Image from Atlas Archive
Introduction
Atlas continues to release their HO 50' Postwar Single Door Box Car with new road names, road numbers and paint schemes. This review looks at item #20 007 530, Illinois Central No. 523329, part of the Master Line series.
Atlas has released this model seven times since it debuted in late 2011, each time with six to seven new road names or new paint schemes. Almost every release features two road numbers per railroad.
Modelers of the post-war North American railroad network should consider adding this model to their roster. As Atlas tells us;
At the end of World War II, railroads ordered large numbers of 50' AAR boxcars with a standard design that was first widely used in the late 1940s. This design was based on the original 1937 AAR design but was modified in the post-war era to include: improved dreadnaught end and diagonal panel roofs with standard or overhanging design. These 50' boxcars were a common sight on American railroads well into the 1970s and 1980s.
Illinois Central (IC) was my hometown railroad and I remember when the bright orange livery appeared. Most IC trains through town were coal trains, strings of black or brown hoppers, so this livery was eye-popping. Let's look over this evocative model.
The model
Atlas securely packages their models in top-bottom form-fitting locking plastic cradles. Thin soft sheets of plastic protects the model from scuffing, and many model cradles have additional padding secured to the cradle. This packing is tightly held in Atlas' red and black end-opening carton with a clear display window. This box car includes a baggie of air hoses and cut levers.
What it looks like on the hobby shop shelf
The cradle
Top and bottom separated
Papers
Knocking around
Illinois Central (IC) built these cars in their own shop in Centralia, Illinois. These cars featured 14 side panels, dreadnaught ends, a smooth side sill, and many were enclosed with Youngstown doors. No roof walk is attached. If you enjoy geeking over technical trivia you may know that for cars intended for interchange traffic, roofwalks were outlawed for new builds in 1966, with the deadline for removal in early 1974. Around that time full length ladders and high-mounted handbrake wheels were regulated away. I suspect most model railroaders will not be troubled by those facts, as well a time hack discussed below in Paint and Markings.
Enjoy these technical specifications :
AAR Class:
B207
Unequipped Box Car, Inside Length: Less than 49', cushion draft gear/underframe, Sliding doors, inside width less than 9ft 6in, Door opening 15ft and over
Mechanical Spec: XM
Box car for general service equipped with side or side and end doors.
Plate: B
I could not find a photo of IC 523329 but I did find this photo of a sibling on RR Picture Archives. Note the weathering of the box car. Atlas' model renders the real box car lines and characteristics accurately.
Atlas' 50' postwar single door box car model features:
- Details such as separately applied ladders and grab irons
- Three different side sill styles - straight, tabbed and fishbelly
- 8' & 9' Superior or Youngstown doors
- Fully detailed underframe
- Free rolling trucks with metal wheelsets
- Accurate printing and prototypical paint schemes
Take a look at the details starting at the wheel sets.
ASF Ride Control 50-Ton Trucks
Brake gear
Triple valve
Reservoir
Brake cylinder and piping
Levers and hangers
Rods
Note also the underframe components:
center sill
crossbars
longitudinal stringers
rivets
Doors open
Stanray diagonal-panel roof
Separately applied ladders
B-end
4/4 Dreadnaught end with separately applied grab and ladder.
Ajax brake wheel
Brake step
B-end with airhose attached
Cut bar attached
Paint & Markings
Atlas' paint and printing is excellent. The Illinois Central logo is opaque and does not obscure detail. Fine printing reproduces stenciling for car data, the road name and road number.
The most recent release features patriotic schemes for the Alaska, Conrail, Illinois Central Gulf and Santa Fe. These look like paint schemes from America's bicentennial instead of the 250th tribute. I suspect from 1976 because of the Conrail car and the Illinois Central car is from the Illinois Central Gulf era. The previous release featured these railroads:
- Baltimore & Ohio
- Wabash
- Northern Pacific
- Santa Fe
- Pennsylvania
- Missouri-Kansas-Texas
- Illinois Central
If you would like to see what railroads were offered in each released, here is the link to Atlas' archives.
Performance
Testing this model over Atlas code 83 track including a No.6 turnout, and a code 80 Peco single-slip switch, those metal wheels rolled smooth and easy.
I have not found my coupler height gauge so I coupled the car to one I know is the correct height. This model's couplers are the right height.
The model measures approximately 50' 6" per the prototype. This model weights 4.6 ounces, very close to NMRA RP-20.1 Car Weightof 4.5 ounces.
Conclusion
So what do you think about Atlas' HO 50' Postwar Single Door Box Car? Personally, I am impressed and pleased. Molding and detail is sharp with no visible flaws. Assembly is high-quality. Paint and stenciling is exceptional. Rolling performance is wonderful. The individually-applied parts enhance realism.
Modelers of the 1950s-1980s should be excited to add some of these cars to their roster. I think they will be happy with this model. Recommedned.
Please remember to mention to retailers and Atlas that you saw this model here - on RailRoad Modeling.