The prototype. The Baltimore & Ohio RR had nearly 5,000 wagontop steel boxcars in about 20 different classes. Perhaps the best known was the M-53 class. Between June 1937 and March 1938, the B&O shops assembled 2,000 M-53 boxcars. While the B&O built the car superstructures, Bethlehem Steel provided the Duryea cushion underframe, couplers, and trucks.
In 1941 B&O built 1,000 nearly identical wagontop boxcars. These class M-53A cars had the same dimensions as the M-53 class. The spotting features of an M-53A are two rows of rivets that run the length of the body between the ribs and an additional horizontal rivet seam on each end.
Counting rivets. Most of the dimensions of the Fox Valley Models HO and N scale models match prototype drawings published in the November 1982 issue of Mainline Modeler.
The plastic models represent M-53 boxcars and correctly don’t have the rivets along the roof eaves. However, the cars do have the extra rivet seams on the ends, which are found on an M-53A but incorrect for an M-53.
Both HO and N scale cars are available with flat or corrugated Youngstown doors. The doors are separate parts but they aren’t positionable. There are also no door openings in the body shell.
Model details. The HO scale boxcar features many separate detail parts, including the running board, brake wheel, ladders, and grab irons. The model even has the B&O-designed manual brake slack adjuster along the right side sill.
The underframe also has a separate main reservoir, AB valve, brake cylinder, and rigging. Floor plank and center sill details are molded.
The N scale car has fewer separate detail parts – mainly the running board and brake wheel – but the molded details are well-defined and correctly placed. The main components of the brake system are molded in the underframe.
On the HO and N models, I easily removed the press-fit bodies. Each car has a metal weight glued to the car floor.
The HO and N cars have metal wheels that are the correct scale 33″ diameter.
Paint schemes. The HO scale car I reviewed is decorated as no. 381798 in the early Otto Kuhler-designed paint scheme. There is a 1937 builder’s photo of the car in the Railway Prototype Cyclopedia vol. 9. Most of the lettering is correct, but there are discrepancies.
On the model, the “R” and “L” stencils that designate the right and left side are printed to the left of the door openings. According to prototype photos the letters should be printed on the doors.
This model has a built date of 10-37 and a repaint stencil, DU 1-38, that shows the car as being repainted in January 1938 at B&O’s Dubois, Pa., shops. The prototype photo shows the car with a NEW 11-37 stencil and that it was delivered with the early Kuhler scheme.
I was disappointed that the model had the 1960s era B&O herald on it, rather than the correct early herald with its distinctive open ampersand.
The N scale car I reviewed is decorated for no. 380008 as the prototype appeared in the early 1960s. The modern Kuhler herald is correct for this car.
The placement of the herald, large “B&O” lettering and other stencils matched photos of M-53 boxcars during that time frame.
The minor detail descrepancies weren’t deal breakers for me. Overall the ready-to-run model provides an easy way to add this unique boxcar to an HO or N scale car fleet.
Price: HO scale, $30.95; N scale, $19.95
Manufacturer
Fox Valley Models
P.O. Box 1970
Des Plaines, IL 60017
www.foxvalleymodels.com
Versions and eras (three road numbers each): Brown with early Kuhler herald (1937 to early 1940s); red with 13 Great States herald (1946 to mid-1950s); red with large B&O lettering (1962 to 1970s); blue C-16 express car (1947 to 1960s)
HO features
- Kadee no. 5 knuckle couplers at correct height
- Chemically blackened RP-25 contour metal wheelsets in gauge
- Weight: 4 ounces (0.2 ounce too heavy per National Model Railroad Association RP-20.1)
N features
- Body-mounted Micro-Trains couplers at correct height
- Chemically blackened metal wheelsets in gauge
- Weight: 1 ounce (correct per NMRA RP-20.1)
