Bachmann Quasi Reefer
Bachmann
Quasi Reefer....
Bachmann has made an all yellow 50 foot plug door boxcar
for years. It may look good, but the problem is Chessie never had
any all yellow box cars. The only thing even remotely close is a
refrigerated boxcar or reefer. These had yellow sides but had blue
ends and roofs. If you get this kit under your Christmas tree or
for a birthday gift, don't roll your eyes and tell the giver, "Chessie
never had any of these", and throw it in the trash. They most likely
don't know that little fact. What you need to do is turn it into
a quasi reefer or strip it completely and paint it dark blue.
Since this is such a bad kit right out of the box, you
can find them pretty cheap. I have seen them on eBay for $2-3, but
after shipping that still makes them $5-6. So, if you want one (which
I don't recommend) pick one up cheap at a train show for $3-4.
Below is a real pic of a Chessie refeer. There are
no all yellow boxcars, so I can't show you a pic that looks like the Bachmann
kit right out of the box. This is a Dean Heacock pic.
Where do I begin on what is wrong with the Bachmann kit???
Well for starters the markings are still wrong, even for a reefer.
The Ches-C logo is way too big and too much in the middle of the car.
The written out "Chessie System" logo is of the caboose variety ("Chessie"
written with the Ches-C logo for the "C" and next to "System") not the
freight car variety ("Chessie" written above "System", see photo above
for example). The B&O letters and road number are way too small
and too far towards the middle of the car. I also haven't seen a
pic of a reefer with a roofwalk, but this car has one. All and all
out of the box it is 50% or less accurate. I simply painted the ends
and roof dark blue and weathered it heavily. This car can easily
run in the middle of a train as is, or fill up a yard for a photo, but
I wouldn't be posing it with my best locomotive for a picture.
You may just want to strip this car and start over, but
when I did these cars I just wanted a stand in reefer since I didn't have
any real reefers yet. It works for me for now, but will most likely
get completely stripped sometime in the future.
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