One of my weaker model railroading skills is box car identification. I was on Accurail’s website looking at box cars and can’t tell what I want. I’m looking for somewhat modern era around 1990’s to present boxcars. What type should I be looking at for my era? Thank you in advance.
Look for box cars sans roof walks. Typically 50 footers for your Era. Also consider looking at build date on rolling stock.
I had the same question early on, and I found Accurail and other manufacturers very helpful in detailing which cars fit an era; I just emailed them.
Have fun!
Dan
Just looking at Accurail’s catalog I don’t see any that are 1990s. Even their 50’ box cars are from the 1970s, so they would have been around on the rails but definitely not first run stuff.
ExactRail’s beer cars were from 1977-1982, a little newer. Also some Berwicks, Evans, and 60 foot P-S waffle box that were late 1970 and early 1980s.
http://exactrail.com/collections/special-deals-ho/products/pc-f-beer-car-atsf-gothic-repaint-1
Beware the build date information on manufacturer websites. Accurail for example often lists inaccurate dates and/or applies paint schemes to entirely inappropriate cars.
I’d suggest looking for the number series of a car that interests you on one or more of these sites: http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ , http://freight.railfan.ca/ , http://www.railcarphotos.com/CountReportingMarks.php , http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/railroadList.aspx . Check the overall car type, along with paint and lettering, against photos within your timeframe. By force of repetetion, you’ll start to recognize general characteristics of cars that will fit in with your modeling.
For your 1990s and later era, look for data with the CAPY line eliminated (i.e. only LT WT and LD LMT listed). On most models you can patch this out, and it needn’t match the body color as most of the prototypes didn’t. Look for cars built less than 40 years prior to your era, and even those must not have running boards as they were supposed to be removed by 1983.
Most manufacturers do a poor job with modified safety appliances. Few correctly represent the ladders lowered to four rungs on the A end of the car, the grab iron on the roof at the B end above the remaining full-height ladders, or the label on the side adjacent to the B end ladder stating “keep off roof no running board.” On cars with separate ladders these details are usually easy to modify to match a photo. You can also add decals for patch-outs, lube stencils, and other things based on photos.
Here’s an example of research based on my above post.
This is an Accurail car from http://www.accurail.com/accurail/5800.htm .
This is the same number car from http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/cnw/cnw-frt.html , dated 1993. The Accurail car isn’t a good match, and their paint job lacks the correct black ends. Note the prototype retains high ladders on the B end while the model has short ladders on all corners. The prototype has a cushion underframe with extended draft gear, which can be added using various detail parts if you want.
The CAPY line has been painted out in black. There’s a consolidated stencil (the two stacked black boxes) which you can add from a decal, along with a yellow-dot U1 inspection symbol. Should you consider the Accurail car as a possible stand-in, the photo provides plenty of information that would let you decide if it’s close enough, and clearly shows the additional stencils, patches, and weathering to make it fit your era.
50-62’ boxcars will fit his era.[:D]