Passenger car recommendations, please — EDIT 1/20/20 - videos added of search result

Railking 60' sets are nice.

BradFish1 posted:

Railking 60' sets are nice.

Are those the O27 sets? I like that they have actual interiors. 

CoastsideKevin posted:

BradFish1 posted:

Railking 60' sets are nice.

Are those the O27 sets? I like that they have actual interiors. 

RailKing run on O31. They’re 15 or 16” long. Beautiful cars for the money.

Badge109 posted:

CoastsideKevin posted:

BradFish1 posted:

Railking 60' sets are nice.

Are those the O27 sets? I like that they have actual interiors. 

RailKing run on O31. They’re 15 or 16” long. Beautiful cars for the money.

Ooh, those look very nice. Great tip - thanks!

I have a few sets of the Railking 027 sets. They are stubby but still look good. They have the same trucks that my early Premier cars have which helps with the overall look of the cars. They look good with my K-Line Alcos and RK F3s.

I have six of the RK 027 CZ cars. They are nice but the trucks are black from the factory. I repainted mine and they look very nice for semi scale cars. It may take some time to find them since they are older runs. You might have better luck with the 60 footers.

Hey Kevin, don't know if you still have your troublesome Williams 15-inch cars. Some culprit causes for derailments are:

-Wheel sets slightly out of gauge on the same truck. I don't know what sort of wheel sets are on these cars. I at one time bought a bulk bag of 50 fast angle wheel sets and was surprised to see slight variation of gauge within the one bag. Now it's worth noting, the fast angle wheel sets are somewhat forgiving, but only to a point. I've learned by experience the gauge of the wheel sets can vary slightly from truck to truck, but not on the same truck. You want to be sure wheel sets on the same truck are the same gauge. The width of the wheelset axles can also vary a little bit between manufacturers.

-Stiff coupler springs, meaning the coupler doesn't swing freely enough to the left and right, so that when the train is going through curves, it will want to pull the following trailing car off the track. More common a problem with lighter plastic trucks, but can still happen with diecast ones too.

-Flashing on the couplers themselves. When two cars are coupled together, there isn't sufficient space for them to move without binding. This is more of a problem on "S" shaped track configurations, though not limited to that.

-Loose truck to body mounting. This is more common with either rivet mounted trucks or trucks using the stud up from the truck, with a "C" clip holding it to the body. Though even screw mounted trucks are not immune if there is too much gap, or the screw is not tightened.

This might be worth taking a look at if you still have the Williams cars. Buying something else will not necessarily guarantee trouble free performance.

While I usually run closer to scale (18"-21"), I had reason to pick up some RailKing 60' heavyweights recently and I am VERY pleased with them.  I was really surprised to see how nicely detailed they are (inside and out).  I recommend them.  Very cool. 

K-line 60' cars  they are aluminum, interiors, have close fitting diaphragms that do not bind up in curves.  

If any interest in Northern Pacific smoothsides I have a set I will sell that is in new condition.

I really like the Railking and RMT passenger cars. the RMT are a little bit shorter than the Railking, but you can see them in this video here. We run O-27 track, with some bigger O-34 and O-42, most of our switches are O-27 and O-34 and they run fine on them.

Kevin, as others have said, MTH makes 15” ATSF passenger cars in their Railking line that are very nice. They are literally identical to the Lionel cars sold in their RTR sets. You can put them side-by-side and you can’t tell them apart down to even the undercarriage detail. They have to be from the same tools. MTH has a matching full-length dome car which is neat mixed in with the others. These MTH and Lionel cars in combination are a great way to have a large consist without lots of duplicates.

For O31, I also recommend the RailKing 15" cars, they're a great compromise of quality vs size.  Having full interiors, you can "dress them up" with passengers and painting the interiors if that's your taste.  Of course, I also recommend an LED Lighting upgrade, but that's probably because I sell the stuff.

MTH, K-Line, and even Lionel have made 15" streamliners with interiors and figures. They are based on the Post War cars that ran on 031. There were some K-Line 15" CP cars posted on the sell board recently if you want to get an idea what they look like.

