Can the artificial load be popped out of the atlas ore cars? If so, do the cars have a decent interior for running them empty?
That ugly plastic load can be easily removed. I haven't ever really taken notice of the look of the interior - the plastic load is only about 1/8" thick, the rest is a big metal weight to prevent the tiny car from being pulled off the rails on the first curve. The weight can be removed too - I'll see if I can take a picture and post it for you tonight. Note that several companies make excellent replacement loads for this model (including materials beside iron ore). My personal preference are the JWD loads, which make these inexpensive little cars look amazing for about $1 per car. If only there was a cheap and easy replacement to make the couplers much shorter - as is the space between coupled cars is beyond reason. http://www.jwdpremiumproducts.com/servlet/Detail?no=137 I'm hoping Atlas reruns the CP 'pacman' paint scheme sometime in the future...
Thanks for the info Temp. I would love to see the photo. Rather than putting in other aftermarket loads, I hope to run these cars empty AND full. My idea is to have a tipple that will actually load the cars with loose "coal". Then, once the cars have traveled off the modeled rails, I will empty them and they will come back on to the layout empty heading back to the mine.
Here you go. As you can see there is an obvious square molding inside to prevent the weight from moving around. The 2 holes in the weight itself are for plastic prongs that keep the lighter plastic load in place. To remove the plastic load, just use a finger nail or something thin to pry it up - the prongs usually pulls the metal weight out with it.
You may need to check how old your cars are........I have some older cars and the design is different than the photos Temp posted. On mine, the weight is just a small bar that fits in the recess in the bottom of the car, and the load has 2 posts that stick down and touch the bottom of the car......and on mine, the posts WERE glued in. Several of mine came with a coal load and I wanted the "red" iron ore. The new loads I purchased from Atlas had the posts molded into the load also. I pryed the first load out using a thin exacto blade, but broke the blade on the second car. After getting the first one apart, I knew what the inside was like, and since I wasn't looking to save the coal loads, I simply drilled a hole in the middle of the other loads , stuck a screwdriver into the hole and popped them out. But if you were going to run them empty, there were 2 glue spots in the bottom of each car as well as the exposed weight.
An inexpensive way to create a more realistic looking load is to coat the top of the plastic load with white glue and cover it with very fine ore colored ballast or sand.
Temp, Thanks for the photos. Those CP pac-man cars are sharp! I think the inside of that car looks gooed enough to run empty, especially since I'm not trying to impress anyone but me. Dave, you have a good point about older cars. I wonder if after taking the weight out, if the glue spots could be carefully ground off with a dremel? Worth a try..... I think these ore cars will look more accurate on a 1900's layout than the bigger 2 or 3 bay hoppers. If not, I'll try the 33' twin bays.
No, these cars are accurate on all layouts that model iron ore or taconite mining operations up to today. (DM&IR comes to mind) The Milwaukee Road used them even to carry gravel in WA, so there is a justification for loads other than iron ore! If you do a search on RailcarPhotos.com on "Mechanical Desgination" type HMA you'll even find the most modern version of these cars. hth Michael
Believe it or not Atlas made ore cars without a load, I would guess back in the 1970-1980. I have 34 with MT trucks and a TACONITE LOAD WITH SIDE EXTENSIONS from Fine N Scale.
I may be wrong but I understand those cars are max 55ton (33') and not 70T cars. Until someone posted pics I didn't know what was actually being discussed. If you want to darken the inside give them a wash of black, then appropriate dust color of the subject material being carried in them. This is a cheap way to show them loaded/unloaded and remove the model aspect of their appearance, dave
Dave, good catch; the early cars had CAPY at 110,000 lbs. It is posible laterdesigns with heavier trucks had their capacity increased. They are only 26' long. Otto
Can anyone help me with wheels that will work on Code 55? I think I have some older versions of this car. ALSO: On a couple of cars I need trucks and wheels and couplers. Any suggestions? I'm no rivet counter and could live without body mounted couplers if I had to. Thanks, Jim
MT trucks with couplers fit and make these cars roll way better than what Atlas put on them. I have yet to install body mount couplers on any of mine.
Boilerman, Thanks. I assume you mean standart MTL Bettendorfs? Or is their a more appropriate truck for my modeling year 1931? Jim
While on the subject, what better rolling wheel sets will fit the stock Atlas trucks? I have 60 cars that I have used the close cut t-shank trick for putting 5 car sets together, but would like to put in better wheels. All mine were shot ruddy brown & Im using SP decals from the Microscale set 60-194 from the MDC ore cars. Makes a cool looking gap at the seam.
Engineer Bill, I used InterMountain IRC60051 36" Wheels. Fantastic. Naturally I came up two axles/wheels short so it anyone could help me out I would apreciate it. Jim
Found the wheels but at 55.00 per 100 wheel sets that will only take care of 25 of the 60 cars I have. Will have to think about the cost! As short as the ore cars are what would be a good weight per car for running 60 of them drawbared in 5 car sets on N-Track? NMRA standards or a little lighter/heavy? If I keep the Atlas wheels will the drag be to much?
