Weaver Troop Cars,who has warping problems?

It depends on what kind of floor it is. Is it die cast or sheet metal floor. Sheet metal you can hammer. Die cast needs pressure not hammering to straighten out.

There was a post somewhere that some floors are experiencing "metal rot" and are expanding. We have no use for a credit as we wanted only the troop cars and paid more than that. This is not looking good. Might be time for them to make up a batch of new floors before more the cars get ruined.

 

Any idea of which production run this was? Think they had two.

If the detail can be removed in a way that it can be re-applied, why not carefully flatten the floor and have a new one cnc'd (there are quite a few shops that will do the work relatively cheap and maybe you could sell replacements to others) or scan and print using a 3d printer. If it was cast you will want to add weights

 

first off i would take the car apart so no further damage would occur. then i would measure the size of the floor and make a plexiglass or styrene floor for the car. then add the detail back to the new floor and weight the car accordingly.

Thanks guys I have put it in the spares box as while trying to remove the under floor detail the main floor snapped in two. May try at a later date to find an old coach that the shell may fit. But now just fed up. 

James

The floor is diecast and will crack if you bend it back. Fastest way to fix it is to buy a cheap express car version and swap floors.

How do we know the Express car floor is not going to become defective?

Seems the only fix may be new floors. Possibly plastic ones made in the USA?

A set on that infamous auction site.
Same issue. Must be a common problem/defect.

 

I don't know if one could call the wrapped frame a common defect, but it does occur and a buyer of these cars needs to be aware of the possibility of such issues.  I have a four car set (three sleepers and one kitchen car) from the first release and, fortunately, they don't show any problems.

 

James' first photo of the floor and frame, however, is very surprising!

 

Jim

I don't think its a defect. When the car is dropped or slammed into something, the floor bends. 

I have quite a few of these cars, and the only one I ever had an issue with took a tumble to the floor and landed on its end. The other 10 are still flat. 

 

The cars without interiors can probably be reinforced with some plastic I-beams glued to the top of the floor to stiffen it. Thats not so easy to do with the full interiors in the troop cars.

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I don't think its a defect. When the car is dropped or slammed into something, the floor bends.

 

No such luck.  Zinc Rot or Zinc pest is a problem found in Lionel and American Flyer trains from the Pre-War era.  It has also been a problem with some of the products manufactured in Asia for several companies in the modern era.  It can happen to a model sitting in a box.  As the metal corrodes due to internal impurities it expands and warps.  Unfortunately we can now add the Weaver troop cars to the list of products known to have this problem.

After seeing this thread, I looked at my Weaver Troop sleepers. I have 10 of the cars - 6 Pullman sleepers, 1 Kitchen, 1 Hospital, 1 undecorated car, and 1 Railway Express car. All are from Weavers first run of the cars. Since purchasing the cars they have spent their lives in their boxes stored in a climate-controlled basement. none have ever been run on a layout.

 

Out of ten cars, three had warped floors! I disassembled the warped cars to prevent any further damage to the bodies. The floors of two of the cars cracked apart during disassembly.

 

I do hope Weaver makes replacement floors in the future. But I do think that a replacement floor could be made from styrene if needed...

I have the same situation with a number of cars packed away - haven't seen them in at least 5 yrs.  If I have any warped floors I'll make my own from some aluminum flat stock. 

Well, doggone it. I almost dodged the bullet. Five out of five have nice flat floors. I goofed up and popped a step off one car putting it back into the box.

 

Gilly

If the floors are breaking the bodies during storage, wouldn't it be wise to detach the floors on all of them when in storage? and while you still have a good one find out how much to cnc a new batch?

Plain and simple, this is a disgrace, especially considering what these cars cost when new just several years ago.  Weaver OWES it to you guys to make replacement floors for these cars.

Had the same problem with my troop car

WEAVER STOOD BEHIND THE PRODUCT !! AND GAVE ME CREDIT TOWARDS ANOTHER ITEM

 

Hi Steve Weaver did the same for me, offered a $49 discount off any further purchase but the only problem is it will cost me that much to return it. James

Casualty count, one broken step and one broken side bolster.

 

I broke a side bolster putting the last one back into the box last night after inspecting it. Still don't know how I pulled that swift move off. I called Weaver and tried buying one truck or even parts to repair my old one. Zip, zilch, nada. I did go ahead and order a set of Roller Bearing Freight Car Trucks. At least I'll be able to put it back on the rails.

 

Be careful fooling around with the Styrofoam packaging, guys.

