# Concor well cars



## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

Anybody have any experience with concor well cars? I've heard mixed critiques of concor products in general, but have little first hand experience. Mostly wondering if they are super light or properly weighted?


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

The ConCor freight and passenger cars I have had have metal underbody pieces on the bottom of the cars. These add weight to the car. They can fall off, but I have been able to press them back in place. I have found the ConCor cars a little heavy, and I have sometimes had to add a second loco to pull five or six car passenger trains. With the freight trains I have usually mixed ConCor with lighter cars, Atlas and Micro Trains, some Bachman, so the impact is less. If you are pulling several ConCor cars you might find the train is heavy, and you might want to use more than one loco. With six ConCor passenger cars I found one Kato F3 wasn't enough, and I needed a second or even a third F3 as well, as in F3 ABA.


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

pmcgurin said:


> The ConCor freight and passenger cars I have had have metal underbody pieces on the bottom of the cars. These add weight to the car. They can fall off, but I have been able to press them back in place. I have found the ConCor cars a little heavy, and I have sometimes had to add a second loco to pull five or six car passenger trains. With the freight trains I have usually mixed ConCor with lighter cars, Atlas and Micro Trains, some Bachman, so the impact is less. If you are pulling several ConCor cars you might find the train is heavy, and you might want to use more than one loco. With six ConCor passenger cars I found one Kato F3 wasn't enough, and I needed a second or even a third F3 as well, as in F3 ABA.


Thanks! That helps. My concern was the well car would be too light without weighted containers. I have an Athearn that is so light it'll take off and fly without some weight in it!


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## GTW son (12 mo ago)

I never had any luck with well cars, had two of them and traded them in.
To be honest I can't even remember what brand they were but they were not top of the line either, you get what you pay for in this case.


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

GTW son said:


> I never had any luck with well cars, had two of them and traded them in.
> To be honest I can't even remember what brand they were but they were not top of the line either, you get what you pay for in this case.


Well, I thought Athearn was a name brand, but compared to the walthers I have, it's not a great car. The walthers is heavy, steady and free rolling. The Athearn is none of those things. All things considered though, they're working out pretty 'well' for me. (sorry about the pun 😁) I just put a weighted container in the Athearn.


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## GTW son (12 mo ago)

You jogged my memory, my well cars were Walther's.
Nice looking just had they're problems staying on the rails for me whether it was my layout or something I was doing wrong who knows.
Plus I decided to drop mixed freight trains and go with CP Rail grain or Ontario Northland coal trains.
Once in a while I toy with grabbing GO transit or ONR pax cars if I find the right deal.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

Some of these companies have things they make well and other things that are not. Some times I think the market for train stuff is tilted to collectors and less to good function. In the size of N scale it might be difficult to impossible to make everything properly for looks and function. 

I should have quit when I bought the Canadian grain cars from the guy in Kamloops.


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## GTW son (12 mo ago)

Agreed.
When I first got into this I brought by price so I got 2 maybe 3 cars for the price of one good one, soon found out you get what you pay for.
Started buying MTL and Intermountain, trading in 2-3 cars for one, sometimes, and never look back.
Other quality brands have come along but I've stuck with those two.


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

GTW son said:


> Agreed.
> When I first got into this I brought by price so I got 2 maybe 3 cars for the price of one good one, soon found out you get what you pay for.
> Started buying MTL and Intermountain, trading in 2-3 cars for one, sometimes, and never look back.
> Other quality brands have come along but I've stuck with those two.


I like MTL, I usually luck out and get them for about half off or better. Vigilance, as in always keeping a look out, pays off sometimes.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

You can't go wrong with Intermountain or MTL. I like to put CN MTL boxcars behind a CN F3 AB set and run them a while. I don't know much about how trains are operated, but I like to run them. Leaving the boxcar doors open so the hobos can get on and off.


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

I think I've seen hobo figures in both HO and N scale, probably available in O, S, G, and XYZ, as well. Um, maybe not Z....


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

I bought some figures about twenty years ago. When they came they were women in bathing suits.


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

Well, it probably gets really warm in the boxcars...? 😎


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## GTW son (12 mo ago)

The good thing about operating your layout is your can run what loco's and rolling stock any way you want, in a real railway setting you'd be fired....
I went over to the hobby shop and was actually looking at N scale figures, saw a few I liked but didn't spring for any so far. Seniors day is on the 30th so may head back over then.
Hobo's would probably get a kick outta sharing a box car ride with a women in a bathing suite. nuff said....


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

I've got a few figures here and there. Most are from the 80's.
























I got the 'squatch' from my granddaughter for Father's day. He lives on the ridge.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

Nice layout!


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

pmcgurin said:


> Nice layout!


Thanks! It's small, but I've edeavered to make the most of the space.


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## OilValleyRy (Oct 3, 2021)

Oomowmow said:


> Thanks! It's small, but I've edeavered to make the most of the space.


Some would call that “manageable.” Most likely folks with an 800 sq ft layout plan to build by themselves. Small definitely has upsides.


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## Oomowmow (10 mo ago)

Oomowmow said:


> Thanks! That helps. My concern was the well car would be too light without weighted containers. I have an Athearn that is so light it'll take off and fly without some weight in it!


Well, here's an update on the concor well car. Somebody on here somewhere said that some manufacturers make some things really well, and other things, not so much. It looks like concor is one. I've got some of their 48' containers, and they're fairly impressive, but the well car.... let's put it this way, if I blow on it, it'll fly off the table. It has no weight Of its own. It did come with a very heavy container, but even with that, it's a finicky runner (don't back it up over a turnout!) Also the well isn't as deep as the other makes, so if you stack, it's too high for the portals, and it 'wobbles' because of a higher center of gravity. Long story short, avoid concor well cars! (In N scale anyway)


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