MR&T1027, Athearn 50-foot outside-braced RailBox boxcar

Does anyone know the generality of this model? I cushionized the couplers and added ACI labels, COTS and yellow dots.

MR&T1027

MR&T1027

MR&T1027

Did a lilttle research and this is what I was able to find:

"The Athearn “Railbox” is a Plate B ACF 5077cuft car. The only main discrepancy (other than the doors/door tracks) is the roof, which should be a diagonal-panel type.

Original Plate B owners include RBOX (lots), TP, MP (original and ex-RBOX), BN (ex-RBOX), SP (ex-RBOX), ATSF (ex-RBOX), SBD (ex-RBOX), and a few other secondhand owners. "

So it appears replacing the roof if you are going for prototype accuracy. If not, being a stand-in, use as is.

I want one to go with my Model Railroader anniversary cars.

I am slowly building a weird collection of these types of freight cars.

-Kevin

I am sorry that my explanation is inadequate. I would like to know the circumstances of release of this model. Does anyone know the year and purpose released? The attached image is page 209 of “Standard Guide to Athearn Model Trains.” There is nothing in the necessary information there.

Standard Guide to Athearn

Maybe try an email to the magazine staff. Somebody there might be able to give the info you seek.

Mike.

I’m not familiar with that particular Model Railroader/Kalmbach “tribute” car, but in years past sometimes it was Kalmbach/MR (or Trains magazine) itself that would offer such cars for sale, not the company that made the “source” kit such as Athearn or Model Die Casting. And in some cases it might have been just decals that were offered.

The Kalmbach logo on the car is one that they used up to the 1980s or so. Ditto the typeface for the words Model Railroader.

The car number, 1027, was the street number for Kalmbach Publishing before they moved to their current location. There was a sort of craze about the number - some commercially available MR&T diesels were number 1027, and Trains magazine would print just about any photo a railfan took of a locomotive or car with the number.

Perhaps Steve Otte will notice this thread and look into their archives for info.

Dave Nelson

This Tracks Ahead boxcar is probably a excluded model from Kalmbach family. Tracks Ahead is a series of TV programs, and sales of this model were announced in page 10 of the Dec. 1997 issue of the MR magazine.

Tracks Ahead model

Tracks Ahead model

Tracks Ahead

The MR&T of course is the Kalmbach/Model Railroader staff’s in-house club layout.

Kalmbach has several times over the years commissioned custom runs of models in MR&T schemes. This is likely simply one of those (they have often also been available for the public to purchase) and may not be related to any “special” event or commemoration.

Does this book mention the boxcar “MR&T 1027”?

I recently acquired this model. Anyone have information about this?

I would like to delete this comment because the forum is inappropriate, but I can’t. I’m sorry.

Don’t know what you mean by “inappropriate”’ but you can always just edit your post and delete what you want.

I too am unsure as to how your comment is inappropriate, but will comment that my sources attribute the reporting mark CNWX to the Canadian Wheat Board.
Green River soft drink is a genuine product, and was very popular in the Midwest.
Cheers, the Bear.[:)]

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Thanks to that, I found very close information in the Sept. 1979 issue of MR magazine. It’s an N scale wood reefer, but I think it’s highly possible that the HO scale was also manufactured by Con-Cor at the same time. Certainly it seems to be a soft drink, and Pepsi is also lined up. I don’t know “Bevo.”

Whoa! I also discovered the HO scale in the Nov. 1982 issue of MR magazine. I already owned a Pepsi car.

Found a couple references to “Bevo”.

First, it is the name of the long-horn steer that is a mascot for the University of Texas.

Per the “net”, “the name “Bevo” was a play on the word beeve, which is not only the plural of beef, but long used as slang for a cow or steer destined to become food. The name might be thought of as Beef-o.”.

Second, and more likely given that the names on the other cars are beverages, according to Wikipedia "Bevo was a non-alcoholic malt beverage, or near beer, brewed in the United States by the Anheuser-Busch company beginning in the early 20th century. Bevo enjoyed its greatest success during the time of

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Thanks, maxman, for the idea about “Bevo.” The N-scale reefer has just been put up for sale on ebay. “Dad’s Root Beer” car has a few N and HO.

Starting in 1973…

It could have been used by someone else years earlier (although my sources for reporting marks list don’t indicate any previous usage).

Probably he didn’t mean to post it as a reply to an existing thread.

I recently took over an old collection and found this one. The model is a 36-ft wood boxcar from MDC-Roundhouse. The lettering such as “Old Colony & Western Ry.” and the “OC&W” mark are decals. Does anyone know about this scheme?

Google brings up an “Old Colony Railroad” and an “Old Colony and Newport” but no “Old Colony and Western”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Colony_Railroad

It’s either REALLY obscure or it’s someone’s custom road name (most likely the latter).