The Westinghouse #201 Schnabel is a railcar originally built for Westinghouse to transport large transformers. MTH has produced an O scale copy of this schnabel. However their latest model MTH 20-98870 has car number 212.
See prototype photos and a photo of the MTH version.
Improving the running characteristics of the model.
I have this MTH 20-98870 O-scale schnabel car. I have completely disassembled the car to make modifications to improve the performance on curves. The first objective was to add weight to the bottom of the transformer load. The transformer comes apart after the 4 bottom screws are removed. Weight was added to the transformer to lower the center of gravity.
The chassis is held together with various screws. I removed the screw that holds the hydraulic control box to the "porch". With this screw removed the top "porch" can be separated from the cast metal frame. The upper assemblies which attach to the transformer load are held in place by a Philips head screw at the "pivot" point. I removed this screw and next I removed the small screw that retains each "porch" assembly. (I did not replace this screw since it appeared that it was restricting rotation at the "pivot" point.)
Next I added a small custom made piece made from wood and installed this within the metal casting to provide better support at the "pivot" point. Before I re-assembled the car I also used a small round file to burnish the opening in the metal casting where the upper assembly is attached. I checked to see that these assemblies would freely rotate side to side before completing the assembly. Finally I replaced the "bettendorf" style trucks on the model with roller bearing types. If you notice the prototype photos show roller bearing trucks. I believe the roller bearing trucks look much better under this railcar model. With these modifications and changes my MTH model negotiates O-72 curves and turnouts without any problem.
