I’m looking for some very old boxcar models (probably 1880-1900 vintage) and I seem to remember that IHC made some as par of an “old time” series. But now, the only things I see are old time track maintenance cars, etc. I kind of remember that they were 30 feet in length.
Did they make something like that or am I simply dreaming??? BTW, I’m NOT thinking of the old Tyco, Bachmann & other cars with the super thick truss rods on them and the ventilated doors…
dlm
Watch e-bay and the train shows for MDC cars and kits.
Yes they did, years ago. Good luck finding them…grab up whatever you find. They dont make much of anything anymore. Horizon sells the old MDC cars under the Roundhouse name.
I don’t think IHC ever had oldtime boxcars, but AHM had a line of them years ago.
Roundhouse made some 19th century kits as well.
Yes, IHC did a line of “old-time” boxcars, flatcars, gons and a couple MoW cars. You can find them at train shows and sometimes on eBay, or in the back corner of any hobby shop that has back corners with stuff that hasn’t sold. Very appropriate for 1870s-1890s, things like 30’ cars and arch-bar trucks, or for very beat-to-heck MoW or backwoods shortline equipment well into the thirties (or fifties, on some lines!) I advise throwing out the wheels and couplers (replace the latter with Kadees, the former with metal wheelsets of your preference) but otherwise they’re nice little cars.
Accurail also makes them, but they are 40 footers and outside braced.
Roundhouse made some 36’ Billboard reefers. They have Queen Posts and truss rods under the car. The “Heinz 57 Varieties” was a popular model. I don’t know what date they were built.
Doc
If it’s reefers and not boxcars you want let me throw my [2c] in. I just purchased some Atlas RTR 36’ reefers and they are fantastic. Smooth rollers and very good detail.
Dan,
Con Cor makes 36 foot ventilated boxcars in a variety of road names:
http://www.con-cor.com/instock/hootboxc.htm
It looks like the IHC line is completely gone from their catalog:
http://www.ihc-hobby.com/cgi-bin/bsc.cgi?sn=27930M52O108F3770C604688A29L00
The last I saw of their cars, they were only doing them in MOW schemes, but the cars were VERY usefl for 1880-1910 modelers, especially the box, flat, and gon. Your best bet at this point is Ebay. (I picked up one of their flats at the Ft Wayne auction. It’s already built and in my roster!)
Except for Mantua, Roundhouse and Bachmann’s golden-spike engines, the major model railroad manufacturers/importers have abandoned the pre-1900 era (for HO scale). There are some very nice craftsman style kits on the market, but they do not come pre-painted and lettered.
There are some great Mantua old time 28 ft box cars still on the market. ( Model Power Mantua Classics) I have a bunch of them.
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/csm/csm722050.htm?source=froogle
There are two great articles for modifying these box cars. The best is of course on Harold Minkwitz’s web site entitled:: " lowering Mantua’s HO 1860’s box cars."
The other is" Modeling 1890’s box cars in HO.
SP had a bunch of these cars into the early 1900’s and modified them for use as cabooses.
Peter Smith, Memphis
I forgot to mention that the second article appeared in the April 1999 issue of MR page 94.
Peter Smith, Memphis
dlm:
I know you’re NOT thinking of Mantua or Bachmann, but they can be made into nice cars. Somebody at the Earlyrail Yahoo group, I forget who, did nice work with the Bachmann product, and RMC had an article some time in the last few years about upgrading the Mantua boxcar. That’s not very helpful, but I couldn’t find it in the magazine index. A few improved details and either of these could look a lot better.
It’s true that there are 36 footers out there that look better right out of the box, but the problem is that these represent a later standard, really a 1900s standard, and using them with 1880s equipment is like putting a Railbox behind steam.
Art Griffin makes very nice period decals, and Clover House makes dry transfers.
You are probably thinking of the MDC 36’ boxcars and reefers. Great kits. Metal underfraims, reasonable detail. I went through a phase where I was collecting every car that came out. I think I got most of them. This was back in the mid '80s. They also came out with an old time tank car.