Question re 6-wheeled trucks/bogies

[RobertInOntario]

Rob: these cars look like the CNR 5200 series (5283-5307), They ran on 6 wheel trucks. Built 1942. As coaches, these came between the clerestory-roofed cars and the smooth-sided "streamlined" cars of the 50s. I remember riding in these cars, often on fan trips. They had a large ladies retiring room with a couch (and the washroom off of that).
The length may be a bit short, but the body style is reminiscent. I wouldn't worry about scale length until you have a larger layout.
If they're running all right on the sharp curves, I would worry more about the track. There may be a bit of tweaking you can do on the trucks -- check if they sit flat on the rails or rock about the middle axle.

Thanks, David. I think I'm more familiar with British rolling stock since (as you know) I mostly operate my layout in "British mode" but occasionally get my Canadian trains out as well. At any rate, it's good to know that these Athearn coaches are at least reasonably accurate. They're fairly common and I've often seen them for sale at George's Trains, etc.

BTW, I tried removing one of the wheel sets on one of the shorter (baggage) cars and the derailing problem was MUCH worse! I experimented with removing different wheels (i.e. middle, ends, etc.) and it derailed like crazy, so I quickly went back to using all six wheels.

I actually had a cut of 4 coaches running quite well this afternoon behind my CNR (IHS) Hudson -- no derailing or uncoupling issues ...
But there are definitely quirky problems with the couplers. If I coupled the coaches up in one particular order, they were OK. Otherwise, some of the couplers uncoupled when the coaches were arranged in a different order. I think the Kadee coupler on the Hudson is actually causing problems and might need to be replaced -- so much tweaking & trouble-shooting, it can drive you crazy!

Rob