[Paul M.]

Yampa Bob, not even the 52' gondolas?

[Yampa Bob]

Not even.  With the exception of 2 nicely detailed 50' box cars given me by a friend, all my freight cars are in the 40' to 46' range.  Another friend sent me a box of older 70 ton coal hoppers and 40' gondolas, so I have an over abundance of freighters in just the right size. 

[SteamGene]

I think Bob has the right idea based on the size of his layout.  His equipment does not overpower his track, yet he can make a decent looking train.  Were he to throw a couple of articulated double stacks on his track, he's have his motive power stiffing his FRED.   Not good.
Gene

[Yampa Bob]

Thanks Gene.  It's all a matter of perspective, and I am very pleased with the appearance.  You can get away with running short cars on a large layout, but not large cars on a small layout.  

My first question in the opening post never received an answer.  I don't think anyone reads my entire posts.   

If the answer is "yes", then as Gene says, there are a lot of hippos on balance beams, because I think the percentage of small layouts like mine is pretty high.

[pdlethbridge]

I think that, out of desperation, people buy what's available, whether it looks good or not. How many people buy big boys or something else that big. Yes hippos are on balance beams. small layouts are in the majority and I bet that a lot of them have locos and cars designed for club layouts. I also have a 4' x 8' type layout and my biggest loco is a connie and largest car is 40'. Look at some of the videos posted in you tube and you'll see those hippos.

[Atlantic Central]

Bob,

OK to answer your first question - yes, there is a big demand for long, true to scale cars. People with my view are in the minority, most modelers I know have bought into the hype that everything must be as acurate as possible, and, if you model any time period past 1910 or so, most passenger cars where at least 75' long and longer.

The model press has worked hard to make the selective compression of passenger cars an unacceptable modeling choice - curves be damned!

Just go back and read passenger car articles in MR especially over the last 10 years or more - products from Athearn, Con Cor and other selectively compressed/freelanced cars are either not mentioned at all or outright condemed for their non scale length.

But then in the same issue there we be an ariticle about the "need" to selectively compress some structure - go figure. The "click" at MR has decided what is acceptable modeling and what is not and just like political correctness they work hard at promoting their agenda - DCC, sound, walk around control, only scale length paasenger cars, prototype modeling, foam scenery, semi scale wheels and couplers, just to name a few.

These are all fine and valid modeling choices, but they are not the only choices and the opposing views to these items also have merrit - merrit never given any press time in MR.

Sheldon

[SteamGene]

Sheldon is correct.  I've reviewed quite a few MR layout articles using an editor's eye, and they have a boilerplate in mind.  My old club wants to get into MR, but the way the layout is currently configured, it won't for several reasons.  A new editorial staff might change that. 
I may wind up selling my Walther's 80' C&O passenger cars just because of their overhang on my curves.  I have Con-Cor full length which does not have that overhang. 
But, to each his own.  On the VT&P I am the buck stopper.  On the Great Eastern, I'm an admiring observer. 
Gene

[Conrail Quality]

Bob,

OK to answer your first question - yes, there is a big demand for long, true to scale cars. People with my view are in the minority, most modelers I know have bought into the hype that everything must be as acurate as possible, and, if you model any time period past 1910 or so, most passenger cars where at least 75' long and longer.

The model press has worked hard to make the selective compression of passenger cars an unacceptable modeling choice - curves be damned!

Just go back and read passenger car articles in MR especially over the last 10 years or more - products from Athearn, Con Cor and other selectively compressed/freelanced cars are either not mentioned at all or outright condemed for their non scale length.

But then in the same issue there we be an ariticle about the "need" to selectively compress some structure - go figure. The "click" at MR has decided what is acceptable modeling and what is not and just like political correctness they work hard at promoting their agenda - DCC, sound, walk around control, only scale length paasenger cars, prototype modeling, foam scenery, semi scale wheels and couplers, just to name a few.

These are all fine and valid modeling choices, but they are not the only choices and the opposing views to these items also have merrit - merrit never given any press time in MR.

Sheldon

Sheldon,

I agree with most of what you said. However, there definately is a case for running scale-length passenger cars, even on narrow curves. For example, if I'm running Amfleet cars behind an E60CH (length:70'), anything less than full length would look pretty out of place. Likewise if you are running your cars behind an E8 or E9. Shorty passenger cars are great if your locomotive is an GP7 or you are running an RDC, but big locomotives need big passenger cars for balance, even if there is an overhange problem. Of course, I solved both of these problems by downsizing to N scale, where I can run 85' passenger cars on 19" radius without too much overhang, but unless you have a huge amount of space, an HO scaler has to decide whether overhang or unprototypicality is the lesser of the two evils. However, like you said, MR and company have already made that decision for us.

Timothy

[Atlantic Central]

Timothy,

In theory I agree, but in practice it doesn't really seem to matter. I have had people visit my layout and remark on the detail of my passenger cars never even realizing they are Athearn and Con Cor shorties.

I close couple them with working American Limited diaphragms and ad lots of other details, especially to the underframe of Athearn heavyweights. In addition I kitbash a number of car types Athearn never made.

I do agree such "trickery" is more difficult with modern equipment, but heavyweights came in lots of different lengths and many modelers don't really know or notice - until some rivet counter points it out.

With modern era modeling, freight cars are much longer too, so you either get larger curves or live with the appearance.

My passenger trains are pulled by all sorts of power, steam, diesel, big and small. I think it all looks just fine. We have PA's, E's, F's and FP's and we pull some long passenger trains, 9 to 12 cars is not uncommon on my schedule. This is another place shorter cars build a better "illusion" of realizm in my opinon. Long train of 85' cars can overwhelm the scenes of even a large layout. Shorter cars, in greater quanity, give that big train feel without dominating the scene as much. Just like the perspective of a photo.

Sheldon

[rogertra]

I thought about it....for about 3 seconds.  I'm not spending $25 for a car to chop it up. 

Bob.

If you don't like chopping up $25.00 cars, then guys like me that chop up $250.00 steam locomotives must make you cringe. 

[Guilford Guy]

Whoever complains about radii too sharp, will join the Sipping & Switching Society Club in the South. 80" radii curves, HO+HOn3, modular.
http://s-ss4.home.mindspring.com/id3.html