 

Gilly

I appreciate Weaver's offer of a credit towards a future purchase if the car is returned, but I don't want a different car and I don't want to loose the Troop cars. I bought the Troop Sleepers because I wanted Troop Sleepers. I don't want a boxcar or hopper...

 

I wish Weaver would run a batch of "floors" and let us trade our damaged floors for good ones.

I purchased an undecorated troop sleeper earlier this year. It was originally a two rail car. I I also tried to order Allied Cushion trucks from Weaver a month or so ago I saw that Weaver canceled the recently cataloged troop cars and the replacement Allied trucks. I decided to  purchase a Weaver express car from a person on the forum in order to get the Allied Cushion  trucks. The car arrived with a broken tuck!The post office was going to pay me for the damaged car, but I would have to give them the car. I decided to keep the car and hopefully find a truck for it some day.

 

I continued my quest for Allied Cushioned trucks. I found one of the warped troop sleepers on EBAY and ended up paying about what I would have paid for two sets of Allied cushion trucks from Weaver. The undecorated troop sleeper is now complete and soon will be a NYC MOW car. I still need one truck for the express car. The frame from the warped car broke when I was taking the car apart in order to remove the trucks.

 

I have one Waver Steamer, and several of their nicer cars. Weaver's failure to support the customers who spend a lot of money on these very nice troop cars has left me with no choice. No more Weaver purchases.

 

Here is a picture of the broken truck on the express car.

Come on Weaver, do the right thing.!

 

Richard

Richard,

 

I want to be able to pay this forward. I have a broken side bolster on one of my cars too. If you look closely, you'll see that each side is held on with two nuts. It looks like the bolsters can be replaced separately and thus can be repaired.

 

Dave C has graciously offered to send me a replacement truck. I should have a spare side bolster after the dust settles and my car is repaired. Please send me an email with your shipping address. I'll keep in touch. If I have it to send, you're welcome to the spare bolster.

 

Looks like you also popped a step. I know how that feels too!

 

FWIW, I have a ton of Weaver rolling stock and this is the first problem I've had with any of it. In general, I've been please with everything I've received.

 

Gilly

Thanks for the heads up guys. I was looking to purchase a few of these and now I know I will stay clear.

I hope Weaver will run a new set of cars in the future with the diecast issue resolved.

The bugger is about these cars is you may have a good one today and an uh-oh tomorrow.

Gilly,

 

Thanks for the offer. Is your email in your profile? Mine is. I will send it to you tonight.

 

The step repair will be easy, I just have been waiting to solve the broken truck problem first.

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

Thanks,

 

RG

Yes it is. I'll be looking for your email tonight and will keep in touch with you.

 

Gilly

Just an idea for rumination...

 

I don't have a troop car to reference, so I apologize if this suggestion is too far off-the-wall...

 

1) If you have a straight floor to work with and its interior surface is flat...

 

2) If the added details (brake equipment, etc.) can be removed down to the bare casting...

 

then...

 

3) lay the floor interior-side-down on a flat plate...glass, metal, Plexiglas, smooth tile, etc....

 

4) build a shallow wall (Lego blocks are dandy for this!)around the casting with about 1/4" clearance all around, including about the same amount taller than the depth of the casting...

 

5) seal the walls to the flat plate with a bit of modeling clay...

 

6) Get some Alumilite RTV5 silicone molding compound, mix it, and pour it to the height of the surround wall following Alumilite's instructions...

 

7) Let it set up completely...

 

8) Take apart the wall, carefully lift the mold/floor from the base plate, and carefully work the floor casting from the mold.

 

then...

 

9) Lay the mold on a level surface

 

10) Mix up some Alumilite casting resin (I prefer the white...longer work time, thinner viscosity, picks up details the best....IMHO) and pour it into the mold (a shot of their spray mold release is a good idea...IMHO, again)

 

11) After it has set (don't be in a hurry to do this!!  FULL cure really does take more time, per their instructions.  Otherwise, warping may occur again, albeit easily correctable), carefully de-mold the part, clean up the flash, wash the part, prime, paint, reassemble, and add sufficient weight to the floor interior to bring it up to at least its original metal casting weight.

 

Just a thought.  Worth a try?? 

 

Some enterprising soul (I would if I had the car!) could try this and, if successful, provide some replacements for others experiencing this problem.

