1932 AAR Boxcar - The Sequel

Here we can see the completed car decked out in its WM speed stripes.

Commentary by Peter Mumby - Photos by George Dutka.

When you attend a model train show, you either find things you were really looking for, or things that make you think " that's interesting - I think I could do something with that item!"  The cars under discussion in this post definitely fit into the latter category.  We were at the January 2016 Paris, Ontario show when George spotted a pair of Atlas 1932 boxcars on a table close to ours.  Master negotiator that he is, he soon had worked out an attractive "2-fer" price, and we were on our way towards another of our Monday afternoon projects.

The design for the prototype cars was developed after World War 1 and adopted in 1932 by the American Railway Association (ARA).  Soon after, the ARA morphed into the Association of American Railroads (AAR), so we can comfortably refer to the design using either moniker.  George and I each have extensive files on prototype equipment gleaned from years of clipping articles from modelling magazines.  I referred specifically to articles from Mainline Modeler (Jan. 1993) and Model Railroading (Aug. 1988).  If you see copies of these magazines at the train shows, give them some consideration - they often featured the type of in-depth articles on rolling stock that you just can't find in today's more generalized modelling magazines.

By cross referencing these articles and others with with sets available from my decal collection, we settled on the Seaboard car (with plate ends) for George and the Western Maryland car (with ribbed ends) for me.  On Feb. 20, in his post "Atlas- 1932 ARA Boxcar," George has already illustrated his half of the project.  Now I will add a few words about my car.

Champ decal set HB-306 was perfect for the 1953 repaint of this car in the WM speed lettering.  Getting the speed stripes over (and under) the side ladders was a little finicky, but the rest of the application went well.  A coat of flat finish set the car up for PanPastel weathering, supplemented with several colours of Bragdon powders.  It is my understanding that the next Atlas release of the 1932 cars will include the WM car, but I certainly don't feel my effort was wasted - I had an enjoyable project, and at today's prices, I saved a theoretical 75% off the purchase price of a similar car!

Our two 1932 boxcars have teamed up on a transfer run on the WRD.