# Weaver vs Atlas vs MTH vs ??? Rolling Stock?



## Lynn D Bennett (Jul 27, 2013)

What is your take on these various manufacture's rolling stock? I have only MTH Premier freight cars now. How do these others compare?

I have ordered two Weaver cars to see for myself but what is your opinion? Is there a brand like Williams or K-Line that I should also be considering to match my MTH Premier freight cars? They must be 1:48 scale not O-27 to match what I already have. Also they must navigate O-31 curves.

Thanks for any inputs.

LDBennett


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Weaver cars tend to be light with plastic trucks. They have some nice looking stuff, but you have to at least bring it up to decent weight for it to track well in a larger consist. 

I like the MTH stuff, all diecast trucks and couplers. The Atlas Master series are nice cars with diecast trucks and nice detailing as well.


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## Big Mike (Dec 2, 2011)

I don't like weaver , very cheaply made [crap in my opinion] MTH, Atlas, Lionel and even some Williams I use, but not weaver. this is of course, as always JMO............Mike


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## Lynn D Bennett (Jul 27, 2013)

I'll report back when I get the Weaver cars. Interestingly, the weaver stuff is priced in the same ball park as the MTH. I really like the Premier cars I got from MTH. The MTH is Chinese made. What about the Weaver cars (if that even makes a difference to me...parts is parts)?

As for being light, I thought I read somewhere that the newest Weaver versions are weighted (???). We'll see.

I know some here have said the Atlas cars are really good but how do they compare to the MTH Premier cars?

Just to be clear...This is not about engines but rolling stock... Freight cars that run on O-31 track. I'm into MTH DCS Proto 3.0 engines and have no interest in anyone else's because they are not DCS. I know, I can add Lionel Legacy to go with my DCS but at a price that I feel is too much for little gain. I have not seen anything in the Lionel catalog that I want over the MTH engines.

Thank for any comments.

LDBennett


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## Big Mike (Dec 2, 2011)

I was reporting on only rolling stock, as you requested, I just got a new atlas box car , of course its scale ,and it is just as fine as any other MTH, Lionel, ect. I own, and the price is right there with all the rest.
now I think someone told me weaver was made in the US ?, if so what a shame, because their quality really sucks. ............Mike


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I think they still have plastic trucks, which is one strike against them for me.


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

they have some real nice stuff:thumbsup:

i recently got one of their woodside gondola;

















• 1/4" Scale Dimensions • Your Choice Of 2-Rail or 3-Rail • Operational On 0-31 Curves •
• Weighted Car Built From Prototype Blue Prints • High Impact Styrene Body •
• Painted With Durable Scalecoat Paint • 4 Different Road Numbers • Scribed Wood Grain Details •
• Individually Mounted Brake Wheel • Self Equalizing Free Rolling Trucks •
• Equipped with Die Cast Trucks & Couplers •

u might want to check them out and draw ur own conclusions
link to their web site

http://www.weavermodels.com/


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

They seem to have upgraded their trucks, I have a ton of Weaver cars with the plastic trucks, none with diecast.


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

the car i got is an ULTRA LINE series from weaver. stuff in the cataloq looks good.:thumbsup:

i've got a string of their older hoppers. they look good and track fine with a little weight.
just have to keep them on the end on a long drag, or add little more weight


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## Big Mike (Dec 2, 2011)

cole226 said:


> the car i got is an ULTRA LINE series from weaver. stuff in the cataloq looks good.:thumbsup:
> 
> i've got a string of their older hoppers. they look good and track fine with a little weight.
> just have to keep them on the end on a long drag, or add little more weight


 
Yea, see, why do all that when you can buy a better product ready to run for the same price? I don't see the advantage . ..............Mike


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## Lynn D Bennett (Jul 27, 2013)

Big Mike:

Yes, I understand you were reporting on rolling stock. My comment was not to you but an attempt to keep the general discussion on rolling stock and not let the talk by others to deviate to engines.

Anyone care to rate in order their choice on rolling stock? Remember O-31, scale, 3 -rail rolling stock. I have yet to see anything but MTH Premium which I find excellent. How do others compare? In rolling stock available today which ones should be avoided? Has Weaver upgraded, for instance?

LDBennett


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Apparently, Weaver had upgraded their scale O cars with similar features to other premium lines. I've never seen the new Weaver stuff, so I can't comment on how it compares to other brands.

