Has anyone seen the new IHC heavyweight passenger cars in ACL paint, and if so,how do they look? I've been thinking of ordering some, but without seeing them first, I am hesitant to do so. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated

-- Charles E. Gregory (aclnes@hotmail.com), February 27, 2001

Answers

I just got my first look at a set of the ACL Heavyweights today. The painting and lettering appear to be good. Otherwise, the cars themselves are standard IHC issue, nothing specifically designed to resemble ACL. The baggage and RPO cars seem to be the most "believable". As for the rest of the fleet, well...it really depends how particular you are about authenticity. If that's not a serious factor for you, it's still a good-looking set. For others...just remember these cars come from the same company that gave us NJ Transit dome cars.

-- Bob Venditti (bobvend@bellsouth.net), March 17, 2001.

Some of the ACL and SAL cars are now in stock.The purple on the ACL cars is excellent,the model itself however is not accurate IMHO. The doors on the sides are too short. The SAL red/gray cars have a black roof and gray ends, which is incorrect,but the colors do seem to match the society's color photos.I use the Testor's Dark Red spray paint which I feel is an almost perfect match and readily available.

-- Leon Butler (hobbyshop@beachaccess.net), March 14, 2001.

Charles, check out http://www.ihc-hobby.com/cgi-bin/web_store.cgi and you'll see an ACL coach. In typical IHC practice, I'm sure the car will not match any ACL prototypes, and I guess the jury is out on what they look like in person....looks like the yellow stripes and letterboards are okay....can't tell about the shade of royal purple....anyone else out there?

-- Mark V. Huband (mark.v.huband@convergys.com), February 28, 2001.