Class One Model Works -Thrall 86' Boxcar Review Conrail

[@dannyking748]

Hey thanks man for this review. I had just placed and order for these and just canceled it and asked for my money back. Turned to Scale Trains due to reading some comments and placed a preorder with them. Same price better quality from Scale Trains.

[@ConrailSteve]

Glad it was a helpful video! Wish I would have known how these were going to turn out so I could have passed on them.

[@davidstewart5694]

I totally agree on the lettering points, rather disappointed in that myself. I'm urked with not having the more redish paint as well. I wanna get a couple to break up the manufacturer such a Greenville and Thrall. I have a bunch of assorted Tangent Greenville cars

[@ConrailSteve]

It really is disappointing but Scaletrains is doing either the exact or close to the same Thrall 86' car. I kinda fell like that is the reason these cars from Class One are kinda of "rushed" together as they wanted to beat Scaletrains to market with them.

[@EricSmith-ve7qi]

Awesome Video! Spot on with presentation of the cars! Color is way off and the logo and stickers are definitely in the wrong spots guess that shows were the cost cutting comes from for that magnetic fancy box! Lol Im all aboard with Scale Trains and there models and do believe they are the "new leaders of the pack" well done Thanks!

[@ConrailSteve]

Thank you! The sad part is after Class One released the artwork for these cars people tryed to reach out and help them correct issues with letting but it appears they ignored fixing them. I agree Scaletrains is definitely a leader but I also feel like Tangent is also right beside them as far as delivering excellent products.

[@rickyhammond36]

Im with you totally stevo,, the prices for items in this hobby is outrageous ,, especially when we down under have the dollar conversion and freight charges to play with as well =[ Hey btw Paulb has got spooks on his layout !! freaky man !

[@ConrailSteve]

The prices have been going up a lot the last few years but if the quality matches, I can tolerate it. The $60 I paid each is bad enough I couldn't imagine what y'all would end up paying for these.

[@justinmalachinski1]

I’m so glad I saw this I almost bought one of these, I’d rather wait for more tangent cars or Scaletrains maybe even aurora miniatures. As someone who works as a carman I get a little nit picky when it comes to this, for example I love the TBOX that I bought from aurora cause I worked the real car, and it was crazy accurate almost scary

[@ConrailSteve]

Glad it saved you from wasting the money! Wish I would have known these were going to be this bad so I could have lol That has to be neat working as a carmen and getting to see the equipment up close.

[@riogrande5761]

I'm on a train forum and there has been a great deal of criticism regarding the lettering etc. The question is, what prototype did they copy the lettering from? Tangent and Moloco show photo's of what the model copies. If ClassOne would supply the photo, then you could say ok, they copied a certain car. But if modelers are forced to go out and find photo's, they end up finding discrepancies. This seems to be a disappointment many are now voicing over ClassOne's handling of these models. The end platforms being curled or misshapen is also disappointing. That's a first. I've had a lot of models where they were flat as they should be. I wonder if they can be removed and flattened but for the price, this shouldn't be.

[@ConrailSteve]

Im starting to thing that they didn’t use an actual prototype photo and instead used a photo of a similar car and got the lettering “close”. First and last purchase from them as far as I’m concerned. The etched metal walkways being bowing is extra frustrating. The whole point of spending $60 on a quality car like this is to not have those issues.

[@tim210]

I agree...these cars should have roadnumber specific lettering for the price they charge. Similarly the ARI 5200 cuft covered hopper announced from Class One Models has similar inaccuracies in the lettering artwork (shown on their website). Class One models needs to seriously "up their game" to compete at this price point.

[@ConrailSteve]

I was very disappointed in these at this price point. This was my first and now probably last purchase from Class One as a result. It also seems that about every paint scheme seems to have lettering issues from what I have read/ heard so it seems Class One "half-assed" this entire run. A real shame to ruin a run this way.

[@w.rustylane5650]

Where do you get Class One Model Works rolling stock? And how much is an expensive model? Do they sell older 40 foot boxcars as I model an earlier period? I've been buying Kadee cars for their great detail and separately applied parts. Except the cut levers are derailing my cars, LOL. Cheers from eastern TN

[@ConrailSteve]

I purchased my cars direct from Class One via their website and actually preordered them. I have seen a few hobby shops showing them for sale as well. An expensive model at least in my opinion is in the $40 to $60+ per car range. With these being $60 each I expected them to at least be comparable to other manufacturers that charge in that same price range. They do not sell the older 40FT style cars as of now. Kadee cars are excellent cars with great detail for the price. If they had more cars that fit my 1997-1999 era I would defiantly have more of them than I already do.

