RTR Freight Car(s)

[CN1]

I'm looking to get a good variety of freight cars (box car 40' & 50') for my freight service.

I'm looking at Ready-to-roll ops: I already made a couple of blue box cars. I have a few P2K, Trains Canada and one Athearn Genesis RTR.

I was looking at Atlas and Intermountain but GEEEEEZ! they're $45.00 and up each

Is this the norm? $45.00+ for a box car?

 

[Fred_M]

See why blue box are so popular with skin flints like me? That's sounds a tad high even for them, but you may be quoting Canadian dollars. FRED

 

[TomPM]

The only RTR rolling stock I have are 5 P1K cars that I got off Ebay for around $10.00 each and some Mantua cars. I just can't bring myself to pay $20.00 plus for a RTR car when I can buy the unbuilt kit for less than $10.00. Besides I like building kits.

 

[jon-monon]

Even if you don't care for building the kits, I easily assembled 6 MDC ore cars in one evening, including upgraded wheelsets and couplers. Saves a bundle over RTR. My only regret was that I didn't get 12, because I coulda done 12 in one evening. I'm sure it varies with type of rolling stock and brand, but you get the point. Also consider, how much detail do you need? You can always add details later too.

 

[Fred_M]

Even if you don't care for building the kits, I easily assembled 6 MDC ore cars in one evening, including upgraded wheelsets and couplers. Saves a bundle over RTR. My only regret was that I didn't get 12, because I coulda done 12 in one evening. .

Yeah, and on blue boxes, it takes longer to paint the metal weight than it does to assemble the rest of the car. Those MDC ore cars are a snap too. I don't consider them kits, just some assembly required. I bought a new weedeater this weekend that took longer to assemble than 10 boxcars. It wasn't a weedeater kit. FRED

 

[hudsonelectric]

The Kadee, Red Caboose, and Intermountain RTR rolling stock aren't for assembling fleets of cars...not if you want to pay your mortgage this month! I have one Kadee, an NYS&W box, because it hasn't been released in a very long time. I make a point of detailing all of my rolling stock with grabs, ladders, and brake rigging, but I'm also not amassing a fleet of cars for my road, either. The $30.00 RTRs look great and can be part of a collection...the cars on the siding at eye-level and up-front, that sort of thing. It depends what you have in mind, too. The less detailed kits and RTRs are going to cost less because it costs less to manufacture them. Have you looked into the Branchline Yardmaster series?

 

[chipmonk]

i myself like the shake the box kits because once thier weathered and rolling by they look just fine plus thier CHEAP!...although i like to get a few walthers RTR (around 13-18 bucks american) every now and agian to mix things up and add different prototypes.
Just my 2 cents

Chris

 

[jon-monon]

I bought a new weedeater this weekend that took longer to assemble than 10 boxcars. It wasn't a weedeater kit. FRED

But does that include time to properly weather your weedeater, ya know, so it looks real

 

[Fred_M]

But does that include time to properly weather your weedeater, ya know, so it looks real

The grass was wet, so it took about 10 min to weather it real good. FRED

 

[CN1]

Yes this is $45.00 CND, so about $25.00 US and up....

I'm reconsidering blue box cars and some cheaper one as well.

It doesn't make sense to me that 2 quality boxcars would be as expensive as 1 decent loco

 

[TomPM]

If you are looking at kits I highly reccomend the Accurail kits. To me they look better than the Athearn blue box models but are not as expensive as the Branchline kits. They are a little bit more expensive than the blue boxes and they may not have variety of the blue boxes.

Basically if it is available in Accurail, Athearn, or Roundhouse kit and I want or need it I will buy when I have the money.

 

[mhdishere]

As I said in another thread on this forum, I'm impressed with the Branchline Yardmaster kits. Those are the less expensive kits, I paid $8 each for my boxcars and they come with metal wheels and knuckle couplers. Haven't gotten around to building any yet, but they don't seem to be much more work than the blue-boxes or MDCs and have much better detail.

