When I got into model railroading as a kid in the 1980s, factory-decorated HO scale freight car kits were the industry norm. I remember staring in awe at the shelves at McGiffin’s in Grand Forks, N.D., and Bader’s in Moorhead, Minn., two of the larger shops near my hometown, which were lined high and wide with rolling stock kits from Athearn, Model Die Casting (Roundhouse), Wm. K. Walthers Inc., among others.
Of course, much has changed since then. Both of those hobby shops, sadly, have closed. Ready-to-run freight cars (and locomotives) have become the industry standard, not just in HO but every popular modeling scale. So, have factory-decorated HO scale freight car kits completely disappeared? Not by a long shot.
Accurail Inc., Atlas Model Railroad Co., and ScaleTrains are three companies that offer HO scale freight car kits today. At first blush three doesn’t sound like that many. However, when you take a closer look, between the three firms there are more than 50 body styles. Better yet, Accurail and ScaleTrains continue to add to their kit lineups.
And don’t forget about out-of-production HO scale kits. They’re still readily available on the secondary market, and they do a great job of supplementing the offerings currently in production.
Accurail Inc.
When you think of HO scale freight car kits, Accurail is probably the first name that comes to mind. The company, based in Elburn, Ill., has been in business since 1986. Accurail’s line of injection-molded plastic freight car kits has grown to more than 40 body styles covering the steam, steam-to-diesel transition, and diesel eras. Many of the limited edition HO scale Milwaukee, Racine & Troy models we sell in the Kalmbach Hobby Store are produced by Accurail.
Accurail’s kits require basic tools and adhesives. The image above shows a custom-decorated Milwaukee, Racine & Troy 50-foot boxcar. The kit includes the body; two door styles; a separate underbody; a small plastic bag with the trucks, plastic wheelsets, Accumate couplers, trip pins, and screws; a sprue with the draft-gear box covers and brake appliances; a steel weight; and an instruction sheet. The brake wheel on this car is factory-installed and painted. The number of parts varies from kit to kit, but all Accurail kits are easy to assemble.
Atlas Model Railroad Co.
In September 2011 Atlas Model Railroad Co. added a 1937 Association of American Railroads 40-foot boxcar kit to its HO scale Trainman series. The model, which uses the former Branchline Trains Yardmaster Series tooling, has been offered nine times since it joined the Atlas product lineup.
Sprue cutters or precision trimmers, screwdrivers, sanding sticks, plastic solvent cement, and plastic-safe adhesive for attaching the steel nuts are all you need to complete the Atlas Trainman boxcar kit. The Barber S-2 solid-bearing trucks have factory-installed metal wheels mounted on plastic axles. Screws for the trucks and draft-gear box covers, as well as two-piece Accumate couplers, are also included with the model.
ScaleTrains
ScaleTrains is a newcomer to the HO scale freight car kit market, releasing its Evans 5,100-cubic-foot capacity double-plug-door boxcar in 2015. Six years later the company announced its second freight car under the Kit Classics banner, a Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Havelock Shops 52’-6” gondola.
The Kit Classics range has quickly expanded since 2021 with the addition of a 40-foot Pullman-Standard boxcar, a 40-foot transition-era refrigerator car, a 52’-6” mill gondola, a 70-ton four-bay hopper, and a steel offset-cupola caboose.
You can read my review of the ScaleTrains HO scale Evans boxcar kit in the May 2016 issue of Model Railroader. I reviewed the gondola in the February 2022 issue.
The ScaleTrains gondola kit shown above includes a plastic body, separate underbody, and steel weights. Two small plastic bags are also included. One contains the American Steel Foundries Ride-Control trucks with machined metal wheelsets, screws for the trucks and draft-gear box covers, and coupler centering springs. The other has the semi-scale Type E knuckle couplers, brake wheel, brake appliances, and draft-gear box covers. A Phillips-head screwdriver is the only tool required to assemble a Kit Classics model. You may want some plastic solvent cement to secure the brake appliances so they stay in place for the long haul.
Gone but not forgotten
Though there are only three manufacturers currently producing factory-decorated HO scale freight car kits, out-of-production models are easy to find. Among the companies that used to offer kits were Athearn, Bowser, Branchline Trains, Con-Cor, InterMountain Railway Co., Life-Like Proto 2000, McKean, Model Die Casting (Roundhouse), Ramax, and Wm. K. Walthers Inc.
Out-of-production HO scale freight car kits show up regularly at model railroad swap meets (who doesn’t have a stash of unbuilt kits?) I’ve also had good luck finding kits at hobby shops with consignment sections. Online auction websites are loaded with kits, too. When I searched “HO scale freight car kit” on eBay, there were more than 11,000 returns.
If you have an urge to build some HO scale freight car kits, check out the offerings from Accurail, Atlas Model Railroad Co., and ScaleTrains. If you want to add some nostalgia to your kit-building fun, look for out-of-production models. Whether the kits are new or old, the time spent at the workbench will be well worth it. Now grab your tools and start building!
IMO, the term “shake the box” for these kits is misleading and in some respects, degrading for the kits themselves. Having built some version of most of these kits, they do require skill and knowledge of how to get them completed and properly weighted with well operating trucks and couplers. Even the so-called “RTR” pieces of rolling stock actually is most accurately described as “ready to rebuild” ….. HA! 😎😉
Thank you for this roundup. I think too many of us have forgotten, or never knew that building a freight car kit can be a fun, relaxing way to enjoy our hobby especially when we don’t have the time or space for larger projects. In my experience most of the kits listed can be assembled in about 15 minutes without weathering or adding extra details.