[?]

By Ray Pulls Modify Lionel O-Gauge Auto Carrier  to S-Gauge

I don't believe Ron  and I have shared with members how we did the changes, actually it is a pretty easy process. The auto carriers generally come with three decks on which the autos can be mounted. On the conversion illustrated here the first operation was to cut the nameplate off the top deck and glue it in position on the lower deck. Lionel put the railroad insignias on the third level. Ron made his own labels on his computer and put it on with double backed adhesive, leaving the molding intact. On the conversions that I have done the third deck is set aside, reason being, there are tunnels on my layout and the third deck would not clear them. A second consideration is the fact that the additional four autos, if you load the cars, would make for an extremely heavy car and would limit the number that a locomotive could pull. Also at that height and weight the car is a bit unstable. The next was to remove the O gauge trucks, this can be done either by drilling out the rivets or grinding the end of the rivets off. In my process, I glue Styrene to the chassis. I glued one piece measuring 5/32" x 1/4" on each end of the car adjacent to the bulkhead next to the original truck mounting boss, I also fit a piece of Styrene to go between the bulkhead and the original truck boss for support of the truck mounting screw.”. Next operation is to locate the new mounting locations for the S gauge trucks, these are set 1- 1/8" from the very end of the chassis and centered side to side on the chassis. When drilling, the hole size will vary depending on the size of the hole in the trucks that you will use, I prefer to find trucks with a smaller mounting hole for which l drill and tap for a 4-40 screw. Note: I did not tap the hole all the way through. That way the screw will bind and ensure that it remains tight. When mounting the trucks to the chassis l put a small washer in place between the truck and chassis. All that is left now is to mount the autos to the decks on car or if you prefer run the auto carrier empty. Note: Ron’s Opinion: Regarding the vehicles on the auto carriers, my preference is toward M2’s. One of the subtleties of M2’s is the scale differences, For example, due to my age, I’m very familiar with 50’s cars. There is no way that a 1958 Chevy Impala is the same size and length of a 1957 Chevy Bel-Aire. Also, many of the real Chrysler products were actually huge by comparison. As a result, because I love my 50’s cars I only put 3 vehicles per tier. Some cars, like a DeSoto, bumper to bumper, with a slight overhang, will allow you to put four per tier. I also fasten the cars to the carrier with screws. That way they don’t shift around or end up on my concrete basement floor.

Note from Ron: 

As previously mentioned in the Ray’s Rail Ways article on the Auto carriers, the cars came with a third deck. Since I didn’t cut mine up for the insignia, I used them for another purpose, a four car Auto carrier. By cutting off two of the ends at the point of the cross beams and a floor section, the structures fit nicely on an American Flyer flat car, only overlapping by about 1/8th of an inch on each end. . These cars are apparently not that popular with Lionel operators or collectors. The most that I paid for one was $20.00, two were free, the rest were from $7.00 to 14.00. “THE REST”? I have a total of 11, three with 1957 Fords, two with 1957 Chevys, two with 1958 Chevys, and one each with 1957 Mercury’s, 1957 Dodge’s, Plymouth’s and DeSoto’s. Someday Ray and I will put all of them together on his layout and put it on YouTube. It will probably require a double or triple header to pull them.