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IM advance reservations, specifically 40' XM 38600-38900
mopacfirst
The Intermountain advance reservations for January show a number of series of cars which died on the vine several years ago as a result of factory collapses. I have no idea if this is all of them, one noteworthy item is all the P-S boxcars with 'new cushion underframe'. I'll leave the discussion of those to others.
My question concerns the 40' boxcars called '1937 AAR boxcars with 4-3-1 Improved Dreadnought Ends'. I know these are former Red Caboose products. I don't think I ever finished the two I started to build, because about that time the Branchline cars came out, and I never looked back.
I'm trying to tell which of those cars have riveted sides and which have welded sides. I'm pretty sure the Wabash car, the model RR-38909, appears to have welded sides, which is correct. The MP car, the model RR-38703 appears to have riveted sides, which is correct for the number series they are using. Some of the others pretty clearly have visible rivets, and some I just can't tell. Now I can look up what the prototypes had, my question is whether there's a way to tell (part number, for instance) what the models actually have. Some of the art is photos, and some is artist work. For the ones that are photos, is it a good presumption that those were actually once produced by Red Caboose? There is at least one on eBay right now, and the photos the sellers post aren't good enough to really tell.
Cut to the chase, probably the only ones I'd care about are the welded-side ones. If you have some of these (RC ones) on the layout, did you need to do upgrades to make them blend in?
Ron Merrick
My question concerns the 40' boxcars called '1937 AAR boxcars with 4-3-1 Improved Dreadnought Ends'. I know these are former Red Caboose products. I don't think I ever finished the two I started to build, because about that time the Branchline cars came out, and I never looked back.
I'm trying to tell which of those cars have riveted sides and which have welded sides. I'm pretty sure the Wabash car, the model RR-38909, appears to have welded sides, which is correct. The MP car, the model RR-38703 appears to have riveted sides, which is correct for the number series they are using. Some of the others pretty clearly have visible rivets, and some I just can't tell. Now I can look up what the prototypes had, my question is whether there's a way to tell (part number, for instance) what the models actually have. Some of the art is photos, and some is artist work. For the ones that are photos, is it a good presumption that those were actually once produced by Red Caboose? There is at least one on eBay right now, and the photos the sellers post aren't good enough to really tell.
Cut to the chase, probably the only ones I'd care about are the welded-side ones. If you have some of these (RC ones) on the layout, did you need to do upgrades to make them blend in?
Ron Merrick
Ron
These are the 5 Red Caboose postwar AAR box cars (1937?? Is IM stupid?) with diagonal panel
SRE roofs and R+3/4 improved dreadnaught ends. These were extensively revised Front Range models
including vastly improved detail parts. Red Caboose originally released them as a bunch of prototypically
accurate model kits. The two welded cars with 8 foot doors are only distinguished by the side sill tabs!
40' AAR 10'6" riveted 10 panel boxcar w/ 6' door (ex FRONT RANGE) RC-8600
examples -- CB&Q, C&S, SOO
40' AAR 10'6" riveted 10 panel boxcar w/ 8' door (ex FRONT RANGE) RC-8700 (small side sill tabs)
examples -- MP, ERIE, KCS, NJI&I, WABASH
40' AAR 10'6" welded sides boxcar w/ 6' door (ex FRONT RANGE) RC-8800
40' AAR 10'6" welded sides boxcar w/ 8' door (ex FRONT RANGE) RC-8900 (standard side sill tabs)
40' AAR 10'6" welded sides boxcar w/ 8' door (ex FRONT RANGE) RC-8948 (medium side sill tabs)
On 1/17/2023 10:29 PM, mopacfirst wrote:
These are the 5 Red Caboose postwar AAR box cars (1937?? Is IM stupid?) with diagonal panel
SRE roofs and R+3/4 improved dreadnaught ends. These were extensively revised Front Range models
including vastly improved detail parts. Red Caboose originally released them as a bunch of prototypically
accurate model kits. The two welded cars with 8 foot doors are only distinguished by the side sill tabs!
