Greenville Steel Car Company 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car

During the 1960s, the most radical freight car designs employed the extreme height clearances offered by Plate F car designs. In 1964, no car type articulated this extreme more than the 86-foot, purpose-built “Auto Parts” boxcars. These large boxcars became fixtures on the rails all over North American mainlines, riding hot trains to deliver components vital to the productivity of auto plants. While several car builders offered 86’ auto parts boxcars, the most prolific builder of the double plug door design was Greenville Steel Car Company of Greenville, PA. More than 4,400 of these cars were acquired by most major railroads, and they were assigned to pools where multiple railroad’s cars served a specific shipper or shippers. Original utilization of these cars was for Ford, Pontiac, and Chrysler, as well as deliveries from 3rd party parts suppliers to the auto plants. Greenville’s 1964-1978 production was the longest run for this car type, with many still in service today.

Tangent Scale Models offers high-end HO models of the Greenville 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car in HO scale! This is not just a single box car model, but instead a system of 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car models.

The Tangent Greenville 86’ High Cube Double Plug Door Box Car system is a state of the art, dimensionally-accurate scale replica that was tooled to Greenville Steel Car plans and verified with field measurements. This model comes with highly accurate “true-to-life” colors and “hyper-accurate” lettering including exact stenciling, fonts, and lettering placement. Tangent Scale Models Greenville 86’ system of models offers a multitude of detail variations and phases to replicate the many different Greenville Steel Car offerings. A quick synopsis of Tangent Scale Models era and railroad-specific detail variations include:

• Body shells with or without overlapping side panels

• EOCC (end of car cushioning) or COCC (center of car cushioning) “near scale” draft gear variations with genuine Kadee scale couplers

• Separate flexible rubber air hoses

• Roofs with running board supports remaining in place (1965+ appearance since the running boards were gone by 1966) and roofs without running board supports (1965+ Greenville production)

• Under car brake system variations

• “See through” etched metal end crossover platforms in three possible options: Gypsum, Apex, or Morton

• Side tack board types/sizes and locations

• Twelve prototypically-accurate brake stands (Ajax, 2 Universal versions, 2 Equipco versions, 2 Miner versions, Champion-Peacock, 2 Elcon-National versions, Peacock 850, Klasing 1150)

• Two possible handbrake “brake wheel” options

• Optional 3rd door crank arm parts to be configured one of three ways

• Multiple truck options: 70-Ton Barber S-2A Roller Bearing Truck, 70-Ton Barber S-2 “Birdsboro foundry” Roller Bearing Truck or a 100-Ton “Low Profile” Barber S-2-C Roller Bearing Truck

• 33” or 36” wheels, as applicable, with front and back detail and accurate tapered axles

• Two truck brake beam part options

• Three “rotating” roller bearing truck cap options

• Recommended age 14 years and older

Detroit Toledo & Ironton (DTI) “Delivery 1970 Magenta” shows off one of the most-requested paint schemes for the Tangent Greenville 86’ Box Car System. Tangent Scale Models appreciate the patience of DT&I modelers, as Tangent Scale Models wanted to get this car right with the correct 1970 Greenville body with accurate DT&I Magenta paint and lettering. This Magenta DT&I group totaled 54 cars — It was also the first group to be delivered for use in the new Ford Brownstown Parts Distribution facility pool. Yes, these cars were pooled, so that means these beautiful Magenta 86’ giants served Ford US Parts Depots coast to coast in the Ford BRO pool lanes. Note the prototype photo on Tangent Scale Models website that shows a DT&I “BRO” car behind a GN painted, BN-restenciled SD45 presumably photographed on BN headed to Seattle. The DT&I cars feature the distinctive Brownstown body style, with extra vertical rivet rows at the ends of the side sheets. An accurate End-Of-Car Cushioning underframe shows off the 100-Ton “Low profile” Barber S-2-A trucks, 36” wheels and “Timken” rotating caps.

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