Who makes the nicest passenger cars?

Any K-Line stuff that is anti siloutte is pretty nice. If you want the good stuff maybe GGD

I guess I have to agree with Scotty's kid.  Dollar for dollar, K-Line cars are the best I have.  I also have 3rd Rail, about ten PSC brass cars, a bunch of Walthers heavyweights (also nice, but you have to build them), and one Exacta car.  Oh, and three Fisher cars.

not sure this works - here is a Walthers car:

[URL=http://s667.photobucket.com/user/bobturner_trains/media/Passenger%20Cars/Challenger010_zps65278e18.jpg.html][IMG]http://i667.photobucket.com/al...r010_zps65278e18.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Used to work - I did try the "attachments" button, but no luck.

Cars made from American Standard kits are nice.  A lot depends on the skill of the person assembling the kit.  Museum quality scratch built and kit bashed models are shown in the Contest Room at the annual March Meet.

John

+1 on the K-Line Passenger Cars.   Somewhat hard to find and when you do find 'em, be prepared to part with most of your life savings.  Especially the aluminum 18" and longer passenger cars.  But Boy Are They NICE!!!! 

Chief Bob (Retired)

With k-line pricing up there, for 18" sets there are the recent Lionel offerings with interiors.

Otherwise ggd for full scale. We shall see what Lionel does in the full scale pax arena as that's where they are targeting.

I am a huge fan of Lionel;s 18 heavyweights and extruded aluminum cars.  I have a set of Southern Crescent  cars and the outside paint finish is great and the interiors are some of the best I have seen with different color seats, seperatly applied toilets and sinks and a variety of people.  There extruded Aluminum cars are also great.  I have a set of the SF cars from around 2005 and they also have nice interiors.  I also like the 18 inch size better that the 21 inch cars.

I also have a set of Golden Gate Depot 21 inch extruded aluminum Empire State Express cars the have a nice stainless looking finish and very nice interiors.  GGD cars are also nice because every car has different window configuration which looks nice running on the layout.

I expect to get some grief for this but I am not a fan of Kline's extruded aluminum cars.  I find the interiors boring with white floor, seats and the holes in the floor.  They also seemed to use a softer grade of aluminum because they scratch easier.

I also have several sets of MTH 18 inch modern cars and while  not as detailed on the interior as Lionel;s, I do find them acceptable, especially for the price.

Of coarse I am speaking of offerings from the last 15 years or so because I have no idea what the cars coming out in the near future will look like.

Good luck on your decision and happy railroading,

Don

Hard to believe that when K-Line,uh, termnated, that their aluminum cars were being dumped like crazy.  Interesting to learn that their longer cars are desired, which means if you are being subtle about stating you have narrow radii, and you want lightweight (streamlined) cars, their shorter cars can be had.  If you want heavyweights, maybe a couple of K-Line Heavyweights would be the answer?  No roadname was mentioned.  For a short two car pass. train, a baggage (K-line Hvwt has it and coaches) or an RPO or RPO baggage combine (None from K-Line) would be prototypical.

I'll have to say Golden Gate Depot.  For the money I'll have to go with the Weaver 5 car sets you can buy on Ebay for under $200 (often times brand new).

I will second Don's comments above. K-Line's offerings are much sought after but they used generic interiors that are neither prototypical nor interesting. After K-Line folded Lionel in fact used some of these same interiors as well as the K-Line tooling for 21" aluminum cars; these are inferior to some of Lionel's 18" offerings from 2005 to about 2013. On the other hand K-Line produced a much wider variety of cars than Lionel.

You won't get a handle on the differences between these models just by searching catalogs; this something best done by seeing the cars at an LHS or getting comments from somebody who actually has the set you are interested in.

GGD is undoubtedly the best if you want cars that are accurate to the prototypes. With Lionel bowing out of aluminum car production I think those of us who want 21" aluminum cars will have to see what Scott Mann decides to produce.

I'm partial to the scale 21" cars and I would say GGD makes the best that I own.

For layouts without large radius curves, in extruded aluminum streamlined cars, Lionel 18" and upper line 15" (those with painted interiors and figures, add-on metal detail parts, antennas, diecast sprung trucks, underbody details, etc.), and K-Line aluminum 15" and 18", are excellent and similar in quality.  In heavyweight cars, Lionel's 18/19" cars are very nice.

