Open Platform Baggage ATSF

Nice cars but there are some shortcomings so they need a little work. At 82g out of the box they are way light by NMRA standards and weight needs to be added to get them up to specs. The specs recommend starting with one oz and add 1/2 oz per inch of car length. Metric is far more accurate because rounded off 1 oz is equal to 28 grams. The coupling system is problematic due to some mainstream differences. The couplers are not body mounted but that isn't the main problem with them. The couplers are secured by a device wherein the open coupler pocket (no covers) has a plastic lever with a springlike tension on it with a tit that can be lifted to slide the original coupler out of the pocket and replace it. The problem is the tit is very small so a conventional coupler with a standard size hole on the shank for mounting has way, way, way too much play in it. But there is a simple fix and makes the car more prototypical at the same time. Passenger and freight cars in this era existed before the first Janey automatic coupler was invented and therefore had link and pin couplers. So I created my own by starting with a small plastic cable zip tie available at any hardware store. After some trial and error I found the correct length and cut the ties to that dimension. Then I used a pin vise to drill holes slightly larger than the tit on the securing device in the coupler pocket. I finished them off by rounding the ends with a Dremel grinder so they would pivot freely in the coupler pocket. Problem solved and model improved. Lettering is passable but nothing to write home about. Under the car the truss rods are a bit too large of a gauge for scale. There is what appears to be an AB WABCO air brake system. A nice touch but wrong since they weren't invented yet either. The car is devoid of any grab iron and stirrup details, molded on the car body or otherwise. So I applied some Walthers passenger car details that were laying around. With no starting holes this was tricky for me so I tried a couple of test hops with a couple of old Athearn Blue Box passenger car bodies I wasn't emotionally attached to. As for price the MSRP should be in the mid $20 range. So I suppose I can recommend these cars if you like to tinker around and add a personal touch, but not unconditionally for the reasons stated above.