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Re: Roundhouse - 3600 Series Reefers

> I was looking at the images of the Roundhouse 50' reefer series in the > Walthers catalog. A visit to the MDC webpage proved useless. They > provide little information and no images of these cars. > > Item #'s of interest: 3609, 3610, 3611, 3618 > > Has anyone seen on e of these cars in person? > > Can you offer an opinion on their build quality? weighting? metal or > plastic wheels? Kadee coupler compatability (easy change out?), paint > and print work? > > Thanks! > Matt

Matt,

I have two of the reefer cars in the 3600 series, #3616 & #3617.

I my personal subjective opinion they are nicely built cars. They are all plastic, no metal underframes as are some MDC rolling stock. Very easy to assemble. I did have to add 2 oz of weight to bring them upto NMRA specs. The wheels are plastic with metal axles, simular to Athearn's. Number 5 Kadee couplers easily fit into the coupler draft boxes. Regarding the paint and print work, they meet my standards of good quality work. Remember, what looks good for one person may not look good to another.

I hope this information has been some help to you.

Fred Ellis

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Fred Ellis
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Thank you for replying. It sounds like a nice option for a kit. I can easily make the edits that you have mentioned. We own six of their tiny, HO scale, tank cars. I found those kits to be very nice, easy to assemble, and the end results look wonderful. We also changed out their wheels and their couplers w/ no issues.

I was hoping to read that the 3600 series met the level of the tank cars, and you have confirmed that they do. That's great. I will certainly add a couple of these cars to our layout.

Thank You! Matt

Reply to
Matt & Kathleen Brennan

"I was looking at the images of the Roundhouse 50' reefer series in the Walthers catalog. A visit to the MDC webpage proved useless. They provide little information and no images of these cars.

Item #'s of interest: 3609, 3610, 3611, 3618

Has anyone seen one of these cars in person?

Can you offer an opinion on their build quality? weighting? metal or plastic wheels? Kadee coupler compatability (easy change out?), paint and print work?"

The model is loosely based on a Lehigh Valley prototype car. It's an atypical design. The roof arch is too shallow to match other RRs cars. It can be replaced though. None of the paint schemes you mentioned match prototype cars.

As for build quality, it's a typical MDC car. Not a bad model. I have several. It will need to be weighted. Couplers can easily be changed as well as wheel sets.

The car can be kitbashed to resemble other prototypes. It's close to a Delawre & Hudson milk car, plans in the Feb. '86 Railroad Model Craftsman. You'd have to replace the fishbelly underframe with a truss rod/straight steel center, replace the grab irons with ladders and rework the door from an outward-swinging five foot to an inward-swinging (no visible hinges) four-footer. Also add a belt rail on the sides and ends and replace the roof with a steeper one.

Eric

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Eric

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