Considering Weaver, but don't have an opportunity to see any

Weaver is pretty good.  Their older stuff had some cast in details but their new stuff, such as the Milwaukee Road rib sided boxcar, is right up there in detail.  All of it is scale sized.  They also have made brass locos & cars.

Marty:   Go for it!  I have quite a bit of Weaver rolling stock.  I think you will enjoy the Hershey car.  I also like to patronize Weaver because it is a family-owned small business that produces most of its products in the USA.   

Marty,

I just got that car a couple of weeks ago.  It is a nice car.

Norm

You won't be sorry if you purchase their freight cars. I ran them for years and loved them. Their PS-2 covered hopper car was my favorite.

More than 50% of my rolling stock is Weaver. The B&O wagon tops and Milwaukee Road rib sides are two of my favorites.

 

Gilly

I love Weaver engines & rolling stock. But, it can be more difficult to find even at train shows compared to Lionel. Love the details too.

 

Here are my two favorites. The second pic was taken on John's (Rattler21) layout.

 

Ron W.

Good stuff......here's a wagon-top pic:

 

 

Peter

I have a lot of Weaver items. Very nice models, excellent company/people.

Rolling stock

All but the pipe car.  Two Weaver (Samhongsa) brass locomotives that have been upgraded.

 

 

80+ freight cars and counting, 1 brass steam, 1 die cast steam, 2 diesels. I saw the hershey cars at weaver, wait till you see it in your hand.

all weaver freight cars and weaver die cast pacific. pacific is now 2 rail,

 

all weaver freight cars, weaver 4-8-4 with weaver caboose.

Our hobby would not be the same without them. They take on projects that no one else in our hobby would consider. Hard working folks that do a very good job for us.

Visited the Weaver factory. They pulled an employee from her regular duty to give my wife and me a tour. They only print and assemble the cars there. The plastic is shipped in all ready molded. They did have a section where they wire and assemble their engines, again, with the parts shipped in.

 

They have some items for sale but not really discounted. I have had a few Weaver cars. There was a coupler issue with one or two (failure to lock closed) but they sent me new ones.

 

In string of boxcars, my "special interest", they are virtually indistinguishable from other brands as they roll by. Up close they are just a little more lacking in detail, but not enough to make a difference. Well worth the price differential.

 

My wife bought me a NP cleaning car with two turning rotors based on a weaver outside braced wooden UP boxcar... I haven't used it yet as my new layout is just being built but it looks good and the construction is solid.

 

My advice to you is to definitely buy the Hershey car. If you like it you are in. If you don't it is only one car. (I'll buy it back from you) Good luck in your decision.

 

 

Since  approx 2010 Weaver has been using die cast trucks and couplers on all their freight cars. Weavers are great cars for people who like long unit trains. They make great filler cars.
My only issue with Weaver models are the fragile stirrup ladders found on older molds such as acf center flow, 50ft box cars, & tank cars.

Weaver has come a long way. Their truck and coupler improvements have kept there foot hold on my layout.

I really liked their round top box cars and Brass structures.

I have a couple of Weaver brass engines that I look forward to upgrading with TMCC.

It was a bummer about the Weaver Troop Zinc Pest issue, but I hope they run more, and continue to add more newly tooled rolling stock.

 

 

I have about 300 weaver cars all with plastic trucks, no problems with any of them. Slowly converting them to early weaver plastic wheels when I can find them.

 

Clem 

Some can be on the light side......but I'd like a few more.......

Custom paint Weaver...

 

Custom weathered stock Weaver box....

 

Stock Weaver.......

 

I think it was Weaver that did a custom run of some beer cars a few years back, I bought them but have not run them with my Lionel or MTH cars as they caused me some problems. It might be that the Weaver were more scale then just being an O gauge car like Lionel or MTH.

 

Maybe Weaver has better quality now, as those cars are over 7 years old.

I may give Weaver another try and see what happens.

 

Lee Fritz

I've always admired their catalog selection but want nothing to do with the plastic wheel sets. If die cast are now standard on newer models then it's time to try them again.

 

Marty,

   The Hershey Weaver car is darn nice, you will love it.  My old Masonic Train was made by them, here in the USA.  Although they are now producing their engines over seas, much of their rolling stock is still made right here in Pa.  I really should join their club also, I try to purchase something from them every year, they canceled the military rolling stock I wanted this last year however.  Got to agree with Scott T Johnson, no plastic wheels/trucks for me.

PCRR/Dave

 

I have quite a bit of Weaver rolling stock. It's scale sized, readily available in two and three rail, and is pretty reasonably priced, especially in the secondary market. The only down sides are:

1. The weight. Weaver cars tend to be very light compared to similar cars from MTH, Lionel, and Atlas. Your best option is to invest in a postal scale (mine was $15 shipped from eBay) and some stick-on 1/2 ounce weights (also available on eBay) to bring them up to NMRA recommendations or to match the typical cars you're going to run them with.
2. Early Weaver box cars had scale-sized stirrups which have a tendency go get broken from mishandling or derailments. Unfortunately, that comes with the territory. Invest in some good contact cement.

I've been converting some of my old Weaver rolling stock to 2-rail using Intermountain wheels and Kadee couplers and raising them to NMRA weight recommendations (5 ounces plus 1 ounce per inch of car body length). They've tracked very well on the club layout. Interestingly enough, adding weight to the cars, while meaning you can't pull as many, does provide for more reliable operation of longer trains -- no string lining.

I agree as others have previously posted.  Weaver makes excellent rolling stock especially at their price points.  

 

-Greg

Good afternoon... all you railroaders that don't like the Weaver plastic wheels, I could use them. I have metal wheels to send back to you.

 

Clem k

clem,

   I will remember you want them and the next plastic trucks I get are yours.

PCRR/Dave

I recently got a Army Trailer on Flatcar from Weaver.

I Love it, Very good details, excellent paint and is a hard to get scale model for my Military train.

Also, the packing is very good and the boxes are better than the 2 big names.

 

I'll be buying more Weaver products.

Weaver cars makeup 85 percent of my freight cars remainder AtlasO,Trainmen, Intermountain Kit Cars and Red Caboose Kit Cars. What sold me on Weaver was the scale size of the car, details and price, most of my Weaver cars were made 10 to 15 years ago.