Lionel 89’ Autoracks

Looks great Rob.  I was about to start converting some Lionel 3 rail boxcars to 2 rail and was thinking I would use Lionels conversion wheelsets.

Are these sold by Lionel? Couldn't find them on the website.

I have a number of GLa hoppers; the sideframes are so far apart that 2-rail wheelsets can drop out. The truck itself is an insanely complicated thing to modify; the only reason to try to preserve it is that it's PRR-style.

Thanks, Andy. I find that sometimes Lionel 2-rail wheels are easier to work with than Atlas and vice versa. It just depends on the project. 

The Lionel wheels work great on the 86’ boxcars and 89’ autoracks and the Atlas wheels work great on the covered hoppers from Lionel & MTH.

The 2-rail conversion kits are sold by Lionel. They make 50T and 70T (6-84463). Each kit includes insulated wheels and plastic bolsters for either LionScale  or Lionel scale freight cars. The 70T kit also includes roller bearing caps specific for the 2-rail wheels. There are also metal contacts for any lighted cars like cabooses.

I’m off work Fridays so I decided to convert another autorack. I used up the last of my Kadee 746’s so the next email I get from MicroMark I’ll order at least 3 more packs since I have 6 more autoracks to go. I bought 2 each of BNSF, CSX, Ferromex and Norfolk Southern. Since these are so easy to do (45 minutes) I’ll look to get a few other roads.

 There were a couple of previous posts on these cars. I think these are another great release from Lionel. It helps to keep your eyes open to everything from everywhere and everyone in O scale. If you keep your eyes closed, you'll miss out! Ed R. told me that "the Lionel ethanol tank cars were the best kept secret in O scale"! He took a set and converted them to 2 rail using his own custom made bolsters.

https://ogrforum.com/...ion-to-2r-and-kadees

https://ogrforum.com/...-autorack-conversion

Lionel has done a nice job keeping the 2-railer and 3-rail scaler in mind with recent offerings. The redesign of the diecast trucks makes removing the hi-rail wheels in favor of 2-rail a snap. By luck, some of the older models like the PS-2 covered hoppers and the aluminum ACF covered hoppers are super easy to convert to 2-rail.

The autoracks are another great release. They have nice detail and are pretty light. I haven't checked out the ethanol tank cars because I have a lot of Atlas tank cars (17,350 gallon chlorine, 17,600 gallon corn syrup and 25,500 gallon tank cars).

I like the Lionel replacement wheel sets. I used them on some Lionel 66-foot Mill Gondolas. The treads are a bit narrower than those on the Atlas trucks, so check that track gauge if you're trying to live in both worlds like me. From a price perspective, they're not much cheaper than purchasing Atlas 2-rail trucks, so for those cases where 100-ton trucks with 36" wheels are required you might was well go with the Atlas trucks.

Converted the 2 BNSF orange autoracks today using the new Atlas 70-Ton roller bearing trucks and Kadee 746 couplers.   Perfect ride height and coupler height.  About the only thing I did differently than above is punch out the brass threaded inserts and used the black pins that come with the Atlas trucks.  To do that I separated the upper body and the flat car portion of the car. Otherwise, I drilled and tapped 2-56 holes for the Kadee gearbox and added 2 1 oz black stick on weights, one on each end of the car.   

Thanks for sharing, that looks nice