I was dissapointed with the performance of my Con-Cor Autoracks, even though I had added extra weight. As my cast metal 89ft flatcars run fine, I decided to try out an idea. First job was to cut out the floor . . . . . . then file the cut smooth with the car sides . . . next one of my deck castings was cut along the edges and filed to fit the car body . . it was then glued in place with super glue . . then the trucks, couplers and coupler support bars were fitted. The result is a smooth running car, which can now be run at the front of a train without fear of it being pulled off the track . . . now to do the others!
Salvation at last. Now I can run a whole consist of auto racks and make, eBay, ConCor and AC Models happy! Seriously, thanks for the great tip!
Nice job Alan-I bet this conversion makes your autorack look mre prototific as well since the trucks are now closer to the center of the car. If you look at Concors rack, the trucks are mounted to far out towards the outer ends. John
I smell a new product addition to the line. Make that a conversion kit that does not require the frame cut, and we will all finally have the envy of all other N-scalers
Alan, You SERIOUSLY need to make a conversion kit for those cars. I have, at last count 17.... They all have MT trucks, but I have never run them. Thanks for the great idea!!!
Awesome idea and modeling Alan! Not only is that a great idea, but you pulled it off very well! I am for a conversion for that car!
You are correct John, they do look better with the trucks in a more correct position. The Con-Cor kingpin was placed to fit their trucks, not the prototype A conversion kit could happen very soon
Great job, Alan. I've tried many things to get the autoracks to run better. Even tried the Sunrise conversion kit to get the trucks to sit better on the Con-Cor frame. I think if you make a conversion kit, a know a few who will want to try it. And with the recent announcement by Con-Cor to re-release the autoracks will be timley. Bob Stanek
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Catt: Alan,a conversion kit gets my vote,and my money. <hr></blockquote> I give a huge second to that motion.
That looks awfully like an Oscar jeweller's saw, Alan. Great idea. I was never happy with the way the Con-Cor cars sat up in the air like they do, let alone the truck spacing. The notion of a retro-fit kit should be followed up on. Gary.
Good grief Alan-This idea of yours sure went over in a great way and in a big hurry. Count me in as well for the conversion kits.
Well John, I figure that if I need something, chanches are others do too That is how the spine cars came about The conversion kits could be up and running next week
Alan, might I recommend you write up a short article for MR or RMC or Nscale mag (you get the point) about this, since this is a common N scale problem. Could go a long way towards some free advertisement as well.
Will definitely let the mags know Corey Tonight I ran the converted car at the head of a heavy intermodal train with no problems whatever. And my layout has minimum 12" curves, canted, on a 3 per cent grade 89ft cars are a bit long for my curves, but I like running 'em I only have four autoracks, because they did not run well, but now I will be looking for more!
The only thing missing from these posts Alan, is a photo of the car sittig on the rails. How about it?
Umm, Alan, I'm going to need about 30 of those conversion kits over the next few months once you start making them. Keep up the awsome work. By the way, you'll be hearing from my credit card shortly. Brian
A couple of pics of the car on the layout. It appears to sit the same height as previously, but the deck can be set at any height to make the body sit lower on the trucks. The only problem with this is that the bottom of the end doors would have to be cut away to clear the coupler.
