Price: $26.95 (undecorated, $22.95)
Manufacturer
Trainworx Inc.
P.O. Box 127
Delta, CO 81416
www.train-worx.com
Road names: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (24 road numbers); BNSF Ry. (6 numbers); Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (6 numbers); Denver & Rio Grande Western Ry. (12 numbers); Missouri Pacific (12 numbers); St. Louis-San Francisco (6 numbers)
Comments: A high-sided version of a Pullman-Standard 4,427-cubic-foot covered hopper is the latest N scale freight car made by Trainworx.
In 1966, car manufacturer Pullman-Standard introduced a high-sided version of its popular 4,427-cubic-foot covered hopper. The car was designed to carry larger quantities of medium-density material like grain, potash, salt, and soybeans while staying within Association of American Railroads plate B clearances. The redesign proved extremely popular, with more than 26,000 cars being built for dozens of railroads. The largest purchasers were the Santa Fe (3,900 cars) and Rock Island (1,750).
Those roadnames and four others are represented in Trainworx’s N scale model, as well as an undecorated version. The injection-molded plastic car is a faithful reproduction of the prototype, matching dimensions on a drawing published in the March 1995 issue of Mainline Modeler. Placement of details matches photos found in that article, as well.
Each road name is available in multiple road numbers; Santa Fe gets the most, appropriately, with 24. The cars sport roadnumber-specific paint jobs, in some cases including replacement hatches in mismatched colors. They also have prototype-specific details, including jack pads and three different styles of roof hatches.
The paint job on our sample car was smooth and even, with the smallest white printing legible under magnification. None of the openings on the etched-metal running board was clogged with paint.
The car weighs 1 ounce, just shy of National Model Railroad Association RP-20.1 recommendations. The body-mounted magnetic knuckle couplers were at the right height, and the Fox Valley Models metal wheelsets were correctly gauged, according to my NMRA standards gauge.
If you model the grain trade in the late 1960s or thereafter in N scale, you should have many of these covered hoppers on your layout. Trainworx’s high-side 4427 PS-2CD is an accurate model of a ubiquitous freight car.
