Bob, Thank you for posting this photograph. The Frisco Howe truss boxcars are one of my favorite cars. We had them in large numbers, in multiple variations, multiple paint schemes and that lasted a long time. Really cool stuff. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
Such a beautiful photograph! It has outstanding clarity in the detail and lettering, but what's up with the "oddball" journal cover? Please disregard the use of the term - oddball. thanks for sharing this gem with us! what does the "XM" mean?
Sherrel - "XM" designates the class of box car that was in common use by American RR's. A "XM" box car was specified as a "Box car for general service equipped with side or side and end doors". Ken
You said it, Mark. Between door types, Dreadnaught vs. Murphy ends. Ajax vs. Miner hand brakes and different builders, there is an enjoyable amount of variety. I feel like anyone modeling the SL-SF between the late 20s all the way into the late 60s probably should have at least one of these critters, if not one for each of the various orders that were received. If I recall, it was featured in the first Railroad Prototype Cyclopedia by Joe Pennington. Wish I'd bought a copy when it was still available direct. They were also the very first group of cars covered in Ted Culotta's "Essential Freight Cars" series in Railroad Model Craftsman about 10 years ago.
Could you guys "Please" send any information that is available and photos to MicroTrains for N scale and your favorite manufacturer for HO! Maybe we can get some really great models. It worked for the N scale MicroTrains tank cars. Joe
This would, mostly, call for all new tooling. Athearn's cas have the bracing going the wrong direction and Accurail's has 3 vertical members instead of two. Not sure of what MicroTrains had available.
Actually, Accurail does have the car with the two vertical rails in the 7100 series. They produced one for the Frisco #162237 (Accurail # 7108) which is no longer available. However, there is an undec. #7100 available and one data only mineral red # 7198 and data only oxide # 7199 available. I bought one of the latter to add to my fleet of these box cars, but ended up removing the data anyway because it did not match the Frisco's data. The only problem with the cars is that the center sills are the original (I can't remember what they were called and not the modernized type. I guess a new underbody could be installed if one wanted to modernize his cars. Terry
Well carp. I stopped at the first set of OB cars and didn't scroll down any further. But, they do show a decal set available. I wonder if it just the logo and number and not the data. Hmmm.
I have 3 of the Accurail cars with a build date of 9-28. I would like to keep one but I'll sell the other two to Frisco members for $15 bucks each if anyone is interested. They are weathered. Just offering if anyone is interested. They are a little late for my era.
Bob, the decal set is only a renumbering set. It only includes extra numbers for someone who owns more than one car. Terry
For N scale MicroTrains makes an OB boxcar. The series number is 028-00-000 but they don't show a photo. Would you guys check your other road name inventories to see if this series would match the 163235 photo? MicroTrains may already have the model and graphics needed to produce the boxcar. Accurail has a model series that would work for HO. Thank You, Joe
the MTL cars have 3 panels on either side of the door, so they are wrong for this particular car series. Paul
I did a search and found this one: http://www.trainworld.com/manufactu...ar-Chicago-North-Western-Road-78212-02800190/ Paul
Single sheathed or double sheathed? The Frisco's huge fleet of USRA boxcars were of the double sheathed persuasion. I'm not aware we had a true USRA single sheathed car. Had some knock-off's. Ken
Is he still doing the Speedwitch Models, Keith? I really wish I'd stuck with buying RMC with all of his Essential Steam Era freight car series. I think I have the first three or so before increased domesticity and parenthood took precedent. I believe you're correct, Ken. I have Tichy Kit #4026 for a "true" USRA Single-Sheathed boxcar and had desperately hoped I could model it in Frisco colors. Somewhere around here, I think that Karl Brand had a good suggestion on how to use it as a plausible Frisco car, but I think I'm just going to letter it for either CB&Q, CM&StP or PRR, in that order of preference. The biggest spotting difference that my ignorant eye sees is the 8 side "sections" - 6 with angle bracing - on the USRA SS car, whereas the Frisco "single sheathed" Howe Truss jobs that Keith mentions has 6 sections per side - 4 with angle bracing. While discussed elsewhere on the site, the USRA DS boxcars that the Frisco had seemed pretty abundant in the steam era, whether with the exterior wood sheathing or the rebuilt, steel-side cars. I want to think that Ertl once produced a pretty good USRA DS ready-to-run model, possibly even in Frisco Line scheme? Best Regards,