Many customers have seen the unpainted 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 moulds have continued. We now have painted test samples in N Scale with HO Scale to follow shortly.
These test samples will be available for inspection at our Surrey store on Saturday, March 17. So if you are in the area, stop by and see the next PWRS exclusive model that is just like the real thing, only smaller.
"Accuracy & Detail, In Scale"
All cars will feature:
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.
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.
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:
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:
Reservations Are Open
Expected Release: July 2012
JMP