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I've really liked the MTH Premier coalporters for a long time, but the truck placement, ride height and bottom bathtub length has driven me crazy -- not for long. I've completely reworked these cars, and am in the process of reconfiguring all 55 of my coalporters.

 

The process involves moving the trucks outward, which also lowers the ride considerably. In addition, adding Kadee couplers gets the job done with an added touch. To get started, you need to remove the truck mounting dimple. I use a 1/2" drill bit and drill through it, completely removing it. This leaves a hole which I fill with a piece of Plastruct plastic sheet filler. (note the small holes for adding the inner slides back in place). Next, drill out a 1/4" hole into the bottom of the car where the truck is mounted. This is in line with the last rib of the car. I had to make mounts for all the kadees and they fit nicely.

 

Next, I got some paper thin Plastruct sheets and cut pieces 7 1/8" x 1 7/8". These will be the bottom bathtub pieces that fit over the existing, only this time they are the correct length. The trucks are placed correctly, with the wheels sticking out on the ends. I've attached some potos, showing the original cars, and my scaled out cars. In addition, I painted the ends of the cars silver on the lower portion, as MTH had the entire end solid yellow- adding conspicuity stripes and the cars are much better.

 

Here's a pic of the bottom showing the dimple removed, filler installed, and location of new truck placement hole. In addition are the two sheets of plastic cut and painted, ready to be fit around the bottom.

 

The 2nd pic shows the comparison of the bottom bathtub length...

 

3rd pic is the original look as delievered by MTH. Note the incorrect ride height, truck placement and shorty bathtub bottom --

 

4th pis is and end shot-

 

5th pic is the overall look of the finished product. Add a realistic coal load and you've got a nice looking coalporter.

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comparison

detx

end

side

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Last edited by Jeff78rr
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Yes Jeff!

I have hundreds to do and have been "meaning" to address them.

I jumped the project for prototyping and scratching cars that were not available.

I am sooooooooooooooooo glad you did this and I'd like to know more from you on this project with pictures addressing the bathtub extensions!  This car has been begging for fair treatment since the first ones came out.  Loving this post and I really enjoy your modeling results!

Keep it up!

 

 

Last edited by Trinkle-Trains

Thanks Guys!!! These cars need the update for sure.

 

Rick, the bathtub extensions are super-thin Plastruct sheets cut to the sizes I mentioned above- you then can literally wrap the pieces around the existing pieces- I use Super glue to hold them in place, and within seconds they are done. The ends are cut out pieces that you can add an "L" shaped piece to secure it to the bottom of the bathtub extension- fits right in place, and secure it with CA as well. I changed the numbers on all the cars while I was at it- now the unit train is seriously looking cool. 

 

Paul- to add the Atlas O trucks, you could forego drilling the 1/4" hole, and literally secure the truck to the bottom of the car with the attaching screw- there is a little room for wheel clearance but you'd have to double check the height using Atlas O trucks. I know for sure you could make it work. 

Jeff,

That is pretty cool! How far are you along on your 55 car goal? Keep us posted and shoot us a video. 55 cars will look awesome especially with the upgrade that you're doing. The Lionel car has the bolsters in the right place already, but they are harder to find and they didn't do multiple numbers. The latest run of MTH cars have individual grab irons and Kadee mounting holes pre-drilled into the car if I'm not mistaken, plus they did 6 car sets with multiple numbers. Thanks for posting!

I have about half of them done. Will definitely do a video- have some awesome motive power ready too, which includes power on the rear. This is a heavy train with the coal loads, but 4 units can man-handle this one.

 

Even if the bolsters are in the right place, the Lionel cars sit way too high. You need to mount the trucks directly to the floor to achieve the proper ride height..

Jeff,

Those upgrades look good. I didn’t realize the trucks are so outboard on real cars until I saw your conversion. I went to the BNSF website & your conversions look like the correct wheelbase for these cars.

Since MTH has been upgrading their Premier freight cars over the last few years, would you know if are there any improvements in the length of the bathtub & axle placements on coalporters from the most recent runs? Lately, I have been seeing a lot of BNSF coal trains on the line at the end of my street & I am reconsidering buying some BNSF coalporters.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Jeff78rr,
 
Do the Lionel coal cars sit too high with the Atlas 2 rail trucks applied, or does that pertain to the original Lionel trucks? I tinkered with putting Atlas 2 rail trucks on the Lionels a few years ago, so I can't remember what the ride height looked like.
 
Originally Posted by Jeff78rr:

I have about half of them done. Will definitely do a video- have some awesome motive power ready too, which includes power on the rear. This is a heavy train with the coal loads, but 4 units can man-handle this one.

 

Even if the bolsters are in the right place, the Lionel cars sit way too high. You need to mount the trucks directly to the floor to achieve the proper ride height..

 

Last edited by superpower

Thanks again guys!! All my cars have been converted and all that is needed is the addition of the conspicuity stripes on just 14 cars left- this train is really looking cool.

 

Naveen, MTH has not done anything about the coalporter other than adding the wire grabs. Thank you for the link to the BNSF drawing. Perfect- as you see, the truck center is even with the first rib of the cars towards each end, which is how I made thses cars and truck placement.

 

I'm not sure about adding Atlas O trucks to Lionel or MTH cars for that matter, as both have the incorrect truck placement so ride height is totally not an objective point for me when replacing trucks. I would serioulsy go the route which I have done, as these really are such nice cars to look at when done preperly--

Thanks for all the comments here!! The coal loads were made years ago by "Bob's Coal Loads", which has since stopped making them. However, these can be found at St. Charles Modelworks as well- they are real coal glued on top of a foam, reinforced base that sits on top of the inner ribs of the cars. Very heavy for all the cars, but the rear DPU is literally used, and necessary to keep the train powered.

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