ice across the country. With this car, two new features have been introduced to the Micro-Trains line of rolling stock. The first is body- mounted couplers. Modelers have want- ed this for quite some time and Micro- Trains has answered that call. The coupler draft gear box is able to be mounted directly to the underside of the car’s mainline because the box has been redesigned. The underside of the car is actually part of the draft gear box. The box cover clips onto the underside of the car, holding the coupler assembly to the car. There is no pin or screw needed. This allows for maximum truck swing without any binding. It also allows for a prototypical ride height. A covered hop- per that sits too high on its trucks just looks comical. That is most certainly not an issue here.
The second new feature on this car is the see-through roof walk. When I first heard of Micro-Trains introducing this feature, I was extremely excited. The plastic roof walks are usually the first thing I replace.
However, then I
learned that these roof walks would be made from laser-cut wood. My heart sank as I didn’t think this could possi- bly work. Normally, roof walks are made of etched metal which just looks fantastic. So, I envisioned a big hulking “plank” stuck to the top of the car with a few holes burned in here or there. Mi- cro-Trains has proven that laser-cut wood can work as a roof walk, as it has that fine, see-through appearance that one expects. This feature enhances the appearance of the car. I love being proven wrong when it comes to some- thing like this. The car matches prototype drawings that I found. Proportions and key di- mensions are spot on, as I would expect from Micro-Trains. They have done a fine job with all of the smaller detail pieces, as well. Parts such as the brake wheel, end ladders, airbrake equip- ment and roof hatches are all finely molded. I am always amazed that Mi- cro-Trains can make molded plastic stirrups look as good as etched metal
ones. They are fine in appearance and quite durable. Most manufacturers seem to make these parts much too large, and that usually appears ridicu- lous. These are as nice as any I have seen, and I have no doubt that they will survive the test of time or at least my sometimes clumsy hands. The cars ride on Micro-Trains Bar- ber roller bearing trucks which are cor- rect for this model. The wheels have the new style “medium profile flange” wheelsets which are halfway between the old, deeper flanges and the low- profile flanges. These medium profile wheels will run on pretty much any track out there, and there is still enough flange on the wheel to provide reliability over some not so perfect track. As one can imagine, these cars roll perfectly and track well through switches. I pulled and pushed these cars around my nine-inch radius test track without any problems. No derail- ments or uncouplings occurred. One ever present highlight of any Micro-Trains product is the paint. As always, the paint is thinly and evenly applied. The white FARMRAIL lettering over the green paint of the car is per- fect and the coverage is excellent. One notices that the edges of the lettering are all crisp with no “fuzz” anywhere. The side of the car has vertical ribs from end to end which I would expect to cause some paint problems, but this doesn’t seem to be a problem for Micro- Trains. The paint just goes up and over each rib like it isn’t even there. Try do- ing that with decals or worse, masking that area off for airbrushing. You will experience paint bleed no matter how careful you are. I always stand in awe when a manufacturer does something far better than I ever could.
All of the small lettering is legible,
as well. I could read all of the warning and caution lettering stenciled to the side of the car. It amazes me when a builder does that. This car is the “total package” for
me: superior detailing, perfect paint- work and excellent operating charac-
Sidetrack Laser Lobo
HO,N & O Scale Laser Cut Model RR Kits Motorcycle Works
$34.95 MSRP
HO Scale
www.sidetracklaser.com Visit Our Website for more HO, O & N Scale Kits
PO Box 447
Newberg, Oregon 97132 503-449-5361 Dealer Inquiries Welcome
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
83
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100