# American Models 80' Heavyweights



## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

As some of you know I recently received five AM 80' heavyweight passenger cars with scale wheels and solid, fixed scale size couplers. AM currently makes only 3 body configurations in the 80' length. These are a Cafe car, a 10-1-2 sleeper and a 12-1 sleeper. AM once made a set of 5 lightweight 80' passenger cars. I acquired a set last year with highrail wheels and couplers and developed some modifications to improve their appearance and operation.
Those modifications have been applied to the first of the five new acquisitions, the Tuscan Pullman Cafe car. Much has been learned. The 80' cars have clear plastic windows, no interiors, no lighting and no electrical pickups on the three axle trucks. Rectifying this requires a complete disassembly of the cars. That is straightforward but somewhat a pain with the long screws holding the trucks in place.
The Cafe car was modified to add the same white diffuser paper with silhouettes that is used in the 70' cars. The LED lighting circuit board was installed and the brass axle wipers added to the trucks as part of reassembly.
Here is the major issue. The AM solid, non operating couplers have no gap or play when two are joined. The 70' cars with these couplers will run on 30"R curves and scale wheels but with no margin to derailment, unlike the high rail wheels. The 80' cars will not run on 30"R curves with those couplers and wheels, the couplers are the problem. Having some spare highrail couplers I shortened the coupler shanks 5/16" and installed them in place of the solid, scale couplers. Problem solved, the cars no longer derail and they couple much closer together. The high rail couplers have much more free play in them.I would estimate that to run these cars with body mounted Kadees a minimum 36"R would be needed.
Here are some pictures. The difference in color between the incandescent and LED lighting is evident. In the future I will likely replace all the incandescent lighting with LED to eliminate any flicker. In the last picture of the underside of the truck the shorter coupler arm is evident, the axle wipers can be seen and the center wheelsets are not yet reinstalled.
Modifying the sleepers is still under evaluation. I do not want the silhouettes in the sleeping compartments. I am thinking about yellowish shades on the windows. A challenge is the AM lighting in these cars is on the floor, not in the roof.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I was able to finish the New Haven 80' Cafe car today. It still has the solid scale couplers because I am out of the high rail passenger couplers, more inventory should be here mid next week from AM. With the brighter LED lighting the silhouettes appear washed out in the picture. When viewed on the layout from several feet away that is not evident. Next up will be the sleepers, they will take some experimenting to get the window shades right and hide the floor lighting from view.


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## alaft61ri (Oct 11, 2019)

Thats cool nice job.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

After spending a good half day I have the first sleeper done, except for the couplers. I decided to borrow the yellow shade idea from the Gilbert 3 digit heavyweights. I used yellow paper, cutting it was a chore. Some windows have shades fully drawn to block the LED light behind those windows. Others are half drawn. The color is slightly more greenish due to the camera sensor. The car looks better in real life. I am going to leave this one as it is for a month and see what I think then. Maybe a better idea will hit me. It is almost impossible to get the roof sealed to the car body on reassembly, this one need more work. With the floor mounted lighting and the lack of interiors this is a difficult car to illuminate But overall I am happy with this result. Now I have two more to do.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

From the pics I can not tell it is floor lighting. The lights do seem bright.
Maybe try some different value resistors to tone the lights down. I have
a lighted O scale ambulance. The red and blue flashing lights are fine.
The white headlights are way too bright. You can't hardly look at the
headlights head on. They are that bright. I am hoping a resistor inline
will tone them down. Just the wires to the headlights. The headlight lens 
are enhancing the LEDs. Too much.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

The LED lights are slightly too bright but not as much as the pictures make them look. If I touch one car I need to do all 24. The challenge is these are premade circuit boards that are bolted to the truck bolster mount. There is no easy way to add a resistor without cutting a circuit board trace and attempting to solder in a small surface mount resistor. I would like to dim them but I think it falls into the too hard and too much work category. I am embarrassed to admit I do not even have any resistors to try out to determine the correct value.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

It was just a thought. I later thought about the LEDs might be on the board. No wires. I would not attempt that either.


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## alaft61ri (Oct 11, 2019)

Does look cool . but my knowledge of what you guys do is over my head i can do basic stuff but you guys are really knowledgeable. I enjoy reading what you guys do.
Al


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

After I cleared my mind last night an easy solution popped into my head. Of course I need to disassemble the cars again. I will post new pictures after I complete the mods. It may take a bit because I do not have what I need at the house.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

The Daniel Webster 80' Pullman sleeper is now finished (except for the couplers.) Below is a picture of it. The fix was simple with the right material, thanks to my wife's cooking inventory. After disassembling the car I added a layer of white paper over the windows and yellow shades. Since there is no interior, blocking the lower clear plastic is a benefit, the bare interior is hidden. This additional layer of diffuser paper reduces the light transmission by about 50% without touching the LED's. It also warms the appearance of the light slightly. I removed the white paper in the roof that serves as a reflector and replaced it with shiny foil lined with parchment paper thanks to my wife and Martha Stewart. I needed something opaque that also reflected light. Plain aluminium foil tears too easily to work with inside the car interior. This two ply is perfect. It is easy to work with, blocks all light and reflects the interior lighting for even illumination.
Note in the sleeper on the left there is now absolutely no light leakage at the roof/body joint. For comparison the observation on the right is untouched from AM. Note there is light leakage at the seam as delivered from the factory and the illumination is too white. In real life the difference between the two is more pronounced than in the photo. The light intensity is much less in the sleeper and it has more of a yellowish glow. It matches the appearance I envisioned when I started.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Where there is a will, there is a way.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I just love cheap, easy, low tech solutions when they are hidden from view. It just took a little bit of open minded thinking. I would sure be nice if AM offered interiors for these cars like the Budd cars. That is not going to happen. I also went back and added yellow paper behind the silouettes in the cafe car. Also added the Martha wrap in the roof to block the light at the joint, it looks much better.
The sleeper and the cafe car would now look right at home coupled up with a 952, 953, 954 Gilbert set.


