Hi folks,
In looking over what is available in HO scale for models of rebuilt double
sheathed boxcars I've come up with a number of questions. I'm familiar with
he early Sunshine kits for this type of car and built one of them for the ACL
years ago. Recently I've been looking at the Atlas models for this type of car
and have concluded that it's quite a bit better than I thought when first looking
at one several years ago. I also like the fact that the car has a reasonably scale
thickness door that is well designed and opens to the full width of the prototype.
This is a feature that I realize I am sticky about but feel it should be mandatory
for all house car models in HO or larger scales Some of these care have eight
panels per side and some have 10 panels, just as Youngstown supplied them.
But this is what raises my first question. I gather that rebuilt USRA double
sheathed cars are those with eight panels per side while those with ten panels
per side are rebuilt from double sheathed cars of a different design, and
therefore different framing, than the USRA cars. Does anyone know if this is
correct? Also, the Santa Fe had a lot of USRA double sheathed cars most of
which seem to have been rebuilt with steel sides prior to WW II. But what about
the Sou. Pac. and the Western Pacific that Atlas is decorating some of these
models for? Here I suspect we are dealing with rebuilds of none USRA cars. Is
this correct? I'm also aware that the Rock Island rebuilt a number of such cars.
but believe most R.I. rebuilds were from USRA cars. With the C&NW I'm
comfortable with the car but when did the C&NW begin painting the rebuilds
with colorful green & yellow paint? Lastly we come to the Wabash and it's
subsidiary, the Ann Arbor. My knowledge is that they both ran their single
sheathed cars in that form until the cars were retired or am I incorrect in this?
The Frisco had a huge number of USRA double sheathed cars and ran a major
rebuilt program for them. However it appears to me that there were stilll over
1,000 such cars that the Frisco did NOT rebuild that continued in use.The
Tichy rebuild kit, for which I don't like the tooling for the ends, is of a P&LE car
but were all NYC and/or subsidiary roads double sheathed cars rebuilt in the
same fashion? Lots of cars and lots of questions but these are the ones I am
most concrened with and would appreciate any comments on.
Thanks to all who can assist.
My best, Don Valentine
