WalthersMainline HO scale ACF 40-foot modernized boxcar

Price: $31.98 Manufacturer

Wm. K. Walthers Inc. 5601 W. Florist Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53218 walthers.com

Road names: Rock Island, Atlantic Coast Line, Detroit & Mackinac, and Erie. Four road numbers per scheme. Era: 1960s to 1980s

Comments:

Wm. K. Walthers Inc. recently released a new run of its Mainline series modernized 40-foot American Car & Foundry (ACF) boxcar. The HO scale model depicts a boxcar that was rebuilt to meet industry safety standards of the era.

Our sample is decorated as Rock Island No. 27202, part of the railroad’s 27200 through 27349 series built by ACF under Lot No. 11-5566 in October 1960. At the time the Rock Island ended operations in 1980, 98 of the 150 boxcars were still on the roster.

The WalthersMainline model has a one-piece injection-molded plastic body with molded 8-foot Youngstown doors, tack and routing boards, and grab irons. Additional features include 10 body panels, late Stanray 4/4 improved Dreadnaught ends, short ladders on the A end, and tall ladders on the B end.

The Stanray diagonal-panel roof is a separate piece. It has six tabs (three on both long edges) that lock into slots inside the body. A molded corner grab iron is on the left corner of the B end.

A rectangular steel weight is secured to the bottom of the car’s interior with a pair of Phillips-head screws. The weight accounts for 1.7 of the model’s 3.7 ounces.

Underneath, the boxcar has molded draft-gear boxes, laterals, and floor board detail. The center sills, crossmembers, body bolsters, and bolsters are cast as a single unit. The air reservoir, brake cylinder, control valve, and related piping are freestanding.

The car is fitted with screw-mounted solid-bearing trucks. The 33" metal wheels are mounted on plastic axles.

The boxcar’s dimensions closely follow data in the April 1980 Official Railway Equipment Register (National Railway Publication Co.)

If your HO scale model railroad depicts the 1960s through the 1980s, you’ll want to check out the Walthers Mainline 40-foot modernized ACF boxcar. – Cody Grivno, senior editor