Excellent review of the JTC 53’ Well Car! I picked up a pair recently and am impressed! That other well car you have is I believe an Athearn N car as I have a few of those as well and they are not great compared to the JTC ones. Their containers are sweet too! The containers also work well with my KATO and Scale Trains containers as well with the nubs.
Thanks for the review. I have just ordered a number of these cars, and it is nice to see that it appears that I have made a good purchase. Unfortunately, shipping to Australia is very slow, so I am unlikely to get them for at least another month.
Wow that sucks with the shipping. Also sucks y'all are locked inside your houses by your government. Getting some train stuff would should help that a little!
@@AlleghenyNorthern A surprise! One of my orders arrived today, and it included the JTC cars. Only 20 days since order date. Also in the package were a couple of Atlas cars, so I did a quick comparison of the two. They are very similar in details, although the Atlas cars come with an air hose next to the coupler, whereas the JTC are missing this detail. As you identified in your review, the lettering is crisp, and so is the Atlas car. I did a check using RR Picture Archives which had photos of both the JTC car and the Atlas car that I was examining. Both appear to have all the lettering as per the prototype. The JTC cars weighs 25 grams, the Atlas weighs 22 grams. Costwise, for me, the JTC cars are $32 and the Atlas are $25. The one thing that, to me, that justifies the price difference is that the JTC cars are the 17-post cars, and thus not a common thing in N scale, while they appear to be fairly common in real life. However, when I ran them on my layout, I had all sorts of problems. No real problems tracking, but when coupled one JTC to another JTC, they would not stay coupled, especially when shunting with them. Finally had a look at the JTC web site and saw that the cars are supposed to be fitted with Micro-Trains 1015 couplers, so sat down at the workbench to see just what the problem was. Found that one of the cars that I had received had a broken coupler, and this was what was causing all my problems, and, of course, it was the middle car of three cars, so it appeared to be a real problem with the car rather than one coupler.
I love the look. I just got to get over the articulate way kato uses on their double stacks. But I like the look of this car. Thanks for the review. Enjoying your content
The Kato units are nice - a little finicky sometimes with how they connect but I like them. This Jacksonville Terminal cars are definitely nice single-unit cars though.
i thought it was Con-Cor, too, and someone pointed out that it was Round House. So I went digging through the box of cases and sure enough, it was a Round House kit. I do have one of the Con-Cor versions - it's by far the least detailed of the models I have. It was also the first I bought when i was still young - and young at the hobby, carrying Atlas sectional track around and setting it up on a table!
Kato has used the magnetic container method for years. Jacksonville terminal also sells conversion kits to convert non-magnetic containers from other manufacturers like Atlas and Micro-trains.
The Kato stuff is nice. I have a couple of their kits - they track well and the magnets are nice. I didn't know they offer conversion kits - which is cool - but man, i don't think anyone is touching JTC's level of detail right now.
i'm not hung up on metal wheels - in fact, i prefer plastic so that wasn't a negative for me. but i know metal wheels are increasing in popularity for block detection so i understand where that might be a negative.
The only thing I don't like (well 2 technically) is the MTL plastic wheels. This day and age, there is no excuse to still be selling anything with plastic wheels let along something in this price range. second is more of a me gripe, I really don't like MTL couplers. Way too much slack and just over all not great looking. I find myself in a rare boat of Kato Split knuckles (locos, well cars and passenger cars come with these) as the best off the shelf to me. This is also coming from someone that prints my own couplers because I like correct sizing and model detail. but non the less, an excellent review. Thankyou for putting in the time and effort
I know the couplers are a little bulky and even the MicroTrains wheelsets are not to scale, but they do provide reliable operations - even on imperfect track. For me, I'm willing to make that sacrifice. While some of my 'true scale' wheel sets do fine, i find the tighter radii and the longer cars just don't run - slap a MTL wheelset on them and they stay on. I know some folks are all about metal wheels - and I am curious, why? If a car comes with metal and runs fine, I leave it alone. If it doesn't, I put the MTL's on. So what's they hype with metal I'm missing other than better scale proportion?
@@AlleghenyNorthern there probably are some of these cars in other places. I'm not setup to make purchases from their places which is probably a good thing. Otherwise I'd want to buy bulk orders and still have to watch the $$$. Being a single home owner it's nice to have a tank of heating oil and food once in awhile. Lol Maybe someday.
Nice video👍🙋🏻♂️.
Greetings Gert
Excellent review of the JTC 53’ Well Car! I picked up a pair recently and am impressed! That other well car you have is I believe an Athearn N car as I have a few of those as well and they are not great compared to the JTC ones. Their containers are sweet too! The containers also work well with my KATO and Scale Trains containers as well with the nubs.
The JTC stuff is really nice. Pricey, but the details are just astounding.
The other intermodal car you showed you didn’t know the manufacturer of is a round house one
Yup! That's the one. Good call.
Very nice.
