Mail Call! Railway Post Office, commonly abbreviated as RPO has rolled in!


This arrived today, all in all, I'm quite happy with this. It's all-plastic body, metal wheels and what looks to be Kadee couplers, for £19 I'm definitely not complaining.

I'll let you decide if the detail is either good or bad, I've no idea as this is the first I've owned

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Smudge617 said:
This arrived today, all in all, I'm quite happy with this. It's all-plastic body, metal wheels and what looks to be Kadee couplers, for £19 I'm definitely not complaining.

I'll let you decide if the detail is either good or bad, I've no idea as this is the first I've owned
Click to expand...

If you're happy with it, then that's all that really matters. There's something out there for everyone's tastes and levels in the hobby. That one looks ideal for detailing it in whatever paint scheme and markings you wish.

However, if it was me.... I don't know what the availability is of intermodal equipment in your area (and is that HO scale?), but starting at just a pound or two more, I'd go with Atlas, Walthers, or Athearn well cars. Those start at the equivalent of about £20 out here. Another option is to look for older Athearn blue box well car sets on places like Ebay. I see a few 5-car sets there for around 32 USD / £ 26. Only downside with those is that they are pretty light weight and there is nowhere to add additional weight aside from the containers.

Personally, I like the Walthers well cars with the die-cast metal frames, but that's a step up from the above options price-wise.
 
skyliner said:
If you're happy with it, then that's all that really matters. There's something out there for everyone's tastes and levels in the hobby. That one looks ideal for detailing it in whatever paint scheme and markings you wish.

However, if it was me.... I don't know what the availability is of intermodal equipment in your area (and is that HO scale?), but starting at just a pound or two more, I'd go with Atlas, Walthers, or Athearn well cars. Those start at the equivalent of about £20 out here. Another option is to look for older Athearn blue box well car sets on places like Ebay. I see a few 5-car sets there for around 32 USD / £ 26. Only downside with those is that they are pretty light weight and there is nowhere to add additional weight aside from the containers.

Personally, I like the Walthers well cars with the die-cast metal frames, but that's a step up from the above options price-wise.
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I have Walthers tank cars and a few others. HO is rather scarce here but I can get them, but it's rare to get Tank or Intermodel cars here (all my Tank and most of my Hopper cars actually came from the US).

This is my first 40' Intermodel car, and for what I want, (which is a mixed rake) it's fine.

I consider myself a enthusiastic enthusiast not a modeller so minor (to me at least) details that are missing on the car I don't worry about.
 
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This past weekend was one of the larger shows for the area. It was ok, a fair amount of vendors, some layouts on display, and areas for kids to ride or play on trains. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any railroad memorabilia vendors this time; I enjoy looking for authentic railroad items that would look good on display or around the train room. There also wasn't much that jumped out at me in my first circle of the floor. All I ended up with initially was this set of Rock Island express cars and some wheelsets (can never have enough of those around). I don't model any Rock Island, but I do have a couple passenger trains from that era and a Burlington mail train, either of which could certainly have had a RI express car added to it.

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Then on my second circle, I revisited a vendor who had still been unpacking his wares the first time I passed by. Not much interesting...then a locomotive caught my eye. A U50 has never really been on my radar, but I had brought money that was burning a hole in my pocket by this point. Haggled a bit, walked out with the beast. This one is DC, I'll have to convert it to DCC, haven't decided whether to do sound or not. I probably will, though as a double FDL-16 diesel engine probably sounds kind of interesting.

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Oh, I also picked up an SP calendar for next year and some new pins to use as tie tacs when I'm working.
 
Smudge617 said:
This arrived today, all in all, I'm quite happy with this. It's all-plastic body, metal wheels and what looks to be Kadee couplers, for £19 I'm definitely not complaining.

I'll let you decide if the detail is either good or bad, I've no idea as this is the first I've owned
Click to expand...
Looks good to me! What brand is that, almost looks Athearn?
I have similar cars that, as Eric mentioned, can have details added later on. Maybe…
 
Smudge617 said:
This arrived today, all in all, I'm quite happy with this. It's all-plastic body, metal wheels and what looks to be Kadee couplers, for £19 I'm definitely not complaining.

I'll let you decide if the detail is either good or bad, I've no idea as this is the first I've owned

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With those lighter cars I add tape a weight inside the containers to add weight. You can get them at an auto parts store, here's what they look like they come in 1/4 and 1/2 oz.
www.harborfreight.com

1/4 oz. Wheel Weights

Amazing deals on this 1/4Oz Wheel Weights at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com
 
CambriaArea51 said:
With those lighter cars I add tape a weight inside the containers to add weight. You can get them at an auto parts store, here's what they look like they come in 1/4 and 1/2 oz.
www.harborfreight.com

1/4 oz. Wheel Weights

Amazing deals on this 1/4Oz Wheel Weights at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com
Click to expand...
Thanks, I've got about 50 of those left, may need to get some more soon.:)
 
skyliner said:
This past weekend was one of the larger shows for the area. It was ok, a fair amount of vendors, some layouts on display, and areas for kids to ride or play on trains. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any railroad memorabilia vendors this time; I enjoy looking for authentic railroad items that would look good on display or around the train room. There also wasn't much that jumped out at me in my first circle of the floor. All I ended up with initially was this set of Rock Island express cars and some wheelsets (can never have enough of those around). I don't model any Rock Island, but I do have a couple passenger trains from that era and a Burlington mail train, either of which could certainly have had a RI express car added to it.

