Weaver 21" cars scale?

Yes, 21" is the full scale on passenger cars. However, the only 21" Weaver car I've seen were simply stretched aluminum 15" cars with silhouettes, and thus under detailed.

I have some of the Weaver "scale" passenger cars and they are pretty nice, however they are 20 inches long. The K-Line "scale" streamline passenger cars and the Golden Gate Depot "scale" passenger are all 21" long.

21 inches is 84 scale feet at 1:48. 84 feet is a typical size for a streamlined passenger car.

As has already been mentioned, 21" equals 84 feet in O scale.

Weaver's passenger cars have generally been full O scale.  Having said that, the question is if that 21" is measured from coupler-to-coupler or by the actual body ends as that makes a difference.  I'm guessing it is being measured from coupler-to-coupler which is not how they are measured on the real thing.

Without knowing what cars you are referring to, the cars may be scale, although if the roadname applied to them are accurate to what the prototype actually used, I don't have an answer unfortunately.  Someone else may be able to chip in.

Can you specify what kind of passenger cars you are referring to, including the road name?

The most recent runs of Weaver 20" "scale" aluminum passenger cars no longer have those silhouettes, but come with interiors. 

Isn't the body itself on '21"' cars really 20" with 1/2" in couplers??? The 20" equal 80ft in real life pretty typical......either way they are BIG!!!

John (and others):  Canadian Pacific on eBay, 21", no number given

Wally

Ah yes, I got confused. I've actually never heard of 21" Weaver cars and thought the biggest they did was 20" as mentioned above.

My Weaver PRR fleet of moderism lightweight cars are 20 inches long.

Do you believe everything you read on e-bay?

You mean to tell me that Lionel MPC boxcar isn't extremely rare and worth $100?? 

• Prototypes all had tight lock couplers and the inter car gaps were closer to 6". Even the scale cars on three rail O have larger gaps to accomodate the non prototypical curves we use.  The location of the trucks is also moved inward to keep the trucks from swinging into the steps in the vestibule.
• The toy train manufacturers could be measuring coupler face to coupler face, coupler center to coupler center, or end sill to end sill.  On the prototype those measures are all very close, especially when compared to the length overall.  On the models these can be as much as an inch or more aka 4+ scale feet.

I have the Weaver 20" Canadian National Railway (CNR) Pullman-Bradley cars. CNR never had Pullman-Bradley cars but they are close to the steel sided cars used by CNR. The green/black/yellow paint scheme is very well done and since no one else has done these in 20" (I think 3rd Rail did CNR heavyweights 21")then this is close enough. They were made to go with the brass 6400 series 4-8-4 CNR/GTW Northerns by Weaver. They also did the 6400 in the Royal paint scheme (blue/grey/black) with matching 20" Pullman Bradley cars. The 20/21" cars look funny even on 072 track but better on 080 and wider curves. Most of my passenger fleet are 18" cars which is a compromise but look better on 072 curves.

Mike

The K-Line 21" cars are 21" over the end castings.  I prefer 19" -20" cars, because they look better on my 74" radius curves, and I mix those lengths in freely.  You cannot tell.

Scale size is anything from about 19" up, and the width and height are pretty much standard since the very first Lionel Budd extrusions.  Streamlined baggage cars can be a lot shorter, and still be faithful to prototype.

Some real coaches are measured from the inside wall of the vestibule; others are measured over the buffers.  I try not to worry about it.

if you want scale details, that is an entirely 'nother thing.  Check out Wasatch Models.  For me, weaver, K-Line, and 3rd Rail will do fine.

Checked out the Wasatch Models site ... must be very spendy as no prices are listed, just "reserve now" ...

Certainly fine models, that's fur sur!

Yes, but 2-Rail scale ONLY!

My Weaver Gold Edition Hiawatha cars measure 20-3/8" body only. Green tinted windows with no interiors they look fine to me   

That is true.  If Weaver is not scale enough, then 2-rail is the obvious next step.

I was just looking at my lonely Golden Gate plastic Pullman - a nice model, but compromised.  Even though 2- rail, the structure left off to allow 3-rail operation takes it   out of the scale category, in my opinion.  This structure is easily added.

I submit that if you want scale cars, the Weaver cars are good enough.  Just get better trucks and couplers, and your passenger train will look great.  There is a video elsewhere with gorgeous UP cars, each separated by a ten foot gap.  I bet the 3- rail scale crowd could bring that gap in until the cars almost touch each other on the sharpest curve, and have a lot better looking passenger trains.

I really like my 49er cars.  They are the ones with the tinted windows and are plenty long for me.  I just wish I could find the two car pack and the matching PS-1 Express Boxcar.