Nice review as always Daniel! I purchased this car with KCS reporting marks at their booth at the NMRA show in Dallas 2023. It has the grating on each end. I haven’t gotten it out of the box yet. Looking forward to seeing it running.
You're welcome. I'm glad you liked the review. I'd never tried filing the couplers like that before, but it's definitely something I'll keep in mind for the future. Thanks for watching!
The requirements for the data on the stencil changed over the years - first, COTS went away, then lube requirements, to the point all was left was the brake valve types and built date. In 2017, the stencil requirement was removed entirely.
Nice model! Glad you were able to repair the warp. Also very good point about quality vs quantity. If you've got a 40 car coal drag the individual cars don't benefit as much from super detail as would say a 5 or 6 car passenger set. So the juice is more worth the squeeze for the more detailed cars that are fewer in number as individual details will stand out more than in the aforementioned long consist.
I'm glad the warp is a fairly easy fix. This is the only depressed center flatcar I have in HO, so it will be unique on my layout. Sometime I'll have to figure out a load for it. I didn't opt for any of the Class One Model Works loads that they released at the same time. Cars like this could even form the basis for a special movement train, short but just as cool as a long train of hoppers. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassiWhat would be a classic load for something like that out in California? Here in Texas it'd probably see a huge commercial or industrial air conditioner or some kind of heat exchanger.
Honestly I'm not sure. I'd have to find photos of a load. Large electrical transformers or maybe some kind of agricultural equipment are possibilities, but I'm just guessing.
I picked up a Conrail version at my lhs. I got lucky and got a straight deck. Unfortunately, and I knew it was a longshot, my layout has 22 and 19.5 inch curves and the flatcar won't negotiate the 19.5 inch curve. It did work on the 22 inch curve. I wish all the manufactures would clearly state the minimum radius for all of their products. I picked up one of the Class One loads available for the car, so I guess it will make a nice display model.
I agree that manufacturers should state a minimum radius. It would really help with purchasing decisions. Sometimes it's possible to tweak a model to get it to go around sharper curves. I'm not sure if that would help in this case or not. Thanks for watching!
Good review and a nicely detailed car and as you said you probably only need 1 or maybe 2 not 20 or 30 so the high price tag is not too much of an issue. 👍
Thanks for this review. I bought the C&EI car and found the same problems. I really appreciate you showing the fix for changing the couplers. Now I don't have to figure it out for myself. As for expensive cars, that's where the hobby is at today. I love upgrading a cheap car to make it look good but as you know, there is only so much time. If you're building a large layout and you figure in the time involved in detailing a less expensive model to that standard v. the cost per hour for your time that could be spent getting track laid, decoders installed, structures and scenery built it's a good trade off. I don't think a lot of people look at the big picture.
I'm glad you liked the review and the fixes. You're right about the money vs. time aspect of the hobby. As I get older I think about that more and more. I am still working on my layout room, but even at this relatively early stage I've noticed that my focus has shifted somewhat from individual models to working toward getting a layout going. I'm still building models, but there's a lot of other things to do, too. Thanks for watching!
Really nice looking flat car Dan. You do a fantastic job breaking this all down for us in these reviews. I also agree that some of us want realism and scale detail and accuracy on our rail cars and locs. Price is what it is, lol. I only complain when its obviously ridiculously priced. For the most part, you get what you pay for. Thanks Dan.
I'm glad you like my review process. This is a pretty nice car despite the issues, and it has very good detail. The more detailed and accurate a car is, the higher the prices tend to be. Thanks for watching!
Hi again. Speaking of fail... I just bought (I wonder why) a BLI Paragon 3 SW1500 engine. Well... I'm truly desapointed. I tried to dissamble it because there was a gap between cab and battery boxes at the bottom. This shouldn't happening on a brand new model. I did my best to fix it. Problem was coming from the inside cab interior that was in cab windows way. Some handrails were impossible to remove so I will have to make some new ones... All left to do will to weather it and sell it on feebay. .
I'm sorry to hear that. I think I've had two BLI diesels in HO. Years ago I got one of their early NW2s, and an SD40-2. I didn't like either and ended up selling them. I have a couple of their steam locomotives, which I like except for the electronics. I think their brass hybrid models have pretty good detail, but the plastic ones all look a little toylike to me. Fit and finish issues like the gap you described are also a problem. Thanks for watching!
Did you get a backlash from the Rapido cars review at the end ? As you're doing (at least to my point of view) the best reviews of HO scale products, it should be a bit annoying to see stuff failing like this. You may not have that many comments but you got a couple of thousands of subscribers...
