American Z Line has received the first samples of their upcoming Bethgon Coal Porter gondolas. The cars will be injection molded and feature metal wheels. The wheelsets will be interchangeable with MTL's roller bearing trucks. The cars will be sold in sets of four, each with a different roadnumber. The first roadnames will be BNSF, CHTT, NS and UP. Release is set for March of this year. Rob Kluz
Rob, what kind of couplers do they come with. Looking at the picture, they look like AZ couplers. If they are, are we able to swap them out with MTL's. John
Very nice looking! And we'll be able to run them as empties also! Great! Curious, though, what's up with the coupler on the left side of the photo? Is it supposed to stick out that far from the car?
how mutch will they cost? in Norway the only coal trains awable is from marklin and they are expensive!
Yes, the couplers are AZL's. These will be interchangeable with MTL's roller bearing truck. But, the AZL trucks will have metal wheels which are a big plus in my opinion. Cars should be priced close to MTL's rolling stock. The only difference being these will be sold in four packs, more like Pennzee. Since the prototype cars are used with rotary dumps, they do have couplers that extend farther then most. I think you will find though the couplers will be closer to the body. The car in the top photo is actually just sitting on the trucks and they are not attached. Rob Kluz
Coupler update. I talked to AZL. The coupler with the long shank show on the left side of the car is for another project, not the Bethgons. The correct coupler is shown on the right side of the car. So I wonder what the long shank will be used for? Let the speculating begin! Rob
Nice, Nice! Let's kick this whole Z Scale thing into high gear, and ramp up the available choices now! -Robert
