1:22.5 SCALE FLATCARS
Manufacturer: LGB of America, 6444 Nancy Ridge Drive, San Diego, CA 92121. Price: Ready-to-run 41600 Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes flatcars, two per package $82.50 suggested list.
ALMOST EVERYBODY IS familiar with LGB's American style eight wheel flatcar. It has been in the line for more than a decade. Many have stayed permanently outdoors for that long with no ill effect. It is a good looking, extremely durable piece of rolling stock with good detail and attractive proportions.
Unfortunately, those proportions bear no relationship whatever to the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes flatcars they nominally represent but that was never LGB's intent. LGB simply wanted to paint and letter rolling stock to match their Sandy River Forney locomotives and, as usual, they have created a good looking product.
For the record, the SR&RL was a 24 inch narrow gauge railroad in Maine. In LGB's scale of 1:22.5, their track (45mm number 1 gauge) scales about 40 inches. Also, most Sandy River flatcars measured about 28 feet long by about 6 feet wide. LGB's flatcar actually represents a Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge prototype. It scales 27 feet long by 7 feet 7 inches wide. According to our plans, the width is about right but the length is about a foot short for even an accurate representation of the SP car.
But again, LGB never intended to model a real Sandy River flatcar. So we will evaluate the car on its own merits. The model exhibits LGB's usual excellent die work resulting in clean, crisp detail, convincing wood grain where appropriate, and superb overall quality. The graphics are also clear, crisp, and opaque. Each car has a different road number. The "S.R.&R.L." stencil-type lettering on our samples appeared heavier than the lettering in any of our photos but our Sandy River information is scanty and LGB graphics generally are pretty accurate.
The car is mostly injection molded plastic. The brakewheel and grab irons are tough, flexible, black press-in castings. The car body is boxcar red and the color seems to be that of the plastic with an additional paint finish. The only metal parts are the wheel axles, truss rods, and screws. You will need a small sledgehammer to damage the car.
LGB has expressed a desire to concentrate on toy trains and generally to ignore the scale model market. Since Outdoor Railroader reviews samples consistent with the manufacturer's intent, we give LGB's Sandy River flatcars our highest rating. They are truly excellent products.-RR
