Model Railroading > Just arrived: Rapido HO scale NP box

I just recieved a lovely plain brown box from Ontario this morning. Inside, 4 NP 40' double sheathed boxcars, Rapido's latest in HO scale. I swapped out the couplers (only because I use Sergent knuckle couplers) and grabbed a few shots.

Top shot is all 4 posed on a bridge that's still under construction, so please excuse the missing sway bracing. Second is the unopened box, cars come in a sturdy 2-part plastic clamshell with a light wrapper around the car itself. Third is one of only two manufacturing issues I found, a partially missing gladhand. I'm not concerned about it because they're one of the first things to get broken. I didn't photograph the other, it was a small bit of flash on an airline beside the frame, again not a huge concern to me.

Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

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At least North Pacific Coast modelers are happy. What I don't understand is why Rapido would put all the work and money into a rather obsure car rather than something that would have more universal appeal. Any ideas? Did I miss something?  

One critisism I have is the coupler box. If you don't mess with the couplers they'll be fine, and my Sergents came out at perfect height, or a few thousandths of an inch high. I like the extra tabs to position the box, and transmit pulling force, but the screw is just a hair short in my opinion. It looks like it only grabs by 2 threads, and it's really easy to strip them out when reinstalling the coupler. Pic 4 illustrates the tabs and screw.

Next two pictures are closeups of the printing and details, and I'll put up a couple more glamour pics after that.

Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

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I'll also mention they come to 3.5 oz on the scale, just right for a 40' car if you ask me.

To address Railbaron's question, I'd say as a class of 4000 cars, in service from the 1920s (the paint scheme I chose is 1940 onwards) to the 1970s, it's a choice that many modelers can use. Heck, I'm a CP modeler as evidenced by the caboose in the pictures and I figured I could swing 4 cars for cross border traffic!

Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

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Des Plaines called me Friday that mine was in. I am looking forward to receiving it.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

Of course Northern Pacific modelers are happy. NP took care of their fleet of wooden freight cars. If you were in Montana and other NP mainlines in the mid or even late 1970s you could see these cars in service. Cars with MOW numbers were in work trains and B&B gangs, track crews carrying their tools and supplies. Cars still lettered for revenue service were hauling supplies between company storehouses though not likely in interchange service.

The cars had steel underframes and AB brakes later so probably interchanged through the 1950s into the 1960s until wooden roofs became unpopular. Given the pre-grafitti era these models will require little weathering save for some fading and dusting.




RRBaron Wrote:
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> At least North Pacific Coast modelers are happy.
> What I don't understand is why Rapido would put
> all the work and money into a rather obsure car
> rather than something that would have more
> universal appeal. Any ideas? Did I miss
> something?  

sarailfan Wrote:
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 I'm a CP modeler as evidenced by the caboose
> in the pictures .

Are you sure of your CPR "credentails"? They were always called "vans" when I was on the property--eh?  

Vans in the east, out west I rarely if ever heard them called a van! Grew up on the coast, now live in Alberta and caboose is a normal term in these parts!

Posted from Android

Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

^^^as they say up North, "ooo that's a burn, eh". Lol. Good looking boxcars and wicked bridge. Very good job sir.

sarailfan Wrote:
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> Vans in the east, out west I rarely if ever heard
> them called a van! Grew up on the coast, now live
> in Alberta and caboose is a normal term in these
> parts!
>-
> Posted from Android

I agree with this observation -  caboose was always what I heard growing up in Alberta.

Rick

Nice trestle - where are the rails? 

Rick

Not done yet...I need to add sway bracing on the left side in these pictures, and place the rails. It's close enough that I figured it would make a good prop to photograph the boxcars.

Posted from Android

Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

That trestle certainly is coming along nicely!

As for the obscurity of these cars, they ran everywhere. Even in Canada.

To give you an idea of their popularity.... We made almost 1500 extra cars on spec, intending to have them in stock until Christmas. 

ALL of the extra inventory sold in ONE WEEK.

We'll do another run in a year or two. We don't want to make the mistake of doing two runs too close together. We've made that mistake too many times before!

-Jason
 

You did miss something. Knowledge about the prototype. Jason has explained it all to well. Bruce

RRBaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At least North Pacific Coast modelers are happy.
> What I don't understand is why Rapido would put
> all the work and money into a rather obsure car
> rather than something that would have more
> universal appeal. Any ideas? Did I miss
> something?  

Brock's first rule of freighcars (from the old Railroad Prototype Modelers email list) -
"Every freight train...other than coal drags or reefer trains....of over ten cars in length will contain at least one NP box car."

Study old photos of rail yards and freight trains and you'll find that this is surprisingly accurate. Those common brown boxcars got seemingly everywhere.

steeplecab
Montana

Could be, but I'd venture to bet the NYC USRA style and PRR X29s were much more common. (I think the NYC had bout 25000 of the USRA style cars.) 

Would my NP car carry lumber from the Pacific Northwest in the early 1950s?

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com


steeplecab Wrote:
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> Brock's first rule of freighcars (from the old
> Railroad Prototype Modelers email list) -
> "Every freight train...other than coal drags or
> reefer trains....of over ten cars in length will
> contain at least one NP box car."
>

The rule didn't say it was the most common. You'e reading more into this than is there.

> Would my NP car carry lumber from the Pacific Northwest in the early 1950s?

Very likely. Also millwork, doors, windows, and almost anything made from wood products. It could also carry paper goods or canned goods from the northwest farms and orchards. These cars were used for almost everything, and the reverse loads were almost as extensive.

steeplecab

Thanks for the correction and info Steeplecab. I should get my car any day now.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

I like it.
Seems accurate for more modern NP cars as well, RBL's and outside braced cars.
Moving into the BN era there were BN green cars all over the place.


steeplecab Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Brock's first rule of freighcars (from the old
> Railroad Prototype Modelers email list) -
> "Every freight train...other than coal drags or
> reefer trains....of over ten cars in length will
> contain at least one NP box car."
>
> Study old photos of rail yards and freight trains
> and you'll find that this is surprisingly
> accurate. Those common brown boxcars got seemingly
> everywhere.
>
> steeplecab
> Montana

My local hobby shop got their order from Walthers today. I now have a couple of these fine looking cars at home. I notice these have radial steel roofs and steel ends so they lasted longer in interchange than wood roof cars would.