Pete

Mike D posted:

I have a few sets of the Railking 027 sets. They are stubby but still look good. They have the same trucks that my early Premier cars have which helps with the overall look of the cars. They look good with my K-Line Alcos and RK F3s.

I have six of the RK 027 CZ cars. They are nice but the trucks are black from the factory. I repainted mine and they look very nice for semi scale cars. It may take some time to find them since they are older runs. You might have better luck with the 60 footers.

Thanks Mike. Good to know.

brianel_k-lineguy posted:

Hey Kevin, don't know if you still have your troublesome Williams 15-inch cars. Some culprit causes for derailments are:

-Wheel sets slightly out of gauge on the same truck. I don't know what sort of wheel sets are on these cars. I at one time bought a bulk bag of 50 fast angle wheel sets and was surprised to see slight variation of gauge within the one bag. Now it's worth noting, the fast angle wheel sets are somewhat forgiving, but only to a point. I've learned by experience the gauge of the wheel sets can vary slightly from truck to truck, but not on the same truck. You want to be sure wheel sets on the same truck are the same gauge. The width of the wheelset axles can also vary a little bit between manufacturers.

-Stiff coupler springs, meaning the coupler doesn't swing freely enough to the left and right, so that when the train is going through curves, it will want to pull the following trailing car off the track. More common a problem with lighter plastic trucks, but can still happen with diecast ones too.

-Flashing on the couplers themselves. When two cars are coupled together, there isn't sufficient space for them to move without binding. This is more of a problem on "S" shaped track configurations, though not limited to that.

-Loose truck to body mounting. This is more common with either rivet mounted trucks or trucks using the stud up from the truck, with a "C" clip holding it to the body. Though even screw mounted trucks are not immune if there is too much gap, or the screw is not tightened.

This might be worth taking a look at if you still have the Williams cars. Buying something else will not necessarily guarantee trouble free performance.

 

Thanks Brian. I actually couldn’t use the Williams so returned them to the seller. They even derailed going around gradual Gargraves curves without switches so I thought it best to cut my losses and try something else. But these are great tips - thanks for your response. 

MikeH posted:

While I usually run closer to scale (18"-21"), I had reason to pick up some RailKing 60' heavyweights recently and I am VERY pleased with them.  I was really surprised to see how nicely detailed they are (inside and out).  I recommend them.  Very cool. 

Wow, those look great. My next set will be heavyweights so these are great to see. Thanks!

VistaDomeScott posted:

K-line 60' cars  they are aluminum, interiors, have close fitting diaphragms that do not bind up in curves.  

If any interest in Northern Pacific smoothsides I have a set I will sell that is in new condition.

 

Hi Scott - would be great to see some pictures as I’m not familiar with the K-Line cars. Do you have them listed on the for sale page? Thank you!

Aldovar posted:

I really like the Railking and RMT passenger cars. the RMT are a little bit shorter than the Railking, but you can see them in this video here. We run O-27 track, with some bigger O-34 and O-42, most of our switches are O-27 and O-34 and they run fine on them.

Wow, that is a very nice looking set. So the 15” RK cars go through your O27 switches?

Rider Sandman posted:

Kevin, as others have said, MTH makes 15” ATSF passenger cars in their Railking line that are very nice. They are literally identical to the Lionel cars sold in their RTR sets. You can put them side-by-side and you can’t tell them apart down to even the undercarriage detail. They have to be from the same tools. MTH has a matching full-length dome car which is neat mixed in with the others. These MTH and Lionel cars in combination are a great way to have a large consist without lots of duplicates.

That’s a great tip. I just found pictures of the MTH Santa Fe cars you mentioned and they are beautiful. What should I expect to pay for lightly used ones, in your experience? Also, do you have model numbers for the Lionel cars from the RTR sets?

gunrunnerjohn posted:

For O31, I also recommend the RailKing 15" cars, they're a great compromise of quality vs size.  Having full interiors, you can "dress them up" with passengers and painting the interiors if that's your taste.  Of course, I also recommend an LED Lighting upgrade, but that's probably because I sell the stuff.

Thanks, John. Looks like that’s what I’ll be aiming for and good to know on the LEDs. 