[@MLWQC]

Very good review

[@ConrailSteve]

Thank you!

[@alberthofer679]

Hi Steve, what's your opinion on the Penn Central having a 1967 build date🤔😒 ?

[@ConrailSteve]

The Penn Central car is about the same for the most part. End walkways are an issue same as the Conrail cars. The lettering appears to have similar issues as well. The X60N class designation is completely missing, the font on the numbers as well as reporting marks is also off in a similar way to the Conrail cars. The Penn Central font above the reporting marks appears slightly oversized as well as the Penn Central worm logo is also oversized. My advise is if possible compare the photo in the book Penn Central color guide to fright equipment volume 2 -Page 70 bottom photo, to the artwork rendering on class ones website. Class one didn’t change anything from the original art work on their website to the final cars they delivered. Honestly I would wait for Scaletrains to do the Penn Central version of the Thrall car in a future run or buy more of the Tangent Greenville cars before buying more of the Class One cars.

[@ConrailSteve]

Also I apologize for not having the Penn Central car shown more in the Video. I had planned on comparing it to photos as well but after comparing the Conrail cars I was rather frustrated and disappointed.

[@alberthofer679]

@@ConrailSteve I agree ., I actually have 4 cr on preorder from scale trains, I believe these are the same cars anyways. The class 1 PC box car has an early PC build date new 12-67 , PC was 68 , unless they snuck a few cars into the shop early 🤔

[@Ace-kr6gu]

I totally agree, if the quality isn't there then the price shouldn't be as much.

[@ConrailSteve]

If these were a say $40 Athearn RTR level car I could live with the paint color being what it is and the decals reeding reworked. But at $60 each I expected a car I would do some simple weathering on and be done with.....not a repaint project.

[@Ace-kr6gu]

@@ConrailSteve I agree. 60 US, I'm in Canada, I'd be afraid to see what they want for them here, lol.

[@ConrailSteve]

The prices for y’all in Canada are probably brutal for these especially considering the issues with them.

[@AnnArbor393]

Nice I agree.!

[@ConrailSteve]

Thank you!

[@douglingle1600]

I dont own any scaletrains rolling stock, but I do own 4 engines, I own a mixture of tagent and atherean gensis ones. Class one seems to tout there accuracy and quality in there ads, looks like however these seem to miss the mark on several areas.

[@ConrailSteve]

I was very dissapointed to say the least. Scaletrains and Tangent have set the bar high for quality in rolling stock and I really expected these to be on par with them based on price alone. Sould you consider buying either Tangent or Scaletrains rolling stock I highly recommend them.

[@douglingle1600]

Thanks for the reply, I personally know the quality and detail of Tangent rolling stock and what I've seen and read Scaletrains is just as impressive. They both have set the pretty high, something, that hopefully others will aspire to.

[@milepost110models]

Hi Steve, Class One is Conrail no quality.I agree with you on the couplers should be Kadee 158, The color is way off on the cars and the spacing and fonts used on the car itself, and the half news the walkways are curved as I have photos showing that in Mainline Modeler June 2003 issue.and its gets no better.

[@ConrailSteve]

Its cars like these from a newer manufacturer that really can "leave a bad taste in a modelers mouth" with them. Its really a shame because overall operationally and detail wish the cars are great. But having to repaint and redecal a $60 boxcar is ridiculous!

[@JohnSchuster-yc6dp]

Cool beans

[@ConrailSteve]

Thank you!

[@fragmentsofinfinity]

The decals remind me of a slight improvement over old ConCor models the small lettering is somewhat blurred. Looking forward to Scaletrains release. I bought 7 of the Classones won't buy anymore from them till I see improvement. By the way the Pennsylvania Railroad keystone is totally huge on the C1M car 😲.

[@ConrailSteve]

These cars really are a bummer overall. Really look forward to the Scaletrains release of these! Glad I only got 4 of these Class One cars, I couldn’t imagine how frustrated id be had I have bought 7. It seems like they messed up the logos and lettering on all of them, at least they were consistent 🤦‍♂️😂.

[@johnwhalen3037]

All they want to do is push them out there for sale

[@ConrailSteve]

Its really a shame as these detail wise are nice cars. I almost feel like they rushed the decal design to be able to release as many versions as they could before Scaletrains or someone else could release them.

[@johnwhalen3037]

@@ConrailSteve yep that they did plus with them being made in China as they have no clue as to the placement of the decals

[@josephcosta5161]

God knows what you paid for it. Sure it wasn't cheap as you have the right to pick those things out, joe

[@ConrailSteve]

I had these cars preordered from Class One after they announced them. The cars were $59.99 and at that price they really should have been on par with competitors that are priced in that range.