Color change in new Lionel Autoracks

i got mine today and about barfed when i seen that yellow.......these should not have ever been sent out by lionel  with this color yellow.....i'm calling charles ro thursday and see if i can exchange these.    never going to pre-order anything lionel again...they just cant be trusted to use proper colors ..

What a disaster, what is Lionel thinking here?? They aren’t thinking. More incorrect colors on more items. Typical. I’ve got several of these new auto racks coming. Looks like they really messed this round up. I agree NO more pre orders for me. 

Looks like the same color shown in the catalog for NS to me.  Why are you surprised?

2018 Big Book page 34.

Have you seen the newest NORFOLK SOUTHERN automobile racks in person?

That shade of yellow is very accurate. 

I will get a video still tomorrow to show you that the new NS auto racks are in that EXACT shade of yellow.

Andrew

For the NORFOLK SOUTHERN auto rack the color on the model looks close on the sections that are most brightly illuminated by the sun.

Andrew

In real life the color is brighter yellow than the catalog picture (which can’t be relied on in my experience).  Not sure why Lionel decided to make a bright yellow one.  I don’t believe I have ever seen a real auto rack that was canary yellow, so maybe it is a fantasy paint scheme.

I’ve never seen any TTX based car in canary yellow. In addition, these new cars have the plastic Lion Scale trucks NOT diecast as described in the catalog. The yellow should be TTX yellow.

MrMoe50 posted:

Looks like the same color shown in the catalog for NS to me.  Why are you surprised?

2018 Big Book page 34.

no, the cars sent to me are not the same color as shown in the catalog...if the cars would have been the same,it would not be the big issue it is. i put one of them on the layout with the other older cars i have. it  looked so out of place,i called charles ro...they are going back. i also got 2 southern railway .these looked pretty good ,so there're staying. 

Plastic trucks too? Wow. 

this is what i expected for a color of the newer NS/TTX car...the pics posted by falcon sevice ,those cars have been in service for some time and are faded out bad..

I had the same issue with the last run of the GLa PRR hoppers.     I pre-ordered assuming they would be like the previous runs, same color, and accurate PRR trucks.     When they came they were a sort of focal orange or something.    I'm not a color snob, but I wanted them to match the ones I had.   They look totally out of place, and I ordered all 3 sets in Pennsy and the berwind set.    But worse than the color, they put some sort of generic bettendorf style truck with plastic bolsters on them.    The first runs had PRR "Crown" truck.   So I am in the same boat now I am afraid to pre-order because I might get some that I really don't want.

They may have been trying to get a little away from the more tuscan originals to a lighter freight car color as was the case earlier in the 20th century.   

Here are photos of the real TTGX 983818 flat car with the NS auto rack for comparison in various lighting conditions.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.n...cture.aspx?id=311734

Andrew

No more rolling stock for me. Colors wrong. Passenger cars with 24 scale feet between them . Bring production home to the USA and most of us scale buyers and operators would gladly pay the difference to support our people and our nation. 

The final product shown in the photo has a shade of yellow that must be Chicago & North Western "Safety Yellow".

Andrew

What makes you think things such as scale feet would change by bringing home production?  China is not altering the mold or parts to their own specs.  They are Lionels specs.  And probably Lionels specs on the colors.  You can partially blame China on the poor quality in assembly etc, but even that is not all their doing...

Well excuse me. I'm just a farmer and look at things a bit different than maybe I should 

Oh man plastic trucks on a high priced car. No thank you. Glad I didn't pre order for once.

Anyone have pics of the MKT and Southern autoracks?

Jeff78rr posted:

In addition, these new cars have the plastic Lion Scale trucks NOT diecast as described in the catalog.

Maybe we have different definitions of "LionScale trucks".  To me, LionScale trucks are only used on the Made in USA LionScale product line and are diecast.  The cars being discussed in this thread are made overseas.  The trucks in the picture above don't look anything like the trucks on the LionScale cars I have … different side frames, different number of springs, etc.

Stu

NOT LionelLLC posted:

Jeff78rr posted:

In addition, these new cars have the plastic Lion Scale trucks NOT diecast as described in the catalog.

Maybe we have different definitions of "LionScale trucks".  To me, LionScale trucks are only used on the Made in USA LionScale product line and are diecast.  The cars being discussed in this thread are made overseas.  The trucks in the picture above don't look anything like the trucks on the LionScale cars I have … different side frames, different number of springs, etc.

Stu

I believe he was expecting the previous diecast sprung truck with hidden uncoupler tab. 

Guessing here. Did these come with those new 2Railer friendly unsprung trucks? (And all they did was remove the thumbtack from the coupler arm and replace it with a tab on other freight cars?) IIRC don't those have plastic pieces to prevent shorts when used on 2 Rail layouts? Many are NOT fans of those trucks it seems.

Jeff78rr posted:

I’ve never seen any TTX based car in canary yellow. In addition, these new cars have the plastic Lion Scale trucks NOT diecast as described in the catalog. The yellow should be TTX yellow.

The Lionel autoracks have DIECAST SPRUNG trucks, NOT plastic. Only the bolster is plastic. These are the newer trucks that come apart with 2 screws that secure the bolster to the side frames.

