Taller (Newer?) 40’ 6-panel Howe truss boxcars There’s another 40’ 6-panel single-sheath Howe-truss boxcar around (around at least on eBay, train shows, used train shelves, and I’ve got one in my rolling stock box). It is slightly higher on its wheels than the Atlas or Arnold Rapido model. While the Atlas or Arnold could represent a car with 8’6” or 9’ internal height, the other car looks more like a 10’ tall (IH) car. The one I have is a Roco catalog #28202, lettered SOO #33498. In Walthers 1993 catalog, 28901 Northern Pacific 28902 Soo Line 28903 SLSF (Frisco) 28904 C&NW 28905 WAG 28906 Seaboard Air Line Spotting characteristics: 40’ 6-panel Howe-truss, steel corrugated door, steel diagonal panel roof., steel end 5-4 ribs. Most of the bottom ib is cut away to allow coupler swing. And one odd that does not show up in this photo—4 little rectangular dimples at the top of the ends, a feature characteristic of PS-1 ends! The side of this car looks a lot like a photo of a Soo Line car found on the Los Angeles River Railroads website: http://lariverrailroads.com/freight_car/sooline41410.jpg I notice that the braces come down below the side sill, apparently to connect to underbody framing members. Also, the door has a track only at the top, which the model has top and bottom door tracks. What little can be seen of the ends appears to be steel, and possibly with a rib pattern similar to the model. The roof appears to be flat steel rather than the corrugated pattern of the model roof. I suspect the manufacturer based the side of the car on a proitotype photo or plan, but used the tooling for the roof and ends from an all-steel car. Roco offered a 40’ PS-1 single-door steel boxcar and an all-steel double-door boxcar, apparently AAR design, at the same time as this car. Other Prototypes: Northern Pacific A photo tour of Northwest Railway Museum at Snoqualmie, Washington by a group from the National Railroad Historical Society includes a shot of Northern Pacific Railway NP#28417 Pullman 1944 Boxcar. http://www.trainweb.org/chris/nwrrmuse2.html Scroll down to it. But don’t confuse it with the NP USRA 8-panel USRA single-sheathed boxcar. There is also a shot of Burlington Northern #95028 ancestry unknown, but it has a good shot of the end. Also a (flat panel) door...same as the NP car... and NP was a predecessor of BN... Also some shots of NP cars on the Los Angeles River Railroads site. http://lariverrailroads.com/freight_car/np28038.jpg http://lariverrailroads.com/freight_car/np28702.jpg This may be the closest to the Roco car, if you replace the door. Other prototypes: SLSF #160584 alternate ARA single-sheath 6-panel “A” 40' box NMRA Bulletin Apr76 p.31 SLSF #163523 blt 1930; series 162500-163999 American Car & Foundry (Kaminski) p.176 Milwaukee CMStP&P #716728 American Car & Foundry (Kaminski) p.176 has small lumber door in “A” end. CB&Q #28000, GM&O #20141 Train Shed Cyclopedia #17 p.118 It could be close to Georgia & Florida #8060 as shown in Rail Model Journal November 1997 p.17 except it would need a wood door and probably a different roof.
40’ Single-sheathed 6-panel Pratt “W” truss The single-sheath cars we have looked at so far have had Howe-framed trusses, with diagonals leading toward the center of the car at the top. Railroads also had cars with Pratt trusses, whose diagonals leaned toward the ends at the top. Concor made one 30-40 years ago, I (gloat-gloat) have three and they look a lot like Santa Fe cars. I have put MTL couplers on one and run it, and have a couple more in original configuration. 1301 series from JMC/Concor’s 1973 catalog. 1301A Union Pacific 1301B Pennsylvania 1301C Chicago, Illinois Midland 1301D Milwaukee Road 1301E Santa Fe 1301F Baltimore & Ohio Model description: 40’ nominal length, 6-panel Pratt truss, wood door, steel rectangular panel roof, Improved Drednaught end with half ladder on right side of each end. (more on this in a moment.) The car is lettered for A.T.&S.F. #128936 which would be a class BX-12. It is actually closer to a BX-13, number series 135000-135999. Classes BX-9, -10, -11 and -12 had radial roofs (slight curve), while Class BX-13 had a peaked roof. Prototype characteristics, Santa Fe BX-13 blt 1931 Side door steel, 6/7/6 corrugations Ends 3-4 rib recessed Dreadnaught Roof flat panel, peaked 9’7” IH Roofwalk 3 plank 18” Underframe ARA Published references to Santa Fe CLASS BX-13 135000-135999 blt 1931 by Pressed Steel, ACF, GATC. History & description Santa Fe Modeler SepOct84 p.4 As originally built: Photo #135076 Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953 p.95 photo #135733 w/ original roof, 1943 pix Santa Fe Modeler 4Q89 p.6 top view #135819 Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953 p.74 N kitbash N Scale magazine, MayJun97 p.40 This article says the kitbash