I like the Des Plaines Hobby Husky Stack cars but found the selection of container cars rather limiting. After looking at different options I decided to try using Lionel's O27 intermodal containers. The Lionel containers come in sets of 3 and were made back in the 1990's.
I would summarize the pros and cons as:
Pros - can be found on eBay for $10 to $30 a set, which is 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of the DPH containers
wider selection of "names"
shorter so Stack car wheels can swing through full range
Cons - not nearly as detailed as the DPH containers
aren't quite "scale" sized (more on that below) so have to be modified
As long as you use the O27 containers alone or in pairs they can pass for 40' containers.
The O27 containers are exactly the same height as DPH containers, they are 8.25" long (44 feet in S scale), and they are a little more than 1/8" too wide to fit in the DPH stack cars. I took a razor saw and made two cuts 1/8" apart down the middle of a container. I then used sand paper to smooth the edges and get the container just narrow enough to fit in a stack car. I cut one of the doors so that they can still close. The non-door end of the container will have the middle cut out, I will probably paint over them rather than try to replace the decals.
It was not that difficult to do, the fact that I could do it means just about anyone can. A steady hand helps, that's why I made the cuts and then sanded (my cuts weren't quite even).
Since the O27 containers were not designed for the DPH cars you have to carefully pick which ones to put in the "well".
The Boston & Maine container is unidentifiable.
Here is the B&M container so you can see the lettering. Note the Matson container on the right also has lettering that was invisible in the very first photo. The 53' JB Hunt container on the left and the 48' CP Rail container on the right are provided so that you can compare their size versus the O27 container they are sitting on top of.
If you look very carefully you may notice that I didn't modify the 3 containers that are the "top" of each pair. Also I only modified the white colored containers. That is because I intend to paint over the "seam" and the non-door end and I don't have the paint to match the color of the Evergreen, J-Line, or NYK containers.
FYI I now have 9 containers and they cost a total of $67.24 (includes shipping and tax). That is an average of $7.47 per container.
Craig