Norton posted:

MTH, K-Line, and even Lionel have made 15" streamliners with interiors and figures. They are based on the Post War cars that ran on 031. There were some K-Line 15" CP cars posted on the sell board recently if you want to get an idea what they look like.

 

Pete

Thanks Pete. Will definitely check those out. 

CoastsideKevin posted:

VistaDomeScott posted:

K-line 60' cars  they are aluminum, interiors, have close fitting diaphragms that do not bind up in curves.  

If any interest in Northern Pacific smoothsides I have a set I will sell that is in new condition.

 

Hi Scott - would be great to see some pictures as I’m not familiar with the K-Line cars. Do you have them listed on the for sale page? Thank you!

Kevin, I do not have them on the for sale board yet.  I can post pics late tonight after work. 

CoastsideKevin posted:

Aldovar posted:

I really like the Railking and RMT passenger cars. the RMT are a little bit shorter than the Railking, but you can see them in this video here. We run O-27 track, with some bigger O-34 and O-42, most of our switches are O-27 and O-34 and they run fine on them.

Wow, that is a very nice looking set. So the 15” RK cars go through your O27 switches?

It does through mine. I use modified Marx O-27/O-34 switches with a guard rail added on both legs, and the older metal O-27 switches, I can even get a RK YB-6 through them!

I haven't tried them with the Lionel ones with the larger motor cover on them so if you are using those I don't know. 

Edit: here is a video of them going through the Marx O-34 S curve switches. They look a bit goofy but it works

The K-Line 15 aluminum cars are hard to beat. They come with full interiors, overhead lighting, and some passengers. Scott's NP set is one of the prettiest and is 'west coast' for certain. I have the three CP cars for sale Pete mentioned and here are a few shots of the B&Os as well. Terrific detail and high quality.

 My personal second choice would be the 16" RK cars that are plentiful and come in many various road names.

CoastsideKevin posted:

Rider Sandman posted:

Kevin, as others have said, MTH makes 15” ATSF passenger cars in their Railking line that are very nice. They are literally identical to the Lionel cars sold in their RTR sets. You can put them side-by-side and you can’t tell them apart down to even the undercarriage detail. They have to be from the same tools. MTH has a matching full-length dome car which is neat mixed in with the others. These MTH and Lionel cars in combination are a great way to have a large consist without lots of duplicates.

That’s a great tip. I just found pictures of the MTH Santa Fe cars you mentioned and they are beautiful. What should I expect to pay for lightly used ones, in your experience? Also, do you have model numbers for the Lionel cars from the RTR sets?

Kevin, Lionel has made many ATSF sets going back to 2000ish with these cars. They were originally used in conventional RTR sets and are now used in Lionchief sets. They are paired with an FT diesel. They can be commonly found without the engines at shows and on eBay. There is a striped version and a non-striped version. They are plentiful in the secondary market and both versions have identical MTH equivalents. This is the one I had: 

http://www.lionel.com/products...ilsounds-rtr-6-30178

We sold all of ours off a few years ago after converting to all scale stuff. We got $30-35 per car for the Lionel versions, a few bucks less for the MTH versions. 

Good luck with the hunt.

MTH passenger cars roll easily, are not as heavy as some other brands, and I have had generally very good luck with them.

I have passenger cars from MTH, Lionel, Weaver, Golden Gate Depot, and Atlas.  The cars from each manufacturer are well detailed, and each manufacturer has an advantage in one feature or another.  The MTH cars excel at staying coupled and free rolling, so they are the easiest to operate.

Here is a pic of the Lackawanna K-line 60' cars.  I am also going to sell that set as well as the NP.  Gives you an idea of the smoothside painted look of the K-line cars.  The NP set has a standard type observation car unlike the blunt end shown in Lackawanna.   

I’ll add my vote for Railking 60’ cars.  I agree with you that the O27 cars look too stubby to me.

Kevin- I have a couple of sets of K-line cars that handle my tight 027 curves just fine. Good quality and nice detailing inside and out.

The figures were added by the previous owner.

These are Williams aluminum cars. Also very nice.

c.sam posted:

The K-Line 15 aluminum cars are hard to beat. They come with full interiors, overhead lighting, and some passengers. Scott's NP set is one of the prettiest and is 'west coast' for certain. I have the three CP cars for sale Pete mentioned and here are a few shots of the B&Os as well. Terrific detail and high quality.

