# Does UP run 1:32 cars with 1:29 locos?



## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

On page 22 of the August issue of Trains it looks like it does!
Even the top of the domes don't appear to reach the roof line of the DDA40X nor the 844, could they actually be mixing scales???

I bring this up because we often have discussions on car heights and some think all should be the same height as the locos that pull them.

Happy rails

John


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Yeah, if you look at a real train, there are all sizes of cars, some tower over the other(mostly older) ones. There is the one white car train that comes through(was on that train show last year) from Washington. They are all the same size/color.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

A friend recently wrote to me about his milk reefer seeming too low. I reminded him that milk is a fairly dense commodity, as with many other dairy products. Why would a car builder build a car to the maximum allowable height when it reached its loading capacity while the product was still 3 to 4 feet from the ceiling? Then you also end up cooling wasted space instead of product. 

We tend to forget that there are very good reasons why some house cars are lower than others. There is also a good reason why iron ore cars are fairly short and squat. 

Cars are built to haul a product. Wasted space just adds to the tare weight. On the plus side, the principal of building to match the commodity gives us a lot of variety for our models. 

Have fun, 
David Meashey


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I use to think that none of the cars of a 1:1 train were higher than the locomotive pulling them.

Then one day I was Rail Faning on the way back from Tucson at Picacho Peak ( Almost half way point between Phoenix and Tucson.) and it dawn on me that they are all kinds of different heights. 

I have one tank car that to me looks funny in the consists but I have change my mind about it. I think I will be using it anyway.

JJ 

PS I changed my mind but it don't seem to work any better than the last one


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Well since I've no scanner I couldn't post the pic that got me a thinking..

So look at this one;









Just look at that 1:32 smallish baggage car tucked in behind a 1:29 boxcar, not only is it too small it also sits too high!
Only the spacing of the ladders unites them as of the same scale....
So if it's ok for the UP to mix 'n match we can too!

Happy Rails

John


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By Totalwrecker on 23 Jul 2011 10:12 AM 
Well since I've no scanner I couldn't post the pic that got me a thinking..

So look at this one;









Just look at that 1:32 smallish baggage car tucked in behind a 1:29 boxcar, not only is it too small it also sits too high!
Only the spacing of the ladders unites them as of the same scale....
So if it's ok for the UP to mix 'n match we can too!

Happy Rails

John



Nice looking battery car.









JJ


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

The one dimension that will remain fairly constant in full size, is the width. Rarely, if ever, are cars narrower. Keeping the width of a car as wide as allowable helps keep the centre of gravity low and aids stability.


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

To throw another view on it. I think they all look 1:29th because I have seen MTH challenger pulling USAT cars and the loco is the same size as the cars. 

Here we know the box car is higher than the cars as with the loco.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Tony's right.

If the width is the same, it's typically the same scale.


For scale comparisons, never go by height. Go by width.


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