Lionel Auto Racks

i  posted a mini review on the 2016 versions of these cars. a  couple guys mentioned problems getting the srews out to change the trucks. im thinking about taking off those new trucks withe the rotating bearing caps and try to find some off older cars.-Jim

yes there is a video on u-tube under youngstown model railroad club the name of the video is roomfull of rails revisited dated 10/30/15 right about the 4 minute mark shows a couple of the lionel along with several overland auto racks. basically an easy conversion wheel set and kadees. they look great and track well!

Jim Berger posted:

i  posted a mini review on the 2016 versions of these cars. a  couple guys mentioned problems getting the srews out to change the trucks. im thinking about taking off those new trucks withe the rotating bearing caps and try to find some off older cars.-Jim

YES YES YES!!!  The screws were extremely difficult to get out on several of the truck mounts when I tried to swap out for 2-rail trucks!!  I converted five of these to 2-rail and was very frustrated by this.

I suppose you could leave the lionel trucks on and just swap out the wheelsets for NWSL, but  I also wanted to lower the ride to a more prototypical height off the rails.

I put the new Atlas trucks on 1 of mine. I've done so many other things, that I forgot about these. Someone made a post here. 

The trucks on the new Auto Racks on 89' Flat Cars roll the same as the MTH RailKing trucks. They thankfully do not roll endlessly down a slope.

Andrew

Here is a post of a 2 rail conversion.

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

Pete,  There are numerous threads on the conversation of these cars, Calvin finding the one I started.    I am big fan of the atlas trucks and thus have used the 70-ton roller bearing trucks for most of my Lionel Autorack conversions.  However, you could keep the Lionel trucks and use NWSL wheelsets, be sure to the get ones with shouldered axles for the spinning roller bearing caps.  I use Kadee 746 couplers.     Following the NMRA standards the car should weigh about 27oz's.  You can get the lower profile lead weights, cut your own flat sheet, lots of options for increasing the weight of the cars.   It's an enjoyable conversion so hope you get some of the cars and post your results!

Mike DeBerg posted:

Pete,  There are numerous threads on the conversation of these cars, Calvin finding the one I started.    I am big fan of the atlas trucks and thus have used the 70-ton roller bearing trucks for most of my Lionel Autorack conversions.  However, you could keep the Lionel trucks and use NWSL wheelsets, be sure to the get ones with shouldered axles for the spinning roller bearing caps.  I use Kadee 746 couplers.     Following the NMRA standards the car should weigh about 27oz's.  You can get the lower profile lead weights, cut your own flat sheet, lots of options for increasing the weight of the cars.   It's an enjoyable conversion so hope you get some of the cars and post your results!

mike, do you have pictures of your car with the 70 ton trucks and 746 couplers.

thanks...

The link that Calvin shared above will show the cars with the Atlas 70-ton truck.  However, I think those were just 745's I did for another guy..  Same look just a little longer shank couplers.  The gearbox is in the same location. 

I'll dig up a photo and post it soon as I'm working on modules for a show this weekend.

thanks mike,

I saw the pictures on the other link.  the three best prices on single cars right now are Ro, grzyboski's and pats trains.  not having any luck in finding the atlas 70 ton trucks yet. might order 1 or 2 of these racks next week and follow your directions, did you use any washers between the truck and body for spacing and to match the coupler gauge.

Mike DeBerg posted:

Pete,  There are numerous threads on the conversation of these cars, Calvin finding the one I started.    I am big fan of the atlas trucks and thus have used the 70-ton roller bearing trucks for most of my Lionel Autorack conversions.  However, you could keep the Lionel trucks and use NWSL wheelsets, be sure to the get ones with shouldered axles for the spinning roller bearing caps.  I use Kadee 746 couplers.     Following the NMRA standards the car should weigh about 27oz's.  You can get the lower profile lead weights, cut your own flat sheet, lots of options for increasing the weight of the cars.   It's an enjoyable conversion so hope you get some of the cars and post your results!

Mike,

Is there a reason you separated the lower deck from the body of this car when you did this conversion? I snapped the cover on the center sill of 1 of my cars to access the screw under it & Lionel does not have a replacement cover with the same color at this time. I converted the BNSF car without removing the lower deck & I don’t see any issues at this time. From following earlier posts on such conversions, I understood that removing the deck could give more options to add weights to the car inside the sill but are there any other reasons to separate the deck?

I also noticed that Lionel has gone to smaller screws on this car. Their Husky stack cars & possibly their PS-4 flat cars used 4-48 screws but the Auto Carriers use 3-56 screws. I used drill bushings between the screw & the Atlas 70-ton trucks to reduce the wobble. But Atlas trucks seen ideal for this car as you recommended in your post from 2013. They ride low & I didn’t have to use any Kadee spacers with the centerset long-shank couplers.

These are just my opinion,

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Naveen,

When I use Atlas replacement trucks I also use the plastic bolster insert that Atlas provides and replace the Lionel bolster insert.   Thus I need to separate the two body portions. 

One reason to remove the bottom piece is to reverse it.  Yes that puts the center screw in the wrong place but it also puts the brake rigging on the same side of the car as the hand brake, as it should be.

That's just crazy talk!