40' AAR 10'6" riveted 10 panel boxcar w/ 6' door (ex FRONT RANGE) RC-8600
examples -- CB&Q, C&S, SOO
40' AAR 10'6" riveted 10 panel boxcar w/ 8' door (ex FRONT RANGE) RC-8700 (small side sill tabs)
examples -- MP, ERIE, KCS, NJI&I, WABASH
40' AAR 10'6" welded sides boxcar w/ 6' door (ex FRONT RANGE) RC-8800
40' AAR 10'6" welded sides boxcar w/ 8' door (ex FRONT RANGE) RC-8900 (standard side sill tabs)
40' AAR 10'6" welded sides boxcar w/ 8' door (ex FRONT RANGE) RC-8948 (medium side sill tabs)
On 1/17/2023 10:29 PM, mopacfirst wrote:
The Intermountain advance reservations for January show a number of series of cars which died on the vine several years ago as a result of factory collapses. I have no idea if this is all of them, one noteworthy item is all the P-S boxcars with 'new cushion underframe'. I'll leave the discussion of those to others.
My question concerns the 40' boxcars called '1937 AAR boxcars with 4-3-1 Improved Dreadnought Ends'. I know these are former Red Caboose products. I don't think I ever finished the two I started to build, because about that time the Branchline cars came out, and I never looked back.
I'm trying to tell which of those cars have riveted sides and which have welded sides. I'm pretty sure the Wabash car, the model RR-38909, appears to have welded sides, which is correct. The MP car, the model RR-38703 appears to have riveted sides, which is correct for the number series they are using. Some of the others pretty clearly have visible rivets, and some I just can't tell. Now I can look up what the prototypes had, my question is whether there's a way to tell (part number, for instance) what the models actually have. Some of the art is photos, and some is artist work. For the ones that are photos, is it a good presumption that those were actually once produced by Red Caboose? There is at least one on eBay right now, and the photos the sellers post aren't good enough to really tell.
Cut to the chase, probably the only ones I'd care about are the welded-side ones. If you have some of these (RC ones) on the layout, did you need to do upgrades to make them blend in?
Ron Merrick
--
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts
mopacfirst
In the meantime, I found an MP original Red Caboose assembled car on eBay, so I'll see what it looks like in person.
The MP DeSoto cars had a vertical cut on the left end of the sidesill under the door, which probably saved $2 in 1956 dollars in manufacturing expense. but are otherwise pretty standard. The Wabash welded-side cars had, like other late ACF cars, a steeper angle to the sidesill sections, which is a simple modification. Haven't looked at the others yet, but those late 50s cars are kind of my sweet spot.
Thanks for the summary.
Ron Merrick
The MP DeSoto cars had a vertical cut on the left end of the sidesill under the door, which probably saved $2 in 1956 dollars in manufacturing expense. but are otherwise pretty standard. The Wabash welded-side cars had, like other late ACF cars, a steeper angle to the sidesill sections, which is a simple modification. Haven't looked at the others yet, but those late 50s cars are kind of my sweet spot.
Thanks for the summary.
Ron Merrick
mopacfirst
I don't know if any inquiring minds actually want to know, but I have the Red Caboose MP RC-38703 car at hand. I would rate it pretty good, and the MP Eagles lettering (applied to these cars new) is decent, not perfect, but better than many I have seen. The model has crossover platforms (!). I've seen these on a few other RC 8600-8900 cars offered on eBay where there are detail photos. There's a full roofwalk, not very good but I'll probably replace it with a Branchline.
In sum, I'll put this one in service. And I think this means the IM new production of these cars will be worthwhile, if still in need of a few upgrades after they arrive.
The reservation page does actually show undecs listed as "taking reservations". Interestingly, the 38600, 38700, and 38900 are shown but not 38800.
Ron Merrick
In sum, I'll put this one in service. And I think this means the IM new production of these cars will be worthwhile, if still in need of a few upgrades after they arrive.
The reservation page does actually show undecs listed as "taking reservations". Interestingly, the 38600, 38700, and 38900 are shown but not 38800.
Ron Merrick