ExactRail HO scale 100-ton auto parts car

Here’s another contemporary high-capacity HO scale high-cube boxcar that captures the look and tall proportions of a Pullman-Standard 7315 waffle-side boxcar used to transport heavy automobile parts. It’s a recent addition to ExactRail’s Platinum line, and it comes ready-to-run with scale-size magnetic knuckle couplers. It’s also the first time that a plastic, ready-to-run model of the prototype car has been offered in HO scale.

The prototype for this distinctive Grand Trunk Western class XP boxcar was built in 1974. According to the Association of American Railroads, the car’s XP classification indicates it’s specially fitted to haul automobile parts loaded on pallets or in bins. These cars aren’t lined, but have a dozen horizontal rub rails per side and an Equipco load restraint system. The waffle-side pattern provides clearance for the bulkheads and other load restraints to latch onto the rub rails.

This new model closely follows the prototype dimensions found on a GTW car data sheet. It’s a scale 65′-6″ long,   10′-6″ wide, and 17′-0″ tall. The prototype cars have 20″-travel PS cushion underframes with the couplers mounted in  the extended sills.

A cushion underframe is an option that some railroads don’t use. This car includes cushion-underframe sliding sill details, but there’s no sign of the PS hydraulic cushioning device or the extended couplers (20″ at each end), which are used on the prototype GTW car. That’s an error in a premium model.

Our sample follows the same construction found in previous ExactRail freight car models. It has a one-piece molded styrene carbody that includes the floor, sides, and ends. It features excellent molded detail, and the lower door tracks are realistically mounted on stand-off brackets. Various plastic and formed wire details are individually applied, and the one-piece roof is glued into the body shell so there’s no access to the inside.

The underbody includes several layers of detail, starting with visible floor boards, stringers, and crossbearers, a sliding center sill, and the air brake system. All of the air brake components are individually applied, and the brake rods are visible from the side. The coupler boxes are superbly detailed, and their coupler cover plates are secured with Phillips screws. The Kadee no. 58 scale-size knuckle couplers are mounted at the correct height.
 
The ExactRail model comes fitted with plastic American Steel Foundries (ASF) 100-ton Ride Control trucks. The well-detailed trucks have brake beams and brake shoe details. The RP-25 contour metal wheels measure a correct scale 36″ in diameter. The wheels are chemically blackened, mounted in gauge, and free rolling.

The model’s 5-ounce weight matches the National Model Railroad Association’s Recommended Practice RP-20.1.

Our sample car is smoothly painted in an appropriate GTW blue with white excess height panels on the car ends. Its printed lettering is clear and opaque, and includes the proper note that the car has Plate F clearances that restrict its movement to specific routes.

This is an excellent model of a contemporary auto parts car, with the exception of the absent extended couplers that go along with the sliding sill details.

Price: $32.95

Manufacturer
ExactRail
1053 South 1675 West
Orem, UT 84097
www.ExactRail.com

Road names
(6 car numbers per road name) Grand Trunk Western; Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; Milwaukee Road; Norfolk & Western; Norfolk Southern; and Union Pacific

Era: 1974 to present