Model Railroading > Accurail 4750

I swung by Sunset Trains in Spokane today where Jim had my pre-ordered Accurail 4750 hopper on hand. I've been eager to try out this kit and promptly took it to the INSHOME club to assemble. The kit is a bit more complex than most Accurail kits, but far simpler than the Proto2000 4427 and Intermountain 4750 hopper kits. The assembly was fairly easy, but there a few points that I disagreed with the assembling instructions. There was also a few minor hangups during assembly. One item that was a bit difficult was putting the coupler boxes on the underframe extensions. The rear of the box fits around a extension of the frame just ahead of the truck screw hole, but was very tight and required sanding the inside of the rear of the coupler box to fit right. Really just a minor issue that was easily corrected. I disagreed on the assembly instructions in so much that to not install the brake cylinder/beam and angled bracing to the slope sheets until you have installed the slope sheets into the body of the car, but before adding the end railings. Also install the bolster plate and trucks as the final step. I didn't have any metal wheels on hand, and assembled with the included plastic wheels which will soon be changed out. I did install Kadee standard head Whisker couplers, and they came out right on the money to my Kadee standards gauge. The kit does come with Accumate couplers. In comparing the Accurail model to a Intermountain 4750 I had on had, several details do stand out on the Accurail model. The ribs on the Accurail model are deeper and the upper trough hatch is more detailed. The end ladders have more defined detail as well. This kit also has the the more common body mounted brake cylinder vs the truck mounted cylinders on the IM model. That said, this model still has the molded on grain irons (but still thinner than Atlas Trainman's 4750) and lacks all the air piping and brake rod detail found on the other kits. I personally like the durability of this kind of model as I cart around my trains between home and various clubs and private layouts. People looking for fine details on a model like this should be steered to the excellent models by Tangent (at about 2.5x the price of the Accurail kit). The $18.98 retail does fall on the low end of current RTR models by Atlas Trainman, and is about the same as older IM and P2K kits. I bought my kit for $15 and change. While Accurail is only making one road number per road name, they do offer a renumber decal sheet for renumbering that has color matched borders to blend into the body paint to cover over the old numbers. The renumbering decal is $4 including shipping. I already have a BN car on order, but I will likely up it to 3 cars and get the renumbering decals.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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I sold most of my Intermountain 4750's on Ebay, and started collecting Tangent models. David's cars are amazing and probably the nicest models available in the hobby. Pricey yes, but I always say...ya pay for what ya get.

PT

Nice report, and a nice looking model. Thanks for sharing your opinion and your expertise...

Paul Liddiard
Spanish Fork, UT

obsessedfoamer Wrote:
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> I sold most of my Intermountain 4750's on Ebay,
> and started collecting Tangent models. David's
> cars are amazing and probably the nicest models
> available in the hobby. Pricey yes, but I always
> say...ya pay for what ya get.
>
> PT


Looks nice to me don't think that your reply was needed as he likes what he bought.

Agree nice looking model, especially for the price! A great alternative to those who can't afford CF4750 hoppers at $45 a pop. Choice is good!

Cheers, Jim Fitch

For a lot of folks who operate, details just get lost and broken. Having cars that are a little less detailed means they hold up better in derailments, etc. I always loved the accurail products when I modeled. They went together well. They ran great. And looked decent enough. That looks like a winner to me.

Joe

joeygooganelli Wrote:
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> For a lot of folks who operate, details just get
> lost and broken. Having cars that are a little
> less detailed means they hold up better in
> derailments, etc. I always loved the accurail
> products when I modeled. They went together well.
> They ran great. And looked decent enough. That
> looks like a winner to me.
>
> Joe

Add a nice weathering job, and they will look better then a $45 RTR model....

Looks like a nice addition to the tremendous market we have right now.

Timely post, Ted. Plan to turn my 'data-only' into a UP car this week. Nice to see Accurail producing a good layout-level model at half the price of the competition. (Wheels & couplers to be upgraded)

joeygooganelli Wrote:
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> For a lot of folks who operate, details just get
> lost and broken. Having cars that are a little
> less detailed means they hold up better in
> derailments, etc. I always loved the accurail
> products when I modeled. They went together well.
> They ran great. And looked decent enough. That
> looks like a winner to me.
>
> Joe

They also stand up better to inquisitive grandkids!

Bruce

Funnelfan, nice choice with the Accurail Covered hopper. I bought the CSX version about 3 weeks ago at Niedzalkoski's Train Shop in Jeanette, PA for $14.98 plus tax. It was a joy to build. Don't mind the people who want to discount less detailed rolling stock as somehow beneath them because they don't have scale draft gear boxes or every detail the prototype has. I welcome these hoppers at about $15.00 vs $45.00 or more for something that breaks if you look at it too hard. I will get more as they become available.

SantaFeRuss

A kit - nice to see but non-see through walkways can never be said to be better than the RTR we are seeing.

By any chance are the assembly instructions also written in a Chinese dialect? :-)

Rick



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/14 16:25 by rschonfelder.

rschonfelder Wrote:
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> By any chance are the assembly instructions also
> written in a Chinese dialect? :-)
>
> Rick

See for yourself, it's right there on their website:

http://www.accurail.com/accurail/INSTR/6500.pdf

It also mentions in the top corner the magical phrase "Made in the USA."

- Jeff Carlson

joeygooganelli Wrote:
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> For a lot of folks who operate, details just get
> lost and broken. Having cars that are a little
> less detailed means they hold up better in
> derailments, etc.
> Joe

You highlight an excellent point!

I like the nice detailed IM and Tangent cars, but this Accurail will fill a open spot in the hobby - a decent quality modern car with a decent price point. This will let beginners enjoy a nice looking car, or it will help the guy (or gal) who wants to build a whole unit grain train. The one that I saw at my dealer's looked nicer than earlier covered hoppers, but still has Accurail's high quality and simple assembly. Accurail deserves kudos for providing some cars that can serve fine out of the box, but can also be detailed as much as desired by the more "picky" modeler.

Accurail is todays "Athearn Blue Box".