How should I make this Boston & Maine boxcar?

[garethashenden]

Boston & Maine single sheathed boxcar. It doesn't have as many diagonal ribs as the Atlas and Micro-Trains cars, only four per side instead of six. I've got a photo of a whole car, an online photo of half a car and an online photo of a HO model.
Prototype: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bmrrhs/12660629964/


It seems that if I were to start with a RTR model, I'd spend a long time repositioning the ribs and it wouldn't come out that well. How would everyone else do it?

[wcfn100]

That's an XM-1 box car.  There's nothing like it in N scale.

It's a car I'd love to have and once 3D printing come of age, it will be available if I'm still alive.

I think it's a perfect car to test what's left of the kit market.  Not too many people would need more than a couple (so they might actually be willing to build one) and there're several different roof, ends and door combinations possible.  And with those combination, there're several road names to do including some clone type cars of the SAL.

On top of that, drawings are readily available.


Jason

[Dave Schneider]

ConCor has a similar car with the correct number of panels and rib direction that could be upgraded if you are looking for a stand in.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Con-Cor-40-Foot-Wood-Boxcar-Pennsy-Railroad-Number-01301B-LOOK-LOOK-/161233270409?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item258a407689

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CON-COR-1301-F-BALTIMORE-OHIO-40-BOX-CAR-MIB-FREE-US-SHIPPING-/161124100017?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2583bea7b1

I have suggested a similar car to MicroTrains during Joe's occasional calls for suggestions, but so far no luck.

Best wishes, Dave

[wcfn100]

As far as kit bashing goes,  that B&M car has basically the same ends and roof as a 1923 ARA car ('x-29' for some).  For the door, I think Red Caboose did a version of the X-29 with a Youngstown door that could fit.


Jason

[bbussey]

Fastest solution is to cannibalize the doors, roof and ends from the RC or MTL USRA boxcar, then RP new sides.  Definitely doable.

[wcfn100]

Fastest solution is to cannibalize the doors, roof and ends from the RC or MTL USRA boxcar, then RP new sides.  Definitely doable.

One side note on that is the RC and MTL cars aren't really interchangeable.  The MTL cars is longer and wider than it should be.  One other thing is the underframe, namely the truck centers on the MTL car is much too short.

But before it sounds like RC is the best way to go, I find it has very shallow molded details, especially the ladders.

But over all, I would go with the RC cars, especially if you can get the shell with the Youngstown door (in addition to shell with the plate ends). There's a good chance Bill (owner of RC) still has everything you'd need.

edit:  One thing I should point out about the RC cars is that they are built as X-29s.  So one of the features is that the side ladders go all the way to the end which eliminates all the rivet detail you see on the HO model where the sides meet the ends (ladder end only).  You could of course just put the new ladder in the same place, it just wouldn't be correct.

If you're really just going for 'close enough', one possibility is the CC car Dave showed and an Atlas 1932 box car.  One version of the Atlas car has the right roof and end and I think also comes with athe right door, but is taller than a true XM-1.  It could mate up nicely with the taller CC car.


Jason

[sirenwerks]

...For the door, I think Red Caboose did a version of the X-29 with a Youngstown door that could fit.

Does the Red Caboose car disassemble?  I thought the sides/ends/doors/roof were a one piece casting.

[wcfn100]

Does the Red Caboose car disassemble?  I thought the sides/ends/doors/roof were a one piece casting.

The roof is separate.

Jason

[garethashenden]

Thanks for your help everyone. I have a RC X-29, but it's B&M so I'm a little hesitant to cut it up (and it's pretty solid). Getting parts from RC doesn't seem like something that's going to happen, he won't ship internationally and I'm in the UK. Ideally, I'd like more than one of these,  there were over 900 of the things at one point. I think my best bet would be to find either the MTL or Atlas car, build the sides, then make some resin castings. I've been tempted by casting in the past, but I've never really had anything that needed to be cast before.

[bbussey]

You should be able to find RC cars on eBay.  I was able to pick up a bunch I missed via that route.  I would sacrifice your B&O decorated car, but I would try to hunt down some RC cars secondhand since they are the model that will yield the most accurate kitbash.

[railnerd]

Seems like this could be another cool kit opportunity in N-Scale.  I had thought it was B&M specific, but I guess L&N, BAR, CRI&P, and Rock Island also had them.

The Sunshine models instruction sheet seems to list out the various options: http://www.sunshinekits.com/sunimages/sun91b.pdf

-Dave

[garethashenden]

You should be able to find RC cars on eBay.  I was able to pick up a bunch I missed via that route.  I would sacrifice your B&M decorated car, but I would try to hunt down some RC cars secondhand since they are the model that will yield the most accurate kitbash.

I'll see what I can come up with that way, but would the Fine N Scale X-29 kit work? The door is wrong, but if I'm changing the sides...

[bbussey]

Yes, other than the door that should work as well.  An Atlas or Micro-Trains door might be an adequate fill-in.

[jmlaboda]

"Seems like this could be another cool kit opportunity in N-Scale.  I had thought it was B&M specific, but I guess L&N, BAR, CRI&P, and Rock Island also had them."

This type of car was more common than some think... before the famous 100 car order of PS1 boxcars by the Georgia & Florida there were a large number of cars like these in use and I have seen a number of other roads that had them as well.  Maybe I need to start listing them as I find them...

[wcfn100]

The Fine-N-Scale could work but will have the same side ladder issue as the RC cars where it covers the rivet detail where the side meets the ends.  You will also need to replace the brake staff to be horizontal.  I'm not sure how difficult it will be to work with a casting like that vs. plastic.  On the plus side, you'll have proper truck spacing and (I assume) a more correct length and wide, although the pictures of the FNS car look a bit wide.



Jason