was from a Bachmann boxcar but it looks like the Concor car. As rebuilt with steel sides and renumbered: photo #32528 Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953 p.141 photo #32568 rebuilt as all-steel Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953 p.141 photo #32683, reblt steel, 1976 pix Santa Fe Freight in Color-Vol.1 (Boxcars) p.12 photo #33294, reblt steel, 1974 pix Santa Fe Freight in Color-Vol.1 (Boxcars) p.12 photo #33333, reblt steel, 1968 pix Santa Fe Freight in Color-Vol.1 (Boxcars) p.11 photo #33437, reblt steel, 1972 pix Santa Fe Freight in Color-Vol.1 (Boxcars) p.11 photo WX-13 #202430, work service, steel sheathed Santa Fe Modeler MarApr86 p.4 The model could be made to more closely resemble the BX-13 by replacing the molded-up wooden door with a corrugated steel door. I have gotten spare doors from MTL on hobby shops and Intermountain by special order in the past. Now for the matter of the ends. The real BX-13s have Recessed Dreadnaught ends. Here is a cropped photo of the end of a WX-13, a former BX-13 with steel sides replacing the original wood and retired from revenue service as a work train car. The ribs on the model are a little different, but one would hardly ever know. What bothers me is the half ladder on the right side of the ends. I have never seen that on any transition era car. Sorry, it bothers me. I have only one shot of a car like, and it was on a car that had its roofwalk removed and only half-ladders anywhere. I found this same half-ladder on the right side of the end of several Concor cars manufacturers in the early and middle 1970s- wooden boxcars, reefers, and stock cars as well as more modern cars. It appears they used the same ends for them all. I have “fixed” some of my Concor cars by filing away the unwanted half ladder. I am not an accomplished enough model-builder to leave a completely unblemished surface, but I did get the car a little closer to what matters to me. “Your results (and druthers) may vary.” For the other roadnames that were offered by Concor—I couldn’t find information on UP, Milwaukee and B&O to see if they had cars like this. I doubt the Chicago and Illinos Midland because I have only seen it as a Mather Patent car. I have information for all Pennsylvania Railroad boxcar classes from 1915 to the 1965 merger and can say there are none that match the model.
One more 40’ single-sheath 6-panel Pratt “W” truss According to Spookshow, there was another 40’ single-sheath 6-panel Pratt “W” truss, this one built by Bachmann. I have never owned or seen the actual car and never seen it catalogued, but there is a photo on Spookshow’s site. http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/freight/bach41ob.html The side and top look identical to the Concor car, enough to make one wonder if it was from the same tooling. The photo does not tell us about the ends, whether they have Concor’s giveaway right side half-ladder. Possible prototypes for this model OR the Concor model: General description of the ARA standard 40’ 6-panel single-sheath box car, Rail Model Journal November 1997 p.16 Railroads: BAR, B&M, L&N, SAL, SP. WAG Boston and Maine 72998 Rail Model Journal November 1997 p.16. Except outside-framed wood end Seaboard #15747 (except the prototype has a corrugated steel door, flat plate ends), Train Shed Cyclopedia #17 p.118
50’ single-sheathed Automobile Boxcars N scale has had at least two or three models of 50’ single-sheathed outside braced automobile boxcars. Automobile boxcars generally have a much wider side door opening than ordinary boxcars, and sometimes, the entire end of the car opens up. Concor produced the earlier model of one of these, and probably one of the earlier prototype, a so-called one-and-a-half-door car. The car had two doors on each side, a normal width door opening towards the right and a door about two-thirds normal width opening towards the left, hence “a door-and-a-half.” I once had one of these cars lettered for Santa Fe but I sold or traded it off when I learned that Santa Fe didn’t have any cars like these. Doubled-sheathed 50’ autoboxes, yes. Spookshow has a picture of one— http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/freight/cc50obbox.html From this picture, I can’t tell for sure about the car end, but as I remember, it had that improved Dreadnaught end with the odd right-side half-ladder I mentioned earlier. http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/511/ConCorEnd.jpg According to Concor’s 1981 “Source Book,” their door-and-a-half car came in 6 roadnames: 1321A Burlington 1321B Santa Fe 1321C Great Northern 1321D Union Pacific 1321E Pennsylvania 1321F Southern Pacific Concor’s catalog picture shows the wood doors more clearly than the shot on Spookshow, which might be interpreted as a flat plate