# Bachmann 20 Foot Cars



## up9018 (Jan 4, 2008)

While at the LHS yesterday, I found a Bachmann "1:20.3" 20 foot boxcar at a great price. Figured that size of car would be perfect for my logging empire, so I brought it home with me. I was really suprised when I sat it next to my 3-truck shay...THIS CAR IS TINY!!! The length scales out correctly, but it only scales a little over 6 feet wide and 8 foot tall. The car is nearly 3/4" narrower than my shay, and the top of the running boards run flush with the shay's tender. Also, the trucks only scale out to a 2-1/2 wheelbase, which seems pretty short to me.

I was wondering if anybody knew what cars these were modeled from? The height is OK, cause it is running on small wheels, but the width is what doesn't seem right. Anybody running these with other 1:20.3 equipment? And has anybody put on different trucks?

Thanks,
Chris


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

They're not modeled from anything in particular. They're purely freelance. (I got this from the guy who built the prototypes for the models). Bachmann wanted a series of cars that scaled to 20' long when measured in 1:20. That was pretty much the only requirement. The result was what we have--a series of cars that are far more well proportioned for 1:24 (or smaller, even), but labeled as 1:20. The box car is close in size/proportion to a Cairo and Kanawha car when measured in 1:24, but is not a model specifically of that car. The other cars use the same frame and trucks, so have identical lengths and widths. 

In terms of them being 1:20, I have yet to find any references to such diminutive cars. They scale out to around 6' wide in 1:20, which was typical of VERY early (c. 1870) narrow gauge equipment. The length (20') is shorter than anything the major carbuilders were turning out for 2-truck designs at that time. The shortest I've found reference to is 23' for a 9-ton wood hopper. The box car door opening scales to a bit over 4' tall--too short to be of any practical use for loading and unloading. I've seen drawings of box cars with 5' inside ceilings, but they weren't common. Most box cars were tall enough to at least stand mostly upright inside for loading. (The D&RGW's earliest box cars had 5' 3" door openings.) By the 1880s, the average width for a 3' gauge car had grown to 7' or a bit wider, and lengths started growing to between 25' and 30'. By the 1910s, _if_ a railroad were to have anything so small as these 20' cars still on their roster, it would have been relegated to work trains. Age combined with low capacities and the difficulty involved with applying mandated safety appliances would have rendered them bon fire fodder. 

I think it was a huge disservice to the hobby for Bachmann to call these cars "1:20" when they're purely freelance, especially when you consider they were being launched at the same time as their "Spectrum" 1:20 stuff which was decidedly not freelance. I'll never understand their rationale behind that. 

For the 1:29 crowd, though, these cars are great! Replace the trucks (or narrow them) with O-gauge, and you've got well-proportioned 1:29 3' gauge equipment. 

Later, 

K


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