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## alaft61ri (Oct 11, 2019)

Very nice . nice job love the layout and cars

Al


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## AFGP9 (Apr 8, 2015)

Nice looking changes Tom. The coupler changes and lighting sure does enhance the look. As to the interior paper, there is a shade of butcher paper that matches the Gilbert interior diffuser paper perfectly. Since it has to be a little stronger for it's intended meat wrapping use, the paper is thicker and holds it's shape and stays in place. I used it in my 952, 953, and 954 heavyweights. When I got those cars, all had brittle, flaky original Gilbert paper. It also works to cut down the brightness of red lighted AF cabooses. I also used in all 15 of my chrome passenger cars when I owned them.
I see the brightness of the floor mounted LED boards, but really can't tell the LED board is mounted on the floor. I never knew about that foil and parchment paper in one deal. Good to know. When I was looking for replacement diffuser paper the first thing I thought of was parchment paper. Too white. Later I realized I had the right thing in my freezer which was the colored butcher paper plus I have a role left over from when I used it for packing when I was selling on eBay. Problem solved. 
Another life time supply item mopac.

Kenny


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Kenny, the reason I did not use the butcher paper was I was trying to make the cool white LED's look more yellow. Would have been nice if AM had used warm white LED's on the lighting circuit boards. I have now completed 4 of the 5 80' cars. each car is taking about two hours with the disassembly, precision cutting of the window shade material and then reassembly and testing. I sould have the parts shipment from AM on Wednesday so I can install all the couplers. I also bought some diaphragms to try on the 80' lightweight cars. If they work will post pictures.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

An update along with some pictures. Four of the five 80' cars are now completed, they are time consuming to modify and complete. I have also finished the modifications to the six car NH set that was purchased at the same time. I made a decision to not completely disassemble three of the cars because I was not changing the trucks on them. Unfortunately they now are the only cars with light leaks at the roof joint. In the first picture it is easy to spot those three among the eight cars because they are also the only ones with light visible in the clerestory openings. I will live with it for now.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Spent three hours today finishing all the mods and improvements on the final 80' sleeper. Cutting out all the partially drawn window shades and positioning them precisely behind the window glazing is not a task I will repeat. Here are some pictures of the cars disassembled for those who may think of ordering some. Unlike the 70' cars the 80' cars have no lighting, power pickups interiors or silhouettes. The lighting and pickups can be purchased from AM but they do not make silhouettes for 80' cars let alone window shades for sleepers.
The first two pictures are the interior as delivered. The second two are the roof and plastic glazing assembly. This is one rigid piece, be careful removing and installing it. The trucks cannot be removed to add the electrical pickups unless this piece is removed first. The next two pictures are the interior with the lighting circuit board installed. The final picture is one of the three axle trucks after installation of the power pickup, prior to installing the modified coupler. For those interested the center wheels are scale, the outer wheels are high rail. From a foot away they look the same when on the track.


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## alaft61ri (Oct 11, 2019)

That is alot of work give you alot of credit i wouldnt of done it. Looks great
Al


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## AFGP9 (Apr 8, 2015)

Tom I can certainly see how much time consuming work you put into those cars. As I said before, the coupler modifications to make the cars fit closer together was a huge visible improvement. Add to that your new lighting and diffuser work, it sure does make those cars look even better. I did notice the light leakage in the clerestory openings but I don't think it is a distraction. If you had visitors I doubt they would see the light leakage. The bad thing is you know it and might become an irritation. I know that's how I am. If I have something that at first looks good then I discover a flaw, I might take a break and leave it for a time but I would eventually tear whatever I modified apart one more time to fix it properly.
After all the work you did I think I would leave things be for now and just enjoy running the trains.

Kenny


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

There may be a phase two on the passenger cars later but for now I plan to run the trains for a while. I am surprised how well the single AM Trainmaster pulls the eight car passenger set that includes two of the 80' cars. I have some engines I need to ship off for repairs, two have failed smoke units, one has a failed drive gear and one needs modified electrical pickups. 
I have no objection to the faint light in the clerestory openings, it is the light leakage at the roof/sidewall joint that I do not like. I still have the diaphragms to install on the 80' lightweight PRR cars. I bought replacements for Budd cars that looked like they would fit. They do, but much more needs to be ground off the back than expected. Just a lot of careful work with the Dremel. They are light gray so I may want to paint them, still pondering that.


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## AmFlyerFan (Jan 27, 2019)

I've been following along here. I like your lighting project and have thought about it for one of my cars. I see the reference to 'AM' several times. I'm not familiar with that company. Who is it please? Thanx.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

AM is my shorthand for American Models. Their website is americanmodels.com, the company is located in Michigan and owned by Ron Bashista. The only AM passenger cars not illuminated are the full scale 80' heavyweight cafe car and sleepers. It is in these cars I have installed the lighting and window treatments. 
The AM Budd cars are in my opinion the best S gauge passenger cars made with sprung trucks, full interiors, illumination and.vestibules.


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## AmFlyerFan (Jan 27, 2019)

AmFlyer said:


> AM is my shorthand for American Models. Their website is americanmodels.com, the company is located in Michigan and owned by Ron Bashista. The only AM passenger cars not illuminated are the full scale 80' heavyweight cafe car and sleepers. It is in these cars I have installed the lighting and window treatments.
> The AM Budd cars are in my opinion the best S gauge passenger cars made with sprung trucks, full interiors, illumination and.vestibules.



I'm checking them out now. Thanx.


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