Williams or MTH madison heavyweights passenger cars

Tiffany,

I can't address the possibility of zinc rot on either the Wiiliams or MTH heavyweights, but I think you would be happier with the detail of the MTH cars.  I would also look at the Lionel Santa Fe heavyweights, which I think are quite nice.  

George

K-Line is the only brand I have encountered any of the zinc issue. I've had about 6 trucks crumble......K-line sent me new ones back in the day but they are still out there so just ask first.

WbB or MTH boils down to what you want to pay and the level of detail.  I think both the MTH Premier and WbB 72 FOOT cars are nice.....the WbB 60 foot cars are a bit smaller but look about the same as the 72's.

The WbB are going to be cheaper but not by a lot as the 72 foot cars are becoming harder to find. The MTH are easy to find but a bit more.

Williams also had some 80-foot heavyweights at one time. Those were scale sized, but there were variations in the length of prototype heavyweight cars as there were in streamlined cars.

The big down sides to the Williams cars are the passengers in the windows and the lighting. They have picture strips instead of interiors and the lighting is the old four-bulb which draws more current. Those can be dealt with using a little work and creativity.

The earlier MTH cars had interiors but no passengers and the lighting wasn't as good as the newer cars.

Just troll eBay and you'll find the cars you're looking for.

A friend bought some MTH heavyweights with super detailed, multi-piece side frame castings on the six wheel trucks - and all the trucks disintegrated due to zinc rot. The earlier ones with one piece side frames were fine.

The Williams set I have had pickup springs that were too powerful. That, added to the old fashioned vertical travel pickups really increased the drag on the cars to an intolerable level. Removing the pickups allowed the cars to roll freely, but now they have no lights.

In my opinion, the MTH premier cars are the best bet, IF and only if, they are not the ones with the multi-piece side frame castings.

Both brands are the same size and look similar from a few feet away.

+1. The MTH cars with figures and interiors have a problem with zinc rot. A very expensive proposition if you have a full set of cars. I think retail on the trucks are 30 bucks a piece and will likely fail after the warranty expires.  The previous generation of cars with interiors but no figures are your best bet. Its pretty easy to add figures and cheaper too.

BTW the faulty trucks have working springs while the early trouble free trucks have simulated spring detail.

Here is a pic of the later MTH cars with the trucks that can fail:

Here is an earlier car with figures and anti rattle bars added to match the later cars:

Pete

If cost is not a problem I would go with a set of Golden Gate Depot or Weavers scale passengers.

Both Golden Gate and Weaver are 80’ scale cars. It might be somewhat harder to find Weaver but I will say the Golden Gate car are very nice!!

https://ogrforum.com/t...195#9595974432826195

I'm surprised that I have not seen this MTH crumbling truck problem presented on the forum before this time. I am also surprised that MTH apparently is not aware of it and is either not fixing the problem, or giving us a break on replacement trucks, or both.

My buddy has bought at least 6 or 8 trucks from MTH and has not been given a price break.

I have never heard that MTH has this problem since I gave been on the forum in 2000

The problem isn't unique to MTH though they have yet to step up to plate and admit they have a problem. Some friends and I have had Atlas express reefer trucks fail as well as their couplers. At least Atlas will replace them no charge.

Pete