Weaver 57' Mechanical Reefers

Nice, I too am a big fan of their 57' mechanical reefer cars.  Most of mine are in the the SP & UP PFE livery, and am on the lookout for the FGE "Solid Gold" cars that I missed the first time around.  I also have a couple of Lionel's version which are nice, but I feel Weaver's car has the better value as it includes additional prototypical detailing that the Lionel version lacks, such as simulated exhaust stack covers on the roof, simulated "cushion coil" suspension underframe, and scale sized simulated door guides (acknowledging that the doors don't open but that to me is favorable over opening doors with oversized door guides).

 

Enjoy the cars!

I with they would make some of those in S scale. I'd buy a bunch......DaveB

Nice cars. I'm still waiting for someone to produce the GN/WFEX #6000 "Tater Frater" in O scale!

Weaver's  57' mechanical reefers are beautiful freight cars.

These look great!

Who is a good dealer to buy them from?

Thanks,
Jason

When you get them all on the tracks, post more photos.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Andrew

Does anybody else like the Burlington Northern white 1980's scheme on the Mechanical Refrigerator cars? That has not been produced by the people at Weaver Models.

 

 

That is one of the BNFE schemes that I used to see during the 1990's.

 

Andrew

 

I miss the random generator sound. I am glad to have purchased the Conrail one with the sound. Its really unique.

 

CincinnatiWestern,

In answer to your question, who is a good Weaver dealer, I would start with Beth Marshall. She is a sponsor of this forum. The name of her is business is Public Delivery Track. According to her website she has six different Weaver 57' reefers in stock. You could also check with Weaver to see what all they have in stock and to see what other new ones they have in production. Looking at their website this is what I saw.

http://www.weavermodels.com/page28.html

VInce

Very Juicy!!

enjoy

Steve

What is the history of the Tropicana Juice Train Cars - What order and dates were each paint scheme in the Tropicana Reefers? 

I would like to have some

Thanks

Nice cars. I wish they would re-release the sound unit to retrofit a car or two.

Just found my answer. Here is a link with pictures and dates.

http://www.blwnscale.com/rc-reefer-57-mechanical.htm

Joe

Compared to the Lionel brand reefers, how are the details?

Talked with Gary about sound boards not so long ago.  If you think there is an interest i  will persue it.  The original chip maker is gone but i have other resources and the original code. 

 

Lou N

Less detail, less expensive. Still decent. I have a couple of them. I used to have one of the ones with sound, but I got rid of it. It sounded to me like static, not like the sound of a generator at all. 

I'd love to have a couple of boards. I have five of these reefers and would like to get a few more. The word I had heard was that if you wanted to have sound going you should have one in three or four with the sound on as the refrigeration units started randomly.

 

I did find that ITT Products has a sound module with refrigerator sounds, but its a bit different from what I recall the Weaver unit sounded like. They're at http://ittproducts.com/. 

Only have a few.....would like a few more.....like all Weaver cars....NICE!

I've seen the sound one at a show. It did kind of sound like static

Read my first reply to the original poster at the beginning. 

Andrew,

 

I like that scheme and would buy a few. Perhaps shoot Weaver an email along with a picture link.

 

These are my favorite Weaver cars, and I have a few, both with and without sound. The novelty of the sound kind of wears off on me after a little while. The key to running the sound-equipped cars is to open the car (no mean feat), find the volume pot, and turn it way, way down. I like it just audible above track noise when the train is moving. 

 

One of my favorites is this FGMR car I custom decorated (below). I'm going to pick up a few of the Solid Gold cars when they are released and change the reporting marks for Santa Fe (SFLC).

 

 

One last queation, Matt........

The original Weaver sound board had LED's that changed (red, green, and yellow) as the speed sound changed; how  important are the LED's?

 

Lou N

Not very. You can't really see them that well when the car is moving anyway. If push came to shove, adding LEDs wouldn't be that hard; they just wouldn't sequence like the original Weaver ones.

Thanks again Matt; one last question...I assume a 9 volt battery and off/on switch would be preferred to changing trucks to ones with pick up rollers?

 

Lou N

Now that Weaver is closing, did they already sell all of the 57' Mechanical Refrigerator cars?

 

 

Andrew

Andrew, early last week I ordered eight of the orange PFE 57 ft mechanical reefers.  My order arrived two days ago, but only seven were shipped.  The young lady I spoke to the previous week said they had 18 orange PFE reefers left.  I assume they are now all gone as I came up one short.

 

I have seen other postings that the Tropicanas are all gone, but three weeks ago Engine House Hobbies (Gaithersburg, MD) still had a good inventory of them.

 

I have CNW, NP, AT&SF, PFE (orange and white), MEC, Tropicana, Milwaukee Road (orange and brown) and GN 57 ft mech reefers.  I had already pre-ordered the BNSF ones; that order is, of course, now stillborn.

 

The 57 ft mech reefers and the 4-bay High Side hoppers are two of my favorite Weaver productions.  They will be missed.