Tangent HO 86′ Greenville High Cube Box Car Burlington Northern

Description

Railroad Short Name: BN

During the 1960s, the most radical freight car designs employed the extreme height clearances offered by Plate F car designs. In 1964, no car type articulated this extreme more than the 86-foot, purpose-built “Auto Parts” boxcars. These large boxcars became fixtures on the rails all over North American mainlines, riding hot trains to deliver components vital to the productivity of auto plants. While several car builders offered 86’ auto parts boxcars, the most prolific builder of the double plug door design was Greenville Steel Car Company of Greenville PA. More than 4,400 of these cars were acquired by most major railroads, and they were assigned to pools where multiple railroad’s cars served a specific shipper or shippers. Original utilization of these cars was for Ford, Pontiac, and Chrysler, as well as deliveries from 3rd party parts suppliers to the auto plants. Greenville’s 1964-1978 production was the longest run for this car type, with many still in service today.

Tangent Scale Models is pleased to introduce the Greenville 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car in HO scale! This is not just a single box car model, but instead a system of 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car models. Tangent is pleased to introduce the industry’s first “high-detail” 86’ auto parts car model!

The Greenville 1964-1978 production included several distinctive design features to watch for. Most notably, see the drop sill at the bottom of the car which roughly divides the car into fifths when looking at it from left to right. The aluminum doors stand out on the L&N car above because they are unpainted. On some schemes, the doors are indeed painted. Also note the end of car cushioning device. Some cars have center of car cushioning.

Burlington Northern (BN) “Delivery 1970” replicates the only 86’ Greenville box cars delivered new to Burlington Northern Railroad.  Built in March of 1970, these big Auto Parts cars feature the early version of BN’s graphics – notice the bold “BURLINGTON NORTHERN” on the left side, similar to the premerger CB&Q green scheme.  These cars feature a 1970 Greenville body, with narrow end inset panels and an EOCC Underframe with correct Freightmaster cushioning.  The car rides on accurate 100-Ton “Low profile” Barber S-2-A trucks, 36” CNC machined wheels with front and back profile along with a tapered axle and “Timken” rotating caps.  The BN scheme features an accurate return route stencil to Penn Central in Brownstown, Michigan, home to the Ford Parts Redistribution Center.  Here is a fun fact:  The BN’s 12 cars in this group were ordered by CB&Q (5 cars) and GN (7 cars).  As a result, the prototype cars have CB&Q or GN-specific trust data in the upper right-hand corner of the car sides.  Yes, the Tangent models carefully replicate this lettering.

Features:

The Tangent Greenville 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car system is a state of the art, dimensionally-accurate scale replica that was tooled to Greenville Steel Car plans and verified with field measurements. Our model comes with highly accurate “true-to-life” colors and “hyper-accurate” lettering including exact stenciling, fonts, and lettering placement. Our Greenville 86’ system of models offers a multitude of detail variations and phases to replicate the many different Greenville Steel Car offerings. A quick synopsis of our era and railroad-specific detail variations include:

• Body shells with or without overlapping side panels
• EOCC (end of car cushioning) or COCC (center of car cushioning) “near scale”draft gear variations with genuine Kadee® scale couplers
• Separate flexible rubber air hoses
• Roofs with running board supports remaining in place (1965+ appearance since the running boards were gone by 1966) and roofs without running board supports (1965+ Greenville production)
• Under car brake system variations
• “See through” etched metal end crossover platforms in three possible options: Gypsum, Apex, or Morton
• Side tack board types/sizes and locations
• Seven prototypically-accurate brake stands (Ajax, Universal, Equipco, Miner 6600, Champion-Peacock, Elcon-National, Peacock 850)
• Two possible handbrake “brake wheel” options
• Optional 3rd door arm hinge parts to be configured one of three ways
• Two brand new truck sideframes: 70-Ton Barber S-2A Roller Bearing Truck or a 100-Ton “Low Profile” Barber S-2-C Roller Bearing Truck (outlined at the end of this press release)
• 33” or 36” wheels, as applicable to each model
• Two brand new truck brake beam part options
• Three brand new “rotating” roller bearing truck cap options

Finally, check out the TRUCKS on these cars! Our new Greenville 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car models feature one of two new truck options – either a 70-Ton Barber S-2A Roller Bearing Truck or a 100-Ton “Low Profile” Barber S-2-C Roller Bearing Truck.