Intermountain ATSF Bx-37 Box Cars in production...?

[Cajonpassfan]

I just received the notification below this morning. These cars roamed all over the country, so it’s not just good news for for Santa Fe modelers. I have no affiliation with the vendor, other than being a repeat satisfied customer. Now let’s see if IM delivers....
Otto K. [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[thomasjmdavis]

Thanks for the heads up, Otto,
I put in an order for a few.  That makes 2 advanced orders (also single window coaches with another vendor) for me in one week- a record for me in the 21st century. 

[reinhardtjh]

All of the 1937 40' Modified boxcars i wanted (and had pre-ordered) got cancelled.  So, noticing that IM on their "In-Stock" list (last updated 25-Nov-2019) they had undecorated kits available, I has my not-so-local supplier to order some.  They had 5 in stock.  Hopefully with the run it means more undecorated kits will be available.  I'll have to check with the not-so-local hobby shop.

Looking back I guess most of what I wanted was the plain 10' 1937 40' box, but still. Same premise.  There are some of both I want.  Just not Santa Fe, which were the only ones that got cleared for production.  Must be a lot of ATSF modelers out there. 

[thomasjmdavis]

All of the 1937 40' Modified boxcars i wanted (and had pre-ordered) got cancelled.  So, noticing that IM on their "In-Stock" list (last updated 25-Nov-2019) they had undecorated kits available, I has my not-so-local supplier to order some.  They had 5 in stock.  Hopefully with the run it means more undecorated kits will be available.  I'll have to check with the not-so-local hobby shop.

Looking back I guess most of what I wanted was the plain 10' 1937 40' box, but still. Same premise.  There are some of both I want.  Just not Santa Fe, which were the only ones that got cleared for production.  Must be a lot of ATSF modelers out there. 

According to their reservations list, although they canceled the decorated 1937 AAR cars, and all but the ATSF modified 1937 AAR cars, they are listing the undec kits for both as "confirmed for production"- so at least the undecs may be available soon. https://www.intermountain-railway.com/newsncomingsoon.html

I think there are a lot more ATSF modelers out here than one might think based on steam locomotive production and such things.... But sour grapes aside, ATSF modelers do tend to go in for long trains, freight and passenger, and judging by the numbers of first generation diesels out there, I would surmise that lots of us are somewhere in the 1935 to 1960 timeframe.  So 40' boxcars, reefers, and stock cars still sell pretty well.  All I can figure for the Bx-37 (modifed 1937 AAR car, for everyone else, and the "37" in Bx-37 is a coincidence, nothing to do with 1937)  is that they had enough orders from ATSF modelers alone to justify running the parts, but not enough orders from any other road to justify painting a batch for another road.

Intermountain, for ATSF modelers, has been the primary source of freight cars (or at least box, stock, refrigerator) since back in the days when they started making ATSF prototypes for Long's Drugs (not sure how the biggest mail order hobby shop in California back in the day was a drug store, but there you have it).  So we keep an eye on them and their releases, for accurate reefers and stock cars. I suspect that transition era modelers generally look to them because of the large number of variations on boxcars- you can have several IM steel boxcars, all different in heights and details. 

The problem is that IM pre-order system .... No, I'll just stop there....  I need to find a hobby shop that has a plan in place to handle pre-orders if the shop goes out of business or I die before the order is delivered.

[Cajonpassfan]

Well, after a very long wait, all my preordered cars finally came today. Nice cars, but the color?! Way too red imho. Pics below, of their HO model, new N scale model, and the new Bx-37 with another unmodified Intermountain car. Intermountain should know better, they’ve produced many decent looking Santa Fe cars in Mineral brown before. This is like going backwards. But the air reservoir mounted under the floor is properly and prototypically turned perpendicular to the car....too bad I can’t get over the COLOR 
I preordered these cars trying to do my part in encouraging I/M to produce this model...
Otto K.

[thomasjmdavis]

Well, after a very long wait, all my preordered cars finally came today. Nice cars, but the color?! Way too red imho. Pics below, of their HO model, new N scale model, and the new Bx-37 with another unmodified Intermountain car. Intermountain should know better, they’ve produced many decent looking Santa Fe cars in Mineral red before. This is like going backwards. But the air reservoir mounted under the floor is properly and prototypically turned perpendicular to the car....too bad I can’t get over the COLOR 
I preordered these cars trying to do my part in encouraging I/M to produce this model...
Otto K.

Mine are in limbo at the post office due to an addressing error.  HOPEFULLY, I will see them tomorrow. 

[jereising]

The Intermountain web site is pretty pathetic - still showing a lot of stuff from 'way back, and doesn't look like it's been updated in forever.

[thomasjmdavis]

I was able to pick mine up from the post office today after resolving the address problem. 
@Cajonpassfan  -  I've been sorting through my boxcar collection.  I do have ONE other Intermountain ATSF car that is approximately this color- a 50' AAR car from (I think) their first run about 30 years ago, custom painted for Neals Ngauging Trains, also a "Ship and Travel" car.  I wonder if a paint crew in the 1050s accidentally spilled some Warbonnet red into the mineral brown bucket.... and a lot of photos were taken of the result.

On the other hand, the ATSF Painting and Lettering Guide lists (p 53) a mix of 2 parts tuscan red and 1 part boxcar red (Floquil 25 and 74), and it is hard for me to imagine that color turns out as brown as most of the cars I have.  But its been a couple decades since I've had any Floquil around, so I can't check.  I know Tru-color has 2 colors which it refers to as pre-1945 and post 1945, but as usual with ATSF (and per the Tru-color guide), there is a long period from the late 30s to the late 40s where both were in use.
http://trucolorpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/FreighCarColor.pdf

[Sokramiketes]

I was able to pick mine up from the post office today after resolving the address problem. 
@Cajonpassfan  -  I've been sorting through my boxcar collection.  I do have ONE other Intermountain ATSF car that is approximately this color- a 50' AAR car from (I think) their first run about 30 years ago, custom painted for Neals Ngauging Trains, also a "Ship and Travel" car.  I wonder if a paint crew in the 1050s accidentally spilled some Warbonnet red into the mineral brown bucket.... and a lot of photos were taken of the result.

On the other hand, the ATSF Painting and Lettering Guide lists (p 53) a mix of 2 parts tuscan red and 1 part boxcar red (Floquil 25 and 74), and it is hard for me to imagine that color turns out as brown as most of the cars I have.  But its been a couple decades since I've had any Floquil around, so I can't check.  I know Tru-color has 2 colors which it refers to as pre-1945 and post 1945, but as usual with ATSF (and per the Tru-color guide), there is a long period from the late 30s to the late 40s where both were in use.
http://trucolorpaint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/FreighCarColor.pdf

The ATSF P&LG mix is probably based on the old Floquil colors.  And in that case, Floquil's Tuscan Red was always browner than their other color called Tuscan.  Only reason I recall this at all is that I used to use Tuscan on CGW's maroon F units.  And noted it had more red than "Tuscan Red".  Seemed confusing to my 14 year old brain at the time.   

Anyway, I think the Floqmix proposed would be of the brown variety.  TruColor is good for use today. 

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks for your comments, guys. Yes, TruColor would be a great choice if one were to custom paint the cars. I’m told their two Mineral Browns are based on colorscans made by Ed Hawkins, and the newer color does have a color shift, see below.
Of course, it is difficult to portray color accurately on our color monitors and on our small models, but in the end, the models should “look right” if that makes sense. To me, the new Bx-37 just doesn’t.
Otto K.