New Tangent 40' combination door boxcars

[unittrain]

Just picked up a couple of the new Tangent 40' combination door boxcars these are much welcome 40' variants.
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[Mark5]

This release inspired me to dig through my (N scale) junk box (more on that some other time!). These probably appeared all over the country at some point.

[sirenwerks]

This release inspired me to dig through my (N scale) junk box (more on that some other time!). These probably appeared all over the country at some point.

I know it's probably not economical to produce a car with so few owners, but I would be forever grateful if Atlas would produce these in N scale, since it has so much of the existing design with its PS1.

[nkalanaga]

They were very common among western roads, especially the grain-hauling ones.  With the plug door closed, a standard grain door would cover the 6-foot sliding door.  With both doors open, lumber and other stuff could be loaded with a forklift.

I've noticed that many of the eastern roads that did have combination-door cars preferred 8-foot sliding doors, and 6-foot plug doors, just the opposite of the western roads.

[amato1969]

Whoa, really nice!

  Frank

[Mark5]

I've noticed that many of the eastern roads that did have combination-door cars preferred 8-foot sliding doors, and 6-foot plug doors, just the opposite of the western roads.

What eastern roads had 40' combo door box cars? (or are you referring to 50 footers?)

[basementcalling]

This release inspired me to dig through my (N scale) junk box (more on that some other time!). These probably appeared all over the country at some point.

Tangent's webpage has a great write up about how widely these cars circulated. Basically they made it to almost every town in America with a lumber yard or grain mill at some point in their lifespans. Everyone needed building supplies and food.

[basementcalling]

I know it's probably not economical to produce a car with so few owners, but I would be forever grateful if Atlas would produce these in N scale, since it has so much of the existing design with its PS1.

Or Tangent might do them in N scale themselves.

[thomasjmdavis]

I know it's probably not economical to produce a car with so few owners, but I would be forever grateful if Atlas would produce these in N scale, since it has so much of the existing design with its PS1.

You are probably right that this might not be a model for mass manufacture.  For a lot of modelers, a "generic" combination door car done by MTL as a variation of their "standard"-might-be-a-PS1 boxcar ( see http://www.spookshow.net/freight/mt40standard.html ) probably suits them fine.  If they even care about doors.

However, for those who are more prototype conscious (who are the ones more likely interested in models from Tangent and similar companies), I suspect that any cars that saw a lot of interchange and fit in with industries on our layouts, or were prominent in trains of the railroads we model, are prime candidates for purchase.  I model an earlier time frame, but if I were modeling the 1960s, these would be a good fit for my modeling philosophy, where "off road" cars are usually "signature" cars for the off road line, rather than a generic boxcar lettered for that road.  What I need are more along the line of the later wood sheathed radial roof NP cars.  But hoping somebody out there produces resin castings for those one of these days.

[nkalanaga]

Mark5:  Yes, most of the eastern combination-door cars I've seen were 50 ft.  But even there, 6-foot sliding doors weren't uncommon on western cars.

[bbussey]

... What I need are more along the line of the later wood sheathed radial roof NP cars.  But hoping somebody out there produces resin castings for those one of these days.

GHQ made a pilot model years ago, but never released the kit publicly. Maybe Rapido will explore an N scale version of their model eventually.