Articulated Joint on Model RR Container Cars


ctclibby said:
rgeiter: If you have Gunderson types with the high ends, let me know. My era is pre 74 so the newer ones would not work.

Later
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I don’t think I have any of those. What I have is mostly Athearn and Walthers from the 90’s. If I remember it’s mostly Thrall well cars, some 53’ spine cars and some gunderson well cars. The only cars I’m going to keep are the Walthers front runner cars. They run horribly but I remember seeing them all the time on Conrail.

Next week I plan on getting them out, seeing what I have, make sure they have wheels and couplers and post some pics here. That’s the plan.
 
rgeiter said:
The only cars I’m going to keep are the Walthers front runner cars. They run horribly but I remember seeing them all the time on Conrail.
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You're quite right about them being horrible runners. I've changed all 11 of mine to metal wheels and it only barely helped. I'll come up with something one of these days.
 
How different are the 'front runners' from 'spine cars' ?

I had heard long ago the spine cars were a bear to get running correctly?
I had occasion long ago at the Timonium show to buy two sets of these with the trailers all loaded. The gentleman claimed they were all personally fine-tuned by himself to run flawlessly. I've never had a chance to verify this as I did not have an operating layout at the time.
 
beiland said:
How different are the 'front runners' from 'spine cars' ?

I had heard long ago the spine cars were a bear to get running correctly?
I had occasion long ago at the Timonium show to buy two sets of these with the trailers all loaded. The gentleman claimed they were all personally fine-tuned by himself to run flawlessly. I've never had a chance to verify this as I did not have an operating layout at the time.
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They are very different from articulated spine cars. Front runners were only a two axle car. Maybe on very large curves they track well, but they would usually derail on switches. (For me)
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D&J RailRoad said:
When enlarging the pin hole it would be better to use an exacto knife to shave it away than to drill it out. Drilling can actually split the plastic.
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I used a hand drill and went rather slowly so I wouldn't cause unto stress.

and I think it was a metal piece I drilled?
 
D&J RailRoad said:
When enlarging the pin hole it would be better to use an exacto knife to shave it away than to drill it out. Drilling can actually split the plastic.
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I disagree. Using a blade would tend to deform the shape of the hole, especially if the knife handle were twisted so the blade reams the hole. Shaving in such a tight circular path may prove difficult and awkward as well since it would be easier to move the model than the blade.

Yes, the hole would be enlarged but very likely not remain circular. If that's important - and it might be to ensure a trouble-free fit between moving parts - then I'd recommend a tapered round file for this size opening. That will accomplish the task of opening the hole gradually and uniformly.

I've got plenty of experience proving this point - many times in the last 35 years I've used an x-acto blade when I should have kept looking for a drill or file!
 
Yeah, I suppose using a drill would be necessary if the pin wouldn't even fit into the receiver, but we're talkin about a tight fit to just a little less tight. That wouldn't be much more than half the thickness of the paint in the receiver. So I would prefer a sharp Exacto blade over a drill bit or even a few swipes with a small Jewelers rat tail file would work.
 
rgeiter said:
They are very different from articulated spine cars. Front runners were only a two axle car. Maybe on very large curves they track well, but they would usually derail on switches. (For me)
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I've never had trouble with my Front Runner cars, but I agree they are lightweight and likely to be intolerant of some manufacturers turnouts. I installed Intermountain wheels in mine and used a Reboxx truck tuner to make sure they roll well.
 
Dug mine out last night along with all of my other intermodal stuff. I have a lot of Walthers and Athearn well cars and spine cars I want to unload. I will be listing everything tonight with pics. They’ve been stored for a long, long time.
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beiland said:
I'd be interested in exactly how do you add those pennies to your containers?
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As I posted, I take the containers apart. Older ones are not glued and are easier. I noticed that newer ones from Walther's are glued and have to taken apart gently using an Exacto knife or a single-edge razor blade.
Here's an example of a 40' Athearn container using Walther's Goo to hold the 14¢ inside.
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I use half as much on 20' containers.
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On this one I added a piece of styrene down the center since the outer ribs are a little far apart.
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Here's a Walther's 40' container that has no ribs on the floor.
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Since on my layout, 53' domestic containers normally go on top, they get only 9¢. Keeps the loads from becoming too top-heavy.
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I do two other things to all containers. I drill out the paint/plastic from the four small holes in the top, so they nest together more easily. And I use Woodland Scenics "Scenic Accents Glue" when reassembling. Keeps the bottoms from falling out when I rotate containers from one car to another. Since it is "repositionable" glue, it's easy to take them apart again if anything comes loose. That only happens if I used super glue to attach the pennies to begin with.
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Things that I have observed on the trains coming out of the BNSF Alliance Intermodal Yard over the years. Most cars have 40' containers on the bottom. 20' containers go on the bottom. If stacked at all, they are only stacked on other 20' containers. They are never stacked on anything longer. Fully loaded 20' tanks normally have nothing stacked on top of them due to the weight of the liquid in them. They never stack a 40' container on top of a longer one, whether it be 45', 48', or 53'. 45 footers are pretty much obsolete any more. International containers are only 20' and 40'. Domestic containers can be any length, but the load bearing pillars are always 40' apart.
Hope that this helps.
 
beiland said:
How different are the 'front runners' from 'spine cars' ?
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Spine cars can handle containers as well as trailers. Front runners can only handle trailers. Spine cars also have four wheel trucks (2 axles each), whereas front runners have only two axles. I removed the drawbars from my Front Runners and substituted Kadee couplers which makes them easier to handle. No more picking up a long string of cars to do maintenance or whatever.
 
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