These cars will all run on 0-72 track, or even smaller radius, and look fine (although the 18" cars look better on the 0-72, they can be run on 0-54, for example), and of course the 15" cars can be run very well on smaller radius track like 0-36 Fastrak. 

Thanks all.  I will have minimum O72 and max O96.  As much as I would like the 21" cars I think it would make sense to stick with 18".  

Thanks to everyone this is great information.

Ben 

Keep in mind when considering these replies that EVERY one of the manufacturers mentioned, have been improving their cars over the years. Few had interiors before 2000, most all just had sillohuettes. Few actually followed the prototype they modeled, most are just generic cars with different paint jobs and details. You could pick nits with all of them. In past 10 years 3rd Rail/GGD has started to make cars based on specific prototype.

First step is to determine what length cars you can run on your layout. The newest 21" cars may be the nicest but if you can't use them you will find many more options in the 18" cars all with plusses and minuses. 

Pete

banelson posted:

Thanks all.  I will have minimum O72 and max O96.  As much as I would like the 21" cars I think it would make sense to stick with 18".  

Thanks to everyone this is great information.

Ben 

I missed this while typing. For 18" heavyweights the MTH cars made after 2006 have the most detail. Interiors with passengers, sprung trucks, exterior detail not found on other's 18 cars. For streamliners I like Lionel's aluminum cars. They made both Pullman Standard and Budd types. Detailed interiors, Both door wide and full width diaphrams, highly detailed sprung trucks and underbodies. Some criticize their protruding windows but most of us overlook that in favor of the other plusses.

Pete

The most bang for your buck is gonna be the MTH cars. They are not quite scale length but do have nice interiors with passengers but they are not the "nicest". The Lionel 18' aluminum cars are just as nice or nicer than the MTH cars but a bit more money. The Atlas O zephyr cars are real nice and have a decent interior but no people. The Golden Gate Depot cars are beautiful and have real nice interiors with people but there are not nearly enough people to make it look right.

I have not looked closely at the GGD cars, but depending on era you are modeling....like the imminent end of passenger service...few people might be very prototypical

I second what Matt Makens said concerning MTH 18"'ers.

Bonus if the underlying plastic is the main color of the car; if you get a ding, it won't show.

I bought a never opened MTH IC DAP set, and yet the silvered tops were scratched because of shipping or being dragged to a train show. The price was so right, I kept them. The regular orange/brown IC cars just don't show the minor dings.

No mention of Atlas cars? They look so dang on they are scary. Never owned one.

I stay away from painted extruded aluminum cars, but to each their own.

I did mention the Atlas O Zephyr cars which are beautiful but need people installed especially in the domes

Few people may be prototypical in the late 60's but not in the early 50's

MTH's streamlined/lightweight cars are about 1/2" shorter than K-Line's or Lionel's, that is why MTH advertises them as 70' cars not 72'/18".  Being a bit shorter they may look better on tighter radius curves.

bob2 posted:

I guess I have to agree with Scotty's kid.  Dollar for dollar, K-Line cars are the best I have.  I also have 3rd Rail, about ten PSC brass cars, a bunch of Walthers heavyweights (also nice, but you have to build them), and one Exacta car.  Oh, and three Fisher cars.

not sure this works - here is a Walthers car:

[URL=http://s667.photobucket.com/user/bobturner_trains/media/Passenger%20Cars/Challenger010_zps65278e18.jpg.html][IMG]http://i667.photobucket.com/al...r010_zps65278e18.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Which Bob are you and how do you know my dad's name?

SDIV Tim posted:

bob2 posted:

I guess I have to agree with Scotty's kid.  Dollar for dollar, K-Line cars are the best I have.  I also have 3rd Rail, about ten PSC brass cars, a bunch of Walthers heavyweights (also nice, but you have to build them), and one Exacta car.  Oh, and three Fisher cars.

not sure this works - here is a Walthers car:

[URL=http://s667.photobucket.com/user/bobturner_trains/media/Passenger%20Cars/Challenger010_zps65278e18.jpg.html][IMG]http://i667.photobucket.com/al...r010_zps65278e18.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Which Bob are you and how do you know my dad's name?

Does the name Bob Turner ring any bells?

Thanks all.  I do think the Atlas Zephyr cars look great.  Two trains I would like to run are the Zephyr (pulled by Burlington units) and someday an Empire Builder.  But would you all agree that with max O96 that would be a waste of a nice (and expensive car)?  I assume that even if I kept the cars on the outer loop they still wouldn't look very good.

