B&M 50' Plug Door Boxcar

CV 8081 handles an addition to the B&M fleet. Since the car is loaded with the good stuff (beer) it is found on the head end.

Details West B&M boxcar
Series 150-159

I had been doing some purging of model railway equipment and other related stuff that I don't really need in January. While doing so I found some rolling stock that I had not seen in years or forgot about, or did not even know I had. Some years ago my thinking was it would be nice to have a few different eras of New England equipment that could run on my layout. It was too hard to focus on eras so today I have two, the late 1940's through the 1950's and a small fleet of 1960's equipment. Although this particular car does not fit either of these eras, I think I will still hang on to the car for the moment since it was one of the first modern cars I ever built. I do have a few more completed models from this era plus one engine and will cover those at a later date.

Learning a little bit of the cars history might entice an addition to ones New England boxcar fleet. According to the B&MRRHS, the B&M leased 10 rebuilt 50' plug door boxcars from Fruit Growers Express (FBE) of Alexandria, Va. These cars were built in 1964 and rebuilt in 1975. The B&M used these cars to service Anheuser-Bush Brewery located in Merrimack, NH.

My finished model B&M #152 which I painted and decaled a couple of decades ago is seen with a  Details West pre-painted offering, B&M #154. I am currently working on finishing my second car.

B&M #152
I built this car long ago starting from an undecorated model. The boxcar has shortened ladders on all sides other than the corner were the high brake wheel is found. On the model the end tack boards are down low. These I cut off and added new ones up high. Kadee # 5's are used along with Tichy #3040 stirrups, wire cut levers and bleed rod. I added the under body details found in the kit box but added a brake rod and a short chain piece. The under body was painted Floquil grimy black and the car sides Floquil B&M blue. The decal used is Herald Kind B-625. Last month I used some Bragdon weathering powders adding some weathering to give it a used look and hide some of the marks from years of storage.

B&M #154
Detail West pre-painted boxcar is a nice looking model right out of the box. I decided to put it together and weather it up to match my other boxcar. I used the short ladders all around other than were the brake wheel is placed. I found two blue high ladders and brake wheel in another kit. I did not cut off the lower tack board as on #152 since I did not want to repaint the ends. I used Kadee #5 couplers, changed out the stirrups with Tichy #3040. Wire bleed rod and cut levers are also added. I repainted the under body grimy black. The car is currently waiting for some weathering and final assembly.

Sorting out my overflowing kit drawers got me motivated to finish some easy kits such as B&M #154 and upgrading a few others. My purge cleaned out my kit drawers which are now only half full and are going to stay that way. Peter Mumby knew I was cleaning house and asked me if I wanted to help out at two trains shows in January...his helper was sick at that time. Peter suggested I bring along what I wanted to sell.  That I did and I sold off almost all of my kits at the shows. These kits I knew I would never build. Many I have had for over 20 years and they were not anywhere near the top of my to do list...I don't even think they made my list...on to the next project...George Dutka

B&M #155 Jan. 7, 1988 Nashua, NH

B&M #152 June 25, 1987 Nashua, NH