Bachmann HO 89' Auto Transporter Car

[wb2002]

I am trying to get back in the hobby and use some old cars that I have. I have some 89' Tri-Level Auto Transport Cars and understand that Bachmann no longer support these. I want to use them with knuckle couplers with other cars. What trucks/couplers would work best for these extra long cars? Anyone have or had experience with these particular cars? Any suggestion/help would be appreciated. I am retired now and don't have lot of $ now.

Thanks,
wb2002

[Doneldon]

wb-

You can use whatever modern freight trucks you want. The trucks which came with the cars should be perfect although it would be desirable to use metal wheels instead of plastic. If your existing trucks are of the talgo type, with couplers mounted to arms attached to the trucks, you can either replace the entire truck or just cut off the coupler arm, install metal wheels and mount your couplers (Kadees are highly recommended) to the car bodies. Obtain and use a coupler gauge to make sure that your couplers are installed at the correct height. Also, recognize that those very long auto loaders, like full-size passenger equipment, will run best on broad curves. Some super long cars can (barely) make it around 18" radius but they look ridiculous doing so. Go with the broadest curves you can manage or switch to shorter autoloaders. They present just about the same overall effect but look much better and operate more reliably on tighter curves. And they won't give you the clearance headaches that really long rolling stock brings on.

Welcome back to model railroading. I predict that you'll find our hobby has many more interesting products available than in years past but most of the basics remain the same.
                                                                                           -- D

[wb2002]

I'm just imagining that if I mount the coupler on the car's body, it would most likely cause a derailment because in a turn, the center of the car's body is way out from the center of the track and the car in front of it. What is the advantage of mounting the coupler on the car's body in relation to mounting on the truck.

May I ask what kadee truck would you suggest and a long shank so that cars would not collide (contact one another) in a turn?

Thanks
wb2002

[Doneldon]

wb-

The geometry of truck- versus body-mounted couplers means that truck-mounted couplers apply all lateral forces to the trucks themselves, increasing the probability of a derailment. This is merely a problem when the cars are being pulled. It's a disaster when they are being pushed as it is almost impossible to push cars with Talgo trucks around curves without pushing them right off of the tracks. The sharper the curve, the greater the problem.

Talgo trucks can appear seductively efficient at getting long cars around tight curves but in actual operation they just don't cut it. If you are planning to operate your long cars around such tight curves that Talgos look like a good idea, you need either shorter cars or broader curves. The physics will just refuse to cooperate with you.

Actually, one thing worth experimenting with might be the "dual center" couplers which are installed on some long passenger cars. These have couplers with long shanks with a conventional pivot point at the "inboard" end of the coupler shank which are mounted on a plate which itself pivots at the "direction" of the pivoting of the trucks. This offers, I think, the advantage of a double pivot, like with a Talgo truck, and the advantage of confining the lateral forces to the car body instead of the trucks. The arrangement would still look so godawful on tight curves that I wouldn't mess around with it myself, but checking it out might be interesting.
                                                                                                                        -- D

[wb2002]

Thanks for the wealth of information you are providing - all very interesting. Of all the members of this forum there is no one else that may have or used this particular Bachmann car? I realize that this car is old but still looks very good to me and I wish I could use them.

Thanks
wb2002

[Doneldon]

wb-

Your car can be used but it needs to have at least moderate curves to track reliably. Twenty-two inches might work but you'll still have appearance issues. A string of long freight cars like yours is just as cool as a string of full-length passenger cars but both present the challenge of operating reliably through tight curves.
                                                                                                                                     -- D