Model Railroading > Preproduction shots of new HO Intermountain autoracks

So Intermountain posted some preproduction shots of their upcoming autoracks. They look good and if these come out well, will be a welcome addition. Now at $69.95@ retail price, you would hope they would be nice but the bottom line is the HO world is long overdue for a finescale autorack with factory installed etched metal panels.

Bruce

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More shots

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They will have operating end doors. Pretty cool. Due next month.

Bruce

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Very nice!
Thanks for posting.

Jürgen Dietrichkeit
Weilheim, BY

It would be really neat to see these filled with cars. They look great.

True. Will be nice to see those silhouettes in there!

~ BZ

so just for comparison

The latest Walthers Bi-Level's are listing for $47.98@
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/932-40122

Now if you want to add etched metal panels, Plano makes those which are $26.00@
http://www.planomodelproducts.com/autorack_scq.html

Now together that is $73.98 per rack and we have not spent the hours just to upgrade one Walthers rack which overall is old tooling based on today's standards and does not have operating doors. I believe the 2 racks are abit different. The IM rack lists for $69.95.

Anyways, still expensive and not for everyone. Bruce

And with most places discounting 20% - 30% you should be able to get them from $56 - $49. I can't wait for my 12 to arrive.

brfriedm Wrote:
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> so just for comparison
>
> The latest Walthers Bi-Level's are listing for
> $47.98@
>
>
> Now if you want to add etched metal panels, Plano
> makes those which are $26.00@
>
>
> Now together that is $73.98 per rack and we have
> not spent the hours just to upgrade one Walthers
> rack which overall is old tooling based on today's
> standards and does not have operating doors. I
> believe the 2 racks are abit different. The IM
> rack lists for $69.95.
>
> Anyways, still expensive and not for everyone.
> Bruce



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/09/12 06:00 by mgwsy1978.

I was going to pass on the IM autoracks due to their price and their similarity to the Walthers car, but I see they are doing an SP block lettering rack on an SP flat, which I think is a first for a factory decorated model, so I guess I will have to buy one.

Also, Walthers retooled their bi-level autorack a few years ago, so it is nicer now then the 1990s version of the same car, although it is still not Atlas/Genesis/IM quality. Give Walthers a year or two and they will probably blow out their autoracks at bargain basement prices. For instance, I saw that the $44 MSRP 89' AP flats are now on sale for $13 in the latest sales catalog...

Wow! Very nice. I only ordered one, but I'm really looking forward to it, especially now. (Not a lot of auto traffic flowing over the IAIS, so I'm not going to make IM rich, but there were a few autoracks in a UP detour during my era.)

Thanks for sharing the photos Bruce.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

Notch16 Wrote:
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> True. Will be nice to see those silhouettes in
> there!
>
> ~ BZ

Which makes me wonder of a silhouette using a cardboard cutout might do the trick without the trouble and expense of filling the racks with cars.

The biggest disappoinment to me is all of these are too new - they are all post 1991 TTX speed logo, except for the Southern Pacific perhaps.

SPDRGWfan Wrote:
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> The biggest disappointment to me is all of these
> are too new - they are all post 1991 TTX speed
> logo, except for the Southern Pacific perhaps.

Same here. According to the car data info on Intermountain's Web site, there are post-1991 stencils even on the SP and Santa Fe cars. You could probably remove those to backdate the car, and few would notice their absence.

I was going to get a CSX car or two because the original artwork showed Trailer Train lettering, but when that was revised to TTX I cancelled in the hope they'll eventually do some older variants.

I'm not totally sold on these photos. They look too see-through. I don't recall standing trackside and being able to clearly identify what models are loaded inside or at least be able to see the grating on the other side of the car. At least so far, it appears you can see right through these.

Would appreciate some further comments on this, as maybe I've not been looking under the right conditions or carefully enough.
Thanks

I noticed that too. I wonder if it's a digital artifact from the pics, or if the choice was made to make the cars look more see-through so we couldn't help but notice the detail and feel like we were getting our money's worth?

