Many customers have seen the HO Scale mould test samples of these cars at the various train shows North American Railcar has attended in the last year. During this time, refinements on the HO Scale moulds have continued, as has development of the N Scale moulds. We have reviewed several different test samples and are pleased to announce the approval of the N Scale tooling.

"Accuracy & Detail, In Scale"

Below are pictures of the approved undecorated pre-production samples of the first four versions of the car planned for production. The prototypes were each built by different companies and while the same basic design, each has significant differences. To accurately produce the different versions of this car, North American Railcar has developed tooling allowing for each version to be produced. These are not a one size fits all car, they are individually tooled products designed to match the prototype.

All cars will feature:

• Fully assembled and ready to run
• Highly detailed bodies per prototype
  
• Photo etched metal parts
• Wire brake rigging where appropriate
• Body mounted Micro-Trains Couplers
• Accurate painting & lettering per prototype, including accurate road numbers as per actual cars
  
• Limited production run; road numbers in this release will not be released again

 

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All four versions of the Rotary Coal Gondola cars placed side by side

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Underbody view of all four versions showing underbody and brake rigging detail

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Below, pictures of the prototype car by Timothy Horton and the approved production samples show the level of detail and accuracy included in these models.

 

Version F001 - Built at the Transcona Shops in Winnipeg

Spotting Features: 

17 side posts, 2 end ribs with short gusset plates, sharp radius end corners, single hole on the bolster/roping plate, reservoir mounted parallel to the car side & located between the 5th and 6th major side posts (type 1 underframe). Note how far below the underframe the brake rods hang - the rod connects to the truck below the axles.

Used by: BC Rail & Canadian National

(BCNE & CN reporting marks)

North American Railcar will produce a total of 26 road numbers for BC Rail operations in this release. 12 cars will have the CN Noodle on the right end of the car, and 12 cars will have the "BCNE" lettering instead of the CN Noodle. The final 2 cars will be Double Rotary Cars. With these cars, a modeler can build an accurate BC Rail Coal Train circa 1984/1985 to 2005 of 26 cars.

North American Railcar will also produce 12 road numbers of this version for Canadian National. They are circa 1982 to present day. Although the same as the BC Rail cars, these Canadian National cars were built at Marine Industries in Quebec. Modelers can combine these 12 road numbers with the 12 Version 2 road numbers below to build a 24 car CN Coal Train.

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Version F002 - Built by National Steel Car in Hamilton

Spotting Features:

Built in 1978, these cars feature 17 side posts, 2 end ribs without gusset plates, sharp radius end corners, double holes on the bolster/roping plate, reservoir mounted parallel to the car side & located between the 5th and 6th major side posts (type 1 underframe). Note how far below the underframe the brake rods hang - the rod connects to the truck below the axles.

Used by: Canadian National

(CN reporting marks)

When delivered, these cars had CNHX reporting marks for Ontario Hydro. A few years later they were sold to CN and the "HX" was removed from the cars. These cars can be combined with CN Cars from Version 1 above to build a 24 car CN Unit Coal Train.

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Version F003 - Built by Hawker Siddeley in Trenton

Spotting Features:

Built 1988, these cars have 17 side posts, 2 end ribs with short gusset plates, sharp radius end corners, double holes on the bolster/roping plate, reservoir  mounted perpendicular to the car side (with a protective bar between the floor joists) and located between the 4th and 5th major side posts (type 1 underframe). Note how far below the underframe the brake rods hang - the rod connects to the truck below the axles.

Used by: Sultran

(SULX reporting marks)

There are two variations of graphics on Sultran cars. Some cars have two lines of Capacity information and some have three lines. North American Railcar is producing 12 road numbers of each variation so modelers can build a 24 car unit train of Sultran.

Many modelers are aware that Intermountain has produced the Bathtub Coal car in Sultran. Typically in prototype operations, both the bathtub cars and our upcoming CN Coal Gondolas cars are mixed in roughly equal numbers in trains moving Sulpher to the West Coast. These Sulpher Unit Trains move over both the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific networks.

Modelers who have purchased Sultran Bathtub Gondolas previously produced by Intermountian directly, or produced as special runs for Pacific Western Rail Systems, can combine them with these new CN Coal Gondolas for an accurate representation of the prototype Sultran Sulpher unit trains.

