Jan Podganski Jr wrote:
"As I wrote in my original post, they are a decent stand in for a
plywood side R-40-24. I did upgrade a model with new grab irons, and
replace the ladder rungs with stand away rungs. The under frame needs
work to look better. I used a parts from a Tichy PFE under frame kit.
There seems to be a bias against MTH and I think that's why these cars
got very little attention."

Jan, your post pretty much sums it up. You have an RTR model with an
MSRP of $25 purporting to be a steel reefer that is closest to a
stand-in for a plywood-side car that you still had to replace the
underframe and upgrade the details to produce a credible model.


"If modelers can take a Tyco reefer and make something remarkable out
of it, then these cars have a lot of potential."

The Tyco reefer doesn't cost you $25! This is the same issue that I
have with the Athearn "Rebuilt USRA boxcar" - I can correct the model
and make it something much closer to the prototype, but the buy-in
cost is too high for something that isn't right in the first place.


Ben Hom