richhotrain Any opinions, pro or con, on the quality of these boxcars? Rich
Any opinions, pro or con, on the quality of these boxcars?
Rich
I have four Branchline freight cars, two of them reefers and two boxcars...
This one was undecorated, as the C-D-S diagram for their dry transfers is in the Athearn box in which it's kept when not on the layout...
Only two of them are in Branchline boxes, so I'm guessing that the other two were bought at train shows.
I also have four Branchline passenger cars, two of them built from kits and two r-t-r from Atlas.
These two are the ones from Atlas...
This one was an undecorated kit, found on the "used" table at a now long-gone hobbyshop...
A friend had bought this one at a train show some years ago, and offered it to me, as he felt that he was no longer interested in it.Several months later, I decided to build it, but when I opened the box, everything was there, except for the car's sides. I called my friend, to ask if he might have taken them out of the box and perhaps misplaced them. He answered "No, I never even thought to look in the box when I bought it, other than to see that there were a lot of parts, and figured you'd be better able to build it."I contacted Atlas, and was able to purchase the proper sides...
I also have five Branchline reefer underbodies, but I'm pretty sure that I got them through Atlas. I'm hoping to use them to scratchbuild five 40' doubledoor automobile cars, using Walthers end doors (left-overs from 50' Walthers doubledoor cars).The kits are nicely done, and very easy to put together.
Wayne
tstage I believe the kits do come with plastic wheels.
I believe the kits do come with plastic wheels.
I just three unbuilt ones and they each have quality metal wheels. But they are 110 and I prefer 088 so I replace them. I have a sizable pile of fat wheels.
G
maxman Were any of the eBay kits undec?
Were any of the eBay kits undec?
Alton Junction
i really like them. I did several of the undecs up as PC boxcars, and they look pretty accurate, at least to my untrained eye.
Branchline kits do have widely used, identifiable 1:1 scale prototypes, unlike many earlier manufacturers offerings. What makes them a bargain is the inclusion of three choices of ends in the boxcars, along with a variety of roofs. They were heavily written up in the 1990s, including prototype rosters, in Railmodel Journal magazine.
The 50 foot RBLs are accurately modeled from General American's 1950s car. The boxcar kits are the only ones I know of that provide New York Central's "Despatch Shops" roof and ends, along with ACF's improved dreadnaught and "dartnought" ends in plastic.
I have some reefers from their first batch of RTR and back then I did buissness with the original owner, very nice guy. They are fine with metal wheels.
Rich,
I think Atlas has released some of the passenger cars RTR. I don't know, however, how many boxcars they've chosen to release.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
tstage Rich, Are you talking about the kits? Or the RTRs after Atlas purchased Branchline a few years back?
Are you talking about the kits? Or the RTRs after Atlas purchased Branchline a few years back?
I believe the kits do come with plastic wheels. I also replace them with Proto 2000/Kadee ribbed wheels and couplers with Kadee #58s.
LOL - I forgot about the large hex nuts, George. I center those of each truck bolster and secure them or any metal weights with silicone adhesive - e.g. Gorilla brand. I have not had any issue with those coming loose inside the shell.
I have built a number of these and have been very happy with the quality and detail. Only problem I have had was with the weights they supply which are big hex nuts. I glued them to the floor with Aileen's tacky glue and most of them eventually came loose. I threw the rest of that 'glue' in the garbage. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the models but they look nice. IIRC they come with metal wheels and narrow coupler boxes. I replace all wheels and couplers with Intermountain semiscale and Sergents respectively.
George
I don't have any of the latter but I have put together several Blueprint & Yard Master kits over the years. They are primarily AAR boxcars and reefers with lots of detail parts and stirrups that are delicate. Comparable to the Proto 2000 but slightly better quality, Blueprint kits offer a WIDE variety of road names and businesses (for reefers) and look very handsome once assembled.
After years of visiting and purchasing, my LHS still has two top shelves of an entire aisle dicated to Branchline boxcars and passenger cars; many in box sets of four. I think I've tapped them for all of the ones in my era.
As mentioned, Rich, I have not purchased any of the newer RTRs. However, given Atlas' penchant for quality, I would expect them to be excellent.