Bethgon Coalporters.

A recent innovation in coal gondola technology, the BethGon Coalporter(TM) gondola can be seen on railroads across the country, with more than 10,000 cars in service. Built by Bethlehem Steel's Johnstown American Corporation, the BethGon features all-aluminum construction and a unique trough-style bottom for added carrying capacity. Because there are no discharge chutes on the bottom of the car, these cars are unloaded strictly by rotary dump.

   This is AZL’s first Plastic Injection molded freight car. Lets face it folks, there are lots of freight cars available for Z scale these days, but modern freight has always been a bit lacking. While Märklin makes some really great operating cars, with metal wheels and great running trucks, that huge old 1972 coupler of theirs means the truck is in the wrong place. MTL makes a really nice truck and coupler, but no metal wheels. We wanted to combine the best of both worlds with our new AZL Roller Bearing Trucks:

1. -Metal Wheels
2. -Prototypically Accurate Dimensions
3. -Smooth operation
4. -A solid coupler designed for long trains that will not uncouple easily.

   Our first run of Bethgons were designed and made by Bowser in Pennsylvania, USA. They incorporated two weights deep in the car, right over the trucks, so the care would be heavy, but with a low center of gravity. They also have covers on them, so if you want to open up the Bethgon and take the coal load out, you still have a good looking car and the weights are still hidden.
   This first run was made with Roller Bearing trucks designed and made by Ajin in Korea. These trucks were produced prior to MTL’s turnouts, and they were gauged for Marklin turnouts. The MTL’s required a bit wider flange than the Marklins, and by the time MTL released their product, we already had thousands of trucks produced. The good news is that they do not derail on MTL turnouts, but they do “ride up” just a bit. We prefer perfection.
   Bowser agreed to produce the straight forward paint schemes (CSX, NS and ConRail) so these were first to market.

Bethgon 2.0

   We then moved the Roller Bearing injection molds from Korea to China, and the BethGon mold was moved from Pennsylvania to China for our next run of BethGons: UP, BNSF and CHTT.

BNSF CHTT UP CMO

   The Chinese made new wheels that have MTL perfect gauges, as well as discovering that they could change the truck mold to re-angle the Axel / Truck configuration for better rolling characteristics. They also redesigned the simulated coal load for more realism.
   These new models are much more complex from a paint and lettering perspective. There is even lettering on the top rail of the BNSF car! The quality is fantastic, and is a good indicator of what we can expect from our new Chinese manufacture going forward.
   Even better, the Chinese delivered product within a week of their estimated date. Our other manufactures were frequently off by many months – in some cases over a year.