Heavyweight Baggage Car, Paired Window Coaches, Business Car - Micro-Trains Announcement - N-Scale

Discussion in 'New Products' started by pbender, May 30, 2024.

  1. pbender

    pbender Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Micro-trains has announced a 5 car set of their N-scale heavyweight passenger cars lettered for Frisco. Pre-orders close June 30. Delivery is November 2024.

    The image below is from their monthly release e-mail. The website was undergoing maintenance last I checked.

    The set is a baggage car, three paired window coaches, and a business car with a balloon roof.

    I cannot tell car numbers from this image. Hopefully it will be better on the website.

    I wish Micro-Trains had decided to make some of the sleepers turned coaches or even some of the Frisco owned Pullmans acquired in 1948.

    An example of one of a sleeper turned coach is like my model of coach SLSF 1809.

    But, I will not complain too much about having additional Frisco cars to run.

    Paul

    upload_2024-5-30_21-35-26.jpeg
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2024
  2. friscochoctaw

    friscochoctaw Member

    Paul,

    You beat me again! haha

    The car numbers are:

    Clerestory roof baggage car - SLSF 348
    Clerestory roof paired-window coaches - SLSF 1060, 1063, 1097
    Balloon roof business car - SLSF 8

    Business car SLSF 8 ran from 1948-1954, then became business car “Arkansas” before retirement in May 1959.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 31, 2024
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  3. gstout

    gstout Member Frisco.org Supporter

    The baggage car looks a little odd.

    GS
     
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  4. friscochoctaw

    friscochoctaw Member

    Micro Trains based their model on a Great Northern (GN) heavyweight baggage car.

    As for the image itself, it always looks off because they keep the truck placement the same as the coaches, etc. rather than center them over the bolsters on the baggage cars.

    This is only in promotional artwork - the final model is proportionate.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 2, 2024
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  5. Karl

    Karl 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    Since we do not have the dimensions for the Great Northern baggage car, we are limited to the Micro-Trains’ number, 348, for our prototype discussion; this is the result. Full-baggage car 348 was one of twenty-five cars built by Pullman, Lot 3540, during 1908. Cars 337-361 were 60’-9.5” over the end sills, and they weighed 104,700 lbs. As was typical of Frisco baggage cars, they had different sized doors, i.e., two, 8’-0" doors, and two, 4’-6” doors. They had “monitor”, Frisco-speak for clerestory, roofs.

    During 1938, the Frisco rebuilt some of the cars into two subclasses. During October of that year, the folks at the West Shops rebuilt car 341 by increasing the length to 70'-9.5”, increasing the 4'-6" door to 5"-0", and by adding a round roof. During November, the shop forces rebuilt five more of the class. Cars 337, 342, 353, 355, and 360 were lengthened to 70’-0", the door 4'-6" opening was increased to 5'-0", and the monitor roof was replaced with a round roof.

    During April 1951, the five cars were back in the shops for “modification", i.e., the addition of messenger facilities. Car 341 followed suit during June 1951. Car 348 remained a 60-foot car with a monitor roof.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2024
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  6. pbender

    pbender Member Frisco.org Supporter

    My MTL Frisco Heavyweight cars arrived today.
    IMG_4922.jpeg

    IMG_4921.jpeg
     
  7. TenWheeler

    TenWheeler Member

    Got my set last week also. The back of the jewel case say 14" radius curve or larger. Tested on Atlas and Kato track. Baggage seemed to roll fine in a train around Kato 12.5" unitrack curves. it was dragging on 11" unitrack and derailed on Atlas 11" fine on 19" (all I have is Atlas in code 80.) Now the other cars rolled freely around all my available unitrack and Atlas curves even around 9 3/4" radius curves. The look good and my only complaint is the baggage car trucks I wish they would have include the trucks shown on the box art. This way I can swap then around to run a the inside loop of a standard T-Trak module.
     
