Greenville Steel Car Company 86’ 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 August 2024 release includes several roadnames with yet another a new body for this Tangent Greenville System: the September and October 1969 built Greenville cars. These cars feature grab iron and sill details that bridge the gap between previous Tangent 1968 End-Of-Car Cushioning and late-1969/1970 End-Of-Car Cushioning offerings. For those keeping track at home, this is Tangent Scale Models thirteenth body in their Greenville 86’ System of Auto Part Box Car Replicas.

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 a 70-ton or 100-ton truck option, 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.

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 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, as applicable

• Three “rotating” roller bearing truck cap options

• Recommended age 14 years and older

– Norfolk Southern (NS) “The Thoroughbred B122 1995” is another highly-requested paint scheme in the Tangent Greenville 86’ family of models. These prototypes were pulled from NW’s large B122 class of cars. Metro East Industries Inc. in East St. Louis IL refurbished the cars in 1995 and applied one of the most distinctive 86’ schemes available to modelers: A beautiful gray car with NS “The Thoroughbred” graphics. These unique cars continued in Ford auto parts service after the refurbishing. The models feature a brand-new Tangent body shell, matching the prototypes built in September of 1969 for the NW. The modern details are carefully executed on this model: Notice the relocated tack boards to the far right and the auxiliary crank “third arms” applied to the top of each door. This paint scheme makes you say “WOW.” That huge NS logo stands out, with distinctive “NORFOLK SOUTHERN” in a typestyle that is unique to this scheme. And of course, the NS “Thoroughbred” graphics are just plain cool. This scheme is for the modern guys 1995 to at least 2014 – and possibly later!

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