steel door. I would describe this car as being a 9 panel single-sheathed Howe truss with 4 panels left of the doors and 5 right. End (Ajax type) brake gear, rectangular pattern steel panel roof, steel roofwalk, and apparently those Concor improved Dreadnaught ends with the right-side half-ladder. Possible prototypes NP #5592 1 ½ door p.31 Freight Car Models Vol.II/Box Cars Book 1 (RailModel Journal). The end has narrow corrugations, and a flat plate area about a foot below the roof, rather than the big Drednaught ribs. Sides are dead on. Concor should have offered this car in NP. From the side, one can see the big heavy USRA underframe with the fishbelly center sill, lkike the ones on the USRA 40’ single-sheath boxcars. I am not aware of anyone who makes a car with this 50’ underframe in N scale but Model Railroader had an article on making one in their July 2000 issue, p.86 GN #40061 1 ½ door p.33 Freight Car Models Vol.II/Box Cars Book 1 (RailModel Journal) Very close except for the ends. And it could use a USRA underframe. Union Pacific #150000 p.23 Freight Car Models Vol.II/Box Cars Book 1 (RailModel Journal) Sides fairly close. 5-5-5 corrugated ends. ARA underfram (no need for fishbelly) Southern Pacific #67769 p.34 Freight Car Models Vol.II/Box Cars Book 1 (RailModel Journal) Somewhat like the Concor model except it had 5 panels left end, 4 right, where the model has 4 panels left and 5 right. This makes the door a bit off center. USRA-style fishbelly underframe. If you want a Southern Pacific autobox of the 1920s, this might be acceptable. Missouri Pacific #89000 series p.26 Freight Car Models Vol.II/Box Cars Book 1 (RailModel Journal). 1 ½ doors, 4/5 panels... but it also has an end loading door. Pennsylvania RR had a class X-28 door-and-a-half autobox vut it was a 40’ steel car, not at all resembling this 50’ wood car. Santa Fe not at all... Walthers made a similar car but with two steel doors instead of 1 ½ wood doors. Another time...
MORE 50’ single-sheathed Automobile Boxcars The last post was on 50’ “door and a half” automobile boxcars with wooden doors. The real railroads also had 50 foot single-sheathed automobile boxcars with two Youngstown-style steel doors on each side. Walthers made a model of these cars. Spookshow says the cars came in two versions, with an end-loading door and with regular (non-opening) ends both ends. Here’s a link to Spookshow’s picture: http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/freight/50ribdd.html Roadnames from the 1998 Walthers N/Z Scale Catalog 932-8351 Great Northern 932-8352 Union Pacific 932-8353 Northern Pacific 932-8354 Milwakee 932-8355 Southern Pacific 932-8356 Santa Fe 932-8350 undecorated The catalog gives no indications which cars have the end doors. Spookshow’s photo shows an end door on a Northern Pacific car. Model spotting characteristics: 50 foot nominal length, single sheathed Howe truss, 4 panels to the left of the doors and 5 to the right. Youngstown-style corrugated steel doors. Steel Dreadnaught ends (I can’t tell the number or arrangement of ribs...) The roof looks like steel panels with standing ribs or seams. Model Railroader ran an article on superdetailing these models with fishbelly USRA-style center-sill underframes and a reinforcement under the doors. One or the other or both of these applies to some of the prototypes, marked with an asterisk.* The article shows a Milwaukee Road car, but they did NOT have a prototype photo to verify the details. The superdetailing article is in Model Railroader July2000 p.86. Prototypes WITHOUT doors: Great Northern GN 41744 p.30 Freight Car Models Vol.II/Box Cars Book 1 (RailModel Journal) ends are 3/3/3 Dreadnaught. Walthers model could use modification for reinforcement under the doors, and fishbelly center sill, per Model Railroader article.* Prototypes WITH END DOORS Frisco SLSF #152805 photo Furniture and Automobile Box Cars Santa Fe Rwy Rolling Stock Reference p.14 NP #4803 w end doors p.31 Freight Car Models Vol.II/Box Cars Book 1 (RailModel Journal) Walthers model could use modification for fishbelly center sill, per Model Railroader article.* Texas & Pacific T&P #70045; #70203. #70300. Cars with end doors. Freight Car Models Vol.II/Box Cars Book 1 (RailModel Journal) Walthers model could use modification for fishbelly center sill, per Model Railroader article.* Western Pacific WP #40055. Car with end doors. P.26 Freight Car Models Vol.II/Box Cars Book 1 (RailModel Journal) Walthers model could use modification for reinforcement under the doors, and fishbelly center sill, per Model Railroader article.* Other “NEAR PROTOTYPES” that would look somewhat similar to model. However, they have different numbers of panels from the 4-5 panel arrangement of the model. Central Vermont 42015 3-4 panel (link to photo http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3-hpr5fsS...gow0_8uU/s1600/CV42015+2-21-54+New+London.jpg Rock Island #264026 p.32 3-4 panels Freight Car Models Vol.II/Box Cars Book 1 (RailModel Journal)
