Intermountain ?


T

tlark

Member
Q-1 Doing the search a found a couple of threads with respect to the 4750 and cylindrical hoppers having not so good trucks and/or some past issues. Anyone care to let me know if it effected all runs.

I love there stuff and have been buying them up when I can find good prices on ebay in the hoppers. Having been out of the hobby for 4-5 years I missed more than a few releases of the more popular road names which leads me to Q-2

Are or were they pretty limited as in when they are gone, they're gone. I see some of the same hoppers I want going for over $20 on ebay and others I would like I have never seen before anywhere. At that point when I see them available am I just going to have to pony up if I want them ? Any leads would be welcome.

http://www.imrcmodels.com/ho/hohoppers.htm
 
Until recently, their hopper kits came with the same multi-part equalized trucks. They're a bit troublesome to get to work properly, but in my experience you can get about 4 out of every 5 to work as designed. From what I understand (I don't buy RTR much if ever) they have begun shipping their RTR models with one piece trucks, but if you find kits, chances are they contain the multi-part equalized trucks.

As far as question 2 is concerned, a great deal of their paint schemes are available in kit form to this day. Not as in-stock items from Intermountain, necessarily, but usually as new old-stock at hobby shops and on ebay. Keep your eyes peeled and you'll find what you're looking for. If you're trying to find RTR hoppers, that's a different story. But they do turn up from time to time when people get tired of having them in their collection.
 
Edit: to be specific my questions are in regards to RTR hoppers from IM. Good info though on the kits and I guess now if I buy something I know what to possibly expect
 
tlark,

I've got 4 what appear to be late run 4750 RTR covered hoppers. None of these will stay on the track. I've got a thread about them here somewhere but I've yet to get them out again and try to fix anything.

I also have 3 4650's that run great. Not one problem yet.

I also have 4 4750 kits that I haven't put together yet so I don't know how these will run.

If you find a good fix be sure and post. I'm anxious to know.
 
The best fix I know is to replace the trucks with Athearn Genesis trucks with rotating bearing caps!

In my experience I've found that RTR cars in the red and white box tend to have the crappy self equalizing trucks and cars in the newer red and black box have rigid trucks. (that operate very well I might add) Not sure if this is always the case, but it has been for me so far.

IMO, you can't go wrong with an intermountian car. If you get a good price and it has bad trucks, just replace them. The cars are beautiful and well worth it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
CP9302 said:
The best fix I know is to replace the trucks with Athearn Genesis trucks with rotating bearing caps!
Click to expand...

Ohhh ree ree, the genies have rotating bearing caps. Why the hell have i been wasting money on the proto's and atlas'.
 
macjet said:
tlark,

I've got 4 what appear to be late run 4750 RTR covered hoppers. None of these will stay on the track. I've got a thread about them here somewhere but I've yet to get them out again and try to fix anything.
Click to expand...

Your thread is one of the reasons for this ? as it caught my attention. Wanting to make sure as to what I am buying in the RTR stuff it would blow spending $15-$22 on them and than finding out the trucks need replacement. Again, I like there work and not sure how limited there production runs were and I don't want to spend anymore than possible for out of production RTR's

CP9302 is the first I had read anywhere about the RTR IM in the red/white
box. Everything I have purchased is in the red/black box and perhaps thats the first clue. I have only (3) 4750 hoppers in IM (red/black box) and no probs, but again we may not be talking about the same examples here....as for the rest of my 30+ IM RTR hoppers I have not had a problem.

Perhaps a call to IM or an email to C-service is in order.
 
IM equipment is of such high quality that I see my truck problem as an "issue" rather then a deal breaker. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. It's just irritating to pay $20 for a car that won't run well. But they sure do look good!
 
I found how to get there mulit pice trucks to work. Loosen the screws on them alittle. They are on too tight. My new RG covered hopper has them and it was derailing constantly. I am still running my 15 diameter turn and was really having problems with it derailing untill I loosened up the screws some and that solved all the problems. now it rolls like a champ.
 
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