Kit appreciation: Rocket Express box car

I have done several “kit appreciation” posts before, and this post is to add another one. The model I am writing about today is a resin kit from Rocket Express (specializing, as the name suggests, in Rock Island equipment). The car modeled, with kit #RI-1, is a 40-foot end-door automobile car, that is, a double-door box car. (For an example of such an appreciation post, see: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2013/09/homage-to-two-great-resin-kits.html .)  

The prototype modeled is a group of 1000 double-door cars built by the Rock Island in 1930. The first 650 cars (RI 159250–159899) had solid ends, while the second 350 cars (RI 160250–160599) had end doors. By 1952, near my modeling era, these groups still contained, respectively, 531 and 333 cars, a considerable majority of the original build. Here is a builder photo from the kit directions. 

The car kit has separate sides and ends and roof (no one-piece body here). The first step in construction is to assemble the body box, with some adjustments so everything fits snugly. Next the floor and underframe parts are added. Once all those components are assembled, the various detail parts are added in the usual way, Some areas have centering holes for the drilling of grab-iron holes.

The prototype cars had black roofs, so this is a two-color paint job. The decals are quite nice, and though the fitting of decal lettering around the posts and braces of a single-sheathed car is a little tedious, I’ve always found it an interesting challenge, and satisfying when it comes out right. For me, the key is patience, and only working as long as mental calm prevails.You can always come back to the job.

The car was weathered somewhat lightly to reflect a relatively recent repaint, then fresh paint blocks were added with decal film for placement of new reweigh and repack decals. I felt like this was a really nice project, and I always enjoy single-sheathed cars like this in which the angles of the side braces differ. Below is a view of the B end of the car, with its fixed Dreadnaught end.

Here is the other end. It is in some ways more interesting, with the end doors. Note how the running board does not extend above the raised frame of the end. 

In use on the layout, I have moved the car with a variety of cargoes. But we know from numerous Southern Pacific documents that discovery of empty double-door box cars on SP rails usually got them sent to lumber-producing areas, since loading such cars with longer lengths of timber was easier. Here is one example of this kind of waybill: 

I enjoy this car, as mentioned above, for its appearance, but also of course for the loads it can move. It’s always a welcome part of an operating session.

Tony Thompson