Late PS-1 50' Boxcars....

[bbussey]

To put it in perspective — the location of the door tracks on the MTL cars is totally off, because the carbody is too tall while the door height actually is correct.  Look at the two Western Pacific cars, and note that the top door track is too low position-wise and the bottom door track is very high position-wise.

But it's all a matter of what you're willing to accept.  For many people, the inaccuracies aren't an issue.  For others, the most prototypical and accurate models are preferred.  I personally prefer the Athearn/MDC cars because the prototype accuracy is better, the roofwalk is more fine and the door thickness is more prototypical.  Also, on the two double-door models, the door arrangement used on the Athearn/MDC model is more common (and accurate for NYNH&H).

[ljudice]

Getting back to the original question, it looks like an etched brass overlay could be designed for the Athearn PS1 door to simulate the BAR car...   Is BAR the only owner of PS1's with these doors or is it a phase detail for these cars?

[Frank Amato]

The April and May 1994 issues of Mainline Modeler have detailed articles about post-1960 PS-1 50-footers.  The roster shows the following BAR cars:

6000-6029 - 9' Youngstown doors
6030-6059 - 9' doors
6300-6499 - 9' plug doors
6500-6699 - 9' plug doors
6700-6799 - 9' plug doors

Lots of other RR's show cars with 10' and 10'6" plug doors, so it certainly appears that the 9' plug doors were the minority as-delivered.

  Frank

[nkalanaga]

Weren't doors a customer option, with PS putting in whatever the customer asked for, on basically identical car bodies?  I've always heard that that was one of the reasons MT chose the PS-1 for their first car.  They could offer almost any door configuration, have a prototype for it, and not have to change the roof, ends, or underframe.

[bbussey]

The name of that plug door style escapes me at the moment, but New Haven utilized the same door on the handful of cars it purchased in the 1960s.  While it isn't a priority for me, I had always envisioned rapid-prototyping the door and dropping it into the body after cutting out the molded in door.  An etched overlay won't work because the prototype door has too much relief.

[ljudice]

Thanks everyone...  Since it looks like there are some usable decals, I will track down a couple of the Athearn cars and look into the doors...

[Spikre]

 
  the car has a "Reversed Youngstown Flush Door"
  which is termed a "Plug Door" by modelers.
  other suppliers of plug doors:
   Superior
   P-S
  Equipco
  Landis
  may be other experimentals,but these would be less common
  than Youngstown supplied doors and Camel Door Hardware.
    Spikre
      

[ljudice]

I noticed in my pile of photos some CNW PS1's with the exact same door....

[bbussey]

... may be other experimentals,but these would less common
  than Youngstown supplied doors and Camel Door Hardware.

That's it - "camel door" is what I was thinking of.  A smaller manufacturer offered this door as a detail part a decade ago, but I haven't been able to track them or the part down in recent years.  Eventually, I'll RP them so I can create a true representation of the New Haven car.

[Spikre]

 
  Camel Sales CO was owned by Youngstown Steel Door Company .
  they didnt make doors,Youngstown did.
  but many Wooden Doors were fitted with Camel Locks,Rollers and
  Door Latches.
  after Steel doors became common in the 20s many were fitted with Camel
  Door parts also.
  somewhere in Time Youngstown aquired Camel and this led to some confusion
  wether a Door was a Youngstown or a Camel Door.
  but Camel just was used as a vender of Youngstown doors.
  and seemed to be a division or wholley owned subsidiary of Youngstown until
  Youngstown closed a few years back.
   so in a way the terms Camel or Youngstown are sort of interchangable.
  but Superior and Equipco doors could have Camel hardware on them,depending
  on the time frame the cars were built.
       Spikre
     
   

[bbussey]

Understood, thanks for the clarification.

The company that made the Youngstown with Camel fittings detail part in HO was Downeast Models, but I don't believe they are still active.