AZL June 2018 New Items - New Body Style

[ztrack]

AMERICAN Z LINE
June 2018 New Release – Part 1


GE P42 Genesis – Amtrak® Phase II Heritage



63508-1 Amtrak® GE P42 Genesis 66 Phase II Heritage

This is the 2nd release of Amtrak’s 40th anniversary Genesis P42 Heritage series! It represents the Amtrak phase 2 heritage scheme.

Amtrak® Licensed Products. Amtrak® is a registered service mark of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.

Dealers with pre-orders will receive their allotment automatically.

NEW BODY STYLE – 1937 40’ AAR Boxcars!

American Z Line is excited to announce are 1937 AAR boxcars! Our first release is for the Western Pacific. A runner pack, two-pack and single car is being released.



904315-1 WP 1937 40´ AAR Box Car 20136 Single



904385-1 WP 1937 40´ AAR Box Car 20009, 20018 Two-pack



914315-1 WP 1937 40´ AAR Box Car 20004, 20017, 20047, 20134 Set


1930s and 1940s 40´ Steel Box Cars:
   
Even if A.R.A and later A.A.R. tried to standardize the design one can find hundreds of different combinations. Very few manufacturers offered all the parts needed to make a complete box car, hence sub suppliers furnished; roofs, doors, ends, running boards, ladders, hatches and trucks to name a few.

This is a brand new release and represent the standard 1937 AAR 40´ Box Car. It is offered with Murphy raised panel roof, both Youngstown and Superior doors and the most common 4-5 Dreadnaught ends. AZL also offer the correct choice of wooden and etched steel Running Boards. This enables AZL to offer a very prototypical Box Car.

Some small notes on freight cars in general. Trucks used to be bolted together and that was outlawed by A.R.A. / A.A.R. for good reasons. A maintenance nightmare since they could come apart. Replaced by solid frame trucks they also saw a change as A.A.R. made roller bearings mandatory in the early 1950s.

Other developmental changes effected the running boards. They were probably all wooden to start with. Wood was more slippery than steel, so wood was banned in 1944. In the 1950s running boards and side ladders were outlawed as well. That is why the 1930´s Box Cars lived long with updates through their operational lives. By 1970 these Box Cars could not be found on Class 1 railroads any longer.

VACATION NOTICE

The Ztrack Distribution offices will be closed from June 1st through June 11th. No orders will be shipped during this time. We will resume shipping the upon our return on the 12th.

See the American Z Line sites for more information on these and other AZL products.

http://www.americanzline.com

http://www.azldirect.com

Rob Kluz
Ztrack Distribution

[tom mann]

Boxcar looks great!

[nkalanaga]

"In the 1950s running boards and side ladders were outlawed as well. That is why the 1930´s Box Cars lived long with updates through their operational lives. By 1970 these Box Cars could not be found on Class 1 railroads any longer."

Roofwalks and full-height ladders were banned in the 1960s, not the 1950s.

Many of these cars survived through the 1970s, especially in grain service, and there are probably still a few in MOW service today.  The main reasons they disappeared were the "40 year rule", which says that any car over 40 years old couldn't be used in interchange service, and the general switch to larger cars, simply because it was more economical to put more freight in a car. 

In the 70s one really needs to check the built date on any older cars.  A "1937 AAR" boxcar could be built anytime in the late 30s or early 40s, so the "40 year" rule would catch them at different times.

[bbussey]

Boxcar looks great!

The boxcar does look great.  If New Haven is released, I may have to break down and buy one.