Quality of MTH Early Passenger Cars

I have two sets the MTH Aluminum 60ft aluminum cars from the 90's (N&W and UP) and several of the 60ft ABS sets and both have great quality but the ABS cars have better detail. On the original W.A.R.R. passenger cars there was a issue with couplers disintegrating but its a easy fix and replacement couplers are available. I only had one on my set disintegrate. Also the quality of the Williams by Bachmann  aluminum 60ft cars made today are equal quality of the original MTH cars and can be had at very reasonable prices from many dealers.

I have a set of aluminum 18" NYC Empire State cars that are really nice. Very well made. I also have a set of UP Heavyweight cars that are really a beautiful set of cars. I would judge the overall quality as very good as I still have them and use them on the layout.

I have a couple of sets of Premier heavyweights from that time frame. They are nice looking cars. They have silhouettes instead of interiors and the trucks and the detail have been improved since then, but they are still worth keeping. 

Careful with the W&ARR cars.  Some of them had an issue with the couplers crumbling.

As Southwest Hiawatha stated they are pretty good. I have a set of D&H Premier that have run great with no problems for over 5 years.

100% correct, they had some sever problems with zinc rot or whatever it's called. Had customers sending me their cars for replacements that the entire trucks were just crumbling to the touch.

MTH STILL has this problem on their new heavyweight cars. The new truck design is a multi-piece casting, even for the side frames. A friend bought a set and the trucks have crumbled on him, one by one. When he spoke to MTH about it, they would not replace them under warranty because he waited too long to call them.

hello guys and gals.........

 

Do the Williams scale heavyweights have this problem with their die-cast trucks ? as i am deciding in which brand to choose early MTH or Williams/bachmann as they both are of the same price range for a scale 5 car and 4 car set.  I am looking for a like new in the box or new in the box to go behind my Sunset 3rd S.F.5011.

 

the woman who loves the S.F.5011

Tiffany

I noticed the other day how much heavier the older 5 car sets are compared to now. 

I never seen any problems with the Williams passenger trucks crumbling but did have some original Williams locomotives die cast parts crumble. 

Thank you all very much for the replies!  I had seen some reference to 'zinc rot' or die cast problems at least once before, but based on the replies it sounds like it was a 'big' problem on the W.A.R.R.'s.  Wonder if there are any signs other than all out 'disintegration' to watch out for (e.g. pre-mature discoloration), or if those with this problem would all have shown it by now, this many years later.

 

I actually have some Premier Amtrak '70 Aluminum (early) cars that seem to be made extremely well; all metal chasis, heavy truck sides but lighter truck centers & lighting gear than what I would expect, very nicely detailed streamlined aluminum bodies, but interestingly enough 'plastic' couplers (I do like the throw-back style silhoutted passengers though).

 

I've been looking for a nice used set of overton style coaches, but now am leery.  Were the bad die casting materials only or mainly an issue on the W.A.R.R. cars themselves or on all overton style coaches from that era (or even more of the whole Railking line) and not really a problem with premiers?  Is there a good cut off year to avoid the die cast issues with the W.A.R.R. or overton cars (i.e. finding post 20__ cars)?

 

I guess cheaper and lighter is the way of things, but some of the pictures I've seen of the newer abs passenger cars look like MTH might be making some 'detail' improvements, or maybe just getting back to where they started?...searching MTH's site they certainly seem to have gone up a bit in asking price in the last 5 years.

Thanks,

Robert

I want to thank you guys again...you saved me some bucks!

 

I was in the midst of a 'best offer' proposition for three W.A.R.R. coaches from a 1997 WVVP Shay set when I started this thread.  After you guys mentioned the zinc pest issues on those coaches, I got nervous and asked the seller to check the couplers and trucks and he said he found two broken couplers.  Assuming they'll all need to be changed, he offered to let me have them for $37.50 'shipped', which I think is a good deal even though I'll be replacing the couplers.  So thanks again!

 

Could you guys please recommend some good replacement couplers for these cars or should I just go with standard stock replacements or some kadee couplers from someone like MB Klein?

Thanks for all your help!

If you got the 3 car set it was a steal even with the 2 bad couplers. Chuck of Denver Trains who is also in this forum may have them in stock or you can e mail MTH parts and they will sell you new couplers. If you e mail MTH parts it might take several days to get a reply but they do reply. You can go to MTH website and type in 30-6400 in the product search and you can open the detailed parts list and see what you need to order. 2 couplers with shipping should be less than $20.00 but wait till you receive the cars and after you inspect them in case others are defective so you wont have to pay another shipping charge.

Thanks for the reply Gene!  Yes sir, that was for all three cars...I'm very happy with the deal, and as long as the trucks themselves don't show any signs of the zinc pest like Paul S mentioned, I'll be down right thrilled.  I asked the seller about the trucks & couplers both, and he didn't mention anything about the trucks so I've got my fingers crossed.  Otherwise that could make it a considerably more expensive repair.

 

Thanks as well for the tip on finding the mth parts link as I had missed that several times in looking at the 30-6400 product page.  I'm guessing from some other pics I saw up here, that the coupler damage only involves the the coupler 'body' and armature pieces and you re-use the othe small parts, or did you end up buying & replacing the entire coupler assembly?  I'll definitely be taking your advice, waiting till they arrive to survey the extent of the damage and then ordering parts.

Robert

Thanks for the reply and the parts contact at MTH Rich!  I'm really looking forward to getting them running behind my starter set steamer...not a period match I guess, but I really like the look of those late 19th century overtons and the 'old west' vibe they give off.

 

Regarding my early MTH premier aluminum 70' amtrak cars, I finally got an O42 oval setup to test run them behind my Williams F7.  I noticed the side trucks are 'massive' and the wheels are almost under sized.  They are nicely detailed truck size but seem to dwarf the wheels.  Have any of y'all noticed this on other early MTH passenger cars?

 

These cars were used when I got them and a couple of the axles tips had come loose from those huge truck sides, but I was able to reseat the tips in the truck bushings.  I realize the O42 is the minimum required for these cars (and I need to do some more inspection of the individual trucks, axles, pick-ups, etc), but it seems the truck sides just barely avoid making contact with outer rails because of the small-ish wheels which concerns me.  Has anyone ever upsized the wheelsets on older mth passenger cars like these to increase the truck clearance and make the cars sit a bit higher?  Is this even an option?

Thanks,

Robert