In October, Editor Eric White, Associate Editor Bryson Sleppy, and I attended the Railroad Prototype Modelers Conference at the Northern Illinois University campus in Naperville, Ill. We enjoyed a day of visiting with contributors, looking at layouts and models, and talking with manufacturers in the vendor room. In addition, we split up and attended as many of the clinics as we could. One that caught my attention was “Railbox boxcars” by James D. Panza, a retired TTX senior manager.
I’ve gotten to know James during my tenure with the magazine. He’s been a valuable resource on Railbox- and TTX-related subjects. You may have seen his name in my review of the Jacksonville Terminal N scale container flatcar.
During his presentation, James mentioned that 2024 was the 50th anniversary of Railbox, the nationwide boxcar pool. To celebrate this milestone, I thought it would be fun to look at a small sampling of Railbox models in HO scale that have been produced from the early 1980s to today.
Model Die Casting (Roundhouse)
As I was thinking about different HO scale models we could show for this article, one of the first that came to mind was this Model Die Casting (Roundhouse) FMC 50-foot combination-door boxcar. An advertisement announcing the new model can be found on page 32 of the March 1981 Model Railroader. The boxcar was decorated for Railbox in 12 road numbers, which was a big deal back then as multiple road numbers weren’t as common. Roundhouse also produced an undecorated version. The kit sold for $3.98!
The model, numbered 51243, is from the 51000 through 51949 series built by FMC between December 1978 and February 1979. At 950 cars, this was the largest group of ABOX cars. The model depicts a class XFF30A car (X = boxcar, F = FMC Marine & Rail, F = friction draft gear, 30 = 50-foot ABOX car with plug and sliding doors, and A = subclass).
The boxcar, which was upgraded with metal wheels, Kadee couplers, and some weathering, was used on the original Milwaukee, Racine & Troy in downtown Milwaukee and on the second Myrt in Waukesha. It would be fun to know how many scale miles this car traveled during its time on the two layouts.
Athearn Trains
Railbox is one of many paint schemes Athearn has applied to its FMC 5,347-cubic-foot capacity boxcar. Railbox 38137, part of the 37750 through 38749 series, was built by FMC between April and November 1980. In the lower right corner you’ll notice the boxcar is stenciled XFF20 (X = boxcar, F = FMC Marine & Rail, F = friction draft gear, and 20 = 50-foot RBOX car with plate C clearances).
The Athearn car was originally produced by MDC (Roundhouse). After Athearn acquired the tooling in 2004, it made several upgrades to the boxcar, including metal wheels mounted on plastic axles, body-mounted McHenry plastic couplers, wire grab irons, thin-profile stirrup steps, and see-through crossover platforms.
Spring Mills Depot (InterMountain)
Railbox used a variety of builders for its fleet of RBOX cars built to Plate C clearances. This InterMountain model, custom-decorated for Spring Mills Depot, depicts a Pullman-Standard 5,277-cubic-foot capacity boxcar. Car No. 31514 is from the 31000 through 32249 series built by PS between December 1978 and March 1979. The full-size boxcar was classified XPF20A (X = boxcar, P = Pullman-Standard, F = friction draft gear, 20 = 50-foot RBOX car with plate C clearances, and A = subclass).
The model is decorated in its as-delivered scheme. Features on the ready-to-run car include wire grab irons and uncoupling levers; yellow overspray on the roof; and see-through, etched-metal crossover platforms.
WalthersMainline
American Car & Foundry was another builder of the RBOX 50-foot cars. The WalthersMainline model of RBOX 30284 is from the 30000 through 30499 series built by ACF between November 1977 and April 1978. The full-size car was part of the XAF20 class (A = American Car & Foundry; the other letters and numbers are the same as outlined in previous cars).
The Walthers model is built to Plate B dimensions, while the prototype car had Plate C clearances. Features on the Mainline-series car include a one-piece plastic body with a separate roof; molded grab irons, ladders, and crossover platforms; and Proto-Max metal couplers. I reviewed the model in the September 2016 issue.
Bachmann
American Car & Foundry built another group of Railbox boxcars in February and March 1979. The 600-car group, numbered 32250 through 32849, was assigned to the XAF20A class and featured Youngstown sliding doors.
The Bachmann model is decorated as RBOX 32271. The model wears its as-delivered scheme [It is painted yellow, not molded in yellow as indicated in the review. — Ed.] A working flashing-rear end device is mounted next to the coupler on the brake wheel (B) end of the car. The FRED works in both direct current and Digital Command Control. Additional model features include metal wheels, Bachmann E-Z Mate Mark II couplers, and a factory-applied brake wheel.
ScaleTrains (ExactRail)
As full-size Railbox equipment approaches 50 years of service, some of the cars are starting to show their age. Model manufacturers have noticed this, too, and have produced factory-weathered models. One example is the ScaleTrains (ExactRail) FMC 5,277-cubic-foot capacity boxcar.
The model is decorated as ABOX 51912, from the 51000 through 51949 series built by FMC between December 1978 and February 1979. The prototype car, shown in this photograph from April 2016, has a worn logo, assorted paint patches in different shades of yellow, and FRA-224 stripes. Also notice that the reporting mark, road number, and car class have all been refreshed, details depicted on the model. The roof has also been weathered to better reflect the car as it appeared 37 years after it rolled off the assembly line at FMC.
Railbox on your layout
Of course, the Railbox models in HO scale can serve as a starting point for modeling projects. Need some inspiration? Check out M.R. Snell’s article “Patch out a modern boxcar” in the August 2018 issue. In the story, M.R. shares his techniques for fading the logo, repainting the door CSX Blue, patching out and updating the reporting marks, and adding FRA-224 stripes. Cars like this add visual interest to any freight car fleet set between 1974 and today.
Wonderful recap!