Built late 1880s
| SP Pacific Lines 34' Boxcar Built late 1880s | |
| In the late 1880s, the Southern Pacific and its western subsidiaries - the Central Pacific, the Northern Railway, and the Oregon & California - bought nearly 2500 new boxcars from the Ensign Manufacturing Co. in Huntington, West Virginia (no, the name of the town was not a coincidence). These Pacific Lines cars were all 33'6" long on the inside, featured Wagner doors opening to the right, and had the 'wraparound' grab irons so typical of SP rolling stock in the Huntington era. They were the mainstay of the Pacific Lines' boxcar fleet though the 1890s, and helped the Octopus extend its tentacles across California and much of the rest of the country. Many of the cars were still around to be upgraded to meet the new safety requirements which (more or less) became law in 1911, but all had been retired by 1920. For more information on these cars, including rosters and photos, see Chapter 3 of Southern Pacific Freight Cars – Volume 4: Boxcars by Anthony W. Thompson. Or click here to see a spectacular Edison film from January, 1898, showing 7 of the cars in a 3-engine, 19-car SP train carrying hops to London. (No, we are not making this up! See if you can read the posters attached to the cars.) Our HO scale SP Pacific Lines 34' Boxcar kit features a one-piece resin body designed to make installation of the characteristic wraparound grab irons as easy as possible. The modeler will have to furnish grab irons of his choice, as well as trucks, couplers, and other detail parts. He should also thank Barry McClelland of Railway Recollections for doing another outstanding casting job with this kit. Click on these photos for full-size images:
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| Outside Dimensions of Car | Length 34'1", Width 8'9" over sheathing, Body Height 9' from bottom of sheathing to top of roofwalk |
| Siding / Roof | 3" siding / 3" roof boards |
| Lettering | Late 1880s and early 1890s: For cars from this era, use the Silver Crash Car Works PAINTING DEPARTMENT official lettering set for 'SP Pacific Lines Early 34' Boxcars (no heralds)' which includes the FAST FREIGHT LINE lettering and reporting marks for SP, CP, O&C, and N.Ry
cars. It will set you back $4 if ordered with the kit or $5 without. 1891 to 1898: Starting in 1891, cars were repainted with medallions reading "CENTRAL PACIFIC" or "SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY" around their perimeter. If you model 1891-1898, use Austin Modeling Associates set #59 for SP cars, or set #61 for CP cars. 1899 to 1909: If you model these years, during which the medallion read SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY around its perimeter, use AMA set #62. AMA sets 59,61, and 62 are available from the Silver Crash Car Works PAINTING DEPARTMENT at $4 per set with the kit, or $5 per set on their own. |
| Recommended Trucks | The prototype rode on the SP version of a Thielsen truck, with a wheelbase of 4'10" and Hewitt journal box lids. 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. The Hewitt journal box lids are available from Silver Crash Car Works. |
| Estimated Construction Time | Basic kit: 3 hours including grab-irons and brake wheel Options requiring extra time: underbody brake rigging |
| Kits Available From | Silver Crash Car Works ($27 plus postage) |
