Due to the era I model and the somewhat smaller radius curves I have (31"), 40' cars work better on my layout than longer cars. This week I traded another forum member two 50' boxcars and he sent me two 40' cars. One is a Kadee that I don't have and the other is an Intermountain / Yesteryear 40' boxcar. NOTE: does Yesteryear do special runs using rolling stock from other manufacturers like Intermountain? I've never heard of Yesteryear. Anyway, the Kadee wheels are cleaned of chemical blackening and both have had the wheel centers painted. They are now in service. It's nice to now have a decent number of Frisco 40' boxcars.
The box is an Intermountain box that says Yesteryears on the box end label. Maybe it was sent to me in the wrong box.
You are probably correct. Thanks for the information. The person I traded with must have put the wrong model in the Intermountain box. The car in question doesn't have free standing grabs and every Intermountain I've seen does. Hmmm.
AFAIK the YesterYears line is made by Intermountain. The ad for the Frisco car says it has an etched metal roofwalk. Compare these two photos.
Patrick, the stirrups on the car in question are much too fine for an old Athearn car, and an internet investigation reveals that Accurail produced that number and that Athearn did not.
Howdy Patrick. Haven't seen you much lately. Thanks for the input but they are definitely Accurail. Another member has the same exact car--same number--and his is accurail. Below are photos of my latest Athearn blue box build (not a Frisco--just an example of a modified Blue Box). Even after drastically filing the roofwalk and stirrups, they're still a little larger than what is preferable. But they are styrene and you know how fragile that is if it is too fine. This may be thread drift but it's probably ok. David Gaines and I had a conversation yesterday evening in regards to Frisco 40' box cars. It seems that several Ho manufacturers have produced cars in the 17XXX reporting number range. Some are PS-1's and some are AAR. They have various doors. David quoted from a book: According to Nick Molo's book neither one of them is correct. I do not now how exhaustive his book is. On page 58 Frisco's first order of PS-1 40'ers was numbered 17000 - 17299. As they were reconditioned they kept their Superior doors and were renumber by dropping the 1 and replacing it with a 2. So 1700 became 27000, etc. In 1952 the Frisco ordered more 40'ers from PS numbered 17800 - 18049. Originally they were painted with the Southeast - Southwest (written horizontally), Frisco Fast Freight scheme. When they were repainted they got the Ship it... scheme. It's unlike Kadee to produce a car that the prototype railroad didn't have. Any ideas or does anyone have any reference material that definitively says what could be in the 17XXX range? Examples: Intermountain 17006 PS-1 Athearn 17435 PS-1 Kadee 17439 PS-1 Accurail 17784 AAR
Nicholas Molo documents the Pullman-Standard 40' boxcars on pages 58-61 in his book Frisco/Katy Color Guide to Freight Equipment. All the boxcars numbered from 17000 to 19899 were built by Pullman-Standard in their Bessemer, Alabama plant. They were produced in six orders as follows: 17000-17299 Apr-Dec 1948 17300-17799 Mar-Jun 1951 17800-18049 Dec 1952 18050-18549 Feb 1954 18550-19199 Apr-May 1956 19200-19899 Aug-Sep 1957 PS-1 boxcars are distinguished from other styles by their evenly spaced ribs on the ends and "bowtie"roof stampings. The first batch had Superior 8' doors, while the rest had Youngstown 8' doors. Rich
Thanks for the information Rich. One little correction. The HO scale version I have of 17439 isn't an AAR car but a PS-1 built by Kadee. My previous post refers to 17439 as a Kadee PS-1. The Accurail cars are incorrect because they are AAR cars. But the info you supplied is terrific. Thanks!!!!
Sorry, I stand corrected about #17439 as I thought it was a Branchline painted Athearn AAR car. I'll correct my post. However, I will stand by my assertion that the Accurail car pictured above, #17784, is a PS-1.
You are correct--you can see the Pullman Standard logo on 17784. It's probably the exact same car they have painted as an AAR with a different number. Here's 17774 by Accurail that's an AAR car. I can't tell if it really is an AAR or not.
Ah yes, I used to have one of those, but sold it off in a purge of inaccurately numbered cars, though I still have couple left. This came out years before the PS-1 version. Car #17774 was pictured on matchbook covers and boxes given out as a promotional items during the '50's, though it depicted a PS-1 with the "Ship it on the Frisco" slogan. Rich
