Athearn ATH76218 HO RTR PS 5344 Box Car, North Louisiana & Gulf #5500

Athearn HO RTR PS 5344 Box Car, North Louisiana & Gulf #5500

Athearn Item #: ATH76218

MODEL FEATURES:

• Separately applied wire grab irons
• Separately applied brake wheel and end ladders
• Etched end platforms
• Machined 33” solid nickel silver RP25 profile wheels
• Weighted for optimum performance
• Body-mounted McHenry® operating scale knuckle couplers
• Decorated models fully-assembled and ready to run out of the box
• Highly-detailed, injection-molded body
• Minimum radius: 18”

PROTOTYPE AND BACKGROUND INFO:

It was the mid-1970s, and the incentive per diem box car boom was just beginning. New, brightly painted box cars seemed to appear overnight. Many were lettered for various short lines. Pullman Standard (PS) was a significant builder of many of these cars. The 50’ outside post, non-terminating end box car, became the foundation for new per diem cars built in the 1970s. The 50’ PS cars also varied in door configuration and style to better suit each customer.

Today box cars still matter to the railroads. Even with modern containerization, box cars have a higher capacity then allowable on US roads. We are finding today, that 1970’s box cars are being rebuilt and put into service for various leasing outfits. These models can still be seen today in the modern railroading scene.