I got my 2 NS cars the other day, and I am ok with the purchase. The newer autoracks I see on I-95 on the CSX line in South Eastern PA, are close to this bright yellow color. My cars have diecast sprung trucks though.....and these cars are made in Vietnam, Not China...I have just about all of the prototypical modern autoracks from Lionel, and although these stand out a little,  it doesnt bother me, I am not a rivet counter...

They are the same trucks Lionel has used on the mill gondolas and recent husky stacks.  If you look closely at the side frames you can see writing cast into them.  The auto racks have always had thumbtack couplers, although the truck design in the 2013, 2016, and latest releases are all different.

Here is a different series of TTGX flat cars with Norfolk Southern auto racks for a comparison of the color. This is bright sunlight in the middle of the day. 

Andrew

The O scale model yellow seems to be closer to the yellow applied by Chicago & North Western from 1980 to 1990.

Andrew

Where is the photo of the new CSX auto rack on a TTGX flat car?

Andrew

catnap posted:

Jeff78rr posted:

I’ve never seen any TTX based car in canary yellow. In addition, these new cars have the plastic Lion Scale trucks NOT diecast as described in the catalog. The yellow should be TTX yellow.

The Lionel autoracks have DIECAST SPRUNG trucks, NOT plastic. Only the bolster is plastic. These are the newer trucks that come apart with 2 screws that secure the bolster to the side frames.

Are the trucks actually sprung? Or do they just have springs inserted into a fixed side frame? The new gondola we have has "imitation" sprung trucks.  

falconservice posted:

Where is the photo of the new CSX auto rack on a TTGX flat car?

Andrew

The color of the CSX car is the same as NS car in my initial picture.

There are CSX auto racks that are exactly that shade of yellow. They used the CSX bright yellow auto rack paint on the NS auto rack.

Andrew

Doesn't anyone have pics of the new Katy and Southern Autoracks? 

Here's the Southern Railway auto racks.

Neal Jeter

I'm honestly heart broken. I waited 2 years for the Lionel NS and CSX two packs of Auto racks. They were going to be the book ends to my auto rack train. Now, I don't think I want them. Unless someone can repaint them or Lionel is willing to fix them. 

- Jason 

I haven't gotten my NS one yet, but I'm ok with the different color. As you can see from this photo there are multiple shades of yellow on the rails. 

Will Ebbert posted:

I haven't gotten my NS one yet, but I'm ok with the different color. As you can see from this photo there are multiple shades of yellow on the rails. 

That's a really faded UP paint job!

It is better to have a Automobile Carrier that is too light yellow than an almost black Burlington Northern box car.

Andrew

I’ve seen, literally, over a hundred of those autorack cars at one time. I’ve had to drive SUVs and cars into them and strap them into place. It’s a miserable job. Have any of you seen the process of loading them? It’s scary to do the loading at high speeds! Imagine driving a $50,000 SUV as fast as you can, up a portable (flimsy) ramp at a 75% grade into a dark train car. The cars have ramps that go between them so you must keep going through several cars. If you slow down too quickly or stop at the wrong time, there WILL be a wreck. 

The color is 100% accurate. They are bright yellow, mustard yellow, brown, gray, green, orange, and nearly ALL covered in graffiti. So, if you are going on about color accuracy, everyone of them needs to be TAGGED and rusty. 

If Lionel is using plastic trucks (I doubt), then shame on them. If they are using diecast trucks without functioning springs, I’m not at all surprised. After all, you still get what you pay for, but the dollar ain’t what she used to be.
$24 Trillion in debt has its disadvantages. 

The color or shade topic along with catalogs always amazes me as to why modelers are so concerned with it. First, catalog representations are generally never correct. If you go by them, you might be fooling yourself. Most long-term modelers on here don’t expect catalogs to be 100% correct. As I always say, I wish they were better like having a 360 deg view of the item. Most of my interest is on the ends of a rail car or engine, not one side.

As for wrong shade, that’s irreverent to some as everything gets weathered. I can color shade anything to make it look like the real version. There are many shades due to the environment and time spent on the rails. Keep in mind, safety yellow can turn to cream with time. No two used cars are exactly alike. The cars in the real photos are DIRTY. Make a water wash mix of raw umber and a few drops of flat black to tone them down and take the edge off.  If you purchase these hi end models to keep pristine, well perhaps you’re not doing them justice. I don’t see these cars to be any different from all the other new stuff you have purchased through the years. I fixed some customers bright Lionel PRR orange box cars, no big deal.

As for the truck issue. I would send the cars back to the dealer.

The yellow applied is a match for Chicago & North Western "Safety Yellow" as applied to this Atlas O PS-2-CD 4750 hopper.

Andrew

Falcon Service

JFC454 posted:

For those who may be interested in color fidelity,  Lionel's newly released CSX and NS autoracks are a different shade of yellow than all the previous releases.  The attached photo shows the new NS autorack along with autoracks from previous releases.  The new releases are made in Vietnam.

i almost think the NS autoracks i have were made out yellow plastic and not ever painted.last time i saw that was in some cheap mpc era cars of the 1970-80's...anything to save a   buck....and lose a customer.....