 My personal second choice would be the 16" RK cars that are plentiful and come in many various road names.

Gorgeous! Thanks for posting those pictures. 

Rider Sandman posted:

CoastsideKevin posted:

Rider Sandman posted:

Kevin, as others have said, MTH makes 15” ATSF passenger cars in their Railking line that are very nice. They are literally identical to the Lionel cars sold in their RTR sets. You can put them side-by-side and you can’t tell them apart down to even the undercarriage detail. They have to be from the same tools. MTH has a matching full-length dome car which is neat mixed in with the others. These MTH and Lionel cars in combination are a great way to have a large consist without lots of duplicates.

That’s a great tip. I just found pictures of the MTH Santa Fe cars you mentioned and they are beautiful. What should I expect to pay for lightly used ones, in your experience? Also, do you have model numbers for the Lionel cars from the RTR sets?

Kevin, Lionel has made many ATSF sets going back to 2000ish with these cars. They were originally used in conventional RTR sets and are now used in Lionchief sets. They are paired with an FT diesel. They can be commonly found without the engines at shows and on eBay. There is a striped version and a non-striped version. They are plentiful in the secondary market and both versions have identical MTH equivalents. This is the one I had: 

http://www.lionel.com/products...ilsounds-rtr-6-30178

We sold all of ours off a few years ago after converting to all scale stuff. We got $30-35 per car for the Lionel versions, a few bucks less for the MTH versions. 

Good luck with the hunt.

Excellent, thanks- very useful information!

Number 90 posted:

MTH passenger cars roll easily, are not as heavy as some other brands, and I have had generally very good luck with them.

I have passenger cars from MTH, Lionel, Weaver, Golden Gate Depot, and Atlas.  The cars from each manufacturer are well detailed, and each manufacturer has an advantage in one feature or another.  The MTH cars excel at staying coupled and free rolling, so they are the easiest to operate.

Very helpful info, thanks. Easy operation is key, for sure. 

RSJB18 posted:

Kevin- I have a couple of sets of K-line cars that handle my tight 027 curves just fine. Good quality and nice detailing inside and out.

The figures were added by the previous owner.

These are Williams aluminum cars. Also very nice.

Those look great, thanks for sharing. 

All very helpful and thoughtful responses - thanks, everyone. This forum remains such an awesome resource. I’ll keep you posted on what I end up with. 

Lots of outstanding choices.  Depending on what brand and model you buy, you may notice that the lighting may flicker and be uneven due to the incandescent bulbs used.

Many here have swapped out the incandescent bulbs for LED lighting which eliminates the flicker and provides even light throughout the passenger car.  An easy way to do it is with gunrunnerjohn's lighting products:

http://hennings-trains.shoplig...cal/john-will-assoc/

I did not know that Williams pass cars were prone to derailment.  Is this very common ?  I have a set of the SP Daylight cars and don't remember them having derailments.

My favorite passenger cars for my tight curves are MTH RailKing. A bit stubby, but well detailed inside and out. The price is good as well.

aussteve posted:

I did not know that Williams pass cars were prone to derailment.  Is this very common ?  I have a set of the SP Daylight cars and don't remember them having derailments.

I had that experience. Then, I read others who said it was an issue with a certain Williams models from certain years. I don’t have any real data to back it up, though. 

aussteve posted:

I did not know that Williams pass cars were prone to derailment.  Is this very common ?  I have a set of the SP Daylight cars and don't remember them having derailments.

The ones made in the 2000s starting with the Golden Memories sets are fine. Might be a problem with the cars made before that. 

Pete

Hi everybody,

Thanks for weighing in on this. Your comments were all super helpful. I ended up looking at the Lionel and MTH O27 cars and really liking them. Well made, relatively affordable, and the right size for my non-scale layout with 031 switches. 

I bought a 4 pack of the MTH cars in 2 stripe Santa Fe livery, which match a number of my locomotives nicely, including my postwar 2353 F3 ABA set. I have another three cars coming this week, including the full vista dome and the diner/coach combine.  