Recently we were in Jasper on the way to the Edmonton Train Show. Here is an image we took of the Sultran Train:

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Version F004 - Built by Marine Industries Ltd. in Quebec

Spotting Features:

Built between 1972 & 1975, there were 11 deliveries of this car from Marine Industries and also Hawker-Siddeley under contract. These cars have 17 side posts, 3 end ribs with short gusset plates, sharp radius end corners, single elongated hole on the bolster/roping plate. The reservoir mounted parallel to the car side - located between the 5th and 6th major side posts (type 2 underframe), high mounted brake rigging

Used by: Procor Ltd.

(UNPX reporting Marks)

This fourth version is complicated by different owners operating the cars at different times. All cars were used between 1972 to present on BC Rail, CN and CP for coal and sulphur service. various owners operated the cars as follows:

• North American Railcar will produce 24 road number for Procor in the first release. 12 road numbers with the Procor Placard, and 12 road numbers with the Procor "Word Mark" logogram will be produced.
  • To accurately model BC Rail sulphur service from 1972 to 1985, a train consisting of up to 24 cars can be built by combining the 12 Procor Placard (with UNPX reporting marks) road numbers with 12 Procor Wordmark (with UNPX reporting marks) road numbers.
  • In 1986 Sultran began to receive cars lettered for them. As these cars came into service, the Procor cars began to be used primarily for coal on BC Rail.
    
• BC Rail prototype operations in 1985 (the year BC Rail received the Transcona built Cars (version 1) used a number of the versions of this car together. Modelers can mix the 12 (BC Rail with CN Noodle) road numbers, the 12 (BC Rail BCNE) road numbers, 2 (Double Rotary Cars) road numbers, the 12 Procor Placard (with UNPX reporting marks) road numbers and the 12 Procor Word Mark (with UNPX reporting marks) road numbers for a BC Rail coal unit train of up to 50 cars!
• Starting around 1995, BC Rail began to phase out the Procor cars (UNPX Procor reporting marks). The cars were subsequently sold to Canadian National. The only change to the cars was the reporting marks were changed to CN from UNPX. Notice car above with only the reporting mark changed.
  
• Modelers who are interested in CN operations from 1995 to present day, can combine 12 CN (Marine Industries Version 1) road numbers, 12 CN (National Steel Car Version 2) road numbers, 12 Procor with placard (with CN reporting Marks) road numbers and the 12 Procor with Word mark (with CN reporting Marks) road numbers for a CN coal unit train of up to 48 cars!
• Modelers interested in modeling 2005 to present day CN coal operations can combine all 26 of the BC Rail road numbers (CN now owns BC Rail), the 24 Procor road numbers (with CN reporting marks), the 24 CN Cars for an awesome 74 car unit coal train. While in Grande Cache, Alberta last November, we photographed and video taped a 156 car Unit CN coal Train arriving into Grande Cache made up of these types of cars. We will post a link to the video later.

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Many modelers will know there are 3 other versions of the prototype car (version 5, 6, 7) appropriate for Canadian National operations. These are each variants of the same car types. We tentatively plan to produce these versions next year. Versions 6, and 7 were made by different manufacturers Marine Industries, and Hawker Siddeley. So we will have two produce 2 different moulds. For now though, Canadian National modelers can certainly get a good start on their unit trains. The 6th and 7th variations will include the Brown CN Coal Cars with the small CN Noodle on the left side of the car as pictured below:

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While these are undecorated test samples, we think you will agree the level of detail and quality present indicate these will be an excellent, and accurate model of the prototype.

We are working to ensure the paint schemes for each owner operator are just as accurate as the body detailing. As we work towards production, we will continue to update you with more pictures and information.

In the meantime, if you are interested in any of these cars, we encourage you to reserve them now. Production runs of these cars are limited and as with previous product releases, some road names will likely be fully sold out before release. Many customers are ordering all roads available for particular schemes to build full unit trains of these coal cars.

PORTERS Members: Remember to login to your accounts to properly receive your PORTERS Points when ordering these cars. PORTERS Points earned from the purchase of these cars can be used towards the purchase of anything Pacific Western Rail Systems sells, along with PORTERS only cars in the PORTERS Club Lounge.

Reservations Are Open

Expected Release: July 2012 

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JMP