Do the Lionel Railbox Hi-Cube Boxcar Proportions Look Right to You???

[Anonymous]

I ordered a Lionel 6-36273 RailBox Hi-Cube Boxcar RBOX 15000 sight unseen. When being pulled by my Santa Fe Hudson Jr. and Tender it , to my eyes at least, seems to dwarf the engine. So much so I checked the length to see if if it was scale or traditionally sized as I thought it was supposed to be.

The length matches the 10-1/4" length of other box cars. The extra height seems to lend extra visual mass out of proportion to the actual increase. Again this is just to my eyes.

I was just wondering what other operators of traditional sized (O-27) trains feel about the proportions of this car.

Thanks,
Steve

[mpzpw3]

Don't know if this will help, but I have a BN high cube car from the Lionel MPC era. With traditional, or O-27 sized equipment, the high cube car does look huge! I believe the prototype for this car is also somewhat larger than the usual boxcar. However, for some reason, Lionel decided to make a lot of their diesel engines to a more scale proportion. 6464 style boxcars look too small behind these engines, to me at least. With a more scale-sized engine, a high cube right behind the engine, with a gondola behind that, makes a nice transition to the 6464 style cars. I like to run my MPC-era high cubes with my Williams SW-9, because they look better with the engine. In contrast, with a postwar or small steamer, the high cube looks terrible. A matter or preference I suppose.

[Anonymous]

Sorry...I just had to say that this...I like TOY trains and the oddness of this car is something to be admired. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Your right Jack it is a car to be admired, a pleasing car to own. I do like mpzpw3's technique of using other cars to create a visual transition to the HI-Cibe. I think I will start giving more attention to to the actual order arrangement of the cars I choose to run in any given string.

Whew it wasn't just me, guess I don't need new bi-focals after all. [swg]

Steve