The Boxcar Fleet

Howdy all!

Nothing special to say here, jsut wanna showcase the growing Frisco fleet of equipment I got. Seeing how I only have 3 items so far in the Boxcar department I think this might gather y'alls attention.

Here are my 3 boxcars. Two good for 1930s era, one for 1910s.



The first one is the elephant in the room. This is a former Life-Like M&St.L Boxcar (according to the very faded text on the box) painted in 1918 era Frisco Lines markings. I acquired this model at the Live Oak/Garden Ridge (San Antonio-ish Area) Feb. 2023 Train Show. I don't have a lot of 1910s era equipment so this is a very nice car despite the obvious anachronisms. For what its worth, whoever made this did a VERY good job of hiding the decal film and overall looks very well made.



The next one is a River-City-Railroad (eBay) 50' Truss Boxcar. This is essentially a Roundhouse tooled item, only the frame is plastic instead of metal. The quip I have with this car (and even its official Roundhouse counterpart) is that the numbers differ. ON the side, its 152810. On the doors, its 152803. I dunno who oversaw that but...well at least its an eye catcher if you catch it! This car is good for 1939 according to the reporting marks and will primarily be in use with my WWII era freight trains.



And last but most certainly not least is the newest car in the collection. Freshly built, too! This is the Accurail #4615 Double-Sheated USRA 40' Wood Boxcar as Frisco 129601. Good for 1935. This is my "depression" era boxcar, and in time I may weather it for use with my WWII trains. I have yet to give it some more upgrades like metal wheels and I need to source the Accurail screws for the trucks and coupler box covers as the "push" style ones provided feel loose on this model.

Not much more to say, just wanted to showcase the fleet.

-Isaac

 

With regard to those old Accurail cars, a brass 1/4" 2-56 screw will self tap to replace the friction pins that hold the trucks to the body.

Rich

 

Is there a specific brand to use? I have Kadee 2-56 x 1/4 screws though it does not appear it'll clamp down into the truck bolster. Or would it also just be easier to get the right screws from Accurail themselves?

 

I don't think the brand of the screw matters, as long as it's metal. I've looked over my Accurail models and the factory screws are Phillips head rather than the slotted screws that I used. However, the threads are the same. The screw gets harder to turn the deeper it's driven, and takes considerable torque to drive it home. If you're stuck, try backing the screw out and clean out any debris you see before screwing it back in. This technique has worked for me. If you want to do a professional job, buy a 2-56 tap and use that.

Rich

 

I do indeed have a 2-56 tap. A Kadee one too at that and a T-Bros tap handle. I actually got it for my Roundhouse 36' Metal framed boxcar kits though it has seen use on the occasional plastic item like the River-City-Railroad 36' Boxcars (when I first started I didn't even have the handle, and I gripped the tap with needle nose pliers. Stupid, but it worked for 3 metal framed cars. Then it promptly snapped mid-tap into the fourth car. It is still stuck in the coupler box and I have no way to remove it, and I may begrudgingly have to leave it in there) and my two built Branchline 12-1 Pullman Heavyweights so far.

 

Gotcha, I think that was my problem initially. I just went all the way through for those first three cars. No stopping, just kept on trucking and only cleaning the flash once I brought it out of the bolster or coupler hole.