Hi guys,
I am looking for some Aristo heavyweight passenger car truss rods. Please contact me…wait for it…if you have a pair. 
Cheers,
Matt
Matt,
Unless I’m missing something here with all the laughter I think I probably have several pair. As I have no use for them. The question is which scrap box are they in or did I pitch them.
Many modellers remove them as they were not on the real ones. The name “Heavyweight” is derived from the fact the cars were made of heavy steel so trusses were no longer needed. As for the Aristo model, Rumor has it that Mr. Polk just “liked the way they looked”.
I pretty much knew that however I suppose I walked right into the joke as I thought he really wanted them. Guess it’s kinda like the desire for folks to pay big money for an LGB material handling car even though it’s not even close to the real bird. Or better yet the ones that still ask about the LGB Superliners.
Matt 1
Rooster 0
I believe Cliff and John were laughing at the
I really DO want the truss rods. They were not included with the donor heavyweight I bought off of eBay for this project.
OK, I’ll look this weekend
Thank you for looking!
Matt, you’re a master modeler in my opinion, so please excuse me for asking; I’m just curious.
Do you have the queen posts? And are only the rods missing? If so, can’t you replace them with brass rod and cast turnbuckles?
Probably a dumb question…
Thank you Cliff, you’re too kind as I do not consider myself such. I do not have the queen posts.
I have found that vulnerable original manufacturer’s parts tend to be much more durable than anything I can make, so I though I’d try to find the original parts. If it doesn’t work out, then yes I will make some from something.
Cheers,
Matt
Matt,
Unfortunately you are about 6 months too late. I cleaned up my shop and reorganized back in the early spring and pitched a lot of stuff I figured I would never use. What’s funny is I did save the toilets (guess it’s a man thing).
However I do have some Bachmann rods but they are pretty short. About 2" on either side of the Aristo mounting holes (marked with blue tape) that you are welcome to have if you want to modify.
I did measure the mounting holes on the Aristo car and it is 5/64". So as Cliff mentioned you could easily use some brass or wire to make the rod and I would probably use cotter pins (keys) to make the posts. As for the turn buckle I’m not sure and I suppose it depends on how much detail you are looking for. I personally would probably just slide some square tubing over the rod and center it.
Sorry …but I looked… 
Thank you, I appreciate it. Similarly I too pitch a lot of stuff I figured I will never use, and so the rods from all of my other heavyweights are gone. Sigh.
Oh well, thanks again for looking.
Cheers,
Matt