Ben

banelson posted:

Thanks all.  I do think the Atlas Zephyr cars look great.  Two trains I would like to run are the Zephyr (pulled by Burlington units) and someday an Empire Builder.  But would you all agree that with max O96 that would be a waste of a nice (and expensive car)?  I assume that even if I kept the cars on the outer loop they still wouldn't look very good.

Ben

Not in my opinion, a "waste" that is. Although I general have larger than 072, there is one short curve section that is about 073 maybe, and I operate all my Golden Gate Depot and K-line 21" passenger equipment with no issues, including the installation of body mounted Kadee couplers..

I run the Atlas Zephyr cars on 096 curves and they look ok,I wouldnt run them on 072 because of the excess overhang.For price,I dont think that you can beat the MTH Heavyweights on Lightweight cars because of their length which equals 70 ft.

Mikey

I would say Overland is probably the nicest, followed by Golden Gate Depot, then K-Line.

Dang.  Where is Passenger Train Collector when you really need him?

Pete

Gilly@N&W posted:

I would say Overland is probably the nicest, followed by Golden Gate Depot, then K-Line.

Except that Overland didn't/doesn't offer any passenger equipment in 3-Rail, except for only one passenger car, the Ferdinand Magellan. 

If you disregard price, of course Overland and Wasatch, and maybe Lionel Smithsonian, come in at the top of the heap.  And if price is no object, you can 3- rail them.  I bet I 2- railed fifty 21" K-Liners.

i don't do plastic models at all - an irrational thing, but then this hobby is irrational. I think, dollarfor dollar, K-Line is the best in extruded aluminum.  If cost is not in the equation, the Sunset extruded cars are about three times the quality of K-Line.  My K-Line came in at $75 - $100 per car.  

This is all opinion of course.     I like the Sunset 3RD Rail/GGD cars.   I have a bunch of the plastic heavy weights.    I don't have any of the brass or aluminum.   

I like them because they are decent models of the real prototypes at reasonable prices compared to high end brass.    The exteriors are well detailed and they have interiors that vary by car.    The coaches are just seats, but the pullmans have the correct compartments or sections based on the car.   They have done heavyweight 12-1 and 8-1-2 pullmans.    The 12-1 is 12 sections and 1 bedroom (drawing room or whatever).    The 8-1-2 is 8 sections I think and 1 drawing room and 2 double bedrooms.     A section is that open double deck bunk area with curtains seen so much in older movies.     They are not set up as beds however, they are set up as seats in the models.   The porter would change them over at night.

They  underbodies on these cars are not as detailed and I think they would go around o-72.  

Along time ago I was partial to Gilbert. I always thought they made nice passenger cars.

For my own layout, the Atlas 60' cars give the most bang for the buck.  Detailed interiors, LED lighting and a price I can afford.  They're scale models of a short prototype, and look great even on 048 curves.

Pullman Standard

really depends on how much you wanna spend  and your definition of nicest

I don't want a museum piece that I can't run.  That said, I am not against paying some money for quality.  I would rather have one or two really nice sets than a bunch of crappy ones.  There is a lot of great info for me in this thread. I really appreciate it and I will do some research based on the comments above.

Thank you all,

Ben

Frankly, in spite of all the advancements made over the last 60 years or so, I've always thought the Lionel Speedliners of 1953 were the nicest passenger cars.

Of such things dreams were made of...

Rusty

Ben,

I wouldn't hesitate to get 21" cars if you're using 072 and up curves.  Just about all my cars are 21" and 072 is my mainline curve.

If you care at all about scale fidelity then 21" should be the norm for MOST passenger cars from the 1930s onward.  18" and under look great (I do have a few) but when they shorten them like that the windows will most likely not match any prototype ever built.  There will always be the exception.

I have a Weaver 5-car set of N&W cars.  They're pretty, but no interiors.  IMO adding interiors just about will double the price of a car if you have to add them yourself.

Best advice I can give...settle on a RR you like and search until you find some cars painted in their colors.

GGD is looking for enough reservations to make a 6-car 1956 Seaboard Air Line SILVER METEOR:

http://www.goldengatedepot.com/reservation.html

(look just under the coaling tower ad and click on the pdf brouchure)

I run my Atlas Zephyr cars on O82 and they look good, you dont really notice the overhang when its running thru a scenic part of the layout