Just finished another boxcar for my late 1940's era. It is a Red Caboose 1937 AAR box car that used the proper doors and coupler boxes from Joe Pennington. I have had these things for years and finally completed one of the cars. I also used Joe's decal set made exactly for this car so I did not have to cobble approximate lettering from a bunch of other sets. My only problem is that I would like to do a few more of these cars but the Red Caboose RC-8002 kit seems to be out of production. If anyone is willing to part with some they might have or see some at a hobby store somewhere, please advise. Thanks. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Wow, Rick! That sure is fantastic modeling. I'm not familiar with that manufacturer, is that kit resin or styrene. Do you think you'll weather it? Jim
I'm thoroughly enjoying seeing the rolling stock! Thanks for sharing! It's a reminder that, I need to get moving on the multitude of rolling stock projects I have-an actual layout might be a good motivator. I've seen neither reviews nor photos that would indicate quality, but what about Branchline Trains' Yardmaster Series 1937 AAR XM Undec? For the price as listed on Walthers website, the quality may be dubious. Hopefully others can add insight.
I should have mentioned that the car in the photo has the standard AAR underframe. I have the same car with the Duryea underframe almost done. Since I switched era, I have a critical shortage of 40' box cars, especially SLSF cars. These two cars help a great deal. This car will definitely get some subtle weathering so I will send along a photo when that happens. I have to be in the right frame of mind to weather and make it look plausible. I was kind of excited to get a photo out there because it turned out pretty good. I have not seen the Branchline 1937 AAR boxes but I will start looking for some to see what they are like. Thanks for the tip Chris. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Rick - The Branchline "Yardmaster Series" version of the 1937 AAR boxcar is a nice kit - certainly well worth the money. It does not have the detail of the earlier Red Caboose (or the earlier IMWX kit - same tooling I believe) in that the Branchline has cast on grabs and ladders, etc. It's more of a "shake the box" kit vs the Red Caboose/IMWX cars that have a lot of individual detail parts. But, the Branchline Yardmaster is a good looking car. I picked up their kit 8046, representing SLSF 140009, a 1937 AAR XM box supposedly following a 1955 repaint. Nice graphics and color. I also built kit 8019, a UP car equally nice. The Branchline "Blueprint Series" kits are full blown kits like the Red Caboose, Proto 2000 or InterMountain kits, but I don't think they have the 1937 AAR in the "Blueprint" line. Ken
Thanks for the tip Ken. I will take a look at the Branchline kit based on your recommendation. Can't have too many 40' Frisco box cars in 1950. I need to work up the nerve to start some of my Sunshine SLSF box cars. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Rick - OK, hope you like it. Remember, however, if you are modeling 1950 specifically, this car, though built in 1940, represents a March, 1955 repaint. It displays the "Ship it" graphics. Looks good on the layout, though! Ken
I have about 15 box cars working the West Bottoms, but none Frisco. The only ones I can find ready go in Frisco are Accurail outside braced. Can some one bring me up to date on a good starting point for a standard Frisco 1950's era boxcar with a little more detail. From Rick's much earlier post it appears the Red Caboose cars are out of circulation. John
Kadee makes well-detailed and accurate model of the Pullman-Standard PS-1 boxcar in both 40 and 50 foot versions. This was the Frisco's standard boxcar of the '50's. Scroll down to 5293 for the current 40' version: http://www.kadee.com/ca/40ps1/40ps1.htm Some of the earlier releases with the "Frisco Fast Freight" slogan have a build date of 1951. Though only one release is usually available at a time from Kadee, previous releases come up often on online auction sites. Rich
One feature that makes the Kadee site great is the information they provide on dealers who have sold out cars from earlier runs. Many can still be purchased at the original retail price too! Regretfully, Atlas-O´s site is complicated in tracking down the earlier runs of locomotives, cars and structures. Their HO site, like Kadee´s is fun to use. Joe Toth