Since really nice vehicles in scale -- nice enough to match the detailing of the best freight cars and locomotives -- are pretty pricey, at least you'd not really notice poor detailing behind the panels, and could load the cars with much cheaper autos without compromising the look.

~ BZ

Just an FYI. There are 16 total paint schemes they are releasing. I showed just a few. Go here to see them all. Bruce

http://www.intermountain-railway.com/newshocomingsoon.html


toledopatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SPDRGWfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The biggest disappointment to me is all of
> these
> > are too new - they are all post 1991 TTX speed
> > logo, except for the Southern Pacific perhaps.
>
> Same here. According to the car data info on
> Intermountain's Web site, there are post-1991
> stencils even on the SP and Santa Fe cars. You
> could probably remove those to backdate the car,
> and few would notice their absence.
>
> I was going to get a CSX car or two because the
> original artwork showed Trailer Train lettering,
> but when that was revised to TTX I cancelled in
> the hope they'll eventually do some older
> variants.

Notch16 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Since really nice vehicles in scale -- nice enough
> to match the detailing of the best freight cars
> and locomotives -- are pretty pricey, at least
> you'd not really notice poor detailing behind the
> panels, and could load the cars with much cheaper
> autos without compromising the look.
>
> ~ BZ

Not to mention that all that weight from current nicely modeled cars makes the autorack extremely top heavy and tipsy, and overall a very heavy car.

--Tom

brfriedm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just an FYI. There are 16 total paint schemes they
> are releasing. I showed just a few. Go here to see
> them all. Bruce

True, but I have already reviewed the list shown on IMR's website and it still looks like nearly all of them are painted for past 1991 with the TTX speed logo. Only the D&RGW shows the TT logo and I already have 3 Walthers bi-level and 1 tri-level for D&RGW.

With all of the wonderful freight cars out in the past 5-10 years, the late 1970's through late 1980's period still has a pretty big gap for lack of autoracks. I do hope model makers offer something to fill that time gap. The only cars that may have filled that 10 year gap were the clunky Shaffer Rails cars and the hard to build Custom Rail racks.

I may find my way to one of the SP racks shown above. Does anyone know when SP had those? At least it isn't speek lettered!

I'm REALLY excited about this release - I'm a huge autorack fan and have been hoping to see a model like this for a long time. I have several of the Plano kits but just haven't had the time / energy to overhaul any of the Walthers models yet. I still plan to do a couple of their tri-levels, but I can't wait to see the Intermountain models in the meantime.

I'm not sure how many of these I'll be able to afford, but I'm definitely going to buy the CSX racks and a couple others. I figure this model will be around for a long time (like other Intermountain models) and will be re-run many times over.

Having watched hundreds or even thousands of autoracks roll by while standing trackside, I agree with others than some sort of sillouette insert would be a good, economical way of representing loaded cars. Unless you stare at them up close, it's difficult to tell what kind of cars they are carrying. I think laser-cut inserts in the shape of various pick-up trucks, SUVs, and mini-vans, painted dark colors, would work well. Individual sillouettes could be mounted on a long stand that runs the length of the car so you could slide the entire deck's worth of loads in and out of the car as one piece. When rolling past on a layout, the load inserts would do a good job of blocking the light passing through the cars and give the "railfan" standing trackside the impression that the cars are loaded. I may even try a cardboard mockup when I get my Intermountain cars.

Thanks for sharing the photos, Bruce - I hadn't noticed the update on their website yet.

Dave

Since I mentioned a wish for earlier than 1991 racks, I wonder if this model can be backdated? IOW, is the body etc. similar enough to pre-1991 racks that IMR could over some of those?

The autorack itself is not a 1991 production car - they're just referring to them being painted in post-1991 paint schemes (after the TTX logo was introduced). I believe the cars themselves represent a prototype built in the early '80s.

Dave