Gorgi Detroit PCC car

It's too bad that Corgi chose what I think is 1:50 scale. MTH may be a bit big, but

I think that Corgi is a bit small.  But Corgi certainly produces a beautiful product.

Perhaps you could post a photo showing the Corgi next to the Bachman Peter Witt.

Lew Schneider

I don't have that model to compare with.  I always thought the MTH version was 1:50 also.  But looks like it is larger.  My one beef was it sits way to high.  It would look alot better with scale wheels...I also my original post the pictures got duplicated, don't know how that happens???

 

Marty

Very nice.  I have a Corgi Lionelville version that I want to put those power trucks on...someday.

Very nice. Looks good on the tracks.

The MTH PCC car for the Detroit DSR is marked for the

Michigan Ave line with a stop at Trumbull for Tiger Stadium.

The name was changed from Briggs to Tiger stadium after the 

street cars were in Mexico City. Those cars never stopped at Tiger

Stadium.

 

The sounds of coin collections are more like that of a Chicago bus or

El train than of a Detroit DSR street car.

 

 

Marty - very nice.  I really like the motorman in the front - that adds so much to the realism of the model, especially with the well-executed clear Corgi windshield.  

 

How did you remove the floor from the Corgi model?  I have not figured out how to do that without damaging the carbody.

 

As far as scale goes, 1/50 is only 4% smaller than 1/48.  That's imperceptible to most people, I suspect.

curiosity question.  where did you get powered trucks?

 

mikeg

The power trucks came from GHB International in Maryland, they are $160 shipped...You get two indentical trucks and a working metal pole with tie down hook.  The trucks have a DC motor and lots of brass gears.  The third rail pick up is a button instead of a roller so they have a nice low profile and the scale wheels don't hurt either.  The trucks are a drop in replacement for the dummy trucks.  As far as removing the body goes, it is only needed if you want to install the pole.  I did.  You will see 4 metal poles in the body, the floor is installed by a press fit into these poles.  The only way to access the inside is to ascertain the postion of the poles with relation to the floor and use a 3/16 or a size smaller drill bit to drill out the mounting points, two of which are under the front truck, you can get the floor off by getting the rear part off first, it is held in place by a small metal post and then disengaging the front from the nose of the body. After the body is off you can install the pole, pretty straight forward, comes with good instructions.  I super glued a brass tube slightly bigger over the inside metal pole, #3 from the front...While it set up I assembled the copper strips and installed the motors, both of which are identical so you have all wheel pick up and two axles powered, one on each truck. Oil and grease the gears and give it a test ride.

Now you are ready to put the floor back in.  The brass tube I threaded for a 2:56 screw.  You only need to use one.  With the floor being a tight fit and held in place be the rear and the front, you may not need the screw.  I know this sounds rather lengthy but the actual time was about 1.5 hours for complete conversion.  Using a Lionel transformer is not the best control because of the usual 5-6v on point.  The start speed at the minimum is slightly high, I think a better way to lower the starting speed might be to go with a rheostat, were you would have a 1-5v control and higher...

 

Marty

Bowser made a power truck for the Corgi some years ago.

Getting the plastic floor out was not easy and may be

broken but there is still the metal floor pan.

I used a mini commander from ElectricRR so the car will

run under command control.

 

Bowser may be out of business and ElectricRR no longer

makes the mini commander.

 

According to my math the difference is even less than 4% which would make it even less perceptible.  The decimal equivalent of 1/48^th is 0.0204 and 1/50^th is 0.0200.  That difference is 2%.

 

Applying that to the various Detroit PCC O gauge models, the post-war Detroit PCC’s were 49 1/2 long.  A true 1/48^th scale model of that car would be 12.12” long.  A true 1/50^th scale model would be 11.88” long, almost ¼” shorter, or 2%.

 

HTH,

 

Bill 

Remember there were narrow gauge PCC cars made. They were smaller. Don

Don:

I recognize that photo as one of the Los Angeles Railway Corp. PCC’s.  Yes they were smaller than the post-war Detroit PCC cars discussed above as they were a pre-war design.  But despite their narrow track gauge (3’ 6"), at 46’ long by 8’ 4” wide, they were actually the same length and width as the majority of the pre-war single-end PCC’s used by other cities with wider track gauges, according to two PCC reference books I have.  I realize that defies logic - I guess they had to go very slowly around curves to keep from tipping over!

 

However, what you are probably comparing them to are the other PCC cars which ran in the LA area, the Pacific Electric double-end PCC cars, which were almost 5 feet longer and 8” wider than the single-end LA Railway cars.

 

HTH,

 

Bill