Great Northern Waffle Side Boxcar

Malcolm,

All I can say is; "SWEET!!!!!!"

You take the words right out of my mouth.

Ralph

Malcolm,

 

I have been impressed with all your work for a long time.

 

If I may ask: what tool9s) do you use to cut your sheet styrene?

 

Thanks,

Bill

Give up building cabooses????? WHAT THE ....... you can't be serious

Nice Malcolm. I enjoy seeing your great scratch built work.

Beautiful work!!

Malcolm, God wants you to bless the O gauge world with cabooses

I need one of those Great Northern Waffle-Sided Boxcars.

 

Andrew

I like waffles!!!

mmmmm,  waffles

Beautiful car Malcolm! Would be so great to see some of these specialty cars in Masterline from Atlas O.

But wait a minute....last I heard you were switching to HO scale??

What is the latest plan?

As shown by the caboose I got from you last year, DON'T YOU DARE STOP. Ya Hear? You are too good at your job. If I could figure out how to live with you a year or two and pick up 10% of your ability, WOW!

 

Dick

Yah, Waffles, good with syrup and good with my layout. Atlas?

 

Phil

Atlas doesnt make waffles but the Waffle House makes some dang good ones

Thou shalt not covet they neighbors trains

Malcolm

 

That is a beautiful job of fabrication, painting and lettering.  The Glacier Green looks very good and the over spray on the roof is nicely done.  It is also a wonderfully creative use of an old kit.  Every old kit that gets used to make an otherwise unobtainable model is one less old kit headed for oblivion.  Your GN waffle side car is just the sort of model that will be adding character to a train of other ready to run cars for decades to come.

 

For those who might not know, Malcolm's use of the underframe, roof and ends from an older car kit is totally appropriate for this model.  The real GN 4200-4399 waffle side box cars were rebuilt from 1940s vintage plywood sided box cars.  The GN reused the underframes, roof and ends and fabricated new sides to take DF2 bars, hence the waffle sides.  The 10 foot doors allowed easy for lift loading.  These cars saw extensive use hauling wood and paper products.  Some were in assigned service to specific shippers.

 

The GN 4400 series box cars would also be perfect candidates for modeling in this fashion.  They too were rebuilt from plywood side box cars.  Their ribbed sides lacked the "waffles" since they lacked DF2 equipment.  They did have one extra feature, a grain loading hatch in to top of the 10 foot plug door.

 

The 4200 series cars were about the last to get Glacier Green paint.  The 4400s may have been the first to get Big Sky Blue with the new simplified Rocky herald.  Both series are interesting cars and we now have a great example of how to model them.

 

I do have to say one thing.  And this is in no way a criticism of Malcolm or this super cool model.  I just can't understand why All Nation put PS-1 style ends with Murphy Roofs in all those kits.  Using 4/5 Dreadnaught ends for the GN 4200 and 4400 series box cars would be prototypically correct.  I'll have to stay on the lookout for an Athearn kit.

Very nice.

Thank you all!

 

Ted,

My favorite O scale cars are the All Nation/Athearn cars. I know they are old technology and do not measure up to the details of the China built cars but I still like them. I have about 70 of them still in kit form. I will narrow my choices down to 10 or 12 one day and sell the rest. I am building 2 of the plywood side GN cars the same way.

Thanks again, Malcolm

 

Paul, The beauty and quality of your layout is my goal for my own layout!!!!

 

Matt, Just wishing Atlas would produce a waffle without the syrup.

I have 3 quality craft All door box car kits, another love, but have never got around to building them. Started one but I went to someting else and forgot about it. I had built a few in HO seems like 40 yrs ago.

 

Phil

I am building 2 of the plywood side GN cars the same way.

Super!  I can't wait to see them.  Atlas and MTH have put the original paint schemes on their steel sided 1937 AAR boxcars.  I'm be interested to see how you model the nailing strips.

 

If you reduce your stock of old cars or kits let me know if you have and of the GN or NP AAR dimensioned double sheathed boxcars.  I have and Athearn HO model in plastic but I don't think we will see one in O scale.