Pecos River Boxcar Question

They are basically the same car as an ATlas 50 footer  Their trucks work great

Great I'll get a set of atlas trucks.

Thanks

The PRB trucks are sometimes available at auction. I just put a pair (very nice; this 

particular truck emulates an older plain-bearing truck that has been upgraded to

roller bearings, as was seen at one time) on an old brass O-scale Kemtron pulpwood

(bulkhead) flat.

They are basically the same car as an ATlas 50 footer  Their trucks work great

Did Atlas buy the molds for this car or are they just similar cars?

I believe they are just similar cars.  The Atlas 50 footer is a bit more detailed as I recall and is a different type of box car.

Ed Boyle

Thanks Ed, your comments were my impression.  I'm glad you were able to confirm that.

The Pecos River 50' double door box cars are models of AAR cars, the Atlas Masterline 50' cars are models of Pullman-Standard PS-1 cars, not sure what the Atlas Trainman 50' single sheathed cars are modeled from. Weaver trucks should work as well.

I can add to Lima's good info.

The Atlas Trainman 50' single sheathed automobile box cars are based on a late 1920s prototype built by Pullman for the Western Pacific. 

I have CB&Q, GN and NP versions of the Trainman car.  All are wrong in some way for their respective roads.  The side truss pattern is wrong for all the Hill Lines cars and the ends or roof as well for some.  But all have authentic paint schemes and road numbers from cars pictured in a Morning Sun Color Guide or RP Cyclopedia.  They are close enough for me and add wonderful variety to a freight train.

The Atlas 50 foot cars are indeed based on the Pullman-Standard PS-1 50 foot car with Pullman's distinctive "bow tie" roof and unique end stampings.  Atlas makes 3 versions, a single sliding door, single plug door (fixed) and double sliding doors.  The double doors are different sizes.  One is 7 feet and the other 8 feet for a 15 foot total opening.

MTH has announced a 50 foot single door PS-1.  We'll see next month if the new catalog has another door configuration.

The MTH 50 foot Double door box car is based on the standard AAR design with Murphy rectangular panel roof and dreadnought ends with simulated A end doors.

The Pecos River 50 foot car was also based on the standard AAR design.  There are three versions.  All versions have Murphy Rectangular panel roofs.  The most common seems to be the double door car with plain dreadnought ends.  A double door car with opening A end doors was also made.  And there was a single door version made as well.

According to the PRB web site John Smith still owns the tooling for these cars.  I would be happy to see another manufacturer put this tooling back in service.  The detail is comparable to the Trainman 50 foot automobile car and could be improved with refurbishment of the tooling.  The PRB plastic box cars cover some common prototypes not represented by any other model.