(original configuration)
Built late 1870s to mid-1880s
| 28' SP Boxcar (original configuration) Built late 1870s to mid-1880s | |
| For several decades before 1900, boxcars with a length of 28’ were common on American railroads. This kit is based on the 28’ boxcars used on the Southern Pacific Railway and its many subsidiaries. Descriptions, rosters, and photos of these cars are in Chapter 3 of Southern Pacific Freight Cars – Volume 4: Boxcars by Anthony W. Thompson. According to Thompson, the SP built or purchased several thousand of these cars in the 1870s and 1880s; the August 1892 Railway Equipment Register lists approximately 3500 in the freight car fleets of the Octopus and its subsidiaries. It was around then - in the early 1890s - that these cars were gradually upgraded with the Southern Pacific Company's Huntington era ‘wraparound’ grabirons. Our 'original configuration' model (i.e. with ordinary grabirons) is based on an 1886 Ensign Manufacturing Co. builder’s photo of SP #7686; this photo shows a car with Westinghouse automatic air brakes and a three-board roofwalk. Before that, in the late 1870s and early 1880s, cars were undoubtedly delivered without air brakes and possibly with a single-board roofwalk. A car with these and other small differences in detail can be easily modeled from this kit. And, of course, no offense will be taken if a modeler uses our kit to construct a 28’ car used by another railroad. Click on these photos for full-size images:
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| Outside Dimensions of Car | Length 28'2", Width 8'6" over sheathing, Body Height 8'10" from bottom of sheathing to top of roofwalk |
| Siding / Roof | 3" siding / 3" roof boards |
| Lettering | "CFFLINE" (Catalog p. 13) from Art Griffin, $6 per set |
| Recommended Trucks | The prototype rode on the SP version of a Thielsen truck, with a wheelbase of 4'10". Rio Grande Models has
a 5' wheelbase truck for a Virginia & Truckee (Central
Pacific-built) boxcar that is close to being correct for these cars.
The truck is not in the Rio Grande Models online catalog, but is
available on request. |
| Estimated Construction Time | Basic kit: 2 hours including grab-irons and brake wheel Options requiring extra time: underbody brake rigging on post-1885 cars with air brakes |
| Kits Available From | Silver Crash Car Works ($31 including first class postage and insurance) |
