USA Trains R17615A, G-scale pipe load flat car

I would not really be myself if I brought only one souvenir from a business trip. That also applies to my most recent Californian adventure. In addition to the Piko hopper car, I've also bought another piece of rolling stock made by USA Trains. And this time my choice was a flat car with a pipe load in an eye-catchy yellow livery.

The product's number is R17615A and it was priced at around $60 (excluding shipping). I've ordered my piece from the OnlyTrains online store.

The unboxing experience was much nicer compared to my previous USA Trains box car. There was no "cheap plastic smell" at all. The model seemed fine, just as I expected.

The product includes some extra elements that need to be installed by the owner. There are more pieces of those than actually required, so we're safe even if we break a thing or two. Replacement knuckle couplers are also included in case anyone uses those.

Further opening of the car revealed a very unfortunate fact. The product arrived broken. One of the bogies was completely off.

The reason for that was a crack in the underframe. So the bogie itself was fine, it just wasn't holding onto the car at all. This has probably happened in the transportation, despite very good packaging provided by the retailer.

I've done a quick fix with a slightly longer screw and was able to continue the adventure with my new toy.

Once I had added all the extra details - the handrails and the brake wheel - I could finally enjoy a complete model.

Well, the model is definitely an interesting one. For one, it does feel considerably heavy. So if the weight was any indicator of the quality (and from my experience it very often is), it would mean we're dealing with a good product.

The pipes are not permanently attached to the car. They are actually held by the little chains with the little springs underneath the platform. It is quite an impressive idea, although it also means you have to be a little careful and not wave the model around too much.

The load itself is however nothing special. I believe those are just real-world PVC pipes cut to a desired length. I could actually even spot some stains on those, which is fine after all as it makes the model look more real. The stickers attached to the load do not make a great impression. I'm not sure if there's anything really wrong with them but for some reason I'm not convinced they will last.

The paint job on the other hand is perfect. The labels are razor sharp and the vivid yellow base color makes the model truly stand out. It is worth mentioning that this is an updated version of a USA Trains pipe load flat car. The older version featured slightly less painted elements, and the cargo was not tagged with stickers, either.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that the model arrived damaged, I am really happy with my purchase. For just $60 I got a really nice piece of rolling stock. It's much more original and much more detailed than similarly priced products from other manufacturers. I will definitely be buying more items made by USA Trains in the future.