[peaved mode] According to an article I just read, there were 3 times as many x-29 boxcars as there were x-31s in the PRR fleet from 1930 to 1959, yet according to Kalmback’s Freight cars there are a half-dozen manufacturers of x-31s and only Red Caboose makes an x-29.
So what’s a modeler to do? The Red Caboose cars cost 4x the Bowser x-31s I’ve been getting. [/peaved mode]
[perplexed mode]Are you serious? At least you have an option for accurate rolling stock. Some people have to cut and bash their way to an accurate model. [/perplexed mode]
David B
Actually I agree with Spacemouse. I would like a good accurate RTR model of a honest to good ness wagontop caboose or boxcar for the B&O and PRR respectively.
Not some block of resin that I gotta melt down and pollute the home trying to build. There is strict limits on what I can do because of our need for good air in our home.
Bowser is tempting. But Im actually holding out for someone else to try it… Atlas or Athearn maybe. If ever.
Maybe Intermountain has already done it… but they are so limited run and out of production 11 months out of the year and not availible to buy anywhere some some of the stuff… as hideously expensive they are. I have trouble buying just one of these at the store.
Sometimes accuracy comes at a price. If you want them, then buy them. Obvously the law of supply and demand at work. If there was enough demand for X-29s, then more manufacturers would invest the capital in molds to build them.
The unfortunate truth is that a wagontop boxcar, or caboose, was an atypical design used by only a limited number of roads. The demand of a good scale model of one would have limited appeal because of the limited roads it could be produced for. Compare this to a wide vision caboose or the 50ft AAR design boxcar. While there may be subtle differences in a boxcar such as door width or type or roof panel, a well engineering model would lend itself to a number of roadname and modification by modelers. Hence it gets produced instead of the X-29.
I’m would bet that there a resin/craftsman kits available - again at a cost. Resin kits are used for more limited production runs because the mold building costs are so much less that the inveestment is easier to recoup.
It’s all economics
I think Train Minature had a X-29 in HO back in the 70’s…You might find some at swap meets or Ebay…If I rember right they were 1.98!! Cox 47
Walthers now makes the X29 (No dashes in the car type designations). They advertised them in their gold line last year and they should still be available in kit form.
Wagontop box cars are available in a styrene kit from Canonball Car Shops see this website for information on these cars http://www.mrrwarehouse.com/
Rick
The Red Caboose are much more accurate than the Walthers, though more expensive.
You get what you’re willing to pay for.
Chip, it is a form of punishment for those that want to model the PRR. Why don’t you switch to a different era/prototype like the 1800’s and then you can really learn appreciation for accurate model availability. [}:)]
For a while there I was going to model the California Western in 1917. Thier main power was 2-6-2 side-tankers.
You also need to go to the PRRT&HS website and download the two Keystone Modeler issues that talked about fixing the problems on the various models available.
That’s how this whole thing started–reading Keystone Modeler. If I didn’t know better, it wouldn’t have been a problem.
Any idea on which two?
Manufacturers HAVE invested in them. There are two different manufacturers making the same road-specific protptype. That’s pretty good in anyone’s book. In addition to the two versions in plastic, Sunshine has at least five different versions of the x29 in resin, so those bases are covered too. Heck, Red Caboose just invested in new tooling for a version of the X29 with the lower edge patch panels, a car that’s a must for anyone modeling 1940 through 1970.
But the TM X29 has been in production for far longer than anyone’s wide-vision caboose (and remember, cabooses are more visible than boxcars, and at least as road-specific. True road devotees are at LEAST as picky about their cabs as they are about their road engines).
And your logic doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Let’s take the Milwaukee’s rib-sided boxcars as an example, a car that’s as peculiar and road-specific as any. Roundhouse came out with a version in the early 1980s. Sunshine came out with them in resin in the mid-1990s. A new startup company, Rib Car Sides, recently came online and is making nothing BUT these cars, four versions so far (
See the following - scroll down the page and X29’s by several manufacturers are listed (Also note that photos are available)
http://prr.railfan.net/freight/classpage.html?class=X29
For items that are not available as kits info is available
For PRR equipment diagrams - see
http://prr.railfan.net/freight/PRRdiagrams.html
For X29 diagram - see
http://prr.railfan.net/diagrams/PRRdiagrams.html?diag=X29-E73579.gif&sel=box&sz=sm&fr=
For PRR photos - see
http://prr.railfan.net/freight/freightphotos.html
For Erie equipment diagrams - see
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/frt/erie-1913db.html
For plastic scratch building supplies see
http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/
For wood scratch building supplies - see
http://www.cardstone.com/basswood/Basswood.htm
http://www.midwestproducts.com/
FYI,
Dang Dog,
Where do you come up with this stuff?
There is some really cool sh-- uh, stuff here!
You said in your first PRR post that you were in for a lot of scratch building and kit bashing.[%-)]
Uh, that was structures. I was a contractor for a zillion years and that stuff is second nature. This hobby shore does pull at my corners.
Mr. Mouse, for my layout I need two X29s, an X29B, and and X29D. I’m using Walthers/Train Miniature kits for the X29s, upgraded to a decent but not exceptional extent as described in various articles. For the other two I’m modifying Branchline kits, mainly side sill detailing. None of these look to be that difficult. (As a bonus, I can also use the TM car to make a B&O M-26.)
As to model production, I’m not sure those Kalmbach numbers matter or are really right. I think I’m like you and am looking for reasonably accurate and available “layout quality” plastic kits. As of today I know of X29s by Red Caboose and Walthers and X31s by Bowser that would fit this description.
KL
Kurt, the numbers come from the Keystome Modeler, January 2007 edition. Scroll down to page 29. The graphs are on page 31.
In that case here are some links that you might find useful for scratch building supplies. The Old Dog has NOT deal with most of these sites, but they semm to offer intersting and useful items or materials
Brass Scratch Building supplies
http://www.smallparts.com/materials/
http://www.rjleahy.com/index.html
http://www.twpinc.com/twp/jsp/product.jsp?type=1
http://www.glassmart.com/foil_menu.htm
http://www.ksmetals.com/Homepage/default.asp?Title=Products
http://www.hollywoodfoundry.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=10&cat=BullAnt+Drive+Mechansims
http://www.jewelwire.com/brass.shtml
http://www.microfasteners.com/
http://www.galtran.com/ScaleNutsandBolts/ScaleNutsandBoltsProductPage.htm
Oh, I meant the Kalmbach numbers for the number of X29 and X31 kit manufacturers are kinda odd and maybe useless because old metal collector’s kits aren’t really in the same league as Bowser kits you can buy at most LHS.
As to real car numbers, even in 1961 there were more plain PRR X29s XMs (11,283) than X31s of all types (9,546). In fact, there were more plain X29s on the PRR then than most class 1 RRs had total cars.
KL