53301809713_aec0980078_k.jpg


Then on my second circle, I revisited a vendor who had still been unpacking his wares the first time I passed by. Not much interesting...then a locomotive caught my eye. A U50 has never really been on my radar, but I had brought money that was burning a hole in my pocket by this point. Haggled a bit, walked out with the beast. This one is DC, I'll have to convert it to DCC, haven't decided whether to do sound or not. I probably will, though as a double FDL-16 diesel engine probably sounds kind of interesting.

53301809638_cf447866e0_k.jpg


Oh, I also picked up an SP calendar for next year and some new pins to use as tie tacs when I'm working.
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Nice haul, love the U50, wonder if I can find one, Athearn have them on pre-order🤔
 
I found a couple of French coaches by the "France Trains" company. This firm closed in 1981 so they are quite old but are very good with full interiors. Here they are hauled by my 232 U1 ( 4-6-4 Hudson) which is one of the few locos made by Jouef that I have.
The full size loco is in the French Railway museum in Mulhouse. I have been to Mulhouse about 3 times on business but never managed to get
to the museum !

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skyliner said:
Then on my second circle, I revisited a vendor who had still been unpacking his wares the first time I passed by. Not much interesting...then a locomotive caught my eye. A U50 has never really been on my radar, but I had brought money that was burning a hole in my pocket by this point. Haggled a bit, walked out with the beast. This one is DC, I'll have to convert it to DCC, haven't decided whether to do sound or not. I probably will, though as a double FDL-16 diesel engine probably sounds kind of interesting.

53301809638_cf447866e0_k.jpg


Oh, I also picked up an SP calendar for next year and some new pins to use as tie tacs when I'm working.
Click to expand...
Nice "chopper" (U50). Too bad General Electric went cheap on their electrical systems, prompting early retirement. Would have been awesome to see them in action.
 
I recently picked up a few locos. I uploaded 4 videos of them thus far.....

Athearn RTR ATH98821 EMD SD40 Union Pacific UP 3003 with DCC & Sound


Athearn Roundhouse RND97266 GE AC4400CW Union Pacific UP 6417 patched & weathered


Athearn RTR ATH86818 EMD SD40 Southern Pacific SP 7342 (Daylight scheme) DCC & Econami Sound


Athearn RTR ATH86817 EMD SD40 Southern Pacific SP 7342 (Experimental scheme) DCC & Econami Sound


I also picked up 2 new Alcos! C630s.....

I will get videos uploaded later this week,

Bowser Executive Line 23801 Alco C630 Union Pacific UP 2905 DCC & Tsunami Sound

Bowser Executive Line 23802 Alco C630 Union Pacific UP 2909 DCC & Tsunami Sound
 
Alcomotive said:
So a few weeks ago I mentioned in the coffee shop about starting a thread for "Mail Call" a few of you thought it would be a good idea so here we go!

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This thread would pertain to any Model Railroad related items you ordered and received for your MRR or other.

So include your picture and tell us about it and even give your review or reasons for obtaining the item or items ;)

Thanks for your future participation!

Edited by Bob - added RPO image for thread promo.
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My favorite Mail Call item is the first car in this ad:
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#718 Mail Pick-Up Car! Sadly, mine is packed away for now :'-( but I often think of the mailbag flying across the room at full throttle on a straightaway!! <3 <3
 
I received this today, a Trainline Pennsy 40' steel Boxcar, I need to change the RR, wheels and couplers but for £10 inc Postage, why not.

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I apologise for going off-topic here, but this is ridiculous, this is what it looked like when I opened it

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And this is how it looked before posting, seller simply dumped it into a jiffy bag as is ????
Luckily the model itself was undamaged

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Smudge617 said:
I apologise for going off-topic here, but this is ridiculous, this is what it looked like when I opened it

And this is how it looked before posting, seller simply dumped it into a jiffy bag as is ????
Luckily the model itself was undamaged
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I see why you would be upset about it. Contact the seller and send them photos. See if they will do a little something for you.

There’s no excuse for poor packing for shipping.
 
Smudge617 said:
So I'm an idiot, I just bought this, and I don't need any more reefers.

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But I don't have anything from Alaska Railroad either

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The main downside as far as I'm concerned is the ROCO couplers I now have to change.
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Couplers are the least if your worries. These are Märklin and most likely you'll have to swap wheel sets. Normally wheels are uninsulated from each other on Märklin rolling stock.
 
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