HO trailers for TOFC cars...


W

wongsing

Member
Hey,

I have checked out different places online looking for decent trailers to put on my 89' flat cars. I know that Athearn makes VERY nice trailers and I already own a few. Even their older blue box 45' vans are pretty nice! But is there any other places that make some nice ones too that aren't TOO expensive? Detail is important to me, but I'm willing to do alot of it by myself! I'm looking for 28' , 40' and 45' trailers especially in kit form that are decent enough to pass on any respectable layout (like the ones I have seen on this forum!) Please post any pics of any trailers you guys may have! I like to get ideas! Thanks! BTW: Does anyone have any trailers from ProtoPowerWest / A-Line? Are they any good? They seem like they are....

-Rich
 
The A-line trailers are very nice. I have a few of their UPS pups. See the following photos for shots of a sampling of Keith "planodude" Hapes' arsenal of UPS and RPS pups.

http://www.pbase.com/mecrharris/image/54954574/large.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/mecrharris/image/54954552/large.jpg

Check A-line's website for photos as well as other product lines carried there. A-line's former Milepost 501 tooling for the 40' Fruehauf dry van is now owned by Athearn, so you can expect to see those as RTR in hobby stores soon.

Walthers also has a pretty substantial line of trailers, too, so be sure to check out their website, too.

Atlas makes a nice 45' trailer, too. With some searching, you could possibly track down the old Front Range 45'x102" trailers. Good luck!
 
Some of Athearn's trailers are based on Rail Power Products kits. (Athearn bought out RPP) So keep an eye out for them at shows and on ebay.

Bowser also makes trailers, but I think they are only 53' and 53' roadrailers.
 
A-line makes 28' pups exterior posts (ribbed) and interior posts (smooth side)also angle back versions. 45,48,53's are also available. Ahtearn is good also and more modern. Atlas makes a nice 45'Pines trailer with some nice detail. Trucks & Stuff is good also but can be pricey.
 
The big problem with the Athearn blue box 45' trailers is that they were purposely made too narrow so they would operate on model railroads better, a prevailing ideal at Athearn at the time, and unfortunate for us. You best bet is to go to train shows looking for old Front Range, McKean, Accurail, RPP, A-Line and Walthers trailers. Trailers and containers are going for way too much on E-bay.
 
The Athearn blue box 45's are true to scale for that time period. Now depending on the era you are modeling those trailers are perfect. The opening width from interior sidewall to sidewall was 96". As the years went by the opening got wider 102" and now days 110". I believe this is the widest they can go because the width of an adverage highway lane is 9' wide. Anything over that is considered WIDE LOAD. If you divide 12 into 110 you get 9 and a little over. Most highway trailers nowdays are 102".
 
I have to apologize. I just repeated something that I read on the model intermodal list some time ago. I think it was something about the style of trailer they modeled wasn't the narrow kind or something like that. But doing my own measurements with a HO scale ruler, I see the Athearn trailer comes out to 99" wide, the Walther's 45' trailer is 102" Wide, and the Front Range/McKean trailer is 106" wide. What I find amazing is how much these small differences do stand out. The Athearn trailer is noticeably smaller than it's rivals. As far as the Athearn trailer goes, reworking the stand and the anti-under-ride bumper on the rear would help it's looks by a great margin.
 
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