The Platinum Series model is based on a Thrall Car Manufacturing Co. prototype built in 1977. The center-beam bulkhead design proved popular with railroads, lumber companies, and receivers alike. The car has an additional 15,000 pounds of payload compared to conventional bulkhead flatcars, can be loaded or unloaded in less than 1 hour, and has cable tie-downs that do a better job of preventing load shifting.
Our sample is decorated for Western Pacific, which owned 10 cars. The paint is smooth and evenly applied, and the white lettering is crisp and opaque. The lettering placement matches a prototype photo in Jim Eager’s Western Pacific Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment (Morning Sun Books, 2001).
I compared the ExactRail car to prototype drawings in the May 1983 issue of Mainline Modeler. The trucks have an accurate 5′-10″ wheelbase, and the 36″ wheelsets are correct. The truck centers are a scale 3″ short (51′-9″ instead of 52′-0″). However, the distance over the pulling faces is spot on at a scale 64′-2″.
The car weighs 3.7 ounces, which is 1.6 ounces too light compared to National Model Railroad Association recommended practice 20.1. Despite being underweight, the car negotiated the no. 5 turnouts on our Wisconsin & Southern project layout without incident.
The car’s underbody features a separately applied air reservoir, control valve, brake cylinder, and levers. The pipes and rods are a mix of plastic and wire. A lever between the fulcrum and hand brake lever is shown in the prototype drawings but was omitted on the model. A painted metal weight is concealed between the crossbearers and the deck panels.
This isn’t the first time a Thrall center-beam bulkhead flatcar has been produced in HO, but ExactRail has certainly set the standard for excellence. The model accurately captures the looks of the prototype.
Manufacturer
ExactRail
251 W. River Park Dr., Ste. 300
Provo, UT 84604
www.exactrail.com
Era: 1977 to present
Road names (six road numbers each unless noted): Western Pacific (10 numbers), BNSF Ry., Burlington Northern (18 numbers), Milwaukee Road (as-delivered or billboard lettering), and Union Pacific
(12 numbers).
Features
- .010″ etched brass clean, oil,
- test, and stencil (COTS) plates
- and Automatic Car
- Identification placards
- 36″ metal wheelsets,
- correctly gauged
- American Steel Foundries 100-ton Ride-Control trucks
- Etched-metal Morton-style crossover platforms
- Kadee no. 58 knuckle couplers, mounted at correct height
- Narrow-style draft-gear boxes with shank wedges, striker casting, and nut and bolt detail
- Separately applied air hoses
- Wire grab irons, brake rods, and uncoupling levers
