Adding steps to a #655 Gilbert AF passenger car

None of the passenger cars with sheet metal chassis had steps. I would think sets of repro steps could be glued to the bottom of the sheet metal chassis. Pictures below for comparison.

Bob, one more thing to check. Note that most 655's have the 3 spring long trucks, all the 650's have two spring short trucks. The trucks are clearly visible in the above pictures. The long trucks may hit the back of the steps on 20"R Gilbert curves, I have never tested this. Hopefully they will clear ok.

The issue I have with 655's is they are not illuminated, however the red paint makes them look far more realistic than the unpainted plastic of the 650's. same applies to the green version.

Thanks for your suggestion, Tom.

I was planning to replace the three-spring, link-coupler trucks that are on the #655 with the shorter two-spring, knuckle-coupler trucks, so the possible interference problem you cited may not be an issue. 

Bob

Sounds good. Actually the KC trucks are the same length as the three spring link trucks. They are also thicker, protruding more to the sides of the car. Comparison pictures below.

Just curious: Are the #650 and #655 coaches dimensionally identical, including the distance between the truck mounting hole and the end of the shell? Also, are the #650's steps part of the shell?

Bob

The coach shells are essentially identical and the 655 can be placed on a 650 chassis. The 655 shells were made using a different plastic. The 650 coach chassis' are a cast metal (except for 1946 and some early 1947 that used a plastic chassis.) These plastic chassis usually warped badly.

The steps are an integral part of the chassis casting.