When I lived in Central Michigan, the Detroit & Mackinac was our neighborhood railroad, a short line serving the northeast coast of Michigan from Bay City to Mackinaw City, where it connected with a steam-powered car ferry crossing the Straits of Mackinac. In 1947, D&M bought 200 1937 AAR-design boxcars in the #2800-2999 series. With most postwar boxcars at 10’6” interior height, D&M’s 1947 purchase of the obsolescent 10’0” IH cars was curious.

Recent completion of six C&BT kits from the deep stash unearthed a pair of circa-1990 undec IMWX “W-corner” 1937 AAR kits -- one a perfect match for the D&M prototype.

The separate details provided with the kit were much better executed than those of the C&BT kits, and fewer replacement parts were needed – namely Barber S-2 trucks, and Kadee grabs and Universal brakewheel. I used the kit’s wooden running board, although Yarmouth's US Gypsum type would have been more correct.

I opted for D&M’s circa-1950 lettering scheme, not available as a decal set. The roadname and reporting marks are 8” letters from a Microscale alphabet, with dimensional data from K4’s D&M set. Weathering represents the tired paint and lettering befitting a short line boxcar.

While not a lot of modeling here, I thought the lettering scheme might be of interest -- to my knowledge not offered on a commercial model.

Regards,

Bob Chapman