Protocraft's AT&SF FE 24 Boxcar quick look

I'm partial to my XM-32 baby though... From Protocraft as well!

Santiago,  Are you going do anything special to the roof walk or paint it the same color as the roof?  John

As far as I'm concerned, the roof walks were the same color as the roof: Cement black. What do you think?

I agree with you.  Over the years, those boards were often neglected by the maintennce department and would fade differently, chip or warp.  John

Both amazing looking cars

They look like state of the art - can we get any better and still be on five foot gauge?

Just telling my flying buddies I would not do anything different if I was rich (except get a PBY type rating, and maybe solo a P51 Mustang) but maybe - just maybe -I would have a layout and rolling stock like the above.  Maybe.

Love all the filigree detail on both cars.  And the Allied Full Cushion trucks.......they look "all business"!

oh, I think soloing a P51 Mustang would be way better!

I'd love to get my hands on one of these! Maybe down the line...

@SANTIAGOP23 posted:

I received this beauty from Norm a few days ago. Should look beautiful behind my Key E units in increased demand passenger train consists.\

After years of service and neglect.  John

Cool stuff guys

Anyone else got some of these cars recently? It'd be nice to see them all!

Mine is about to ship. Will take ages ...

Also got these gorgeous trucks from Norm in standard O scale. I’m working on a resin wood express reefer. Nothing beats these trucks!

I'm wondering if anyone has painted their Fe-24 yet... I have a couple of questions....

1. Where the truck side frames green or black?

2. Some reference these cars as pullman green with black roofs and undersides. Other as with Santa Fe olive green sides. Protocraft recommends Tru-Color ref 255.

Thanks for the input!

Boo Rim's castings are the best I have seen.  Do they make their own masters, or is there a lurking patternmaker at Protocraft.

The specifics evade me, Bob. But here’s a treat… the full allied trucks have all the lettering cast on the sides… wow!

When I first began making the transition to O scale (in the early '90s) I had a subscription to the Proto:48 newsletter; at that time it was not much more than maybe  6 pages, printed on yellow paper in blue ink. I still have all 10(?) issues before they went exclusively online.

I was fascinated by that approach, even though I knew it was beyond my skill set and wallet.

And in as much as I am enjoying my OW5 and 3 rail stuff, when I see what Norm and others like Sarah are doing, I am still equally fascinated.

Just beautiful...

Mark in Oregon

Does this walthers car look good to you guys? Black trucks?

We might check with the Santa Fe Tech and Historical Society. I might have an issue of the Warbonnet covering these cars. I’ll dig. It’s far down the line for me as far as a project so I’m not real concerned, yet. I’ll probably copy what you do 🤣👍

Thanks, Erik. Let me know if you find something. I know the coach yard went with black tucks for their late express cars.

Ready to lay some paint…

I’ll add the cut levers after assembly since it conflicts with the steam line

clear coat gone, I don’t care what some say, Protocraft clear coats are thick enough to take away from the etching details…

Gorgeous car Santiago.  On my current budget I am stuck with the Pecos River plastic stand-ins.  Those trucks really make the difference to me above all the other details. 

Now to get about four more for a #7 and #8 for your layout!

Thanks, but I don’t do fast mail trains. I got this one to go as head end of my GGD 1938 Super Chief and behind my Key Model Imports E6 set. Fast mail would be fun tho.

Side frames look real.  I have not seen such beautiful castings before.  I am delighted that models of this quality are available for you guys.  You all know my hobby is closer to the Neanderthal stage.

Santiago -  I note your car now has couplers.  I purchased the C&NW express boxcar from Protocraft. Thought I would just pop in my traditional Kadee couplers, but the coupler box would not fit between the steam line and air line brackets. So, I obtained some Protocraft cou[plers (manufactured by BooRim), but, alas, the screw holes do not line up.   What coupler have you used on your SantaFe car? What modifications did you make to get the couplers to fit?   mark s

Mark, I used the Protocraft couplers and boxes that came with the car. To use the protocraft couplers on their cars  you need to use the pprotocraft coupler boxes. Kadee boxes don’t line up.  See image below. Since I’m not interested in operations, I do modify the couplers for a better look. Hence the solder under the coupler head.

Santiago, did your coupler box center screw hole align with the screw hole in the car? Seems like my coupler box is too long;  wonder if there are different sized boxes? Also seems to be too long for the car's frame with the box overhanging the end of the car. It would appear that you did not have to do any cutting to make it fit - your's looks "hand in glove".     Thank you for responding.    mark s

It did, Mark. Both screw holes aligned fine. That’s so weird.

I'll contact Norm - I think I received the wrong box!  Again, thank you for the assistance!    mark s

One of mine

Looks great. Thanks for sharing!

Love this thread, really interesting.

Thank you guys.

Jerry

@GG1 4877 posted:

Gorgeous car Santiago.  On my current budget I am stuck with the Pecos River plastic stand-ins.  Those trucks really make the difference to me above all the other details.

Now to get about four more for a #7 and #8 for your layout!

On my budget, I would be stuck with the Walthers car shown above!

Beautiful 👏👏

@PRRMP54 posted:

On my budget, I would be stuck with the Walthers car shown above!

And, it was a pretty sharp looking car!

@mwb posted:

And, it was a pretty sharp looking car!

Any of those All Nation, Athearn, Walthers, etc kits could be made into excellent contest-winning models. I have a few second-hand ones that are almost that good. It just takes a bit of patience and skill to assemble.

A misunderstanding here? That Walthers car pictured is an HO scale model and NOT a built up 1950s o scale kit comprised of stamped aluminum sides and wood with nails. Just to be clear.

As far a home builds go Gene Diemling’s builds are at Protocraft level using styrene and brass, he uses trucks by Protocraft and Rich Yoder.

@SANTIAGOP23 posted:

Does this walthers car look good to you guys? Black trucks?

Jefferson built this Athearn kit and modified it extensively using modern parts such as doors from Intermountain Railway Co and Weaver Allied trucks. It’s the best build I’ve seen of these old timers with all these modifications using modern detail parts, Modern paint and modern decal’s, makes for a nice car, but it’s no Protocraft model and Jefferson is easily on par with Gene Diemling one of the best builders today