Manufacturer
Wm. K. Walthers Inc.
P.O. Box 3039
Milwaukee, WI 53201
www.walthers.com
Road names: BNSF Ry. (Nestle patchout), Carnation, McCain, and Simplot (One road number per scheme)
Era: 1992 to present
Comments: After a nearly two-decade absence, the Gunderson 76-foot cryogenic reefer is back in the Walthers HO scale lineup. The model is based on a full-size car that uses frozen carbon dioxide in a roof-mounted bunker to keep shipments cool. Some of the commodities handled in the reefer include potatoes, meat, and frozen juice.
Walthers first offered the cryogenic reefer as a kit in 1994. At that time, the model featured plastic wheelsets and horn-hook couplers. Today’s ready-to-run version uses the same tooling as the car we reviewed in the November 1994 Model Railroader, but features unpainted metal wheelsets on plastic axles and metal knuckle couplers.
Our sample is decorated for BNSF Ry. The white paint is smooth and evenly applied, and all of the small stencils are legible. A screen is incorrectly printed on the right side of the car on the B end. Based on prototype photos, there should be two screens (a pair on each side) on the car’s A end. The screens were added to the full-size car after BNSF Ry. converted it to a mechanical reefer.
The model’s dimensions match prototype drawings published in the 1997 Car and Locomotive Cyclopedia (Simmons-Boardman Publishing). The 36″ wheels are correctly gauged. The Proto-Max couplers are mounted in pivoting draft-gear boxes at the correct height, though the trip pin on the B end coupler was low. At 5.5 ounces, the car is .3 ounce too light per National Model Railroad Association recommended practice 20.1.