I've noticed that longer flat cars often have issues with bowing and sometimes warping. So it wasn't necessarily a surprise this one did too. I don't have any depressed center flat cars at present but wouldn't mind a single to run now and then, but with all the issues with this ClassOne model, I have, so far, opted to not purchase one. Most seem to be post 1982 as well and I model mainly late 70's.
I suppose flatcars have a disadvantage since they have less structure compared to a boxcar or some other types of rolling stock. It would be nice if expensive models didn't have issues that needed fixing, which is always disappointing. Maybe they'll re-run the cars in the future and hopefully fix the problems. Thanks for watching!
The people at Class One are serious model railroaders and are working diligently to produce superior products 7:58 . They are still working their way down the learning curve as evidenced by the problems with warped frames and high couplers - pretty basic issues that should not arise. Despite having leveled this criticism I am confident Class One will improve the quality of its products in fairly short order. If not they will be in a heap of trouble. Thank you for a thorough review.
Hi Dan. I think you're wrong about one end bended after straighting the whole car. From what I've seen on video, it was already bended. Slightly bended. You're a generous guy. Have you noticed that one brake wheel was a bit bended ? I wouldn't give a green signal to that model. This is A VERY expensive car at the end because it's a depress unit. You shouldn't have to straight up a brand new model. And for a car of that price, factory installed Kadee 150 should've been already on. Parts (brakes) are not suppose to fall down from a brand new model. And finally, about the steps, again it would've been a better choice installing metal ones. They look more prototypical and they are stronger. At least, they put some that will last longer. From my part, that car is a bit of a deception. Good review as usual. Keep on your good work.
I re-watched the review and I think you might be right that the car was already twisted. I missed that when I actually had the car in my hands. Sometimes things show up more on video where the shot is zoomed in more than they do to the naked eye. I agree that I'd like it better if cars just had Kadees on them already, and I'd also like it better if the corner stirrups were metal. The brake part on the car fell off after I touched it, so it was technically my fault. It doesn't take much to make them fall off, though. It reminds me of the old InterMountain trucks that had parts like that. Those would also tend to fall off. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi Thanks Dan. Don't get me wrong here. I like that SP depress car. But what I hate the most on factory models is the fact that manufacturers can put a lot of extraordinary details on them and in the mean time don't care about some that are more important (at least to my eyes). And I think in that particular case, metal steps and better looking couplers would've been an easy thing to upgrade. I agree with you on old Intermountain trucks. I did some cylinders in the 90's that were a real paint in the ass. I also noticed that the top ends with simulated wood were like slightly bended in the middle. That's what video shows. I may be wrong here. I just felt at the end that the car missed his own target of quality model.
I purchased my depressed center flat car from HomeShopsLLC. Mine is a private named car as HomeShops specializes in working with manufacturers to bring private model Railroad road names to life. Before I purchased I had read about the warping issues. If HomeShops had not 100% inspected I would not have purchased the car. My take is ClassOneModelWorks should have returned these cars as rejects to the Model builders. When I buy high end cars while I do not expect perfect such things like warpage, out of height couplers and poor rolling cars SHOULD NOT HAPPEN. Fixing little things like the couplers and poor rolling as a model railroader is an easy fix. The warpage is unacceptable to me. I rarely disagree with your reviews and ratings. I do here but I still appreciate the reviews you are doing. Thank you
I agree that trains should not have issues out of the box. It's unfortunately rare to find a model that doesn't, which is why there have only been a handful of perfect score reviews so far. Anyway, I'm glad your car didn't have the warping issue. It's especially disappointing to have to deal with things like that on an expensive model. Thanks for watching!
Excellent review on these cars, I've been kind of going back and forth on getting one or not. also one question I have from watching a number of your reviews and RIP track segments, for fixing the coupler height issue, when would you consider using a coupler with an offset head?
I'm glad you liked the review. I have a personal aversion to using offset head couplers. I'm not sure why, I just prefer not to. I don't think I'd use one unless the coupler height was so far off that there was no other practical way to fix it. Thanks for watching!
Nice review as always Daniel! I purchased this car with KCS reporting marks at their booth at the NMRA show in Dallas 2023. It has the grating on each end. I haven’t gotten it out of the box yet. Looking forward to seeing it running.
I'm glad you were able to get one. I think the grating style looks pretty cool in photos. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the review. I need to check class one modelworks out
I'm glad you liked the review. If you haven't already seen it, I also reviewed their well car recently. Thanks for watching!
