New Intermountain War Emergency Box Cars are out!

[Cajonpassfan]

Today I received a batch of these new cars, which frankly I wasn't sure would ever be produced even though announced a while back. Kudos to Intermountain for making these essential cars for us transition era modelers! They come with wood or steel running boards and multiple types of doors, depending on the prototype. Body mount couplers, crisp paint schemes, subtle differences in finishes. We should reward IM for taking the time and effort to produce these in  many variations....and they come in six road numbers each. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to obtain the C&NW car; my favorite dealer was out already 
Great addition to my roster, the only beef I have is with the unblackened fat wheelsets; even though they are metal, I will replace mine...
Pics below, Otto K.

[seusscaboose]

Looking forward to my chuck-pak

[Chris333]

2 of my 3 have bowed running boards and the wheels look like old Atlas metal wheels. They look like they were produced way back when they were announced 

And I haven't even taken them out of the jewel case yet!

[peteski]

2 of my 3 have bowed running boards and the wheels look like old Atlas metal wheels. They look like they were produced way back when they were announced 

And I haven't even taken them out of the jewel case yet!

Do I sense some IM bashing here on TRW? 

[GaryHinshaw]

Nice box cars, but I love the shots of your layout Otto.

[Chris333]

Do I sense some IM bashing here on TRW? 

Well after all the work that their last flatcars needed... maybe.





Bowed roofwalks, 1985 wheels (don't roll that great either), and the corner grabs stand about a scale foot up in the air. The car seems fine, the assembly isn't.

They need to invent ACC that is water soluble so they can easily be fixed. 

[Palouse51]

There's a big difference between bashing, and justifiable criticism. I am up-voting Chris333 for providing honest feedback with photos for proof.

As someone who is into the postwar era I am glad that Intermountain chose to make these, but they obviously could do a better job. Being aware of the flaws I will probably still look at getting some of these cars a some point. I'll just hang in there until they start showing up on the used market and fix them.

[towl1996]

WOW!!  And people jumped all over BLI for the H32's, let's see how this goes. Shaking head while walking away...

[sd45elect2000]

I usually glue the roofwalks with Goo or something flexible because the etched brass is more temperature sensitive than the plastic car, I've had etched brass roofwalks in kits do the same thing if I used CA to attach them.

I have the CNW set of 6 and the only thing I really don't like are the corner roof grabs, I will repair those.
My "Standard" wheel are the Fox Valley wheels so the wheels will get changed in due course , not because there is anything wrong with them but because I need be disciplined and stick with my own standards.

Randy

[christoph]

Can anybody tell what axle length is needed for these cars?

I remember that these cars were announced as "with Intermountain metal wheel sets", which is exactly what we see here.
So another purchase of replacement wheels is necessary.

Another question to the owners:  what about the ride height?  In short form:  do they match the new Atlas PS-1 or the older IM AAR box cars or MTL box cars??

Thank you for any information.

[Philip H]

Can anybody tell what axle length is needed for these cars?

I remember that these cars were announced as "with Intermountain metal wheel sets", which is exactly what we see here.
So another purchase of replacement wheels is necessary.

Another question to the owners:  what about the ride height?  In short form:  do they match the new Atlas PS-1 or the older IM AAR box cars or MTL box cars??

Thank you for any information.

[snark] Be careful asking such questions, lest you get a chit taken out of your "Serious Modelers" card for not measuring it yourself with a digital calipers. [/snark] 

[wazzou]

The roofwalk definitely has a thinner profile than the previous cars.  Is it a brass piece now? 
If they are going to that trouble, it would be nice to see brass ladders and grabs for sure.

[wcfn100]

The roofwalk definitely has a thinner profile than the previous cars.  Is it a brass piece now? 
If they are going to that trouble, it would be nice to see brass ladders and grabs for sure.

Yes, IM has gone to etched running boards, but beware on the kits as my last one's still had the plastic.

And they wouldn't even need to go as far as brass for the ladders and such if they'd just retool them as fine as the 50' DD box car which are 100x nicer than the 40' cars.

Hopefully I have a CNW one coming at some point.

Jason

[sd45elect2000]

[snark] Be careful asking such questions, lest you get a chit taken out of your "Serious Modelers" card for not measuring it yourself with a digital calipers. [/snark] 

I don't have a digital caliper.. I have a dial caliper AND I know how to use it ...

[Cajonpassfan]

Nice box cars, but I love the shots of your layout Otto.

Thanks Gary, coming from you, it's much appreciated.
As to the car dimensions, these were big cars as WWII era forty footers go; the ATSF Bx-38's had 10'-6" interior height and rode just a smidge under 15' tall, exactly what my models scale off to. (I did use a digital caliper....come on guys, they are cheap these days ). And yes, the roof grabs need fixing and the wheels replacing, but of the ten I got, none have a bowed running board....obviously a QC issue, or rough handling in shipping. With near scale size running boards, this is more likely to happen, I wouldn't be too hard on IM for that if the option is a thicker walkway...
Just sayin'
Otto