Model Railroading > Wlathers reply to containers not fitting in AP 53' well car

Walthers responded to the various posts on their Facebook page regarding containers not fitting into the wells. The say there may be some flash in the car, or try putting the door end of the container into the well first. I found no flash in the one car, nor putting either end first into the well didn't work. It  just wouldn't fit. At least Walthers is listening and giving solutions, ineffective as the may be.

Maybe Athearn is in denial.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/15 20:13 by wabash2800.

needles_sub Wrote:
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I found no flash in
> the one car, nor putting either end first into the
> well didn't work. It  just wouldn't fit.

  Yep, same with mine! Besides, I had no intentions of forcing and possibly damaging a container or two....
 

OK folks, what is the real problem here? I haven't received my Walthers stand-alone 53' well car models yet, otherwise I'd be performing the following tests and posting my findings. Are the scale dimensional inaccuracies truly associated to the well car? Or is there a possibility that some of the HO scale containers are actually out of scale? When manufacturers produce the cads for the shipping containers, they could be neglecting to factor in the thickness of those four door locking bars on the ends of the box. Those door locking bars are often molded way out of scale. They should probably be a super thin etched metal part to be more accurate. Of course, more etched metal means higher production costs, and a even more expensive HO scale container to market, boo.

Has anyone considered this scenario?

~ Mr. MRL

It crossed my mind the Athearn containers could be the problem.   But since all other brands fit into the well car I tested, I'd have to say Walthers is likely the one who made the size mistake.   It will be interesting to see if Walther's upcoming 53' container fits in their own car.

So as it stands now, I'll cram my Kato, Con-Cor, and Atlas boxes in the bottom and just stack the Athearns ontop.    Don't feel like cutting or shaving down crossbars just yet.   

Jason
Smith Brothers Hobby Center
 

I don't unload the well caes. So I just put the end with the door bars in first and then apply some downward force and get the front of container in. It a really snug fit. I only have Athearn containers. The car will stay loaded. Plus I also don't have a home layout and belong to a club, SCMRR, and with a container in the well I can wrap a paper towel around the car with container and not do any damage to the cars details,

Stanley Jackowski
Valrico, FL

All the traffic on the forums had me a bit concerned, so took Mr MRL's advise and did a test. I did a test this morning before I went to work with one of each roadname(TTX, Both FEC's and the SMW'S) of the Walthers cars, and 53' containers from Athearn, Intermountain, Con Cor, Kato and Atlas. It is obvious that the car is designed to be a tight fit. Athearn Jindos and Intermountains CIMC's kind of "snap in and are best if you put the door end in first. Atlas containers are a bit looser. Kato and Concor drop right in and fit a bit looser than the others. Didn't try and Athearn Monon so I can't comment on those, but I suspect a similar result.  Getting containers out requires a bit of effort with the Athearn and Intermountain, less with the others. I like a less sloppy fit on the container, so I'm OK with this.

YMMV....I feel they are usable for their intended purpose.

Dave Burman
modeling the modern Twin Cities
Trempealeau, WI



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/15 08:28 by bnsftcdiv.

MrMRL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OK folks, what is the real problem here? I haven't
> received my Walthers stand-alone 53' well car
> models yet, otherwise I'd be performing the
> following tests and posting my findings. Are the
> scale dimensional inaccuracies truly associated to
> the well car? Or is there a possibility that some
> of the HO scale containers are actually out of
> scale? When manufacturers produce the cads for the
> shipping containers, they could be neglecting to
> factor in the thickness of those four door locking
> bars on the ends of the box. Those door locking
> bars are often molded way out of scale. They
> should probably be a super thin etched metal part
> to be more accurate. Of course, more etched metal
> means higher production costs, and a even more
> expensive HO scale container to market, boo.
>
> Has anyone considered this scenario?
>
> ~ Mr. MRL

Purchased four cars, with two cars Atlas, Athearn, Kato, Intermountain 53' containers go in, snugly, but they do go in with out much effort, third car, containers go in very, very snugly, and takes a lot of effort to get out, fourth car, nothing fits in the bay, period. Maybe a fluke car,  metal shrinkage, heavy paint application, maybe a combination of both. I returned that car to the dealer. Buy the way, the problem car was a FEC painted yellow.  A rep from Walthers has offered to exchange  problem cars with a replacement on another forum, but the dealer has already sold the car, so I was unable to reclaim it. I thought the dealer would return the car to Walthers.  Nice to know Walthers is taking the effort to assess the problem. They are nice cars, and I have ordered more.
As to what the real problem may be, I don't know.

Here is what I have found on my Walthers 53' rebuilt AP Well cars.  I have three cars ( a TTX, A FEC (yellow) and a FEC (brown)). 

The Atlas 53 ribbed containers are tight in the new Walthers cars.  This same Atlas container does not fit the Atlas Thrall 53' Well cars, again being too tight. 

The Athearn JB Hunt 53' containers are slightly tight the new Walthers cars as well as the Atlas cars.

The Athearn ribbed 53' containers fit just fine in the new Walthers cars.

The Athearn Stoughton 53' containers fit just fine in the new Walthers cars.

The Kato Stoughton 53' containers fit just fine in the new Walthers cars.

I can't comment on the Walthers 53' containers that they are not out yet.

I then compared the lengths of the containers.  The Atlas containers are considerably longer that the rest of the 53' containers that I have and those are the only containers that I am having any real problems with.

Just my observations.

Darin Umlauft
A WC, SOO and GBW fan in Slinger, WI

By coincidence, I am in the process of reorganising things and had my 48' Gunderson All-Purpose Walthers cars out two nights ago.  I recalled the earlier discussion on this forum regarding Walthers 53' Gunderson well and so took a closer look at these 48' cars.  Albeit, they are an older model - getting on 10-12 years ago - but it sounds like Walthers did the same mistake.  Basically, with the 48' cars, that strengthening bar which holds the sides together and terminates to assist with the container alignment is poorly designed.  On the 48' cars I have, I had to get a Dremel out to bevel the edge toward the trucks which would allow the car to track  on 32" radius curves.  The flanges were rubbing badly on curves and would derail.  By the same token, I could not get a 48' container in there unless it was Walthers.  The Walthers container is ever so slightly and purposely made shorter.

My conclusion is this bar is located wrong and maybe slightly too heavy.  I am not speaking of prototype relation but merely just speaking from a practical design standpoint.  My theory to fix the cars I have is to cut these bars out just inboard of the sides, leaving a small protusion from the side piece.  I will then file the side of this protrusion which faces the container well such as to allow all correctly sized containers (from other manufacturers) to fit in.  Then merely use this bit (on both sides) to glue a piece of styrene across the top, then paint.

This is merely some information I offer from analysis of my 48' Walthers Gunderson All-Purpose cars.  It may be of relevance to the 53' car just released and is not relevent to those who do not mind a "one way" trip on the installation of their container.

Rick