DCC Container Terminal - Advice please

Snowwolflair · July 12, 2016, 10:23:43 PM

My last remaining Lima rolling stock are a rake of container wagons in 1:160. I repainted them many years ago and as they look quite smart I have overlooked their poor detailing and scale.

However, I am about to take possession of a motorised Brawa container crane which I propose to modify to Freightliner crane appearance and to control it by DCC with sound.

I will need to modify it to one particular make of container and that frames the question.

My question is which make and version to go with for my new container train? Farish/Dapol/Walthers etc.

Who rates which manufacturers containers/wagons, and I have an eye on the new Revolution wagons.

Thoughts please.

NB British outline

Pete @ EGLM · July 12, 2016, 11:38:59 PM

Hi David,
If you like I'll bring a selection of containers (Dapol, Farish & C rail) to club night and you can make your own mind up.

Pete @ EGLM

Snowwolflair · July 12, 2016, 11:40:27 PM

That would be fantastic

Pete @ EGLM · July 13, 2016, 12:17:05 AM

It won't be this week as sunshine has been demanded by the domestic authorities....

Snowwolflair · July 13, 2016, 12:18:37 AM

No hurry its a winter project.

koyli55002 · July 13, 2016, 06:31:10 AM

I believe the Revolution wagons are being configured to take Dapol containers ?
Should be fairly easy to set up for any of them though.
Personally, I'm replacing most of mine over time with C-Rail kit ones.

red_death · July 13, 2016, 10:56:55 AM

Quote from: koyli55002 on July 13, 2016, 06:31:10 AM
I believe the Revolution wagons are being configured to take Dapol containers ?

That was our thinking, but when we did the CAD the compromises on the twistlock attachments were too overscale (Ben put images of the difference on the PFA/KFA thread). So we went back to the original idea of doing the attachments to scale and leaving the choice of containers (and how they are attached) to the individual.

Cheers, Mike

Snowwolflair · July 13, 2016, 11:01:44 AM

Mike thanks for that I think I might go the Revolution way.

My plan is to use very small magnets not enough to lift the wagon but strong enough to hold a container on.

Do you have any vies on the best molded containers?

njee20 · July 13, 2016, 01:43:38 PM

Farish ones are 45', Dapol are 40', they're not the same, if that makes a difference.

The thing that annoys me is that they're all the same height. Look at a real container train, and the height variation in containers is very marked.

I think both the longer Dapol and Farish offerings are hi-cube models, but the 20' ones are the same height as the 40/45' from both manufacturers. C-Rail are the same too.

Could be wrong mind!

There are often some good deals around, but I personally like the C-Rail ones because the bulk packs allow you to recreate more prototypical containers - look at what Farish include with their intermodal pairs, I've never even seen a picture of Seaco or Seawheel containers, no idea if they actually exist. I'm steadily reprinting mine as Maersk, Evergreen, Hapag Lloyd etc, which are far more common IRL.

koyli55002 · July 13, 2016, 02:16:36 PM

I think that there are very few of the original 8 foot high containers left - most npowadays seem to be either 8'6" or else 9'6" height nowadays.
One of my projects is to re-create the "butter train" that used to run from Tilbury to Swindon which was a trainload of what we used to call "porthole boxes". These were 20 foot insulated containers which had two ports in the end. When on board the ship, these ports were connected to refrigerated air ducts within the ship and the container kept regfirgerated that way.
They usually had quite attractive liveries - an off-white colour with the logo or houseflag of the shipping companies - Blue Star Line, Ellerman or A.C.T. The containers would be relatively simple to scractch build, as well.
P and O containers aso had "porthole boxes" - they were a duck egg blue with the logo.

Sprintex · July 13, 2016, 02:27:38 PM

Quote from: njee20 on July 13, 2016, 01:43:38 PM
- look at what Farish include with their intermodal pairs, I've never even seen a picture of Seaco or Seawheel containers, no idea if they actually exist.

Paul

njee20 · July 13, 2016, 02:35:07 PM

Awesome, thank you Sprintex! Still getting rid of them, but nice to know they exist! What about Axis?!

QuoteI think that there are very few of the original 8 foot high containers left - most npowadays seem to be either 8'6" or else 9'6" height nowadays

Yeah, but I think Dapol/Farish ones are all the same, despite the prototypes being different. Not sure what they scale to. It's a moot point though really, not going to make any real difference!

koyli55002 · July 13, 2016, 02:49:46 PM

Just run a caliper over the containers I have - some Farish and some C-Rail (no Dapol, I'm afraid).
The Farish ones have a height of 16.5mm which equates to 8'0" in 1:148.
The C-Rail ones are 17.2mm height which equates to 8'6" so if you want to have the height variety, then sprinkle some C-Rail ones through the train ?
The 9'6" boxes (and I don't believe anyone makes them yet ?) would have to be in the KQA "Pocket Wagons" .

red_death · July 13, 2016, 02:56:34 PM

"Standard" modern containers are 8ft6. High cubes are 9ft6. Lengths vary but standard deep sea containers are 8ft wide.

Farish did some of the slightly odd Palletwide containers for their Multifret IFA/FIAs.
Dapol have done a high cube 45ft for the Megafrets.

I assume the "old" Farish 20 and 40 ft containers are 8ft or 8ft 6.

I'm aware of a couple of potential projects for new N gauge containers which should give a bit more variety - watch this space.

Cheers, Mike

njee20 · July 13, 2016, 03:35:16 PM

Perhaps I'm wrong then, it's been a while since I measured, but I thought that:

- Farish did 45' 'high cubes' (included with Multifret wagons)
- Dapol do 20' and 40'x 8'6" containers (with FEAs) and 45' hi-cubes (Stobart ones included with Megafrets)

But in model form they're all the same height. I'm doubting that as I've written it now though! Maybe I'd assumed the Farish offerings were hi-cubes, but they're actually 8'6" 45' 'pallet wide' containers as Mike says?

I'll be checking all of these when I get home!