RE: (erielack) Re: Walthers Bethlehem Flush-Deck Cars: First Impression

["Paul Brezicki" <doctorpb_@_bellsouth.net>]

Hopefully I'm going to wrap this up today, but first I'm going to correct a couple of errors in my previous posts. The deck height of low-level cars is 31.5" (10" lower than on standard-height cars), not 34". Also the correct hitches to use are as follows:

TTX: ACF Model 5 cushioned retractable, P-S LP-6
TTAX: ACF Model 5 rigid retractable, P-S LP-3

Okay, on to the Walthers cars. Several roadnames are offered (with more to come, I'm sure). The only ones in the correct as-built configuration are the TTX and SOU. All the others are post-1981 versions with the two-45 configuration and no bridge plates. In addition, the WC itself (the reincarnated version) post-dated EL, and the ATSF off-white scheme is post-1981 (prior to that, ATSF intermodal cars were dark orange). 

My TTX cars are correctly labelled BSF-11 and have a 1979 build date. These were among the last "second-generation" intermodal cars ever built; I think 1980 was the final year of flush-deck production. After that, all new intermodal cars were spine or doublestack. The bridge plates are a scale 51" in length, close to the correct 48"; the parts list says 60" but this is wrong on two counts, since 60" BP's were used on TTAX cars. The cars come with the correct ACF Model 5 cushioned hitches mounted in place, with parts for two P-S LP-6's if you want to substitute. However  you can't use any of them anyway, because they're a scale 6" too tall. You can get replacement metal hitches from Details West: part no. TH-1013 for the ACF Model 5 is the rigid hitch, technically appropriate for the TTAX car but in HO scale the difference isn't very noticable, especially with a loaded car. TH-1007 is the P-S LP-3SA, similar to the LP-3 but SA means "semiautomatic" top plate; I don't know what the difference is. Combine it with the cushion plate portion of the Walthers hitch and you have an LP-6. Floquil 110010 Engine Black is a good for the ACF hitch, and 110030 Reefer Orange for the 
P-S; overspray the plastic portion also. Remember to paint the flat parts of the base the same color as the car deck, and paint the top of the P-S top plate black. Walthers does give you one each of the collapsed hitches for placing a 48' or longer trailer on the B end, but they could also be used to model a circus-loading scene; the bridge plates are movable. Use the collapsed hitches from two cars to match.  

If you bought the WTTX car, you can easily back-date it by correctly positioning the DW hitches and adding DW bridge plates, part BP-1017. At a scale 57" they're more suitable for TTAX cars but again, the discrepancy is not very noticable. Don't use the short bridge plates. You'll also have to black-out the W in WTTX and yellow-out the "Twin-45" stencil.

The car deck sits about 45" above the rail, 3.5" too high but not bad, really. You can substitute Kato Barber S-2 trucks, no. 31602 which has a lower bolster mount and will drop the car 3"; it also has the rotating roller-bearing endcaps which is a neat effect. Finally Paul had asked about deck color. There's no easy answer since it tended to vary; on many older cars, the deck was so weathered you couldn't tell what the original color was. Many cars had the tread portion of the deck sprayed with an off-white colored composite material, giving it a rough texture for traction. I achieved this with some brass cars by painting with Antique White, holding the airbrush away from the model to achieve a rough texture.I presume that's why the Walthers car has a white deck (why else would it be white?), but I would think the center portion should be yellow.

That should do it. I'm compiling these posts into a Word file; if you would like a copy, let me know and I'll send it to you.

Paul B

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