What's the take on 1:32 rolling stock - particularly for basic 1940s freight - Boxcar / Reefer / Flat? I've read mixed info and would like to hear from you guys.
Original Post
"HONGZ" stands for HO scale, N scale, G scale, and Z scale.
Post your non-O scale stuff here!
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here's some of the MTH samples
old box car
https://mthtrains.com/70-74086
old reefer
https://mthtrains.com/70-78050
old flat car
https://mthtrains.com/70-76017
Just stumbled across this one? set
MTH Reefer doesn't look too bad. It's relatively accurate. I wonder how it scales out against PIKO / MDC.
The boxcar and flat colors are wrong (should be mineral brown) and the big herald on the boxcar is from the late 50s-60s. Would require repaints for sure. Shucks.
I read somewhere that the MDC / Roundhouse tooling was 1:32 and PIKO owns it - not sure if that's correct? I was looking at PIKO - their colors are better than MTH, but they went all fantasy with the graphics with copies of Santa FE advertising painted on the cars.
Any other options?
MDC/Roundhouse tooling was not to a scale (lenght/width/height was not consistent), so they called it G scale; PIKO used some of it and advertised its garden stuff as 1:29. So you would have to measure and find out.
Accucraft made and still makes very nice rolling stock in 1:32: http://www.accucraft.com/modelc/1menu_32_rs.htm
You could ask further on the large scale forum: http://www.mylargescale.com/Ho...abid/36/Default.aspx
Regards
Fred
Thank you for the Accucraft tip. The Boxcars look pretty darn accurate. Too bad about the ATSF Reefer and the big Herald. Looks like AML did a 1:29 wood reefer with correct paint. Anyone know how grossly oversized it is?
sncf231e posted:...
You could ask further on the large scale forum: http://www.mylargescale.com/Ho...abid/36/Default.aspx
Regards
Fred
I gave up on that forum after it was sold (again?). There are a couple of train forums that are less about trains, and more about some group with an agenda.
It would be nice to see this forum's G scale section grow and become what it can be. For good info about 1/32 products without bashing, you can also post here
Plenty of members from other countries that don't understand why some US guys only like 1/29, and nothing else.
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Big Herald's first appeared in 1958... not wrong, just too late for a steam engine. 
Jacobpaul81 posted:Looks like AML did a 1:29 wood reefer with correct paint. Anyone know how grossly oversized it is?
I tried combining 1:29 with 1:32 and thought it did not look good; the 10% difference is very noticable to my taste. So I sold the 1:29 I had (years ago already).
Regards
Fred
NB: Combining rolling stock from different manufacturers is no problem; looks quite real I think:
I've got a couple roundhouse reefers inbound. What parts do I need to convert these to work best with the MTH equipment?
i had 1:29 for awhile, never cared for 1:32, too close to O trains in size for me. got rid of everything but 1:24, 1:22.5 & elgeebee Gummy Scale.
djacobsen posted:i had 1:29 for awhile, never cared for 1:32, too close to O trains in size for me. got rid of everything but 1:24, 1:22.5 & elgeebee Gummy Scale.
There's a pretty hefty difference between 1:48 and 1:32. Essentially 1/8 inch per foot. On a 40' boxcar, that's 7" in length... let alone height and width. I'd never confuse 1:48 and 1:32.
1:32, too close to O trains in size for me. 
Larry
Been picking up MDC Reefers as the come available. I haven't seen a great comparison between MDC and MTH so I took some shots that I'll share. I haven't added parts and I've got some repairs to do on reefers. Figuring out still what to swap out wheels / couplers for. If you're interested in 1:32, here's some photos I've taken along with My findings
The MDC cars are slightly larger in width - they are exactly the same if you include the ladders or doors on the MTH car. This difference is slightly noticable from above.
The MDC cars are clearly short in length for a 40' car. They are roughly 38.33'.
The bodies of the two cars are the exact same height. The trucks on the MTH cars, although nicer looking and metal, add a noticable increase in height.
I actually kind of prefer (shock!) the MDC behind my Hudson.. but do wish at least the ladders weren't molded. 
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Is the locomotive shown above an MTH Santa Fe NYC Hudson? With your meticulous attention to detail, that seems to be a gross contradiction! LOL! NICE train though!
Tinplate Art posted:Is the locomotive shown above an MTH Santa Fe NYC Hudson? With your meticulous attention to detail, that seems to be a gross contradiction! LOL! NICE train though!
I'm definitely pickier about the paint on the reefers / boxcars than if the model is 100% correct to size. But don't think it doesn't annoy me that there have been no ATSF prototype steam locomotives produced. I haven't got the skill (or time) to build one myself - so I must tolerate what's available. At least the J3 isn't insanely different from the 3450 class Hudson. I believe the J3s had 79" drivers from the start while the 3450 class were upgraded from 73" to 79". Length would be within a foot or two of each other. It's close enough for government work. It is too bad MTH numbered theirs for 3460 class which were 6-7 feet larger (USA did the same thing). I'd like to eventually renumber and maybe even attempt to convert the tender to oil burner. I'd prefer to do it to a spare tender than risk ruining the one I've got.
