Athearn 88209 HO 50ft High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car Norfolk Southern #57

MODEL FEATURES:

• Separately applied brake wheel
• Underbody with brake system details
• Machined metal wheels with RP25 contours
• Weighted for optimum performance
• Body-mounted McHenry® operating scale knuckle couplers
• Highly-detailed, injection-molded body
• Painted and printed for realistic decoration
• Minimum radius: 18”

PROTOTYPE AND BACKGROUND INFO:

Railroad boxcars are perhaps not only the best-recognized pieces of equipment ever put into service but also one of the most identifiable symbols of the industry itself. During the early years of the industry freight was hauled on simple flatcars or early gondolas. The car’s development continued to improve over the years such as switching from basic wood construction with steel outside-bracing. To better enhance crew safety, in 1968 the AAR legislated the removal of roof walks. Boxcars needed to be “modernized” to adhere to the AAR mandate. This was to be completed by 1978 for cars in interchange service. Some of these cars had side and end ladders cut down, in some cases, modification included lowering the brake wheel. What made boxcars great, at least in the eyes of the railroads, was, their ability to haul about anything! Railroads thrive on redundancy to maximize efficiency.