Front Range C&O 40' Box Car

Front Range C&O 40' Box Car Front Range C&O 40' Box Car...
Front Range makes an outstanding 40' box car that is dead on for the 19XXX class of C&O boxcars. If you can find one of these old kits pick it up. It is well worth the money. This is also the class that was used to make some of the C&O green MofW boxcars.

This kit comes decorated in the 60's scheme and most of these 40' boxcars lasted in this scheme into the early 80's. Most were then retired. A few lasted into the CSX era (post 1986).

Below is a pic of the class of C&O Boxcar that the kit represents. It is a John Whitmore photo.

John Whitmore Photo

How To:
1. Remove all the parts from the box. Separate them carefully from their trees.
2. Apply a consolidated stencil, ACI card, and wheel inspection dot as seen in the photo below.
3. Assemble the car.
4. Streak the car with a dry brush of white paint. Concentrate on the area directly under any of the white lettering.
5. Overspray the entire car with engine black.
6. Take an eraser and gently rub the car in vertical strokes down the sides of the car. Use the eraser on the top of the car by going across the width of the car. This should leave the black in the crevices but the main surfaces should look reddish. See pics below for clarity.
7. Seal the car with dullcoat.
8. Paint the wheel faces rust colors.
9. You are done, enjoy your 40' boxcar.

Below is a pic of the kit right out of the box. Notice how many parts there are in this kit compared to the five or six in an Athearn kit.

Below is a pic of the decals applied. The decals came from Herald King (ACI) and Microscale (wheel inspection dot and consolidated stencil).

Below is the boxcar fully assembled, ready for weathering.

Below is a pic of the boxcar showing off the streaks of white paint that is characteristic of an old boxcar.

Below is the car after being oversprayed with engine black. Notice how much darker it looks then the pic above. Now it is starting to look like an old boxcar.

Below is an out of focus shot of the sides after I put the eraser to them. Be careful around the decals, you can rip them off if you erase them too much.

Below is a pic of the top of the boxcar before I started erasing it. It is a little out of focus but shows a good contrast between how dark the overspray made the car look and how weathered it looks after the eraser treatment.

Below is the finished car. The white streaking can still be seen in some parts. It is very subtle like the real car. This is a quick and easy project that I hope you can enjoy. Remember almost all of your 40' boxcars need to be in predecessor schemes, like this one (or a B&O or WM predecessor scheme).