Thanks for the review. I have just ordered a number of these cars, and it is nice to see that it appears that I have made a good purchase. Unfortunately, shipping to Australia is very slow, so I am unlikely to get them for at least another month.
Wow that sucks with the shipping. Also sucks y'all are locked inside your houses by your government. Getting some train stuff would should help that a little!
@@AlleghenyNorthern A surprise!
One of my orders arrived today, and it included the JTC cars. Only 20 days since order date. Also in the package were a couple of Atlas cars, so I did a quick comparison of the two.
They are very similar in details, although the Atlas cars come with an air hose next to the coupler, whereas the JTC are missing this detail. As you identified in your review, the lettering is crisp, and so is the Atlas car. I did a check using RR Picture Archives which had photos of both the JTC car and the Atlas car that I was examining. Both appear to have all the lettering as per the prototype. The JTC cars weighs 25 grams, the Atlas weighs 22 grams. Costwise, for me, the JTC cars are $32 and the Atlas are $25. The one thing that, to me, that justifies the price difference is that the JTC cars are the 17-post cars, and thus not a common thing in N scale, while they appear to be fairly common in real life.
However, when I ran them on my layout, I had all sorts of problems. No real problems tracking, but when coupled one JTC to another JTC, they would not stay coupled, especially when shunting with them. Finally had a look at the JTC web site and saw that the cars are supposed to be fitted with Micro-Trains 1015 couplers, so sat down at the workbench to see just what the problem was. Found that one of the cars that I had received had a broken coupler, and this was what was causing all my problems, and, of course, it was the middle car of three cars, so it appeared to be a real problem with the car rather than one coupler.
I love the look. I just got to get over the articulate way kato uses on their double stacks. But I like the look of this car. Thanks for the review. Enjoying your content
The Kato units are nice - a little finicky sometimes with how they connect but I like them. This Jacksonville Terminal cars are definitely nice single-unit cars though.
Old one likely Con Cor, nice looking car,JTC does great job on their containers
i thought it was Con-Cor, too, and someone pointed out that it was Round House. So I went digging through the box of cases and sure enough, it was a Round House kit. I do have one of the Con-Cor versions - it's by far the least detailed of the models I have. It was also the first I bought when i was still young - and young at the hobby, carrying Atlas sectional track around and setting it up on a table!
Your layout is bad ass
Thanks!
Kato has used the magnetic container method for years. Jacksonville terminal also sells conversion kits to convert non-magnetic containers from other manufacturers like Atlas and Micro-trains.
The Kato stuff is nice. I have a couple of their kits - they track well and the magnets are nice. I didn't know they offer conversion kits - which is cool - but man, i don't think anyone is touching JTC's level of detail right now.
To much money. I buy atlas well cars and their awesome.
Very nice…Thanks for the review!
Great review and thank you.
One thing that this model came short of [at this price] is the absence of metal wheels.
i'm not hung up on metal wheels - in fact, i prefer plastic so that wasn't a negative for me. but i know metal wheels are increasing in popularity for block detection so i understand where that might be a negative.
The only thing I don't like (well 2 technically) is the MTL plastic wheels. This day and age, there is no excuse to still be selling anything with plastic wheels let along something in this price range.
second is more of a me gripe, I really don't like MTL couplers. Way too much slack and just over all not great looking. I find myself in a rare boat of Kato Split knuckles (locos, well cars and passenger cars come with these) as the best off the shelf to me. This is also coming from someone that prints my own couplers because I like correct sizing and model detail.
but non the less, an excellent review. Thankyou for putting in the time and effort
I know the couplers are a little bulky and even the MicroTrains wheelsets are not to scale, but they do provide reliable operations - even on imperfect track. For me, I'm willing to make that sacrifice. While some of my 'true scale' wheel sets do fine, i find the tighter radii and the longer cars just don't run - slap a MTL wheelset on them and they stay on. I know some folks are all about metal wheels - and I am curious, why? If a car comes with metal and runs fine, I leave it alone. If it doesn't, I put the MTL's on. So what's they hype with metal I'm missing other than better scale proportion?
Nice review , your layout looks awesome !
Thanks!
The car cost more because it's cast metal. Plastic is cheaper but not as good. I hear ya on the price. But worth it on resale.
Pricey, yes... but they're really nice. And with the added weight of the chassis being metal - they track really well empty.
@@AlleghenyNorthern tracking empty is a big plus. I really love this style car but I can't seem to get them at my local hobby shop. 😞
@@robertschmidt6383 have you looked online? modeltrainstuff.com or lombard hobbies or walthers? i know my local hobby shop doesn't carry them, either.
@@AlleghenyNorthern there probably are some of these cars in other places. I'm not setup to make purchases from their places which is probably a good thing. Otherwise I'd want to buy bulk orders and still have to watch the $$$. Being a single home owner it's nice to have a tank of heating oil and food once in awhile. Lol Maybe someday.