Ironically I just had to do the same thing to my Kadee couplers on an Athearn SD90MAC-H this week. As always thanks for a great, thorough review.
You're welcome. I'm glad you liked the review. I'd never tried filing the couplers like that before, but it's definitely something I'll keep in mind for the future. Thanks for watching!
Per the AAR Interchange Rules, the “COTS stencil” is a “Consolidated Stencil”
Yes. I'll probably add those to my car at some point since it fits better into my era. Thanks for watching!
The requirements for the data on the stencil changed over the years - first, COTS went away, then lube requirements, to the point all was left was the brake valve types and built date. In 2017, the stencil requirement was removed entirely.
Great review Dan
I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!
Nice model! Glad you were able to repair the warp. Also very good point about quality vs quantity. If you've got a 40 car coal drag the individual cars don't benefit as much from super detail as would say a 5 or 6 car passenger set. So the juice is more worth the squeeze for the more detailed cars that are fewer in number as individual details will stand out more than in the aforementioned long consist.
I'm glad the warp is a fairly easy fix. This is the only depressed center flatcar I have in HO, so it will be unique on my layout. Sometime I'll have to figure out a load for it. I didn't opt for any of the Class One Model Works loads that they released at the same time. Cars like this could even form the basis for a special movement train, short but just as cool as a long train of hoppers. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassiWhat would be a classic load for something like that out in California? Here in Texas it'd probably see a huge commercial or industrial air conditioner or some kind of heat exchanger.
Honestly I'm not sure. I'd have to find photos of a load. Large electrical transformers or maybe some kind of agricultural equipment are possibilities, but I'm just guessing.
I picked up a Conrail version at my lhs. I got lucky and got a straight deck. Unfortunately, and I knew it was a longshot, my layout has 22 and 19.5 inch curves and the flatcar won't negotiate the 19.5 inch curve. It did work on the 22 inch curve. I wish all the manufactures would clearly state the minimum radius for all of their products. I picked up one of the Class One loads available for the car, so I guess it will make a nice display model.
I agree that manufacturers should state a minimum radius. It would really help with purchasing decisions. Sometimes it's possible to tweak a model to get it to go around sharper curves. I'm not sure if that would help in this case or not. Thanks for watching!
Good review and a nicely detailed car and as you said you probably only need 1 or maybe 2 not 20 or 30 so the high price tag is not too much of an issue. 👍
I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for this review. I bought the C&EI car and found the same problems. I really appreciate you showing the fix for changing the couplers. Now I don't have to figure it out for myself. As for expensive cars, that's where the hobby is at today. I love upgrading a cheap car to make it look good but as you know, there is only so much time. If you're building a large layout and you figure in the time involved in detailing a less expensive model to that standard v. the cost per hour for your time that could be spent getting track laid, decoders installed, structures and scenery built it's a good trade off. I don't think a lot of people look at the big picture.
I'm glad you liked the review and the fixes. You're right about the money vs. time aspect of the hobby. As I get older I think about that more and more. I am still working on my layout room, but even at this relatively early stage I've noticed that my focus has shifted somewhat from individual models to working toward getting a layout going. I'm still building models, but there's a lot of other things to do, too. Thanks for watching!
Really nice looking flat car Dan. You do a fantastic job breaking this all down for us in these reviews. I also agree that some of us want realism and scale detail and accuracy on our rail cars and locs. Price is what it is, lol. I only complain when its obviously ridiculously priced. For the most part, you get what you pay for. Thanks Dan.
I'm glad you like my review process. This is a pretty nice car despite the issues, and it has very good detail. The more detailed and accurate a car is, the higher the prices tend to be. Thanks for watching!
Hi again. Speaking of fail... I just bought (I wonder why) a BLI Paragon 3 SW1500 engine.
Well...
I'm truly desapointed. I tried to dissamble it because there was a gap between cab and battery boxes at the bottom.
This shouldn't happening on a brand new model. I did my best to fix it. Problem was coming from the inside cab interior that was in cab windows way.
Some handrails were impossible to remove so I will have to make some new ones...
All left to do will to weather it and sell it on feebay.
.
I'm sorry to hear that. I think I've had two BLI diesels in HO. Years ago I got one of their early NW2s, and an SD40-2. I didn't like either and ended up selling them. I have a couple of their steam locomotives, which I like except for the electronics. I think their brass hybrid models have pretty good detail, but the plastic ones all look a little toylike to me. Fit and finish issues like the gap you described are also a problem. Thanks for watching!
