Re: Intermountain Box cars

They offer kits as well as RTR for this car.

They appear to have all you mentioned.

The mail order price I saw was about $23.10 and the MSRP was $31.95 for the flats. Thanks for the info. The photos look fantastic. I will post the details of the box car.

Ten-foot Pullman-Standard corrugated doors or Superior doors are available, depending on the road name. A limited number of assembled, undecorated cars will be produced. These will include both styles of doors.

Etched metal end walks, Kadee #78 couplers and metal wheelsets provide realistic appearance and reliable operation.

All releases feature razor-sharp painting and lettering.

OHHH man, I can feel my credit card bill getting heavier already!!! *8->

Thanks for the heads up, I haven;t visted their site for awhile now.

Paul

I'll deal only with the first of your questions.

I have both the Kadee and intermountain versions of the SAME car, a VGN boxcar. From two feet back you can scarcely tell the difference. From one foot away you can start to see minor differences.

There ARE differences. They are very slight. I don't have the detailed prototype information necessary to select which may be the more accurate. I will say that the Kadee car is superior in overall detail, but not by much. The Kadee has a scale sized draft gear box, actual angle section ladder verticals, and similar almost microscopic refinements. The detail is just finer and crisper. I just don't think ANY other cars are the current equals of the Kadee cars. Their injection molding technology sets the standard. The only things I've seen that come close are some of the Grandt Line and Tichty offerings (like the wreck crane).

All that said, they're both beautiful cars. I have a number and variety of each make, and I'm satisfied with both their efforts.

Dan Mitchell ==========

Art Marsh wrote:

Yup, numerous times, and Im in aussie, have had no issues so far with him. everything is exactly as stated.

Yes *8-> , I realize that IM offers most of their cars in either. The way I read it I thought it was an RTR kit ... which ... well like I said.

Paul

Don't buy anything that has the coupler cover glued in place. Sooner or later you'll want access to the coupler and then it's a huge pain.

Are Intermountain RTR coupler pocke covers glued in place? Seems to me a car that expensive would use a srew.

Thanks,

Intermountain and Kadee glue their lids in place. Why? I have no idea. I did successfully remove the coupler lids from several Intermountain reefers. I used a very sharp X-acto knife, and I made many swipes with minimal pressure applied. I glued the lid back on, but I used far less glue.

I was changing out the inexpensive coupler assembly that came with the car in favor of a Kadee #5 coupler assembly. I have no idea what the shelf life is for the internal mechanism [the brass spring]. Hopefully, it will work for a l-o-n-g time. The external spring is an easy access item.

This change out process is a hassle: no denying that. However, Intermountain and Kadee cars are so impressive that I just accept this design decision with the hope that it becomes a non issue. The more recent Intermountain cars include a Kadee coupler system. Kadee cars, of course, come with their own coupler system. Unless the brass spring fails, interior access is unnecessary once a Kadee coupler is in place.

It'd be interesting to compare a McHenry #51 coupler to a Kadee #5 coupler for longevity [interior mechanism]. Both use an external spring which is easy to replace. The McHenry coupler design uses plastic on the interior. I happen to like the McHenry #51 coupler quite a bit. We have a lot of those in cars as well as a lot of Kadee #5 assemblies. The McHenry #51 coupler fits nicely into Walthers and Roundhouse cars. It's a simple coupler exchange: plug 'n play. I find that the Kadee installation, in many cases, requires some added effort: sanding, filing, and/or adding shims.

Both coupler designs work equally well as I have done some extreme push and pull tests with cars coupled together. One car had a McHenry #51 and the other car had a Kadee #5. I could not get either coupler to fail before the trucks derailed. I tried this test on both straight track and on an extended, 22" radius curve.

Thanks Mark,

I have a few Kadee cars that I will take a closer look at,

I agree in principal, but I certainly would NOT refuse to buy a nice car just because the coupler box was glued shut! Its a TRIVIAL issue.

It's best to have the coupler box mounted by means of a screw of some sort, so it can be removed if necessary.

Clips and push-pin (friction fit) mountings are BAD news. These always, sooner or later, seem to work loose. This either causes the couplers to droop, or just plain pull-out.

Since MANY makes of cars use the blasted clips or push-pins, and fitting a proper Kadee or similar box can be a lot of work, I often glue such substandard coupler mountings in place to prevent auto-disassembly. IF they ever need servicing, getting them open again is NOT a big deal. Worst case scenario is that the box gets broken. Big deal. THEN is a good time to install a proper box anyway.

The biggest problem with factory glued boxes is in replacing the (usually) lousy Kadee 'clone' couplers with real Kadees. Usually I can get the box open without seriously damaging it. I replace the couplers, and glue the thing back together again. IF the center pin breaks out, drill, tap, and install a screw. Use the bushing on a Kadee #5 coupler box cover (trimmed out to fit) around the screw as a new center post inside the box. Just run the screw through the cover plate, through the bushing, and into the car frame.

Once you have a real Kadee in place, coupler servicing is hardly ever needed. Sure, the HEIGHTS of the boxes needs to be gotten correct in the first place, and perhaps adjusted at later times, but that does not (usually) entail opening the coupler box. Occasionally a knuckle spring will pop out, and these can be reinstalled in place without removing the coupler.

I have many hundreds of Kadee couplers in regular service, and once you get them right you almost NEVER need to mess with the actual couplers again.

Dan Mitchell ==========

Richard Schumacher wrote:

I agree with Dan. Now I do take time 'bolt on' the trucks and couplers for any new items I build. I usually do the 'rebuild' if I have a 'clone' failure. On coupler boxes, you can drill out the coupler box and use a #2 self starting screw(I use a

Jim Bernier

"Daniel A. Mitchell" wrote: