Ed et al --
My only experience with the AM heavyweights is with the 85' Pullmans. But I
have to assume that the roof attachment is the same for the 75' cars.
There are two styles of roof attachment -- early and recent. The recent ones
have a screw on each end that holds the roof in place. You must remove the
trucks to access the screws -- one under each vestibule. Once removed, the
roof slips off.
The early ones are more difficult. They are held in place by hooks molded into
small extensions of the clear plastic window sheet. You have to release each
one, one at a time, by prying it toward the side of the car and finding a way
to keep it there when you move to the next one. Poking a thin wood or plastic
shim between the top of the
side (directly above the released hook) and the edge of the roof will keep the
first hook from reseating itself while you work on the next one. Start with
one of the end hooks, then move to the one directly opposite (on the other
side). Then do the hooks toward the center of the car, then move to the other
end.
There are interior components for these cars. As has been stated recently on
this e-list, Palace Car Co. offers interior kits for the 10-1-2 and 12-1
Pullmans as well as modern coach seats. Grandt Line makes injection-molded
coach seats (part #4006) for older (heavyweight) coaches and combines. Banta
Model Works makes office furniture kits that might be used to construct postal
car interiors.
There's nothing basically wrong with the AM trucks. Their more recent
passenger cars use blackened brass wheels. The earlier ones use sintered iron
wheels which I hate. They are noisy, are
attracted strongly to uncoupling magnets, and gather dirt very quickly. I
replace these with NWSL 36" nickel-silver wheelsets. For the 6-wheel trucks, I
drill the center axle holes a bit deeper and lower (to make an oval-shaped hole
in the vertical direction). This improvement greatly improves tracking on both
horizontal and vertical curves. AM's newer 6-wheel trucks, somewhat improved,
track a bit better, but I still recommend the same procedure.
Kadee 802 couplers mounted directly on the carbody perform fine if your radii
can take body-mounted couplers on long cars..
Dick Karnes
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