FWIW, I very rarely buy the stuff new, as I can't see spending $50-60 on a single boxcar, that just makes no sense! I recently bought eleven MTH Premier scale cars for $150 shipped. All in excellent condition and in original boxes. That's a price I can live with.


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

Big Mike said:


> Yea, see, why do all that when you can buy a better product ready to run for the same price? I don't see the advantage . ..............Mike


mike,
i got these a while back on the CHEAP!  4 for $25.00
when i add a load they weight about what others do empty, and track fine. 
nowdays they are pretty much static scenery anyway. 

the weaver new ultra line stuff looks like it will stand up against anybodies:thumbsup:


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## Big Mike (Dec 2, 2011)

I see, well, its like most anything else, if you are happy with them ,that's all that's counts, I was simply speaking about my own experience with Weaver rolling stock, and that I don't care to own any, my favorites are MTH, Atlas, K-line, Lionel in that order, even MTH Railking ,for the most part is very nice, well built, fair price, of course I'm speaking of new prices, because I very rarely buy used stuff, that's just how I roll. ..............Mike


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## Lynn D Bennett (Jul 27, 2013)

*Weaver freight car report*

OK...two Weaver Ultraline freight cars arrived today, a G25001LD-8371 Milwaukee box car and a U1342-290 Mobilgas tank car.

The detail almost matches the Premier MTH cars I have. They move nicely on the layout. They appear to have steel wheels and the trucks are sprung. The couplers match the MTH couplers and work the same except they have no air hose detail. The scale is 1:48 (true O scale) and match the Premier MTH cars for size. The pricing was $62 for the box car and $43 for the tank car with $13 shipping to the West Coast from Model Train Stuff. The Model Train Stuff pricing is discounted from retail.

I am happy with the pricing, the quality, the detailing, and for me Weaver Ultraline is a viable option to MTH when I can not get what I want in MTH. I do think MTH is probably the first choice, though. I would not be ashamed to have more Weaver Ultraline cars on my layout (unlike earlier version others tell me are much inferior).

I am not able to determine where they were made though like everything else in America today, probably China but there is no evidence of that. Made in USA???? Anyone know???

LDBennett


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

No chance they're made in the US, they came from China. Look at the box.


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## Rabbitman (Jan 24, 2014)

Lynn D Bennett said:


> I'll report back when I get the Weaver cars. Interestingly, the weaver stuff is priced in the same ball park as the MTH. I really like the Premier cars I got from MTH. The MTH is Chinese made. What about the Weaver cars (if that even makes a difference to me...parts is parts)?
> 
> As for being light, I thought I read somewhere that the newest Weaver versions are weighted (???). We'll see.
> 
> ...


 I too like the look and features of the new PS3 engines and would like to eventualy get a DCS system to access all the neat functions they have. But at this point after 3 bad ones since Christmas I have no faith in them myself but others here seem very happy with them and seem to have no problems. 
I'd love to just pick up a catalog or see them on the web and just buy the thing and be done with it but from my experiences I've had I know it will be dead in a matter of a few days. At least through the dealer I don't pay shipping charges back and forth for the warranty problems on top of that but they always have it, not me:dunno: I just wish I could have more faith with PS3 but I'd be scared to death to lay out over $400 or more for another one:thumbsdown:


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

*Weaver models*

the history behind weaver from their website. i'm told if ur in Northumberland, pa. they will give u a tour of the plant anytime!


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bldg.jpg (36419 bytes) 

Quality Craft Models was founded in 1965. What started as an operation producing Wooden Craftsman Kits consisting of buildings, rolling stock, etc., in gauges from N to O, has grown into a major manufacturer of ready-to-run plastic (and brass) "O" Gauge 2-Rail and 3-Rail models.

The first location for the business was an old, single story print shop located on Wheatley Avenue in Northumberland, PA. Joe Hayter, current Owner and President of the Company, started in 1969. In 1974, a newer, more modern facility was constructed near the old print shop.

The first plastic "O" gauge model produced was the 2-Bay Hopper in 1980.
Originally it was offered in 2-Rail only, but in the early to mid 1980's the hunger for 3-Rail models was answered by offering a choice of 2-Rail or 3-Rail.

With the expense involved to have the tooling completed for plastic injection
molding, it was decided to get the most out of one mold. Therefore, the 2-Bay Hopper tooling was made in such a way that the side and ends could be interchangeable allowing us to produce a 2-Bay Offset or 2-Bay Ribbed car with regular, peaked or rounded ends. The tooling and injection molding was completed by Train Miniature, located in Chicago. Thus, Weaver Models, a division of Quality Craft Models, was born!