40' Double-sheathed non-USRA boxcars I have been trying to organize these in the chronological order of the prototype, but I have been putting this one off because I didn’t know what to make of it. I have had one of these for over 30 years without “finishing” it. (I do not consider ready-to-run models ready to run usually.) I got this car as an interesting old-time design but I knew from the start I would need to redo the giant supergraphic 8-scale-foot-tall herald, which Santa Fe introduced about 1960. I have only recently gone back and forth through my books enough to figure out a prototype. From the early days of N scale, this is the Minitrix “Old Timer Boxcar,” also marketed at times under the name American Tortoise, Roco and Model Power. Roadnames from Minitrix 1971 catalogue 3189 Santa Fe 3190 Domino Sugar 3191 B&M 3193 Frisco Fast Freight 3194 West India Fruit & Steamship Co. It is a 40’ double-sheathed wood body car with an ARA underframe (flat, no fishbelly or truss rods) , Murphy steel end (small corrugations), steel flat panel roof, wooden sliding door and metal grid roofwalk. Spookshow shows that Concor made a car that looks very similar from the side. http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/freight/cc40woodbox.html Roadnames from the 1981 Concor “Source Book” 1021A Santa Fe “1920s” 1021B Great Northern “1920s” 1021C Pennsy “1920s” 1021D Union Pacific “1920s” 1021E Chicago and Northwestern “1920s” 1021F New York Central “Big Four” 1021G Bilge Bourbon (fictitious) 1021H Barf Beer (fictitious) 1021J Fartz & Howe (fictitious) 1021K Foe-Nee Balony (fictitious) 1021U undecorated Like the Minitrix car, the Concor car has a 40’ double-sheathed wood body, wood sliding door and ARA underframe. From Spookshow photo, it looks like the car has a steel rectangular panel roof and Improved Dreadnaught ends with that little half ladder Concor insisted on putting on the right side of the end of cars that didn’t have it. Like this picture I showed previously... I found a Santa Fe prototype for the Minitrix car and a near prototype that the Concor car could represent with a little modification. The Minitrix car has most of the features of Santa Fe’s class BX-8 of 1926, #121000-121499. #121499 side view Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953p.91 3/4 view p.92 Like the model, this prototype has Murphy corrugated steel ends. The model just needs a wooden roofwalk and MTL or your favorite couplers. Santa Fe had two other classes very similar to the BX-8, just as the Concor car is very suimilar to the Minitrix car. Santa Fe classes BX-9 and BX-10 had Dreadnaught ends, somewhat like the Concor car. However, they had Youngstown corrugated steel doors. It would take some cutting and filing to remove the wood door neatly... They also had radial roofs but I think this nis hard to see in N scale... Some picture references: CLASS BX-9 #121500-122990. blt 1927. photo #121519 Santa Fe Railway Painting & Lettering Guide for Model Railroaders p.36 photo & plans #121518 Mainline Modeler Apr93 p.37 photo Stock Cars of the SF Rwy p.58 plans #121518 Mainline Modeler Sept96 p.39 construction article part 1 Mainline Modeler Sept96 p.36 #121518 bldrs photo Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953 p.92 #121557 in 1940 Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953 p.93 #122900 in 1947 Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953 p.93 CLASS BX-10 #123000-123999 built 1928. photo Santa Fe Modeler MayJun80 p.21 #123008 distant side view,1936 Journal of Texas Shortline RRs AugSepOct98 p.56 #123681 in 1946 Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953 p.93 #123456 1938 pix Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953 p.93 Soooo, there is a Santa Fe prototype for which these cars can be used...IF you are modeling the late 1920s through the late 1940s. But, oops, it is supposed to be 1957 on my layout. BX-8, -9, and -10, with their strong ARA steel underframe were re-built into all-steel box cars in nthe late 1940s. It turns out, however, there is another prototype for the car BODY if I don’t mind adding truss rods. When Santa Fe absorbed the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railroad, it acquired a fleet of boxcars with old-style truss-rod underframes, but a more modern sized 40 foot length double-sheathed wood body. The Santa Fe classed them as BX-24. #134400-134745. Blt 1925-7. #134518 Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953 p.72 A few last through the 1950s in revenue service. More important to ne, modeling Galveston, a few of these cars were