Announcement N scale 86' Boxcars

Bluford Shops is introducing a new run of our N scale Pullman Standard 86’ Double Door Auto Parts Boxcars. This new set of releases feature a new draft gear design that accommodates 1015 and compatible couplers (included,) our latest 70 ton roller bearing trucks and metal wheels. The minimum radius is 11” (note the old “lift kit” for even tighter curves has been discontinued.) They also include separate wire grab irons and etched metal platforms on the ends. The draft gear is mounted to the body but has a spring centered swing action that both resists string-lining the train pulling through curves and resists the trucks climbing the rail during shoving moves.

These super-size boxcars were originally built to carry high-value low-density automobile parts such as body panels and window glass to final assembly plants. Cars were purchased in pools that included several railroads (based on mileage) and several auto plants. For instance, a pool could include plants in California, Michigan, Georgia and New York and include boxcars from more than half a dozen railroads. Cars could be assigned to any destination in the pool whether or not it was on the home road. This led to situations where some cars from Western Pacific for instance would be running from Buffalo to Atlanta and back without ever seeing home rails. As a result, you would see a wider range of road names in a block of auto parts cars than you would with other types of cars. In later years, these cars could be found carrying other low-density loads such as turbine fans, paper pulp, breakfast cereal and even peat moss used in landscaping.

Placement of road numbers, some data elements and even logos may vary by road number based on the prototype.

Canadian Pacific took delivery of these cars in 1967 in a rather somber boxcar red without logos (possibly due to a short term lease arrangement.) They were intended for cross-border auto parts traffic and carried CPAA reporting marks. This traffic proved to be long-term and with the lease arrangements updated, the fleet began to receive Action Red paint and the CP Rail name.

86610 CP Rail #CPAA 205923 $36.95

86611 CP Rail #CPAA 205917 $36.95

86615 CP Rail #CPAA 205945 $36.95

Santa Fe adopted the Q logos as part of their Managing Total Quality program in the early 90s. The second version of the Q logo appears on this run. This would turn out to be the last paint scheme applied to these 86’ boxcars before the BNSF merger.

86600 Santa Fe Quality version II #ATSF 36672 $36.95

86601 Santa Fe Quality version II #ATSF 36706 $36.95

86605 Santa Fe Quality version II #ATSF 36691 $36.95

CSX inherited these cars from both Chesapeake & Ohio and Louisville & Nashville (B&O had similar cars as well.) By this time they were entering their third decade of service and many were in dire need of new paint. The red and yellow squares behind the ladders remind crews to “ease up! Handle Car With CARE!” The four road numbers in this run have variations in road number placement spread across three, two, two and two and a half panels respectively

86620 CSX #CSXT 180402 $36.95

86621 CSX #CSXT 180405 $36.95

86625 CSX #CSXT 180414 $36.95

86627 CSX #CSXT 180429 $36.95

Conrail had the largest fleet of 86’ auto parts boxcars during its era having inherited cars built for Pennsylvania, New York Central, Penn Central and Erie Lackawanna. This paint scheme with its large “wheel and rail” logo was adopted shortly after the 1976 consolidation. This was another case of the road numbers and dimensional data placement differing from car to car. The second two road numbers in this release have the CONRAIL name placed two feet higher on the car side. Go figure.

86630 Conrail large logo #CR 237554 $36.95

86631 Conrail large logo #CR 238507 $36.95

86637 Conrail large logo, high name #CR 240729 $36.95

86639 Conrail large logo, high name #CR 293635 $36.95

Detroit Toledo & Ironton was a major player in auto parts traffic thanks to their Detroit to the Ohio River Valley route. In the diesel era, they painted their cars in a dazzling array of colors with each color serving as shorthand for the benefit of freight agents and crews. Yellow boxcars for instance were assigned to Campbell Soup. DT&I’s 86’ boxcars were painted cypress green, magenta, or as is the case with this group, sky blue with the compass logo.

86640 Detroit Toledo & Ironton sky blue with compass #DTI 26101 $36.95

86641 Detroit Toledo & Ironton sky blue with compass #DTI 26145 $36.95

86645 Detroit Toledo & Ironton sky blue with compass #DTI 26443 $36.95

Linking the many automobile plants in southeastern Michigan with Chicago, Grand Trunk Western relied heavily on these giant boxcars. The GT logo would have struck a familiar chord with the railroad’s auto producer customers. For this second version paint scheme, GTW dispensed with “The Good Track Road” motto adopted years earlier as a not-so-subtle dig at Penn Central.

86650 Grand Trunk Western version II #GTW 126310 $36.95

86651 Grand Trunk Western version II #GTW 126307 $36.95

86655 Grand Trunk Western version II #GTW 126439 $36.95

Norfolk & Western adopted this black paint scheme with the conjoined NW logo in 1971. N&W’s place in the auto parts network was primarily the result of their 1964 lease of Wabash which ran from plants in Buffalo, across southern Ontario, Michigan and west to Chicago, St.Louis and Kansas City. Note the second two road numbers in this run have the NW logo, numbers and data placed higher and to the left when compared to the first road number.

86660 Norfolk & Western black #NW 355133 $36.95

86661 Norfolk & Western black #NW 355181 $36.95

86665 Norfolk & Western black #NW 355107 $36.95

In 1982, Norfolk Southern was formed with the merger of Norfolk & Western and Southern. But that was just the merger of the holding companies. N&W and Southern remained separate railroads under the NS umbrella. It wasn’t until October of 1983 that NS logos began to appear on rolling stock. It would be another seven years before Southern Railway was renamed Norfolk Southern Railway and control of N&W was transferred from the holding company to the new Norfolk Southern Railway. During that seven years, equipment receiving NS logos still received either SOU or NW reporting marks.

86670 Norfolk Southern medium logo #NW 868224 $36.95

86671 Norfolk Southern medium logo #NW 868250 $36.95

86675 Norfolk Southern medium logo #NW 868275 $36.95

86677 Norfolk Southern medium logo #NW 868323 $36.95

Western Pacific took delivery of these cars from Pullman Standard in 1967 in the “Distribution Dividend” paint scheme. As they came due for repainting, they received this paint scheme. WP served a Ford plant in Milpitas, California and was therefore obligated to contribute cars to the pool for that plant. This pool included plants in New York and Georgia leading to some WP cars moving back and forth between those two plants – far from their western home.

86680 Western Pacific version III #WP 86073 $36.95

86681 Western Pacific version III #WP 86077 $36.95

86685 Western Pacific version III #WP 86049 $36.95

Chicago & North Western had their fair share of auto parts traffic but after more than a decade of service, some of these 86’ boxcars were reclassed as XF cars – for food loading only. This group was then assigned to carry breakfast cereal between factories and grocery distributors.

86690 Chicago & North Western XF Food Loading #CNW 92065 $36.95

86691 Chicago & North Western XF Food Loading #CNW 92050 $36.95

86695 Chicago & North Western XF Food Loading #CNW 92066 $36.95

Shortly after the 1968 Penn Central merger, the new company adopted a version of their “mating worms” logo in which the P was red and the C was white. This version was applied for just 5 weeks before the P was changed to white. It seems the red had a severe problem with fading. The logos on boxcars were particularly susceptible with the fading noticeable within a week. In most instances the red was completely gone, faded to a dull silvery-grey in a month. The red P fared better on locomotives where it could still be found 3 years later. This run of Penn Central boxcars depicts these cars after their first month with the silver-grey P.

86700 Penn Central silver (red) P #PC 237000 $36.95

86701 Penn Central silver (red) P #PC 237544 $36.95