Large Scale Central

LGB's centerflow hoppers

Reviews
#1

I have a tough time with these as I was negative about them in the past. I felt they were overly priced so I’ll try to be fair. I finally ran into a pair and the price was right! I will do some work on them to get them to operate smoothly on my RR with my fleet.
These hoppers when parked next to the USA ones look fairly good. Although not as detailed, they do a good job overall representing the look. I was surprised that the roof walks were as fine as they are. I’m happy with the paint as well.

Now to the bad in my humble opinion, the trucks are the weakest link in the box. They look toy like. They are equipped with baseline plastic wheels which I hate. I bet I’ll either swap them out or try to modify them in some upgrade fashion. The car needs weight so metal wheels seems like a must and the first addition.

I’ll also need to add KDs to get the car to intermingle with the rest on the RR. I’m sure I’ll need some shims and my Dremel maybe?? I’ll try and report back for anyone who’s late to the party like me in getting these!

#2

I was impressed with the durable quality of the car, but like you found the wheels and trucks rather flimsy. Aristo-Craft presently have their modern trucks with metal wheels in stock. I bought six sets for some Evans boxcars at $26 a pair. The USA Trains trucks are heavier because they are die cast, but they are listed at $40 each.

I just finished putting Kadee 906 large scale couplers on Stu’s six LGB covered hoppers. I resisted the temptation of building shims out of stacks of styrene pieces glued together. Instead a 3/4 inch length of 1/4 x 3/8 inch Evergreen rectangular styrene tube was fastened near the back of the coupler box cover. The front of the cover was fastened to the bottom of the cars molded in coupler box. The Kadee box was then used as a guide to drill 3/32nd inch holes in the frame for the mounting screws. One inch long 4-40 machines screws were then tapped into the frame to secure the coupler.

Finding the couplers sat too low, a 1/16th inch thick shim was fastened under the bolster pin mount. The bolster pin mount comes off with two screws and can be used as a template for the shims.

If you decide to add new trucks, the Kadee couplers may sit at a different height and may not need the shims under the bolster pin mounts.

#3

I simply replaced the plastic wheels with metal wheels, and also mounted # 906 G-scale couplers… The first cars I did, I just made a shim out of basswood to sit behind the LGB coupler pocket, and screwed the 906 kadee to the shim and freight car…

I didn’t adjust the height of the couplers, and they do sit a little low, but I’ve not had an problem with them uncoupling on my railroad outside…

I still have a bunch left to do, as I paint and decal them to fir my railroad… These ones, I plan on trimming back the LGB couplers pocket to better line up the kadee couplers…

#4

Well…I missed the replies so I found out the hard way. I installed the couplers with the small box(907?) and they do sit too low. When I measured, I thought they would work out. I will have to grind some more as I don’t want to raise the car. The molded box on the car is tapered up at the ends slightly, which I was filing flat anyways.

After installing metal wheels in the trucks, I have to say that they are built well. Very simple construction. They just appear toy like in appearance. I think it’s just the shiny plastic that they’re cast from. I’m wondering if paint would fix that?

#5

I painted the trucks with rust colored primer, then covered that with flat UV resistant clear, that helped a lot. I replaced all the wheels with Gary Raymond’s semi-scale wheels, that helped a lot, too. I used Kadee 835 couplers, without making any modifications. They seemed to fit well. I’ll try to get some pics this afternoon, if I can find the camera.

#6

Thanks. I’ll try and get them painted to see how they look after.

#7

Joe Paonessa said:

I will have to grind some more as I don’t want to raise the car. The molded box on the car is tapered up at the ends slightly, which I was filing flat anyways.

I just felt a shock wave pass through the LGB World! Grinding and filing an LGB car! :frowning:
Next you will be admitting to throwing way the boxes. Heresy! :slight_smile:

#8

Yeah, I’m not much of a collector. I’m going to run the bleep out of them anyways! I do save the boxes though.

#9

I just found some Rustoleum primer and not sure if it’ll hurt the plastic? I tried a set of Aristo trucks and I swear, the car sits even lower. So, I’d prefer to paint these trucks.

#10

Thanks Steve! I’m liking them better painted:

#11

Don’t forget to give them a cover coat with a UV resistant matte clear. Primer is not a finish coat, and is not designed to withstand the rigors of daily use on the layout.

#12

Thanks. I’ve got some matt lacquer laying around. Would that work over rustoleum?

#13

I cut the boxs rite off, and install Aristo roller bearing truck and slightly shim a 830 to fit.

Looks nice, I only have 3, But Andy has the Mother load of them. :slight_smile:

Nick

#14

I thought the Aristo trucks looked good. I wanted to get a bunch on the last sale but they were gone. I have a couple of spare sets with plastic wheels. I need to swap the wheels out. I was going to use those on scratch built flat cars.

It seems like we have to stock stuff to be ready to make changes when a new piece of rolling stock comes in.
Funny, I was grinding the box a little and didn’t consider slicing it deeper.

#15

Joe Paonessa said:

Thanks. I’ve got some matt lacquer laying around. Would that work over rustoleum?

I dunno, try it on some scrap plastic and let us know how it worked out. You are after two things, a finish coat, and the UV protection. If the matte lacquer does not suggest UV protection, I’d spend the $5.00 to save some heart ache later on.