rebuilt to "reefer standards" for use in hauling salt used in refrigerator cars. The cars were built especially from a movement from Hutchinson, Kansas to Galveston, Texas. The boxcar door was removed and replaced with refrigerator car doors. However, the cars had no icing hatches. #40103 as reefer salt car Santa Fe Boxcars 1869-1953 p.72 Same picture Refrigerator Cars, Ice Bunker 1884-1979 p.254 This would be an interesting conversion, but if I could find a wood side refrigerator cars with the right ends, it would probably be easier to sand or file off unwanted reefer hatches than to replace a boxcar door. The truss-rod job would be the same. If I find an easier conversion... I still have another prototype for using the Minitrix car. The BX-24s were also used in work train service. pix in work service: "Work Eqpt Cars" (Santa Fe Railway Rolling Stock Reference Series), p.141 Now a railroad car history puzzle: WHY did the older design truss-rod cars last longer in their original form than the newer steel underframe double-sheathed cars. The ANSWER is hidden in the qualifier, “in their original form.” The cars with the newer steel underframes could be rebuilt with steel sides for another 20 or 30 years of revenue service, which made them look not at all like the models of the original cars. The truss-rod cars didn’t have the “backbone” to make them worth rebuilding, except modifying for lower priority company service. So they stayed around with the same general appearance a few more years. Prototypes for OTHER railroads.... The bodies of these Minitrix and Concor cars resemble USRA double-sheathed boxcar except for the flat ARA underframe instead of the USRA fishbelly. There must be a number of ARA boxcars like this- the Santa Fe had some- but I could not find photos or documentation. When I looked for 40’ double-sheathed boxcars in the roadnames used on the models, I just found USRA prototypes. SLSF 128209CT USRA 40-ton double-sheathed boxcar Railroad Model Craftsman Sept04 p.90 127000-130499 USRA 40', reblt as steel 1930s pix 129529 RailModJournal June92 p.16 GN 23806 USRA double-sheath 40' boxcar _MRRing_ May88 p.31 GN 23812 USRA double-sheath 40' boxcar _MRRing_ May88 p.30 CNW 65492 USRA 40-ton double-sheathed boxcar Railroad Model Craftsman Sept04 p. 94 (CNW) C StP M & O- CMO 1808 USRA 40-ton double-sheathed boxcar Railroad Model Craftsman Sept04 p.94 Minneapolis and Saint Louis M&StL 25538 USRA 40-ton double-sheathed boxcar Railroad Model Craftsman Sept04 p.91 If I had these cars in a prototype roadname and paint scheme I liked, I would upgrade them with MTL or compatible couplers, wood roofwalks and maybe make a USRA underframe . If I WANTED to model one of these cars and did not have a Minitrix or Concor model, I would not try to buy one of these but try for a MicroTrainsLine USRA car.
6-panel Howe-truss N craftsman kit But first: Another candidate for the Minitrix & Concor double-sheathed boxcars shown in the last post. Photo Lackawanna DL&W 45951 Model Railroading March 1988 March 1988 Now here is a REAL oldie, and I doubt many N scalers have this. I don’t even know what brand it is. Probably not really a “brand.” Back in 1970-something, I saw a small note about an N scale craftsman kit. A box of wood sticks and blocks kit. It came with a Walthers decal for the 1960-something Illinois Central Gulf merger with the big split-rail supergraphic. Technically, the car is a six-panel single-sheathed wood Howe-truss, steel underframe boxcar with outside braced wood ends and wood roof. Prototype suggestions Soo Line #133068 has slightly different end bracing Rolling Stock Plan Book (Carstens) p.4 It looks a little like the Mather boxcars Richard Henderson describes in Model Railroading magazine, November and December 1987. It could have easily been built into one by putting on the bracing a little differently, if I had had photos back in 1970-something. It still can easily be modified, easier than chopping a plastic “r-t-r.” I may put this on a future to-do list, especially if can find decals. I never finished this because I never had prototype information. I used it as a boxcar storage shed at a cresosote treating plant on my previous layout. I may just use it this was on my layout under construction, perhaps just temporarily until I get around to “finishing” it as a running boxcar... This pretty much ends my exploration of prototypes for N scale models of wood boxcars. So I guess all-steel boxcars are next, right?
Psheeesh... you guys are really serious about all this... Have to say its beyond me, but I'm glad someone cares. Maybe someday I'll get into this level of detail, but I'd have to sell most of the stuff picked up over the last few years. Feel brain now infected with urge to acquire perfect pieces. Help! Respect your efforts.
