I’m looking for a double door box car in (NYC 64000 series) and the Life-Like Proto 2000 Automobile boxcar seem to be the best match.
I’m wondering what these kits are like? How good do the finished models look. Are they comparable to Kadee, Intermountain, and Branchline for detailing? Would I have to add detail parts to get them to look as good as the Kadee and Intermountian cars in my trainset?
So basically I’m wondering if these kits worth the effort, or if they lack in detail when compared to the latest offerings in the HO market?
Here’s a pic of an assembled single door boxcar of the same type:
The only thing different between these and IM’s level of detail is airhoses IMO. I only had one kit, and the plastic parts kept breaking when I tried getting them off the sprue (used a testors sprue nipper and then an #11 blade)
To answer your question in one word…yes. They build into the same level of detail as the others with the possible exception of a few “minor” details. Personally I would find the RTR versions if you can unless you enjoy the “kit” experience as most of their older RTR cars can be had for bargain prices in todays market. Not so for the newer releases…
The Proto2000 auto cars are decent models, although I replace the oversize plastic grabirons with metal ones and use A-Line sill steps in place of the fragile kit-supplied ones.
If you can’t find a Proto car, you could always use the old Athearn Blue Box car. They benefit from some additional details and other refining, and may require you to do paint and lettering, too, but that’s not difficult work.
Thanks Wayne. Nice job on that old Athearn boxcar. The new grabs really help.
Athearn [*-)]
I’m actually in the process of replacing my Athearn cars with more detailed ones. The NYC double door will replace an old Athearn boxcar I’ve had for years. Recently I finally finished replacing the old Athearn reefer trainset with Intermountain cars.
My move to change out the old Athearn freight cars stared when I got some Intermountain Santa Fe cabeese to replace the old Athearn Santa Fe cabeese that I’ve had for what seems like forever. But the new Intermountain cabeese were so detailed it put the rest of the cars in the trainset to shame.
Here are the two Intermountain cabeese with Tomer markers I added. In fact I just realized that the Santa Fe boxcar sneaking in on the right is the Athearn boxcar I hope to replace with the P2K NYC boxcar:
If anyone is wondering why I’m looking for a NYC car, it’s because of a great YouTube video that includes nice color footage of Santa Fe trains in the early 1950s. Starting at 5:43 you can see a NYC double door boxcar in the trainset. Thought one would look good on our Santa Fe layout.
Yes, they made them in RTR and sold them in 6 packs or seperately, I know this because I have one of the 6 packs, hope this helps. You might want to try Train World as they used to carry them in stock in both kit form and the RTR versions.
You can always substitute a Branchline 50 footer, they make a double door NYC car, but it has Despatch ends. I’ts easier and cheaper than re-building, re-painting an Athearn car.mh.
Thanks Wayne (backdrop is from backdrop warehouse). Nope not a club. Just me and my dad. He started it back in 1973 and I’ve kind of expanded on it in recent years. It’s actually quite small being made up of three 4x8 boards joined together. The photo angles kind of make it look bigger then it really is. More photos can be seen here if you’re interested:
I’ve built both the IM and the Proto2000 50ft boxcars. On both there are a lot of very fine detail parts that look great, but as others have said, can and do break easily on construction and handling. Using wires for grabs and any other parts that are “hair thickness” would avert the periods of high intensity concentration and magnification to gingerly detach the parts from the sprues. However, kits are fun, so enjoy!
I’m wondering if anyone know if Santa Fe had these type cars in the double door 50 ft. I’m working on one of the P2K boxcar kits but am also sustituting the plastic grabs with wire. These kit are challenging but fun.
I don’t know the specific Bx-?? class numbers but it appears they did based on this book:
Update:
Did a little more digging and they were in the Fe class (not Bx “boxcar” class). Guess “Fe” is for furniture. Looks like they were around class numbers Fe 20-27. Not 100% sure but I think the Fe-24 is a good match for the P2k kit.
Microscale has multiple decal sets for Santa Fe 50’ boxcars. Map series in 87-215 and 87-216, later Ship & Travel scheme in 87-505 and 87-506.
My guess would be a black roof, with mineral brown sides, ends, and underframe.
The black roof color was an anti-skid coating.
I believe the black anti-skid roofs were officially phased out in the early 1950s. However, this black coating could still be seen on Santa Fe mineral brown boxcars until the late 1950s to early 1960s.
