Built 1884 to 1894
| Corn Belt Squatter 34' Boxcar Built 1884 to 1894 | |
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The first 34' boxcars built in the early 1880s were hardly (if at all) taller than the 28' and 30' cars that had preceded them. Roads buying the cars for lumber or grain haulage may not have seen much advantage in taller cars, and both the Michigan Car Co. and the Peninsular Car Co. (or the Michigan-Peninsular Car Co. after they merged in 1892) kept on turning out rather squat-looking 34' boxcars right into the early 1890s. These boxcars were barely over 6 feet high inside, so their side ladders were formed of just 4 grab irons. The best customers for these cars were Midwestern roads like the Union Pacific, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern, and the Minneapolis & Pacific (a Soo Line predecessor). See how low these cars were by comparing the CM&StP to the others in this photo of Hancock, Michigan. The Silver Crash Car Works HO scale Corn Belt Squatter is based on the low 34' boxcars purchased by the UP and its subsidiaries like the St. Joseph & Grand Island, and even reproduces the gracefully curved end fascia board which was characteristic of their 34' cars during the 1880s. But thanks to the amazing foresight shown by our Master Car Builders, if you spend an extra 15 minutes per car hiding the curved end fascia boards behind peaked or straight ones, the kit will become - as if by magic! - a dead ringer for a car from the CM&StP, BCR&N, or M&P. And probably from some other Midwestern roads that you might know more about than you really should. This kit won't spend too much time on your workbench, since it features yet another gorgeous one-piece resin body from John Geigle and the crew at Masterpiece Models. The beaded siding and grooved roof boards are there, of course, but trucks, couplers, and some detail parts for this car must be supplied by the modeler. Our truck recommendations can - as usual - be found in the table below, as can links to the 7 - yes, seven - incredibly sharp decal sets that the Silver Crash Car Works PAINTING DEPARTMENT has whipped up to go with the kit. |
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| Outside Dimensions of Car | Length 34'3", Width 8'9" over sheathing, Body Height 8'2" from bottom of sheathing to top of roofwalk |
| Siding / Roof | 5¼" beaded siding / 6½" double-grooved roof boards |
| Lettering | The Silver Crash Car Works PAINTING DEPARTMENT has the following official lettering sets for the Corn Belt Squatter: * Union Pacific / California Fast Freight Lines 34' Boxcars (ca. 1884-1898) - $3 if ordered with the kit, $4 without * Union Pacific 34' Boxcars (ca.1884-1898) - $4 with the kit, $5 without * Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf Early 34' Boxcars (1890-ca.1895) - $4 with the kit, $5 without * Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf Later 34' Boxcars (ca.1894-1900) - $3 with the kit, $4 without * Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern 34' Boxcars - $3 with the kit, $4 without * Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 34' Boxcars - $3 with the kit, $4 without * Chicago & North-Western 34' Boxcars - $3 with the kit, $4 without In addition, Clover House has dry transfer set 8260-01 for a standard 34' UP boxcar, set 9025-01 for the C.B. Havens & Co. coal boxcars, or set 7578-02 for ex-Minneapolis & Pacific cars repainted for the Soo Line, all priced at $4.50 per set. |
| Recommended Trucks | For most UP and subsidiary cars: Rio Grande Models has
a 5' wheelbase truck for a Virginia & Truckee boxcar (not listed in the Rio Grande Models online catalog, but available on request) that
will be pretty close to being correct for these cars once you add a
plate with an oval inspection hole, plus Hewitt journal box lids and
(to gild the lily) Rio Grande Models outside hung brake beams for the V&T trucks, cat.#3549. For BCR&N cars: Rio Grande Models 4'4" wheelbase HOn3 arch bar trucks (cat. #3220 at $6/pair) with your own scratchbuilt standard gauge truck bolsters, plus a couple of added stryene strips to form more normal truck bolster and spring plank ends. For CM&StP cars: use Bitter Creek Models T-14 "enclosed arch bar leaf/coil springs" trucks ($7.95/pair incl. wheelsets) and add a new and slightly larger transom casting to each side frame. |
| Estimated Construction Time | Basic kit: 1½ hours including grab-irons and brake wheel Options requiring more time: new end fascia boards, underbody brake rigging on cars with air brakes |
| Kits Available From | Silver Crash Car Works ($30) |