Kaslo shops makes a Fowler patent car that is very similar. I can think of a few railroads that had them , notably the CP and the CN but also the CNW SOO Milw and others. I don't think this is a Mather car. Randy
Early all-steel boxcars- and an early N model Randy had a reply about the craftsman kit's resemblance to a Mather car. I intended to say that it could have been built as a Mather car with a few changes, not that it WAS a model of a Mather car. I would like to have one Mather car. Are the Kaslo models mentioned by Randy readily available. I got the impression from spookshow it was somewhat obscure, but maybe I am just Yankee-centric and oughta try to a Canadian order. Now we go to the all-steel cars. Going by prototype freight car development, and since we covered the USRA double-sheathed wood and single-sheathed wood, I was going to start the steel boxcars with the USRA-design steel boxcar. The car was not actually built by or for the USRA, but the design was copied and modified by several railroads, especially the New York Central. I thought that was what this next model was- at least I have thought that the last few years. Years ago, I thought this was a Pennsylvania Railroad X-29 boxcar. Then I saw the beautiful Red Caboose brand X-29 and thought, no, no it. But now, after careful checking, I find it IS a model—albeit 1970 quality- of an X-29 of a particular variation, from the bottom up to just below the roof, but NOT including the roof. Now what this model is- ie, who made it- has been a struggle. Here it is in its 1970 vintage “glory.” ú The Missouri Pacific car has a vestige of ice hatch. The Santa Fe car doesn’t. I thought I remembered it as a Minitrix/ Model Power product, but my inventory roster said it was LifeLife, but with no product catalog number. I couldn’t find it in any of my old catalogs. I have several cars, all apparently made from the same mold. Most are marked “Made in Yugoslavia” with no manufacturer name on the bottom. My roster WP #20702 “Feather” (made in Yugoslavia) ATSF #16471 (made in Yugoslavia) MP #121022 Eagle Merchandise Service (made in Yugoslavia) NKP #16525 (made in Yugoslavia) NYC Pacemaker #174478 Atlas #2384 Since one was marked Atlas, I looked it up on Irwin’s A1G site. (Atlas 1st Generation) http://www.irwinsjournal.com/a1g He shows a series of Atlas boxcars. #2381 Penn Central #65638 #2382 Canadian National #523975 #2383 New Haven #36409 #2384 New York Central #174478 “Pacemaker” #2385 New Haven #40045 #2386 Denver & Rio Grande Western #67598 #2387 Linde Industrial Gases LAPX #2199 #2388 Port Huron & Dertoit #1275 The story I got, as pieced together from Irwin A1G and spookshow... Spookshows guide to locos, frt cars, passcars etcf http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/trainstuff.html ...is the Rivarrosi originally made this for Atlas. Thehn Rivarrosi stopped, and Mehano in Yugoslavia planned to made the same car for Atlas as a replacement. I understand it has been sold under Lifelike name but I can’t find that catalogued anywhere, but there is a picture of one car in Hundman’s N scale guide. The special feature of this car, which is shared by both the PRR X-29 and the NYC USRA-steel prototypes is the seam between side panels with the double row of rivets. This is where two side panel plates overlap, and the seam is riveted at both sides of the overlap. Other features of the model- NO fishbelly underframe. Straight side sill. 10 steel panels on each side with double rivet rows 6 foot wide Youngstown steel (corrugated) door Ajax brake wheel Ladders (as opposed to just rungs) Dreadnaught ends with 4-3 ribs. Metal rectangular panel roof with 12 panels. The model matches the major dimensions of the X-29. 40’6” inside length. 8’7” inside height. The model is 10 scale feet wide where the prototype has an 8’ 9” inside width. The prototype was built over an 11 year period 1923-1934 with lots of variations. Panel doors versus corrugated doors. Dreadnaught ends versus flat ends. Vertical brake wheel VS Ajax end-mounted brake wheel. The model in question corresponds to SOME x-29S... except FOR THE ROOF. The prototypes had metal roofing that laid flat with seams hardly showing. I can’t find any listing that shows that these models were lettered for the Pennsy which they actually resemble, although Atlas once had them in Penn Central. Except for the roof, this model corresponds to SOME prototype X-29s, especially those built between 1929 and 1934... PRR #53086 shown in 1954, Prototype Modeler October 1978, p.7 PRR #92198 shown in 1940 Prototype Modeler October 1978, p.12 PRR #498040 in maintenance of way service, 1978 Prototype Modeler October 1978, p.1, 23. Here is a link to a photo that MIGHT match the Atlas/ Mehano/ Lifelike model. It doesn’t show the ends so we can’t tell for sure. http://www.billspennsyphotos.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=75348378 corrug door, Ajax brake, can’t tell ends And here is a link to a photo of a car that has the corrugated door of the model, but the flat end and vertical brake wheel NOT like the model. http://www.mikesrails.com/2011/10/railroad-museum-rolling-stock-60-prr.html This is just the beginning of this topic. There is still the issue of other Prototypes that correspond to the Atlas/ Mehano/ Lifelike model, generally to a lesser degree. And there is the superb Red Caboose model which matches PRR X-29s.....but DIFFERENT X-29s.
