I've been looking at models from Centralia Car Shops online I was wondering if anyone has any of their passenger cars? They look great but there's some mixed reviews on them, so what are your thoughts on them?
The only thing that has kept me from collecting the post-war Twentieth Century Limited cars was cost. I can't justify the $700 price it would take to get the whole train when there is a chance Kato might come out with the set for a third of that. My Lightning Bolt NYC PA/Bs are still waiting for a train to pull. :-(
VR - I have 4 or 5 of their SP "Sunset Limited" cars. IMHO, they are wll detailed and finished, look great and run well. I agree they are a bit pricy but you can get some better prices from e-tailers such as Fifer Hobby, Wig-Wag etc, etc. My only real complaint is they have not done enough types of the cars. For example we could use a blunt tail end car. Carl
Nice cars with good detail and from some of the paint jobs I have seen also excellent work there. Reportedly they are also offering some of the newer cars with battery powered interior lighting. I don't know if that is the Easy Peasy system that eats batteries like crazy or thier own. However they are very pricey in my opinion ranging from $40 to $50 depending on the car. And trying to build a 8-10 car passenger consist can be pricey compared to Kato. That aside they do offer some cars that can't be found elsewhere.
They are pricey but they do come with lighting, Kato does not. I have quite a few. NP Baggage and diner CB&Q Baggage and coaches On order: More coaches NP & SP&S, plus some NP observation cars. I am trying to put together a couple NP sets.
Looks like the only thing about CCS cars is the price and the lights, but I wouldn't really mind that I think. The Pelican, Nancy Hanks II, a short N&W train, and maybe a PC train are the passenger trains I would like to model and out of those it looks like a short PC train would be the most easy one to build, yet CCS's PC baggage and RPO are a quite darker green then the PC green in Kato's set but when I think about it you can't really be to sure about what the PC painted its stuff since it was so dirty!
The CCS cars I have are more detailed and just of generally better quality than the Kato ones, but they are also more expensive. For my mixed SP passenger consist I have a mix of CCS, Kato, Walthers, and WOT cars, and I will eventually have some kits I have built from brass car sides. The ones that generally need some finesse are the Walthers ones, but considering that I have picked most of those up on Walthers fire sales I cannot complain too much.
I just ordered two Walthers baggage cars for $14.99 a pop. Great deal but I wouldn't value them more than that.
None of the Walthers have road numbers. They have a decal sheet you can install your own. Kato tried that 15 years ago and not popular, guess Walthers thought they knew better!
Decaling a roadnumber is not a make or break thing for me, especially when they come with the decals. In fact, it helps out a bit with the flexibility because I can easily choose whatever numbers I want.
At $15 I would agree, but at the price they were selling for when they first came out I would have to disagree.
Yep... pricey compared to entire Kato sets... but will Kato ever do some of the sets we are looking for in our lifetime? I have quite a few of the CCS/IMRC cars... but no real completely accurate consist. They do look nice and are worth having if you can afford them. I was reluctant to spend money on most of the cars that CCS/Intermountain is offering because they do NOT put out entire sets... just a few cars every so often. I began collecting some roadnames on the premise that there are some passenger consists that Kato will not do (maybe ever or at least in my lifetime) such as the SP/RI Golden State (see pix of two cars below), the Illinois Central Panama Limited (pretty much complete set), The MoPac Colorado Eagle and the Northern Pacific North Coast Limited.
Jose, I agree with you. I just got my first passenger car, Rock Island of all the choices, and I was so impressed with the detail and operation, it has not left my mainline in two weeks, and oh yes, never uncoupled or derailed. I have over 200 passenger cars of all types and manufacturers, but this one is even nicer than Kato smoothsides, and when I got my Kato's I never thought the state of the art would go beyond from there. Working diaphragms, detail painting, separate grabs and rails, and the list goes on and on. This to me represents a lot of forethought on Centralia's part, which also indicates they take the cars individually on each of its own merit and manufactuer, rather than bulk produce off a master to make a set. I am impressed, but at my age, it is quite doubtful I will ever be able to collect an entire consist. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
My SP/Rock Island consist is pretty much complete... though... very likely not accurate. CCS/IMRC has not put out an appropriate Obs car in the matching color scheme... so in the interim I am using the Pullman 'Muskingum River'... which was occasionally found on SP consists. CCS/IMRC has not made any chair/coach or parlor cars for SP/RI Golden State either... but... not too sure if they had any. This consist will be pulled by the very attractive BLI/PCM E6 units I got last year. My Illinois Central Panama Limited is complete... again... not sure if its accurate. I will be getting the BLI/PCM E6 units to pull that consist. I really would like to complete the North Coast Limited and the MoPac Eagle as well. The MoPac is not looking too good though... very few items released... yet I have MoPac E6's from BLI/PCM.
Not sure if you guys know but a seller is liquidating many of these cars on the auction site. My first set arrived and I have to agree - more detail than Kato cars. There is a seam at the roof and all the blinds are halfway closed, but other than that they have an almost perfect fit & finish and make quite an impression as a complete train. I bumped my era down slightly just so I could run the SP sunsets.
I would have to say I am "on the fence" with these cars. All the roadname offerings and the detail are great. I personally do not like the factory installed shades covering every window. I just received 2 of the current run and neither lighting kit worked after removing the insulating strip they are shipped with. Off came the roofs and after much wiggling of the batteries I finally got one unit functioning. The second car is still dark. I would vote for a reduced price on a car with no lighting feature. IRanks up there with factory installed sound that everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon with IMO.
On my list of "someday" projects is to randomize my shades a bit with a little trimming, or else just cut them out and use some paper instead. I have had to wrestle with some lights, too.
