Greenville Steel Car Company 86ft High Cube Double Plug Door Box Cars

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 November 2024 release includes all-new paint schemes, as requested by their customers. Tangent Scale Models are listening. This roadname mix includes delivery schemes as well as 1980s repaints and patch work. Tangent Scale Models continue to demonstrate an unprecedented variety of tooling options for their Greenville 86’ box car system – more than any other manufacturer, in fact. For those keeping score at home, Tangent Scale Models have now released thirteen different build variation options in their Greenville 86’ System of Auto Part Box Car Replicas, so far.

The Tangent Scale Models Greenville 86′ Double Plug Door Box Car continues the design and operational standards set by previous models in the Tangent product line. This includes multiple specific body variations, four different brake layouts (two brake systems), four different draft gear combinations, and three underframe styles which incorporate Center-of-Car Cushioning and End-Of-Car Cushioning options. The Tangent Greenville 86’ box car includes 70-ton or 100-ton truck options, with selections appropriate for each paint scheme, and both include “spinning” roller bearing caps. Finally, Tangent Scale Models cars are weighted properly and come with Kadee couplers mounted in specially-designed coupler pockets which means they operate as good as they look. Due to the car’s size, Tangent Scale Models recommend curves of 24” or larger for these models.

Are you modeling auto parts traffic from 1965 forward? Welcome. You don’t have any Greenville cars that look like these!

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. Tangent Scale Models 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. Tangent Scale Models make the best cars money can buy in HO scale.

A quick synopsis of Tangent Scale Models era and railroad-specific detail variations include:

• Dimensional accuracy – designed from actual Greenville blueprints and verified with field measurements

• Highly correct “true to life” colors

• “Hyper-Accurate” lettering including exact fonts and lettering placement

• Body shells with or without overlapping side panels

• 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)

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

• Genuine Kadee scale couplers

• Separate flexible rubber air hoses

• 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 3^rd 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, as applicable

• Three “rotating” roller bearing truck cap options

• Recommended age 14 years and older

– Norfolk & Western (N&W) “Delivery 1964 Brown” 1965+ Era replicates the N&W’s first order of 86-foot auto parts box cars in their attractive brown paint with “Hamburger” logo. This order of forty cars was delivered in July 1964 and they were among the first Greenville 86’ Double-Door cars built. While the cars were originally built with high ladders and running boards, these features were quickly changed on the prototype cars. This Tangent model duplicates this 1965+ look. The prototype’s running board was removed, but the bracket bolt remnants remained up on the roof. The prototype end appliances were completely rebuilt: The brake wheel was lowered, the high and low ladders were removed, replaced with “L” grab irons and full-width crossover platforms. This Tangent model carefully replicates all these features with this 1965+ body, including the bolt remnants where all of that “high” equipment was attached. This detail includes the body side, showing off the high grab iron remnants in the top-right corners. This is an important group of details to get right, since these cars operated in this configuration for their entire 1965+ service lives. The N&W hamburger graphics are carefully recreated on this car, from the large logo down to the small data in Greenville’s distinctive typestyle. The return route is accurately stenciled for the Ford Stamping plant on the Wabash Railroad in Buffalo, New York.  Underneath. The model features an accurate Center-of-Car Cushioning underframe with truck-mounted brake hardware, “lowered” Miner hand brake, 1965 replacement full-width Apex crossover platforms, 70T trucks with 33” wheels and rotating “Hyatt” roller bearing caps. This is a sharp model.

Please keep in mind that these were pooled boxcars which means you might consider buying cars in a variety of road names. For example: prototype photos show a SBD car in Flat Rock, MI, a DT&I car in Dallas, TX, a MP car in Toledo, OH and an MKT car in Sharonville, OH. These cars certainly got around!

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