RTR? I just realized...

[Green_Elite_Cab]

You mention the Walthers Evans X72 boxcars -- everyone has his or her own standards, but even given trucks with metal wheels that screw in and metal couplers on these cars, there are basic things that still need to be done from my point of view. These are personal preferences, though some come from 50+ years experience trying to get HO trains to work right!

Well, an HO train that "works right" straight from the box, is a good RTR car. The Evans X72 I purchased seems to have these qualities, since it has yet to give me any sort of trouble, not even a minor inconveniance, and its been running for literally hours a day on my train for my club's open house.

I'm out of Details West cushion underframes and so is my LHS, so for starters, I would normally have replaced the whole Walthers underframe with a Details West, since the detail is a little better and it includes the cushion, which the prototype had. But simply as a stopgap, I don't run any cars with clip-on Athearn coupler pockets. I drilled out the nub or whatever it is that the coupler swivels on in these pockets, tapped 2-56, and inserted a screw to keep the clip-on coupler pocket cover in place.

Second, I simply can't stand bare metal wheels or unpainted couplers, and I can't stand shiny plastic truck sideframes, so I had to fix those.

Third, if the car represents the period 1968-1978, I add the ACI label to the paint. Even RTR with good paint is inconsistent over doing this.

Fourth, the car is about an ounce short of NMRA weight, and this matters on larger layouts with longer trains.

This view stresses how really bad the stock stirrup steps are, and I need to schedule all my Walthers X72s through the shop for this. I'm steadily working througn the same issue with my Athearn and Accurail cars.

The way I figure it, there is a difference between "looks right" and "Works right". I'd hardly argue that the Evans X72 looks right. I think the Conrail Cyclopedia has an extensive article on EXACTLY what is wrong with these cars. If you want models that look right, then yes, I agree, most RTR cars do not look right out of the box.

However, RTR implies that the car is ready to be run, right out of the box. Most of the items you list, except for the weight and arguably the coupler pocket situation, are aesthetic things. Whether or not you add the ACI tags, weather the wheels, trucks and couplers, or replace the stirrup steps, the car is still functional, and somewhat attractive.

These save you time since at least you have a functional car now, and can worry about fixing the details later (as opposed to having a back log of un-operable, unfinished kits that are only partially constructed).