Next to join the Weaver Ultra Line Family was our 40' and 50' Tank Cars.
Again, with careful planning and the removal / addition of sections to the mold, we could inject either size tank from the same mold. Train Miniature also produced this mold for Weaver. Keeping with the times, our tanks were
offered in 2-Rail and 3-Rail from the start.

The 50' Rail Box and 4-Bay Centerflows were soon to follow. Poly-X-Co., out of Philipsburg, NJ did the mold work on these two projects.

Soon after, Wilhold Company, located in Sunbury, (almost in our back yard)
contacted us for our tooling needs. They did a fine job on our next release, the PS-2 Covered Hopper. 

Then a former Wilhold employee decided to go into business for himself. Being located only 1/2 mile North on the same road from our plant was just too convenient to pass up. Besides, he was very skilled at his trade. The 3-Bay Coal Car was his first project for Weaver. This formed a tooling relationship that still exists today.

The early to mid 80's also welcomed our first plastic "O" gauge diesel project - the Alco RS-3 Diesel Locomotive. 

In 1990 the connections were made with Samhongsa to enter into the brass "O" Scale Market. Our first project was the PRR M1a 4-8-2. Approximately 800 to 900 of this model was produced, only about 50 being in 2-Rail. With the lack of other "O" gauge manufacturers, we immediately sold every one. From 1990 to 1993 numerous brass and plastic model projects were successfully marketed by this team.

The Samhongsa / Weaver Team also ventured into the plastic market. Numerous plastic diesels were produced: SD40-2, C628, C630, Baldwin Sharks and E8's. At that time, we were releasing 1,000 to 1,500 diesels per style. About 100 to 200 were offered in 2-Rail, the remainder in 3-Rail.

QSI Sound was introduced into the models in late '91 / early '92.

In the mid 1990's, Samhongsa made a strong connection with Mike's Train
House. From then on, they would no longer produce anything in "O" scale for anyone other than Mike's.

It was not until 1997 that we located a brass builder to fill the shoes of
Samhongsa, resulting in the February '98 release of our brass Union Pacific
49er 4-6-2. By this time, numerous other manufacturers jumped on the "O"
Gauge "Band Wagon", resulting in a variety of choices for the discriminat-
ing modeler. Our lower production quantities of 300 3-Rail (225 with sound
and 75 without sound) and 50 2-Rail was evidence of this. From then on, we
have been releasing two to three brass releases each year.

It was later '92 / early '93 when we moved into our state of art facility located
along Route 11 approximately 1 mile North of Northumberland. That was
also the year Joe officially took the "reins" of Weaver Models by purchasing
the business.

1995 was also a significant landmark for Weaver as it was the first time we
officially published a "Ultra Line" catalog featuring our models produced in-house. Prior to that, the few catalogs released featured one or two brass, Gold Edition, imported models. What started out as a eight page catalog produced one time per year has grown into a 28+ page semi-annual release.


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## Lynn D Bennett (Jul 27, 2013)

Gunrunnerjohn:

A better look at the box revealed "Made in USA" on the box, touted as a feature.

Lynn.................


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

You're right, they make a lot of product in the US, however not all.

http://citizensvoice.com/news/weaver-trains-made-in-the-usa-mostly-1.1509796


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## Lynn D Bennett (Jul 27, 2013)

gunrunner john:

I suspected that the assembly only was done in the USA. When I discovered yesterday that there were no air lines on the couplers I noticed that the coupler mechanism appeared to be made the same as the MTH RailKing couplers. And there it is in the link....Weaver buys trucks (and couplers??) from MTH who has them made in China. I applaud Weaver for trying to do most of the work here in the USA but frankly it makes no difference to me where it is made, only that the quality is commensurate with the cost. MTH stuff mostly is. But you must buy new UltraLine cars from Weaver to get quality equivalent to MTH, apparently.

At some point the labor cost in China will rise enough that it will no longer be an advantage to have things made there and ship them to the USA. Japanese products reached that point and in guns the Japanese made Brownings and Winchesters, for example, are premium guns mostly superior to any recently made by a USA manufacturer of guns. We then might see industrialization return to the USA but we are no where close today.

Lynn..........


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

We have to face facts, if we want any of the major manufacturer's products, we have to accept Chinese manufacture. 

Ross and Gargraves actually do make their products here in the US.


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