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  8. gstout

    gstout Member Frisco.org Supporter

    It seems like kind of an odd assortment of models: a baggage car, three coaches and an observation-lounge. I wonder whether Frisco ever ran a train with a consist like that.

    GS
     
  9. pbender

    pbender Member Frisco.org Supporter

    The “Observation Lounge” is actually a business car.

    There were plenty of Frisco trains that used a number of heavyweight coaches.

    I never look at the sets Micro Trains produces as representative of a train. They are building blocks for a train however. I think I can make a decent heavyweight “Will Rogers” now, with my collection of Wheels of Time baggage cars, plus the 4 cars from this set other than the business car.

    (Last year, MTL came out with a set of MoPac heavyweights… they included 3 cars painted as Thrift-t-sleepers… there were exactly 3 of those on the MoPac roster, and I can’t find evidence that there was ever more than one on a train).
     
  10. Karl

    Karl 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    During 1937, the Frisco rebuilt the ACF, 1910-built coach, 1060 into what the Frisco called a "de luxe" chair car. The Frisco removed one vestibule, and it added 50 reclining seats. Each restroom had a lavatory anteroom lounge with seating for overnight coach passengers to use during their morning routine. The Frisco used a steel, turtle-back, read arched, roof. The car used paired windows like the model, but the model's window arrangement does not match the prototype. Over the end sills, the car measured 72'-9 7/8".

    During 1935, the Frisco rebuilt the ACF, 1910-built coach, 1063. Unlike the 1060, the 1063 retained both vestibules, and its "Frisco seating" for 63. Each restroom had a lavatory anteroom lounge with seating for overnight coach passengers to use during their morning routine. The Frisco used a steel, turtle-back, read arched, roof. The car used paired windows like the model, but the model's window arrangement does not match the prototype. Over the end sills, the car measured 70'-1".
     
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  11. Karl

    Karl 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    Car 1097...

    Anything numbered in the 1090-series is problematic. The diagram lists the 1090-1094 series cars as 60'-10", over the sills, dormitory-chair cars. Hand-written notes in the 1909 roster book list four cars, 1096-1099, chair cars. The ACF built cars, Oct 1910, were 70'-0 over the sills, and seated 84. I have no diagram for cars numbered 1095-1099.
     
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  12. pbender

    pbender Member Frisco.org Supporter

    The actual prototype for the chair cars is a B&O prototype.

    I believe the baggage car is an Erie prototype.

    MTL isn't shy about putting non-prototypical schemes on cars.
     
  13. TenWheeler

    TenWheeler Member

    I just thinking about the manufacture cost (or the retail cost) to do prototypical heavy passenger cars in injection molded plastic for every railroad. Brass is unaffordable for most and you have to have enough pre-orders for them to even think about making brass models. And we starting see this with plastic now. I like being able to buy prototypical Frisco models. But I have a fear that if every manufacture started to only producing prototypical road specific models, there is be no more Frisco, RI or MKT steam area models available. So I am ok with "That's close enough" for equipment I know where will never be an proto produced for them.
     
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  14. gstout

    gstout Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Since it's N-scale, you'd have to look pretty closely (and be pretty knowledgeable) to recognize the difference.

    GS
     
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  15. pbender

    pbender Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Even in n-scale, there is a big difference between an 80+ foot car and a 60-70 foot car. I’d rather have it done right, though I will use a stand in if necessary.

    Right now, I am just trying to get someone to produce an n-scale plan 4153 14-4… which the Frisco had…. There is a noticeable window arrangement difference between a 14-4 and a 10-6, which is the closest thing we have been given for the moment.

    if I had been able to advise MTL on this particular set of cars, I would have encouraged them to use some of the Pullman heavyweight sleeper bodies… Frisco had some of those that were used as coaches…. ( see http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/frisco-pullman-sleeper-cars.1165/page-2#post-6414 and how I modeled one of those cars here http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index....ullman-10-1-2-sleeper-plan-3585-n-scale.4231/ )
     

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