With all this Auto Rack talk......something I have never shown before.....

WOW that is one nice looking car Dave !!

That would be a showstopper in a consist, wouldn't it? Really nice Dave!

Just like all the cars you do Dave, it looks just wonderful! I agree with above it would be a great consist.

That's really nice modeling and looks very realistic. I can picture a long train of these cars actually loaded with automobiles traveling to unknown destinations. Thanks for posting....

I want a B&O, a PRR, and a PC !  Foolish people for declining this car idea.  

In those days cars and trucks could be shipped in the open. Now they have to be enclosed to prevent vandalism.

nicely done!

Very nice Dave and you even put a brake wheel on it.

Nicely done AMC Dave. If someone out there (manufacturer) sees this and builds it I will by them..........Paul

Thanks all.......I have the production breakdown still. All injection tooling is costly but this would be one of the cheapest cars to tool if done as I proposed......add why I held out hope so long!!!  All molds cold be open face without the need for cam action molds.

1. one chassis / frame mold.

2. one deck mold as all 3 (or two) decks are the same.

3. two vertical support molds. one single and one double post with X braces.  These would be tooled to allow production of 2 or 3 deck racks.

4. Small parts tree for details.

I purposed trucks be out sourced at first to get project under budget.

You see how much I pushed this idea....but the money folks didn't see it as viable and maybe wasn't (or isn't) thx 

Lionel could make it for the LionScale freight car line here in the USA. 

They make some parts by laser cutting plastic or metal sheets.  

Just like MTH's autorack, People would be complaining about the trucks not being properly placed. Otherwise it looks good!

Excellent job Dave.  Maybe you should have proposed it to Mark.

Harry Henning took two of the old Lionel open carriers and grafted them together to make one scale length car.  With those selling cheap on eBay, that might be a way to go.

Your car looks go to me.  Sure would be nice if a manufacture would build these.

Originally posted by Gunrunner:

Harry Henning took two of the old Lionel open carriers and grafted them together to make one scale length car. 
With those selling cheap on eBay, that might be a way to go.

• What do you mean by "cheap"? I have seen some of these go for 80+?
• And May I ask what the underside of that car look like?
• How did you get the trucks to go so flush with the deck?

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Harry Henning took two of the old Lionel open carriers and grafted them together to make one scale length car.  With those selling cheap on eBay, that might be a way to go.

now that's a good looking car with some American Muscle on board...and I like how the Mopars are on top!

You'd have to ask Harry how he got the trucks flush, I don't remember the exact details.  It looks pretty good on the track, much more impressive than the stock look.  He apparently has a box of the bodies, so he's planning on a few more of these.

Harry's a real MoPar guy, so it's logical that he'd use that brand for his car carrier.

Here's an unusual way Chevy Vega autos where shipped from Lordstown OHIO 1970's 

The rail cars used for vertical delivery were called “Vert-A-Pac,” stacking the cars with their noses pointed at the ground, 15 per side for a total of 30 vehicles per rail car. The Vega was the only automobile ever delivered this way.

Model RR Cars were for HO scale.. NOTHING to my knowledge "ever" in O-Scale. 

http://jesda.com/2011/04/07/ch...d-cars-for-shipping/

My wife had a Vega when we got married.....and around that time the big HO model train magazine had an article on the Vert-a-pak cars. Failed experiment on both rail and car. 

The Vega (which lived on for years under different names - Monza, Sunfire/Sunbird?, Olds and Buick Somethings - and improvements) had one real claim to fame: it was better than the Pinto.

As a life-long friend of Mother Mopar (excluding my VW/Porsche Period), I noticed the car carrier arrangement above immediately. I owned neither car, but witnessed the fate of both as owned by friends and girlfriends. Drove both. The Vega's rust and engine problems were obvious (it did drive well, within its limitations), but the Pinto simply disintegrated. It became the Mustang II. Unh.

Now, back to railroading...

went by Lordstown last summer...while still open, it looks like a ghost town compared to the '70s.

D500 posted:

The Vega (which lived on for years under different names - Monza, Sunfire/Sunbird?, Olds and Buick Somethings - and improvements) had one real claim to fame: it was better than the Pinto.

 

Owning a 74 Pinto and a 75 Vega...driving them long term....I'd pick the pinto any day....

The Vega was a Nova cut into smaller pieces. Big car parts bolted to a smaller platform. At least with Pinto you got rack and pinon steering, modern suspension design. All US casr of the era had rust issue so throw that one out.  The only reason the Vega platform lived on is GM dumped that all aluminum 4 in favor of the 'Iron Duke' funny name but GM wanted to make sure folks knew they had dumped the beer can motor!!  Not a high point for any US based manufacture. 

A very cool time for rail cars!!! I am thinking of building 2 or 3 more of them...still have the plans! 

Speaking of auto racks . . . years ago I came across this photo on a "train photo of the day" calendar from the B&O Railroad Museum. Two across on the top row! You probably couldn't pull this off  with 1960s Buicks!

I never saw a Vega that didn't have more holes and rust than steel after about 4 years.

Fred

D500 posted:

The Vega (which lived on for years under different names - Monza, Sunfire/Sunbird?, Olds and Buick Somethings - and improvements) had one real claim to fame: it was better than the Pinto.

As a life-long friend of Mother Mopar (excluding my VW/Porsche Period), I noticed the car carrier arrangement above immediately. I owned neither car, but witnessed the fate of both as owned by friends and girlfriends. Drove both. The Vega's rust and engine problems were obvious (it did drive well, within its limitations), but the Pinto simply disintegrated. It became the Mustang II. Unh.

Now, back to railroading...

I made a few passes in a friends Vega GT at the local drag strip, had the big engine and 3 speed automatic. It was the slowest car I had (and have) ever driven, wasn't quick enough to shift into third gear (drive) before the finish line. Never drove a Pinto but did get to have some fun with two Boss 429's, a Mr. Norms Supercharged Demon, a T/A Challenger and a 340' Cuda for a few years. They were  all quicker than the Vega.  (yet had the same frequency of fuel stops because the Vega had a such a small capacity tank)

Nice model Dave! 

John, nice model too!

Scale open auto racks would sell big time!!

American prosperity in the 1960's. As a college kid in late 60's many of worked "overtime" hours to be able to afford a nice set of wheels. My hometown built Chev. Camaro and Firebird in Norwood, Ohio ( Cincinnati)

I loved to watch them load-up "open" auto-racks. Found this FORD film from ( must have been Wixom, MI ) building cars and loading @ (min approx. 5:35 ). Fun for me to watch .. My father was a FORD guy born in Grand Rapids, MI. When America was second to none. 

Enjoy !                                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwzWXiK6OUw

Roger, 

Great video! And to think back in 62/63 that was a state of the art plant. If you contrast the way those cars were built with how the cars are built today you could almost say that they were hand made back then.