Given these cars are 13.5” long, wider and taller than my postwar O27 24xx cars, they look much better in my opinion so am very pleased with them.  

Here is what they looked like cruising by a yard office I built yesterday:

Thanks again everyone- as always this is such a great resource. Happy railroading!

The MTH 15 inch RK is in the Goldilocks zone:  just right.  They even have detailed restrooms in them..

CoastsideKevin posted:

VistaDomeScott posted:

K-line 60' cars  they are aluminum, interiors, have close fitting diaphragms that do not bind up in curves.  

If any interest in Northern Pacific smoothsides I have a set I will sell that is in new condition.

 

Hi Scott - would be great to see some pictures as I’m not familiar with the K-Line cars. Do you have them listed on the for sale page? Thank you!

K-Line 15"/60' cars are very nice. Detailed interiors with people. Indirect (ceiling) lighting. Diaphragms. Beautifully executed trucks.

Passenger service on the PER is implemented with a couple of the 18" version in Golden State livery:

Some detail pics of the K-Line Golden State cars, in this case the Diner and the Lounge/Grill:

These cars are aluminum with steel floors and die-cast trucks so they are heavy enough you hear the wheel-clicks at the joints. Incidentally, the 18" version is supposed to have O42 minimum curves but they work fine on Fastrack O36.

Dominic Mazoch posted:

The MTH 15 inch RK is in the Goldilocks zone:  just right.  They even have detailed restrooms in them..

 Just glad they aren't working ones!

geysergazer posted:

Some detail pics of the K-Line Golden State cars, in this case the Diner and the Lounge/Grill:

K-Line made some great cars. The first big 18" Heavyweights and wonderful Aluminum Streamliners of various sizes.

BobbyD posted:

Dominic Mazoch posted:

The MTH 15 inch RK is in the Goldilocks zone:  just right.  They even have detailed restrooms in them..

 Just glad they aren't working ones.

But on the bottom of the car they did mold a small pipe coming from the toilet!

The MTH 60’ are great  real eye catchers. I didn’t glue the beep people in well enough. This years question was “Is that the drunken New Years party car?” If you can run to 70’, that would be even nicer, but at O31 you can’t go wrong here  

CoastsideKevin posted:

Hi everybody,

Thanks for weighing in on this. Your comments were all super helpful. I ended up looking at the Lionel and MTH O27 cars and really liking them. Well made, relatively affordable, and the right size for my non-scale layout with 031 switches. 

I bought a 4 pack of the MTH cars in 2 stripe Santa Fe livery, which match a number of my locomotives nicely, including my postwar 2353 F3 ABA set. I have another three cars coming this week, including the full vista dome and the diner/coach combine.  

The OP found what he was looking and thanked everyone about 14 hours ago.

But keep posting the photos of the passenger cars; they are my favorites in all sizes and road names.

Pingman posted:

CoastsideKevin posted:

Hi everybody,

Thanks for weighing in on this. Your comments were all super helpful. I ended up looking at the Lionel and MTH O27 cars and really liking them. Well made, relatively affordable, and the right size for my non-scale layout with 031 switches. 

I bought a 4 pack of the MTH cars in 2 stripe Santa Fe livery, which match a number of my locomotives nicely, including my postwar 2353 F3 ABA set. I have another three cars coming this week, including the full vista dome and the diner/coach combine.  

The OP found what he was looking and thanked everyone about 14 hours ago.

But keep posting the photos of the passenger cars; they are my favorites in all sizes and road names.

Yes, thanks to all but by all means - more pictures! I'm already scheming on my next set.

Here is the full vista dome on the tracks. I think it looks pretty good. 

The seven car consist is surprisingly heavy and tough for my PW engines to get up my grades. Even my 2353 F3 with a dummy B and dummy A unit plus the 7 cars can't keep its wheels from spinning on the steep (4%) Gargraves. So I may look for a modern F or E (or Alco) ABA set that has more pulling power. There was a Lionchief Plus set in the warbonnet scheme in a few years ago, I believe they were 6-82290 and 6-82302, but they are very scarce on the used market. Any other suggestions for diesel motive power in warbonnet that work on O31 would be appreciated. I have no command set up on my layout beyond the LionChief engines. 