 

[Fred_M]

I like them yellow box Accurail too, they are just harder to find around here. I really don't like the Trainlines kits, but they do have more detail parts. They are harder to put together and more fragile too. That's why I don't like them. All the Trainlines I currently have now are missing pieces that broke of in handling and wrecks. I like some mantua RTR. A while back my LHS had them on sale for $2.50 each, they were NFL cars from looser teams. A painter would of loved them, but I didn't buy any. Wish I had, could of sold them on ebay and made some money, maybe? I have 4 wood kits at home that I bought, 2 circus flats and 2 70' stocks. I was silly to buy them, talking about a pain to assemble. Just a box of wood sticks and instructions. I'll give them to a buddy for xmas . FRED

 

[hudsonelectric]

It doesn't make sense to me that 2 quality boxcars would be as expensive as 1 decent loco

The great thing about this hobby right now is the good selection....there's something for everyone and every budget. That's not to say there's no market for $30.00 Kadee or Red Caboose RTR cars...they sell right out! I have kits that cost $60.00 and I have kits that cost $15.00. I have kits that I've bought on eBay that have been out of production for many years for $20.00 and a kit that I've built of the only plastic model Erie Dunmore Shops caboose available...$45.00. It depends on what you want and what your budget is like. I for one know that what I want to do in this hobby costs money...from building a seperate railroad layout room in my basement to installing DCC decoders and getting the DCC equipment to building the layout and building kits. For me, the hobby is an investment. But that's me. I think that it's great to have the bility to move from one level to another....from $8.00 kits to $12.00 kits without having to go broke making the next move. In some parts of the hobby, like narrow gauge or traction, you either have to buy what you want in brass for hundreds of dollars or make it yourself! There's plenty of variety out there and something for everyone...hasn't always been like that and I'm glad that it is now....good time to be in the hobyy IMHO! :thumb:

 

[jon-monon]

As I said in another thread on this forum, I'm impressed with the Branchline Yardmaster kits. Those are the less expensive kits, I paid $8 each for my boxcars and they come with metal wheels and knuckle couplers. Haven't gotten around to building any yet, but they don't seem to be much more work than the blue-boxes or MDCs and have much better detail.

I'm certainly interested in the Branchline Yardmaster kits. Especially after we get the post assembly report

Dash - put that box of sticks on e-bay and you'll double your money

Another kit to look at might be the IHC stuff they have on closeout, much like mhdishere, a have a bunch of these I bought over a year ago and never had time to assemble. They look easy to assemble and decent. The site sucks and you have to surf around to find what you want (sometimes you have to search by roadname, like in the MOW area). There are many left at 1/3 to 1/2 price in the areas of MOW, old time and barnhardts:

http://www.ihc-hobby.com/cgi-bin/bsc.cgi?sn=0715009QKJL360J267865U43958929

They look to me like what dash called assembly required vs. a real kit. You could probably assembly line build a good handfull in one evening. I guess the detail level is "medium", but it's been a year since I packed them away.

 

[jon-monon]

There's plenty of variety out there and something for everyone...hasn't always been like that and I'm glad that it is now....good time to be in the hobyy IMHO!

I'll second that! There is just tons and tons of stuff out there to build with, and the internet makes the information you need right at your fingertips for nearly free. If you can think of it, someones probably done it, and documented it for no gain of their own. Sure you can find a downside if you look, but for the most part, stuff looks better, runs better, and is more compatible for less money (adjusted for inflation).

 

[Fred_M]

Double my money!, I think not jon. I got snookered at a train show. The boxes looked old and the vendor said they were "old craftsman kits". They had old looking pricetags for $15 dollars. He said he would take $20 for all four. Duh me bit and run out a bunch of line. They are Circus Craft Creations and can be purchased new from Walthers for about $4.50 retale. FRED

 

[CN1]

I agree there's lots of variety .

I would like nicely detailed cars but, I don't want to pay a hughe amoutn of money doing so. I guess I'll start looking closer at Roundhouse, Athearn, Trainline and the rest..

 

[Fred_M]

Almost forgot, another brand I like, but is hard to find, is Eastern. They are good quality kits. FRED

 

[sumpter250]

But does that include time to properly weather your weedeater, ya know, so it looks real

I don't know 'bout weaterin', but this puts me in mind of my last weedeater. Yessir, carried that shiny new piece of weed terrorizin' machinery down t' the back 40, and it commenced to eat so many weeds that I had to drive it back up to the house, and build a garage to keep it in!