P
Photogdad
Guest
I am looking for opinions as to who makes a decent heavyweight Pullman passenger car for the steam era?
Didn't Rivarossi market some long passenger cars in the past 15 years or so?
Whichever cars you get, I can tell you that the Walthers variety are indeed long, and they do NOT do well on curves of a radius less than about 27", and even then one or more cars in a given consist will derail. There are two problems: the shrouds between the cars (diaphragms) are somewhat stiff and restrictive, and the trucks have power transmission nubs and screws on their upper structure so that lighting can be used inside the cars. They sometimes grab at the under-frame during tight turns.
I never subject my longer passenger cars to curves less than 28", and they track very nicely. They also look great. If you can keep your main operating curves in the 28-30" range, you will get a lot of pleasure out of the Walthers heavyweights. Less than 28", you are raising the probability of some grief.
I can't speak for other manufacturers' cars.