Price: Single car, $37.99; six-pack, $219.99
Manufacturer
Otter Valley Railroad Inc.
37 Tillson St., Unit E
Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada N4G 0B7
Road names: American Iron & Metal Co. (20000 and 21000 series), Midwest Railcar Corp., Triple M Metal, and XRMX. Also available painted black with data only. Six to 12 road numbers per paint scheme.
Era: 2022 to present
Comments: A National Steel Car (NSC) 6,000-cubic-foot capacity scrap metal gondola marks the first N scale release from Canadian hobby shop Otter Valley Railroad. The model features an injection-molded plastic body, metal wheelsets, and body-mounted couplers.
The sample we received is decorated as American Iron & Metal No. 21200, part of the metal recycling company’s 21001 through 21300 series built by NSC under Job P4255/21 in February and March 2022.
The Otter Valley model has a one-piece body with a mix of molded and separate, factory-applied details. Among the molded details are Automatic Equipment Identification tags, billing card holders, and end grab irons and crossover handrails. Freestanding parts include see-through, etched-metal crossover platforms and plastic brake housing, brake wheel, and side ladders.
Inside, the gondola features raised weld seams and a painted metal weight. Underneath, the model has a one-piece plastic casting consisting of the center sills, crossmembers, body bolsters, and bolsters. There are 24 pins on the casting that fit into holes on the car’s underbody. The air reservoir, brake cylinder, control valve, equalizing reservoir, and related pipes, rods, and levers are molded, but many have a freestanding appearance. The brake pipe and release rod are formed wire.
The portion of the brake pipe extending from the body bolster to the car ends, which also includes angle cock and partial air hose detail, is a separate plastic part. The remainder of the air hose and the uncoupling lever are attached to the draft-gear box cover. A pin at the opposite end of the lever fits into a hole in the body-mounted bracket.
The screw-mounted trucks feature separate brake beam detail. Two-piece plastic couplers, without trip pins, are body-mounted in plastic draft-gear boxes attached to the car ends with screws. The couplers, which are .010” low, have a scale-size appearance. Because of this, more manual assistance is required when coupling cars.
Our review sample is neatly painted black with white graphics. The AIM logo is a touch larger than the one on the full-size car, but not objectionably oversized. The load limit and light weight on the model are different than what’s displayed on the prototype AIMX 21200, but are correct for other cars in the series. The model’s dimensions closely follow published data.
At 1.5 ounces, the NSC gondola is .3 ounce too heavy per National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) Recommended Practice 20.1. All four wheelsets were tight against the NMRA Standard Gauge from the box. I was able to fix the issue with a quick twist of the wheels on the axle.
If you model the modern era in N scale, these gondolas are must-have additions for your rolling stock fleet. In addition, Otter Valley offers the 6,400-cubic-foot capacity version of the NSC car in multiple paint schemes.
Read a review of the Otter Valley Railroad HO scale FreightCar America 52-foot, 100-ton bulkhead flatcar with side stakes on Trains.com.
I bought six of the CDEX reporting mark cars. They are truly a great product. They ship them very well packaged too, didn’t even get tied up in customs!