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Recently I found 4 MTH premier 70' UP passenger cars at a good price (20-6638, 20-6738, 20-68036) so I could finally have some passenger cars behind my E6 ABA diesel locomotives. 

4 70ft UP pass. cars

But I was missing a rear observation car.

Then I saw this Russian Hill observation car on eBay. 

Russian Hill observation 70 ft

Originally, it had been part of a 5 car set sold as 20-6556, Catalog AX 2000, Vol 3, Premier but that set was now obviously broken up.  When it arrived I saw that it had been converted to scale trucks and Kadee couplers (2 axles each truck instead of 3 that the newer 70 ft. cars I bought have.)

How can I convert these scale trucks back to 3 rail trucks with pick up rollers and standard couplers to match the other 4 cars that I have? 

Looking at the undercarriage molded area there may only be room for a 2 axle truck but I could remove some plastic to make room for a 3 axle truck that would look better running with the other cars. 

Are these truck available for purchase somewhere?  On MTH web site I can only find freight trucks.  Is the truck attachment screw inside the passenger compartment?

I don't mind spending a few dollars to do this as a new 5 car set is $470

Thanks

 

 

 


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  • 4 70ft UP pass. cars
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You could remove the scale two rail wheel sets, install three rail hi-rail wheel sets and run a wire from the dome car's roller pickup wire to the appropriate wire in the observation car.  Another option is to buy a K-Line, MTH or Williams three rail passenger car for its trucks and use them but as you stated that may demand cosmetic surgery.    John in Lansing, ILL

Last edited by rattler21

Thanks, any idea where I might buy just an MTH passenger car coupler and affix it to the car body the way the Kadee couplers are attached?  It wouldn't actually have to work with a spring, could be glued shut--any time I wanted to uncouple it I would just lift the car off the one in front of it.  Seems MTH sells freight trucks but I've been unable to locate a "passenger" truck on their product locator pages.

Might anyone who converted their 18 inch Premiere passenger cars to 2-rail still have their high rail passenger trucks (silver) and be willing to sell them? (or should I post that question as a separate post entry?)

Thanks

Check eBay for the trucks; trucks and such are common there. Typically, the 2- and 3-rail trucks from the same brand are versions of each other and share many parts. Compare the 2-rail with your 3-rail cars from the set, this will give you info on what you need, possibly to adapt the 2-rail to 3-rail. Hi-Rail wheels are sold there, also. You may find a complete MTH car on eBay (etc) at a decent price that you could use as a truck source. If the trucks are black, well, silver paint is cheap.

Other brands can be used, too. 

Hey, all, came up with at least a temporary fix.  I raided a Lionel wheel carrier gondola for 4 high rail wheel sets, removed the scale couplers, ordered dummy couplers from Scale City Designs, raided the picture-hanging gadget box for something with a small screw, screwed the dummy coupler in place and voila, I can pull the observation car and the car ahead of it doesn't de-rail.  A little flat black paint will improved the look.  The separation between the last two cars does not perfectly match the other 3 couplings but, hey, I'm not being too fussy at this point.  Glad that I got that observation car from eBay when I saw it--who knows when a solitary UP MTH Premier observation car like this would come up for sale again?  I certainly didn't see any at York.  Thanks to all responders for the help and suggestions.  Great forum with so much knowledge out there.  Cheers.

PS, I'll try to post a short video of the train in action

.2 to 3 rail [1)2 to 3 rail [2)2 to 3 rail [4)2 to 3 rail [5)2 to 3 rail [3)2 to 3 rail [6)

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  • 2 to 3 rail (4)
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  • 2 to 3 rail (3)
  • 2 to 3 rail (5)
  • 2 to 3 rail (6)

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