Review

Like-Like has added two cars to its Proto 2000 HO line. Both are 53 foot 6 inch 50 Ton AAR flat cats, one in kit form aid the other assembled. The assembled line includes: a version for C&O; Clinchfield, Chicago Great Western, Illinois Terminal, Monon, and Soo Line. In their Time-Saver Kit line, the offerings are SOO Line, Monon, Rock Island, C&O, Clinchfield. Chicago Great Western, Illinois Terminal, and an undecorated version. There an: two numbers for each roadname and the kits are also available in two packs.

Prototype

You wouldn't be surprised to find out the first freight car was a flatcar. Only later did they evolve the other types from this one beginning. And in spite of the development of the other kinds, the flatcar remains essential to this day. Tens of thousands were built, most of them simple frames with wooden decking on top. Turn of the century cars ranged from 30 to 40 feet in length, but by the thirties, there were many needs for longer cars - including the transport of steel from plants and equipment from factories.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has long been involved in the development, design, and monitoring of railroad equipment in an effort to both standardize and make safer the rolling stock on the rails. One very popular design was their 50 ton, 53 foot 6 inch long version. These had 15 stake pockets on each side and wooden decking which actually extended beyond the stake pockets. This resulted in a deck which stuck out a little more than four inches on each side. This is about 5 inches wider than proposed for a car this length in Plate C operation. In general, these cars were restricted for use on lines that would allow this clearance, which was most of them. The majority of cars with this design traveled around without their stakes and were frequently used for transporting machinery, farm implements, trucks, and so on. With this sort of load, the stake pockets reverted to being tie down points:

The Models

The fiat car represents a peculiar and difficult problem for model makers. If the body structure is built of plastic the empty car will be too light by NMRA standards. A car this length should be around 4.75 ounces when the NMRA of formula of one half ounce plus a half ounce per inch is applied. I have 50 footers that are less than half of this. If other cars can be weighted with slabs of metal hidden within, the flatcar resists that solution. Life-Like has taken the approach of melding plastic with die cast metal.

The resulting car weighs in at 3.1 ounce, not NMRA but certainly enough to have it behave pretty well. The danger of a fully weighted flat car is that you then cannot put on a load without overweighting it. This car will run fine as it is but can handle upwards of a two-ounce load. This gives the car the sort of flexibility modelers want.

I received both the built up and kit versions, which gave me a chance to give you a look both ways. This was particularly important because it gave me an opportunity to tell the story of the car's construction. I've provided you with an exploded view of the three main components, a plastic sandwich with a beefy diecast frame in the middle. It is this composite construction which keys the success of this product.

The Kit

Basic assembly is not difficult. There are some small grab irons and such to install that are easier to do with good light, but this just keeps the project interesting. I find kit-building to be a very relaxing thing, and I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment I get from the finished product. This little job probably wouldn't take an entire evening, and then you have this car to enjoy.

One great advantage of kits is that you can "weather your way in." Toward this end, I was pleased to note that the gray plank deck already had some weathering applied. The top surface is definitely darker than the unexposed underside, and the darkening is applied in a pattern that suggests some usage.

The trucks are assembled and feature the rib-back wheel sets with the cast-in foundry information out the outside of the wheel. Mounted in the frames, the wheel sets have excellent spin response. This is a free-running car! The couplers are the most faithful clone of the Kadee to date, right down to the copper-plated springs.

Operation

Because they are so well weighted, these flatcars run well, whether empty or loaded. I found that they tracked well over rough trackage and the couplers didn't "remember" sitting on the curves. All in all, these will go right to the head of the train!

Summary

Flatcars can be a bit of an enigma on model railroads, either wearing enough load to weight them down or not being heavy enough to track well. These new Life Like flatcars are a welcome addition, both in terms of appearance and operation. Time to start building a fleet of them.