[TABLE="align: center"] [TR] [TD]CN 36' Fowler Box Car - Wood Roof[/TD] [TD="align: right"]$22.00 CDN[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]NK-07[/TD] [TD]CN 36' Fowler Box Car - Steel Roof[/TD] [TD="align: right"]$22.00 CDN[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]NK-08[/TD] [TD]CPR 36' Fowler Box Car - Wood Roof[/TD] [TD="align: right"]$22.00 CDN[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]NK-09[/TD] [TD]CPR 36' Fowler Box Car - Steel Roof[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] It looks like they are available, I have a couple , they are beautiful kits of Fowler cars.
Way back when I bought the "X-29s" or similar cars in Life-Like packaging, so that marketing is legitimate. I can't be sure that it's identical to the A1G tooling since I don't have one handy (if I still have one at all).
Thanks for your encouragement. I will be back with more in a day or two. I am wading-- or maybe over my head- in hunting and tabulating prototype photos that show: -X29s with flat doors and ends -X29s with corrugated ends and Youngstown corrug doors. -X29s with flat ends but Youngston corrug doors. -USRA-design steel boxcars of 1920s with dimensions and construction very similar to X-29 BUT 8 panels on each side instead of 10 as on the X29s -other boxcars of the same proportions but.... I have also been looking at what models are out there. Does anyone have a MicroTrains boxcar in any of these series? MTL 120000 series Murphy roof, flat ends, (corrug door) MTL 120200 series Flat panel roof, flat end, Youngstown door MTL 120500 series Murphy roof vertical brake staff, flat end, flat 3 panel door MTL 120700 series Overlapping flat panel roof, vertical brake staff, flat end, flat 3 panel door? (picture hard to read) I am trying to find out if these cars have TEN panels per side, or EIGHT panels per side. The photos I have seen are just not clear enough to tell.
Thanks, Jason WCFN100 What this tells me is that the MicroTrains cars have 10-panel sides, matching PRR's X-29. The New York Central version of the USRA-design steel boxcar had 8-panel sides. At as far as I can tell, NOBODY in N scale makes cars like this with the 8-panel sides. So the nearest way to model the GADZILLIONS of New York Central cars is to put their paintscheme on whatever X-29 model has the closest mixture of doors, ends and roofs needed.
MORE Prototypes for the Atlas/ Lifelike X-29. Still looking at the old old Atlas/ Lifelike X-29. It is a bit crude by the standards of recent models. However, it shares with other X-29 models the 10-panel sides, the double-rivet seams, the straight side sill and the overall dimensions of the prototype X-29, except for being na bit wide. It has an end “sort of” like a Dreadnaught end. Some kind of ribs. More recent N models from 3 manufacturers have finer details, those from Red Caboose, MicroTrainsLines and Fine N Scale. All of these have the distinctive X-29 flat riveted end. Red Caboose and MTL have produced X-29s with Youngstown-style corrugated doors. All three manufacturers have produced them with 3-panel Creco-style doors. Some prototype X-29s had 5-panel doors or 6-panel doors, and NOBODY makes an N-scale X-29 with those doors. Here for reference is that old ca-1970 Atlas “first generation”/ Lifelike/ “Made in Yugoslavia” X-29 model Prototype X-29s and clones came and or were modified over the years in a number of variations: Flat ends or corrugated ends 3-panel doors or corrugated doors Flat steel roofs with rather inconspicuous seams, or replacement recftangular panel roofs.. If you want to model an X-29 with corrugated or Drednaught ends, this is the ONLY N model with “anything like” corrugated ends. They are not MUCH like any specific corrugated ends, but they give somewhat the impression, whereas the distinctive X-29 flat end really sticks out as something entirely different. So, this is a balancing act of one factor vs another. Another way of looking at it, if you’ve got one or two of these cars, here is something they can be used for. PRR #101763 Prototype Modeler October 1978 p.19 10-panel sides, Youngstowen-style corrugated door, Dreadnaught ends, Ajax hand brake. PRR MOW #498040 Prototype Modeler October 1978 p.1,23. This one has an end almost exactly like the Atlas/Lifelike model. Unfortunately, since it is in maintenance of way, it could only be used on a Pennsy layout, not in interchange service. Erie Lackawanna #416024 Model Railroading April 1987 p.49 corrugated door, Dreadnaught ends 10 panel LESS OF A PROTOTYPE, BUT STILL A USE FOR THIS MODEL. The PRR X-29, adapted from the designed USRA 40’ all-steel boxcar design never actually built for the USRA, had 10 panels on each side, whereas the USRA design called for 8 panels. Pennsy built tens of thousands to their design and other railroads copied it. And all the N models of this general proportion followed the Pennsy lead with 10-panel sides... the models from Atlas, Lifelike, Red