Taking the MTH coalporter to another level ***Video added 3/8****

Nice job Jeff !!

Did you make new end pieces for the extended tub portion?

Clem

Thanks Clem. I made the pattern end pieces tracing the existing tubs. These will slip into the new tub ends once I've got all the cars updated. It's a huge work in progress, but they look so much better And worth the effort.

Very nicely done...what an improvement. 

That looks really good!   Out of curiosity, what type of radius can these cars handle with the trucks further out and the body mounted couplers?

I believe these cars could do 072. My minimum curve is 096, and they don't come close to touching the steps or the coupler, etc. 

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!

Very nice Jeff! How difficult would it be to replace the MTH trucks with Atlas 2 rail rotating bearing cap trucks? Thank you-

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. 

Thank you Jeff!

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

Very nice work. Why would MTH spend all that money tooling up a car and do it wrong?

Jeff,

   Great job, lots of work going into these babies.

PCRR/Dave

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--

Here's a video of my coalporters in action- turn up the volume!!!

They look fantastic.

Jeff - Supurb, as always!

Beautiful keep up the great work and thanks for showing us.

Jack

That looks so familiar to trains I saw running in the early 2000's SW of KCMO. You've really captured the feeling of 100 car trains with pushers and mid power that seemed to go on forever. 

butch

Neat how you added the sound to the video.  Great looking cars.  thanks

Loads look great, how did you make them?

Your work has made our train look frumpy!

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.

Nice job.  The cars look much longer with the bathtubs extended.

Fantastic work there Jeff.  Very ambitious.  You always find away to make it better.