Did you get a backlash from the Rapido cars review at the end ? As you're doing (at least to my point of view) the best reviews of HO scale products, it should be a bit annoying to see stuff failing like this. You may not have that many comments but you got a couple of thousands of subscribers...
I've noticed that longer flat cars often have issues with bowing and sometimes warping. So it wasn't necessarily a surprise this one did too. I don't have any depressed center flat cars at present but wouldn't mind a single to run now and then, but with all the issues with this ClassOne model, I have, so far, opted to not purchase one. Most seem to be post 1982 as well and I model mainly late 70's.
I suppose flatcars have a disadvantage since they have less structure compared to a boxcar or some other types of rolling stock. It would be nice if expensive models didn't have issues that needed fixing, which is always disappointing. Maybe they'll re-run the cars in the future and hopefully fix the problems. Thanks for watching!
I have the MoPac version. Mine is warped also.
I hope you can fix it if you haven't already. Thanks for watching!
The people at Class One are serious model railroaders and are working diligently to produce superior products 7:58 . They are still working their way down the learning curve as evidenced by the problems with warped frames and high couplers - pretty basic issues that should not arise. Despite having leveled this criticism I am confident Class One will improve the quality of its products in fairly short order. If not they will be in a heap of trouble. Thank you for a thorough review.
I'm looking forward to seeing more models from Class One. I like this car in spite of the issues. I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!
Hi Dan. I think you're wrong about one end bended after straighting the whole car. From what I've seen on video, it was already bended. Slightly bended. You're a generous guy. Have you noticed that one brake wheel was a bit bended ? I wouldn't give a green signal to that model. This is A VERY expensive car at the end because it's a depress unit. You shouldn't have to straight up a brand new model. And for a car of that price, factory installed Kadee 150 should've been already on. Parts (brakes) are not suppose to fall down from a brand new model. And finally, about the steps, again it would've been a better choice installing metal ones. They look more prototypical and they are stronger. At least, they put some that will last longer. From my part, that car is a bit of a deception. Good review as usual. Keep on your good work.
I re-watched the review and I think you might be right that the car was already twisted. I missed that when I actually had the car in my hands. Sometimes things show up more on video where the shot is zoomed in more than they do to the naked eye. I agree that I'd like it better if cars just had Kadees on them already, and I'd also like it better if the corner stirrups were metal. The brake part on the car fell off after I touched it, so it was technically my fault. It doesn't take much to make them fall off, though. It reminds me of the old InterMountain trucks that had parts like that. Those would also tend to fall off. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!
@@DanielCortopassi Thanks Dan. Don't get me wrong here. I like that SP depress car. But what I hate the most on factory models is the fact that manufacturers can put a lot of extraordinary details on them and in the mean time don't care about some that are more important (at least to my eyes). And I think in that particular case, metal steps and better looking couplers would've been an easy thing to upgrade. I agree with you on old Intermountain trucks. I did some cylinders in the 90's that were a real paint in the ass. I also noticed that the top ends with simulated wood were like slightly bended in the middle. That's what video shows. I may be wrong here. I just felt at the end that the car missed his own target of quality model.
I purchased my depressed center flat car from HomeShopsLLC. Mine is a private named car as HomeShops specializes in working with manufacturers to bring private model Railroad road names to life. Before I purchased I had read about the warping issues. If HomeShops had not 100% inspected I would not have purchased the car. My take is ClassOneModelWorks should have returned these cars as rejects to the Model builders. When I buy high end cars while I do not expect perfect such things like warpage, out of height couplers and poor rolling cars SHOULD NOT HAPPEN. Fixing little things like the couplers and poor rolling as a model railroader is an easy fix. The warpage is unacceptable to me.
I rarely disagree with your reviews and ratings. I do here but I still appreciate the reviews you are doing. Thank you
I agree that trains should not have issues out of the box. It's unfortunately rare to find a model that doesn't, which is why there have only been a handful of perfect score reviews so far. Anyway, I'm glad your car didn't have the warping issue. It's especially disappointing to have to deal with things like that on an expensive model. Thanks for watching!
Nice car. A little pricey. Nice review.
It is pretty nice. I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks for watching!
Excellent review on these cars, I've been kind of going back and forth on getting one or not. also one question I have from watching a number of your reviews and RIP track segments, for fixing the coupler height issue, when would you consider using a coupler with an offset head?
I'm glad you liked the review. I have a personal aversion to using offset head couplers. I'm not sure why, I just prefer not to. I don't think I'd use one unless the coupler height was so far off that there was no other practical way to fix it. Thanks for watching!