 

As a side-bar, I talked briefly with Gary (Weaver) at York about the availability of the AFC trucks, something I need about 4 pairs of for a different project.  He explained that the orders for the announced re-release of troop cars fell far short of the volume required for their off-shore builder.  No cars, no trucks.  However, all of the dies yet exist.  To run them economically requires a sufficient build quantity.  It's a common mantra these days, I'm afraid.

 

FWIW, always...

 

KD

 

 

Did you happen to ask just how many reservations were needed?

He did, 1000 were needed and around 300 were made.

 

Same problem. 1 out of 3. I suppose I should take it apart before further damage is done. I am going to call Weaver tomorrow. I know more than likely I wont get anywhere but maybe if enough of us call them they will listen. A coupon or credit for something else is not a fix in my mind.

 

 

 

Does anyone know something about 3D printers? I wonder if a 3D printer could be used to reproduce the frames for the troop sleepers?

 

Richard

Richard,

 

You might be able to use a 3D printer. It would likely be very expensive and light. Since these floors are die cast, they add a significant amount of mass to the car. While I dodged the bullet on my floors warping, if I had to replace one I'd likely cut the replacement out of 3/16" aluminum plate. It would mean giving up the outstanding detail. There are those here who "could" fabricate a detailed replacement out of styrene. That's over my pay grade.

 

Gilly 

 

 

Feasible.  I have cast entire car underbodies/frames and the last kit that I developed include such a casting. 

Yes, removal of all details that might become encapsulated is necessary; hopefully those might be salvaged.

 

I'd also go with a longer working time resin, maybe up to a 20 min resin depending on level of detail being captured.  I've done mine using a 6 min resin and it's a bit of race to mix up enough, not too much, and get a good clean pour w/o bubbles.

 

Doable.

As far as 3D printing these, It would take a rather expensive printer to do the floor flat and in one piece.

Can someone give me a length & width at the corners and max width locations?

I will look at the model and see what can be done. I am interested in 3D printing for some other things as well and have 3D modeling capability. No printer yet but I'm working on that. One I'm going to get has an 8" build cube so the floor may fit angled through 3 dimensions. Doing that will mean it is not smooth anywhere, but the lines are tiny. Not sure about strength tho.

Thanks guys,

 

I was watching something on Fox News about the ability of a 3D printer to make a small hand gun.(the gun would blow up when being fired) Surly a flat frame could be reproduced on a 3D printer. So far I am lucky, the three express cars and the sleeper I have now are in good shape.

 

Russell, I measured the good troop sleeper frame I have now. It measures 11 5/8 inches  long and 2 1/4 inches wide. I used a tape measure, so these numbers could be  a little off.  

 

Another part that is failing due to metal breakdown is on the Atlas 40ft steel reefers.  The bolsters on which the trucks mount are crumbling. I have one of those reefers and the bolster broke during the Pink Palace show last month. This would be another candidate for reproduction on a 3D printer.

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

I addressed the problem with Weaver at York last month about plans to replace these cars or at least make new parts. Previously they had indicated they would exchange them when they made a new run.  Now, they say there are not enough collectors interested to do another run. This issue is or should be a real public relations problem for them. I wouldn't be very happy about needing to pay for new parts, but as a choice between nothing and paying the cost of new parts I would probably opt for paying for parts.  They were exceptional and unique cars. I don't think they are doing enough to help us. They have certainly soured me on Weaver Products. I would like to know how many defective sets are there. Sounds like a lot. Perhaps with enough people pushing they may change there mind.  They were not inexpensive cars, giving me a discount on another car just doesn't cut it.  MTH has had similar issue with Zinc Pest with couplers, trucks, smoke units, etc, but they made me whole. Zinc pest, this is not a new problem to manufactures.

Buzz

I called weaver on Monday and spoke with a man named Gary. Got the same response as others. A apology and a credit offer of $49.00 once I return the 2 bad cars. I had preordered another set of troop cars before it was cancelled due to "lack of interest" Gary told me the plan was to produced the troop cars and make a run of replacement floors for all the previous ones that went bad.

Gentlemen,

    When I 1st heard of these troubles I stayed clear of the cars, I do want them to add to my Special Forces train, however I am waiting for another run when the problems have been cleared up, then I plan to purchase them.

PCRR/Dave

I already have at least 3 different styles of car bolsters available cast in resin that I use for my cars and sell.  I'll have some at the Strasburg meet this Sat.

Sorry to hear of your problem James.......worse for you with the shipping factor.

However, thanks for posting.

 

Checked my two cars this morning.  Mine are okay.  I bought these about mid 2000s.

I'll keep an eye on them in case this problem visits me at a later date.

 

Soo Line