Caboose, Fine N Scale and MicroTrainsLines. However, New York Central and some other railroads built to the 8-panel USRA design, and NYC built tens of thousands of them. No N model has the 8-panel sides. Some NYC boxcars had the flat X-29 style ends, but others had corrugated or Dreadnaught ends. If you want to model these in N, the old not-state-of-the-art Atlas or Lifelike model is the closest thing. NYC #101633 Model Railroading April 1987 p.58 7/8 corrug ends, 5/5/5 corrug door, 8 panel NYC #119063 boxcar 8-panel riveted steel sides, straight side-sill, Youngstown door, rectangular panel roof. 1959 pix Warbonnet 3Q-2008 p.18 NYC boxcar 103105 1920 USRA steel pix Mainline Modeler April 1993 corrug-corrug NYC 106336 from rr-fallenflags.org (link): http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc106336adl.jpg corrug door/ end? One that nshows the Drewadnaught end on an NYC car... http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc123500ags.jpg NYC #103105 Mainline Modeler April 1993 p.37 USRA-design steel 8-panel corrug/corrug Lackawanna DL&W #47180 Model Railroading April 1987 p.59 Dnaught ends, 5/5/5 corrug door 8panel That’s not all, folks. But that’s all for tonight.
Um, I'm inferring from the content that if I have any "old" cars that you would like me to post them here? I have some "stuff" back to 1967.
A “NOT QUITE” Prototype for the Atlas/ Lifelike X-29. Thanks, Grey One. There are lots of things I would like to see that I have only seen in old catalogs. I pawned off my Lone Star Treble O stuff, 2 freight box "vans" and two "guard vans" with my European layout 30 years ago. And I have an Arnold Rapido boxcar with the plain tin underbody. I'm not planning to "bring it up to standards" but keeping it as a historical relic of early N scale. I am not a collector of "collectors' items." I just have a lot of old equipment I have not gotten around to "finishing." I do not consider ready-to-run as ready-to-run, but as a semi-raw material. Some more raw than others. I am trying to write this series of posts NOT as a look back at old models, but as a study of prototype/model conformance, with every model old or new I can find that fits lesser or more-er with various prototypes. And I am going by the evolution of prototype freight car development. Truss rod boxcars, USRA wood boxcars, early steel boxcars, ARA and AAR standard steel boxcars, etc. May take a while. Now, on with tonight's discussion. One of the roadnames that Lifelike near-X-29 came in was a special paint scheme for Missouri Pacific Eagle Merchandise Service. The N scale car appears somewhat similar to scale drawings of a Missouri Pacific Eagle Merchandise Service in Carstens Rolling Stock Planbook p.9. The prototype has 10-panel steel sides, riveted, Youngstown-style corrugated door, straight side sill, corrugated ends, steel roof with standing seams. So much for the similarities. The prototype drawing is marked with a 38’9” length over the end of the running boards. My 1954 Official Railway Equipment Register shows these cars with a 36’ inside length and 8’4” inside height. The end has a 7-7 corrugation pattern while the model’s is 4-4. The prototype has a deep fishbelly center sill but that is a detail easily scratchbuilt, or fixed with a replacement underframe from MTL. The prototype has only single rows of rivets instead of the distinctive double row found on real X-29s and on the model. Still, even though the model is longer than the prototype dimensions, it gives a similar impression as the prototype, and its height is a little lower than the typical boxcar, making for interesting variety in a consist. I think it would be acceptable if you need it and can’t find anything better. Saying that, I think you NEED this car if you model Missouri Pacific before about 1955. In 1955, they replaced these with a car that looks like a URSA boxcar rebuilt with steel sides. That’s car you need if you model late transition era. But MoPac used these for LCL shipment service on its system. Any MoPac layout in the steam era should have at least one movement per operating session with this car. I don’t believe there are any 36’ steel boxcars made in N scale, so there is NOTHING BETTER to model this particular car. I believe these Eagle Merchandise Service stayed online, so if you DON’T model MoPac, you DON’T NEED IT. (By the way, I don't need this car for my Santa Fe layout or the NYC Pacemaker either. I would sure like to trade something/ anything with somebody who is modeling these roads and appreciates this old stuff when there is nothing of a particular prototype coming from the mftrs now...) Any comments on my philosophy and/or standards that an old not-quite-up-to-today's-standards car that has some resemblance albeit imperfect to a particular desired prototype, may be more appropriate than a beautiful sophisticated model that is a wonderful accurate model of something OTHER than the appropriate prototype...