RailKing O-27 F3's. I have several. Great little locos and look great with those cars because they were made for them. You can get the SF Warbonnets on eBay regularly for fairly good prices.

Mike D posted:

RailKing O-27 F3's. I have several. Great little locos and look great with those cars because they were made for them. You can get the SF Warbonnets on eBay regularly for fairly good prices.

Good idea. Can those be used conventionally? I'm thinking I may install DCS or Legacy at some point but have done ok with LionChief Plus so far. 

Yes, they can be operated in conventional mode. You need to look at the listing and photos of the boxes carefully. Some of the older locos came with DCRU and horn/bell sounds, or Locosounds or one of the ProtoSounds boards. I have units equipped with all three types. I only run conventional and they all run fine. I am not 100% certain, but I think the DCRU and Locosounds units are conventional only. Hopefully someone with more info will chime in here with definitive answers about that. The PS units will run in both modes.

CoastsideKevin posted:

Hi everybody,

Thanks for weighing in on this. Your comments were all super helpful. I ended up looking at the Lionel and MTH O27 cars and really liking them. Well made, relatively affordable, and the right size for my non-scale layout with 031 switches. 

I bought a 4 pack of the MTH cars in 2 stripe Santa Fe livery, which match a number of my locomotives nicely, including my postwar 2353 F3 ABA set. I have another three cars coming this week, including the full vista dome and the diner/coach combine.  

Given these cars are 13.5” long, wider and taller than my postwar O27 24xx cars, they look much better in my opinion so am very pleased with them.  

Here is what they looked like cruising by a yard office I built yesterday:

Thanks again everyone- as always this is such a great resource. Happy railroading!

Good choice. I run these MTH mixed with some Lionel with the red stripes (not prototypical) behind Lionel Santa Fe FTs. Great looking train. I added the MTH full and partial vista domes.

Thought I’d post a couple more videos showing the final result of my search. Thanks again to all who weighed in!

Kevin, you did very well for yourself; nice videos.

Suggestion:  edit the thread's title to note you've added videos and date--alerts folks that something new has been posted.

Pingman posted:

Kevin, you did very well for yourself; nice videos.

Suggestion:  edit the thread's title to note you've added videos and date--alerts folks that something new has been posted.

Thank you Carl. 

Good idea - I will try that. Thanks!

CoastsideKevin posted:

Here is the full vista dome on the tracks. I think it looks pretty good. 

The seven car consist is surprisingly heavy and tough for my PW engines to get up my grades. Even my 2353 F3 with a dummy B and dummy A unit plus the 7 cars can't keep its wheels from spinning on the steep (4%) Gargraves. 

Looks nice, now you need to add some paying customers. I like the multicolored string of lights in the background! 

BobbyD posted:

CoastsideKevin posted:

Here is the full vista dome on the tracks. I think it looks pretty good. 

The seven car consist is surprisingly heavy and tough for my PW engines to get up my grades. Even my 2353 F3 with a dummy B and dummy A unit plus the 7 cars can't keep its wheels from spinning on the steep (4%) Gargraves. 

Looks nice, now you need to add some paying customers. I like the multicolored string of lights in the background! 

Thanks! Yes, figures would be cool. Since these cars are so small, I wonder if S gauge figures would fit better? Doesn't seem like 1:48 would fit in the seats. 

CoastsideKevin posted:

BobbyD posted:

CoastsideKevin posted:

Here is the full vista dome on the tracks. I think it looks pretty good. 

The seven car consist is surprisingly heavy and tough for my PW engines to get up my grades. Even my 2353 F3 with a dummy B and dummy A unit plus the 7 cars can't keep its wheels from spinning on the steep (4%) Gargraves. 

Looks nice, now you need to add some paying customers. I like the multicolored string of lights in the background! 

Thanks! Yes, figures would be cool. Since these cars are so small, I wonder if S gauge figures would fit better? Doesn't seem like 1:48 would fit in the seats. 

When populating any brand of cars I've had to do some leg "clipping" even with the smaller 1/50 figures. The "S" torso may be too small appearance wise. Looking forward to seeing what you do.