Tangent HO 86′ Greenville High Cube Box Car Seaboard Coast Line

Description

Railroad Short Name: SCL

During the 1960s, the most radical freight car designs employed the extreme height clearances offered by Plate F car designs. In 1964, no car type articulated this extreme more than the 86-foot, purpose-built “Auto Parts” boxcars. These large boxcars became fixtures on the rails all over North American mainlines, riding hot trains to deliver components vital to the productivity of auto plants. While several car builders offered 86’ auto parts boxcars, the most prolific builder of the double plug door design was Greenville Steel Car Company of Greenville PA. More than 4,400 of these cars were acquired by most major railroads, and they were assigned to pools where multiple railroad’s cars served a specific shipper or shippers. Original utilization of these cars was for Ford, Pontiac, and Chrysler, as well as deliveries from 3rd party parts suppliers to the auto plants. Greenville’s 1964-1978 production was the longest run for this car type, with many still in service today.

Tangent Scale Models is pleased to introduce the Greenville 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car in HO scale! This is not just a single box car model, but instead a system of 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car models. Tangent is pleased to introduce the industry’s first “high-detail” 86’ auto parts car model!

The Greenville 1964-1978 production included several distinctive design features to watch for. Most notably, see the drop sill at the bottom of the car which roughly divides the car into fifths when looking at it from left to right. The aluminum doors stand out on the L&N car above because they are unpainted. On some schemes, the doors are indeed painted. Also note the end of car cushioning device. Some cars have center of car cushioning.

Seaboard Coast Line (SCL) “Delivery 1970” is our first SCL offering in the Tangent 86’ Greenville world.  These cars were painted black with yellow graphics advertising “Smooth Cushioned Load” – did you see what they did there?  The 1970-built cars in the SCL class X-9 numbered four and these models match the prototypes with truck-mounted brakes and Freightmaster End-Of-Car Cushioning.  The ends feature Gypsum end crossover platforms and an Elcon-National power brake.  The models are equipped with Tangent 100-Ton “Low profile” Barber S-2-A trucks, 36” wheels and “Timken” rotating caps.  The silver doors and white ends really pop on this scheme, as does the sharp yellow stenciling!

Features:

The Tangent Greenville 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car system is a state of the art, dimensionally-accurate scale replica that was tooled to Greenville Steel Car plans and verified with field measurements. Our model comes with highly accurate “true-to-life” colors and “hyper-accurate” lettering including exact stenciling, fonts, and lettering placement. Our Greenville 86’ system of models offers a multitude of detail variations and phases to replicate the many different Greenville Steel Car offerings. A quick synopsis of our era and railroad-specific detail variations include:

• Body shells with or without overlapping side panels
• EOCC (end of car cushioning) or COCC (center of car cushioning) “near scale”draft gear variations with genuine Kadee® scale couplers
• Separate flexible rubber air hoses
• Roofs with running board supports remaining in place (1965+ appearance since the running boards were gone by 1966) and roofs without running board supports (1965+ Greenville production)
• Under car brake system variations
• “See through” etched metal end crossover platforms in three possible options: Gypsum, Apex, or Morton
• Side tack board types/sizes and locations
• Seven prototypically-accurate brake stands (Ajax, Universal, Equipco, Miner 6600, Champion-Peacock, Elcon-National, Peacock 850)
• Two possible handbrake “brake wheel” options
• Optional 3rd door arm hinge parts to be configured one of three ways
• Two brand new truck sideframes: 70-Ton Barber S-2A Roller Bearing Truck or a 100-Ton “Low Profile” Barber S-2-C Roller Bearing Truck (outlined at the end of this press release)
• 33” or 36” wheels, as applicable to each model
• Two brand new truck brake beam part options
• Three brand new “rotating” roller bearing truck cap options

Finally, check out the TRUCKS on these cars! Our new Greenville 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car models feature one of two new truck options – either a 70-Ton Barber S-2A Roller Bearing Truck or a 100-Ton “Low Profile” Barber S-2-C Roller Bearing Truck.