jwb
10-13-2014, 02:02 PM
I've always liked the 40-foot modernized boxcar that Roundhouse originally did in the 1980s. It reminds me of the time in the mid-1960s when I started seriously railfanning and roofwalks were starting to come off freight cars. I recently found one of the slightly updated Athearn RTR cars at a swap meet:
[attachment=19050]
This product had been dormant since the original Roundhouse runs, and Athearn RTR brought them out again after it took over Roundhouse. This past week I found what must be the earliest version of Roundhouse cars on the bargain table at a hobby shop. For $3, how could I resist?
[attachment=19049]
This had no end lettering, incorrect enclosed-bearing roller bearing trucks, a clunky brake wheel, and clunky steps. I painted the roof silver, added brake details to the underframe, changed out the trucks, added a better brake wheel from the junk box, and added A-Line stirrups:
[attachment=19048]
I note that Roundhouse apparently made changes to the tooling when it was originally producing these cars. The SOU car has a tabbed side sill, but a later Roundhouse version has the straight sill.
[attachment=19047]
The car still has a big tooling error -- the side ladder on the B end should be full-height, not cut down. (The cut down side ladder on the A end is correct.) I'll accept this for the nice paint, especially on the Athearn RTR cars.
[attachment=19050]
This product had been dormant since the original Roundhouse runs, and Athearn RTR brought them out again after it took over Roundhouse. This past week I found what must be the earliest version of Roundhouse cars on the bargain table at a hobby shop. For $3, how could I resist?
[attachment=19049]
This had no end lettering, incorrect enclosed-bearing roller bearing trucks, a clunky brake wheel, and clunky steps. I painted the roof silver, added brake details to the underframe, changed out the trucks, added a better brake wheel from the junk box, and added A-Line stirrups:
[attachment=19048]
I note that Roundhouse apparently made changes to the tooling when it was originally producing these cars. The SOU car has a tabbed side sill, but a later Roundhouse version has the straight sill.
[attachment=19047]
The car still has a big tooling error -- the side ladder on the B end should be full-height, not cut down. (The cut down side ladder on the A end is correct.) I'll accept this for the nice paint, especially on the Athearn RTR cars.
I have updated a few of them too and with minimal investment and effort, you can have decent cars. I have still many unbuilt kits that I plan to upgrade just like you did.
