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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2019 8:58:43 GMT
Al is taking orders for these now and plans to deliver them in November. He is waiting for one piece to arrive and everything else is ready to go. The cost is $1,200. We talked to Al for about 20 minutes yesterday and he explained how the unit is put together. It doesn’t jam because the coal is poured from one side and the controls, etc are on the opposite side. There was minimal spillage. He also plans a second piece to go with this that handles the hopper cars. This piece is aluminum and is very sturdy. It really does the job and can accommodate Lionel, MTH, and Atlas, cars, all of which are slightly different dimensions. If you are interested, give Al a call. This will make a fantastic addition to a layout. He can give you the dimensions of this and the planned second unit. Al is amazing. He started this in July and had it at York yesterday. Attachments:
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Post by ptc on Oct 18, 2019 10:49:02 GMT
Al is a quality guy so I am not surprised that this accessory is a winner. Thanks for the report, Bill.
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Post by JDaddy on Oct 19, 2019 2:03:41 GMT
Talked to Al this evening and I'm looking for a spot on the layout now!
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Post by fabforrest on Oct 19, 2019 11:09:44 GMT
How easy is it to find cars for this?
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Post by rockymountaineer on Oct 19, 2019 12:45:37 GMT
Until Lionel retools after the reported loss of its rotary hopper car tooling amidst the Romanian factory debacle, I suspect folks are at the mercy of the secondary market. It’ll be well into 2020 at the earliest, before we see new production milk cars and rotary hoppers (with milk cars likely coming first).
Surprisingly, the secondary market has been a great source for these if you need them now. Dealers like Grzyboski’s seems to be snagging estate collections lately. So I’d give them a call for starters.
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Post by fabforrest on Oct 19, 2019 21:09:38 GMT
thanks, David. Not really interested just curious. I thought this was a neat concept when it came out, but i could never figure out how to incorporate it into the layout.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2019 22:38:19 GMT
Until Lionel retools after the reported loss of its rotary hopper car tooling amidst the Romanian factory debacle, I suspect folks are at the mercy of the secondary market. It’ll be well into 2020 at the earliest, before we see new production milk cars and rotary hoppers (with milk cars likely coming first). Surprisingly, the secondary market has been a great source for these if you need them now. Dealers like Grzyboski’s seems to be snagging estate collections lately. So I’d give them a call for starters. Talked to Ryan at York. Tooling is done, expect these hoppers plus the milk cars in the next catalog.
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Post by rockymountaineer on Oct 20, 2019 0:20:13 GMT
Until Lionel retools after the reported loss of its rotary hopper car tooling amidst the Romanian factory debacle, I suspect folks are at the mercy of the secondary market. It’ll be well into 2020 at the earliest, before we see new production milk cars and rotary hoppers (with milk cars likely coming first). Surprisingly, the secondary market has been a great source for these if you need them now. Dealers like Grzyboski’s seems to be snagging estate collections lately. So I’d give them a call for starters. Talked to Ryan at York. Tooling is done, expect these hoppers plus the milk cars in the next catalog. Putting this stuff in the catalog is the EASY part, Gary. Getting stuff out of China -- and made properly -- is a whole different concept. I stand by my estimate of "well into 2020 at the earliest"... which if we need to be more specific could mean 2H2020. Lionel's Volume 1 Signature catalog typically is published during January/ Feb. And in the last couple of years, Lionel is striving for same-year delivery of products in the Signature catalog. So we shall see......
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2019 0:25:27 GMT
I think the fact Lionel is willing to spend the money on NEW tooling which even MTH doesn’t do anymore instead of just going oh well speak volumes. Whether it’s second quarter, third quarter, or forth we will see them. The next catalog is do late January
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Post by Pennsy484 on Oct 20, 2019 1:01:07 GMT
Go to 38:30 for a look at a real rotary coal unloader:
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2019 16:58:05 GMT
I don’t think this requires a special hopper car. Al said that it will handle any of the three manufacturers, I assumed meaning MTH, Lionel, and Atlas.
The unit adjusts to handle the different sizes.
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Post by rockymountaineer on Oct 20, 2019 17:09:26 GMT
I don’t think this requires a special hopper car. Al said that it will handle any of the three manufacturers, I assumed meaning MTH, Lionel, and Atlas. The unit adjusts to handle the different sizes. Interesting... but the cars would need to be equipped with rotary couplers in order to push an entire train of hoppers through, right? Or is the intent with this model just to bring in one car at a time pushed by a switcher locomotive? If the latter, then that would defeat the purpose of hauling a long unit train of hoppers.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2019 18:40:26 GMT
David I am not sure. Did each manufacturer make cars with the rotary couplers? I may call Al tomorrow and find out since I need to know more about the second unit he is making that handles the string of cars.
We are interested in one but have to be sure we have the space.
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Post by ptc on Oct 20, 2019 20:22:18 GMT
This is a really special accessory for O-Gauge modelers. It should be very smooth operationally if Al make it. No room for it and since we are all passenger service. I like it but it does not fit our theme.
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Post by JDaddy on Oct 20, 2019 22:58:33 GMT
I don’t think this requires a special hopper car. Al said that it will handle any of the three manufacturers, I assumed meaning MTH, Lionel, and Atlas. The unit adjusts to handle the different sizes. Interesting... but the cars would need to be equipped with rotary couplers in order to push an entire train of hoppers through, right? Or is the intent with this model just to bring in one car at a time pushed by a switcher locomotive? If the latter, then that would defeat the purpose of hauling a long unit train of hoppers. You don't have to have rotary couplers you can stage cars in an un-coupled state, then re-couple. MTH had rotary couplers too. Isn't one of the prototype rotary coal dumps operate on a switch back ramp?
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