[OwenMccarthy14]

So I bough this little thing on eBay, and neither me, nor the seller have any idea what it is, or who made it. The pictures are from the listing. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

Your moniker picture is what this car carries; an army tank ! Ramps become bulkheads..

But who made it? What brand is it?

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

Yep. What Telltale said. It would be on one end of a string of flat cars, serving as a ramp. It’s how you get 120 M1-A2s onto 60 flat cars.

Its made of plastic, and quite professionally made. It has a lot of detail on it

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

It might be scratch built, but I’m not ready to suggest that. Is it plastic or metal? Is it possible to get a photo of the underside? It looks like it could very well be made of brass, by one of the Korean companies.

It might be scratch built, but I’m not ready to suggest that. Is it plastic or metal? Is it possible to get a photo of the underside? It looks like it could very well be made of brass, by one of the Korean companies.

As of right now I’m still at work. But aside from the empty coupler mounts, there’s just a very small weight on the bottom, underneath both of the trucks

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

That’s the bottom of the car. The coupler mount looks somewhat familiar? I wanted to say Athearn earlier, but I can’t find any Athearn cars in my rolling stock that have the same mount

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

Those look similar to Kadee coupler box covers having been glued on. Except they’re a little different from ones I’m familiar with. They jut out beyond the box end. In the photo you can see the area I mean right above the axle. Looks like, to me, Kadee covers glued on backwards and upside down.
Uhm.
I’m stumped.

Right?? And there is a weight on it, but it barely does anything. When I got the box, it felt empty! There could be a manufactering label underneath the “weight” but I don’t want to tamper with it

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

Those look similar to Kadee coupler box covers having been glued on. Except they’re a little different from ones I’m familiar with. They jut out beyond the box end. In the photo you can see the area I mean right above the axle. Looks like, to me, Kadee covers glued on backwards and upside down.
Uhm.
I’m stumped.

Actually…. Do you think it could be an old Kadee kit?

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

It's not Roco. It would be stamped on the bottom.

They are also not NEM coupler pockets. They remind me of the old Athearn F hooks mounts that use a metal clip to retain the coupler.

You see, I thought it was Athearn too, but none of my older Athearn cars, or even my newer cars have similar mounts

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

Update. I was looking at the underside of the car, near the rear ramps, and I noticed the lack of the gray paint. The spot looks very similar to a 3D printer material, which could then mean, it was either professionally printed, or it’s some weird kit

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

Upon further inspection of it this morning, it was definitely a micro scale decal sheet. It could be an old small company kit

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

Even still, no matter what if it’s, as we’ve kind of nailed that; who made it? There has to be some kind of giveaway or clue from the construction of the car. Maybe the trucks?

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

Actually, regarding my latest statement, there may be something to regard with the trucks

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

Agreed. After that last photo I'm convinced it's scratch-built. Can't tell if it's foundation was a flat car, 3D printed or scratched. Although if it was 3D printed there was a lot of careful fill or sanding.

Reporting mark PI is Paducah & Illinois.

Interesting car.

I honestly think it’s a shapeways product. Someone created it, had shapeways print it. Sold it, it was sold two more times, now I have it

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

Agreed. After that last photo I'm convinced it's scratch-built. Can't tell if it's foundation was a flat car, 3D printed or scratched. Although if it was 3D printed there was a lot of careful fill or sanding.

Reporting mark PI is Paducah & Illinois.

Interesting car.

Is the Paducah & Illinois an actual line? I know there’s the Paducah and Louisville short line

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

I’m going to ask a currently serving NCO friend if they’ve ever seen anything like this. They’re not in an Armor battalion but ground pounders see a lot of different things.

Awesome! I’ve been trying to find more on that short line railroad from a previous comment, to no prevail yet

 

[OwenMccarthy14]

Looks to me like one end goes all the way to the ground for a loading ramp and the other end acts as a bridge to the next car.

That is exactly what it does. The car to car ramps line up perfectly with Athearn flat cars. I originally thought it could be an Athearn when I saw this