Steve,

If you are going to use them, another change I made was to build new
underframes to look more like the ARA ones. With the new UF, I shorten
the truck bolster to end sill distance from the usual 5'-6" to 5'-0"
that was common for the early ARA/X29 box cars and I lowered the car
body as it rode too high to allow clearance for the original talgo
trucks.

To my eye the CNJ box car in the link "rides" too high. Match the
distance from the bottom of the side sill to the top-of-the-rail as
indicated in PRR X29 diagram [2'-11-1/2"]

http://prr.railfan.net/diagrams/PRRdiagrams.html?diag=x29_x29a.gif&sel=b\;
ox&sz=sm&fr=

Both modifications really change the "look" of the model.

In their era these models were the only thing we had in styrene that was
close to ARA/X29 box cars. The flawed model from Train-Miniature changed
that, but only the model from Red Caboose finally gave us an accurate
model.

Regards,

Bob Witt

Steven D Johnson wrote:

Thanks, Bob and Ben, for your comments. I want to keep these cars and
upgrade them, like that CNJ model in the photo. The concept of

taking old

AHM, etc. cars (as with the helium car that was discussed recently)

and

upgrading them is appealing to me. In this case, I think I'll just

use a

freelance road name on them.