Autoracks: MTH vs. Lionel and why

Make sure you have lots of room and wide curves for the Lionel models!

Personally, I would only recommend the Lionel models if you have extremely broad radii curves.  89-scale feet is over 22".  It's not so much a question of will they "work" on O-72 curves, but rather will they "look good".  Granted, that's subject to personal taste.

 

If you have O-90 or larger, go for it.  Otherwise, I'd stick with the MTH cars.

 

David

 

 

Lionel they look sooo good. We did have uncouple issues with long strings of them though. A set of 6 or 7 worked ok.

Well said, David.

 

I have Lionel's CSX rendition of the autorack car.  I run it on O-72 curves, and to be honest, it does look a bit "funny."  

 

Now that certainly doesn't bother me, but I'd surmise the "look" could potentially irk some individuals (whence running on O72).

 

Best,

Michael 

I think David oversimplified it. Of course you do need plenty of clearance for whatever curve you have.  But the real question is how long are your straights?  If the cars spend more time on the straights than in curves then why stress about the overhang.  I am a steam guy bot the Lionel cars are cool!

I am a Lionel Conoseur, however, The Lionel Auto Rack Cars require extremely wide curves. Ross 0120 and up to really give the scale effect. I do not like excessive overhang on the curves. They are 24 inches long, longer than some of the scale passenger cars. I choose the MTH Auto Racks do to length. They are both really nice cars.

Happy Railroading

Check out this Vid. at NJ Hirailers 

https://ogrforum.com/t...86#28179007100952586

I haven't seen a Lionel Autorack in person, but I will be running 45"  and 49.5" radius curves, so length shouldn't be a problem. I haven't seen anyone 2-rail the Lionel version either- I've converted half of my MTH Autoracks to 2-rail (805 kadee's) with good results. Aside from the length, they look like any other 3-rail scale car- too high and equipped w/ oversized 3-rail couplers that need to secured with rubber bands to stay closed.

 

Any 2-railer out there convert a Lionel version yet?

 

Geno

Geno:

 

As I recall, the MTH racks were designed to operate on 27" radius (O-54) curves and are shortened to fit. The early ones have the trucks mounted in the wrong place (too far out), which can be corrected by modifying the car.

 

The Lionel racks are designed for 36" radius (O-72) and are full-length. They use an "adaptive shank" coupler which stretches out in curves for clearance and retracts on straight track for the better appearance of close-coupling. It's actually pretty clever.

 

In either case, they don't really start looking right until you go beyond 36" radius (O-72) like around 48" radius (O-96) or larger. A good formula to use is multiplying the bolster-to-bolster distance by 3 for the bare minimum the car can handle (with body-mounted couplers) or by 4 for when it starts looking right.

 

As for selling off the MTH racks, hard call. I have about a dozen of them which I'm converting over to Kadees. I probably won't buy the Lionel racks, instead focusing on the 86-foot excess-height box cars I have a weakness for.