Lionel 66' gondola

Dear Curtis,

I have 2 railed at least 6 of these cars and using the Kadee coupler height gauge the car was spot on. Please remember to install 36' wheel sets as 33' make cause a low coupler height.

Also, so what about the underbody details, this car rides low so you cannot see it anyway.

If you want that you should get a PRB Greenville gondola for about $225-$275. I have 3 and unless your layout is eye height you can't see the underbody details.

What do want for a $55 dollar car.

John

John:

I have three of the gons I'd like to 2-rail to match my others. Which wheel sets/trucks are you using for your conversions? The Intermountain wheels I like are only available in 33".

Thanks.

I use Northwest Shortline. The thing that drives me crazy is NWSL has to actually make the wheels before they can ship them to a customer. In other words, the wheels are not sitting on a shelf already made/ready to ship.

I use the 36" diameter wheels because they are the appropriate size for the modern gondolas (100 ton trucks).

jdunn posted:

Dear Curtis,

I have 2 railed at least 6 of these cars and using the Kadee coupler height gauge the car was spot on. Please remember to install 36' wheel sets as 33' make cause a low coupler height.

Also, so what about the underbody details, this car rides low so you cannot see it anyway.

If you want that you should get a PRB Greenville gondola for about $225-$275. I have 3 and unless your layout is eye height you can't see the underbody details.

What do want for a $55 dollar car.

John

 

I have a coupler height gauge on the way. Also I do use the 36" diameter wheels. I order from Northwest Shortline. NWSL takes so long to arrive in the mail, it feels like I'm waiting for Christmas.

Try P&D.  He's got a rack full of NWSL wheelsets in stock.  

Jim

jdunn posted:

Dear Curtis,

I have 2 railed at least 6 of these cars and using the Kadee coupler height gauge the car was spot on. Please remember to install 36' wheel sets as 33' make cause a low coupler height.

Also, so what about the underbody details, this car rides low so you cannot see it anyway.

If you want that you should get a PRB Greenville gondola for about $225-$275. I have 3 and unless your layout is eye height you can't see the underbody details.

What do want for a $55 dollar car.

John

 

I'm a rivet counting guy but I agree 101 percent with you on this.   I'd ignore the lack of underbody detail and take the car as is and invest the money in Protocraft couplers and trucks if I were a "detail hound". 

They sure are nice cars for not much coin. 

Yes, the underbody does lack a bit, but as low as these cars are, after weathering they still look pretty decent.   I will give the Devil his due, and credit Lionel for bringing us a modern car since our friends at Atlas seen only interested in spinning around in circles "hourglassing".......

I have bought all these gons except for the graffiti ones. Can't bring myself to buy those. Even had Lionel done detail underneath down the road they would of eliminated it. The scale High Cube box cars started out with detail underneath but with future releases they eliminated most of the underneath detail which is all right with me because you cannot see it anyways.............Paul

I like to see some pictures of the conversions if you have some.  Seems like an interesting project. 

Thanks,

-Mario

R Nelson posted:

Yes, the underbody does lack a bit, but as low as these cars are, after weathering they still look pretty decent.   I will give the Devil his due, and credit Lionel for bringing us a modern car since our friends at Atlas seen only interested in spinning around in circles "hourglassing".......

I have to admit my reasoning for wanting full underbody details is so my HO scale friends will be jealous and stop giving me the blues for switching scales.

I myself love my new Lionel 66' gondolas and won't trade them for anything.

Exact rail managed it in HO scale, Lionel should have included it and if necessary charged the extra $1 or $2 that it would have cost them , nice car but as with most of the importers spoilt by cost cutting and/or penny pinching.

as always, opinion.

Nick.

IMO, Nick is right, the cost to provide the underbody detail even in O Scale is peanuts in the overall price of the car.  I think it's still a matter of us giving feedback to Lionel in that the 3RS and 2R modelers when they produce these kinds of cars want that extra detail.   Even if that detail isn't directly visible.

The Evans Products gondolas that Atlas produced only for the N and HO scale Trainman lines, but not the O scale Trainman line, are still around. If only somebody at Atlas has made the Evans Products gondola for N, HO, and O at the same time, we would have a more modern O scale gondola for a reasonable price. 

Andrew

Andrew, definitely would have been a great move at the time.