While this is a new car for Atlas, it looks like it’s a ready to run version of the old
Branchline Blueprint ACF/URTX wood reefer kit. However, kudos to Atlas for the new paint schemes.

• Alas Announcement

More Information on the companies:

• United Fruit Historical Society (United Fruit was the parent company of Fruit Dispatch Company)
• Narragansett Brewing Company
• Edelweiss Beer Wikipedia page
• Grand Union Food Markets Wikipedia page
• Tivoli Beer Timeline
• Fruit Growers Express Wikipedia page

*NRCC stands for Northern Refrigerator Car Co., URT stands for Union Refrigerator Transit Line and QREX stands for Quaker City Refrigerator Line.

• ExactRail Wagontop Announcement and Webpage
• Otto Kuhler’s Wikipedia’s Webpage (B&O section)

ExactRail also announced a third run of their Trinity 50′ Hy-Cube box car in TTX. It’s part of their Evolution Line and features separately applied grab irons, a highly detailed narrow-style draft box and Kadee #5 couplers. It’s available in 18, yes 18 different numbers. That’s on top of the first runs 6 numbers and the second runs 12. List price is $29.95 and it’s also due in early December.

The price has gone up $5.00, but ExactRail now includes Kadee couplers, so at least you get something for the price increase (previously, they came with McHenry couplers).

• ExactRail TTX Trinity 50′ Hy-Cube Announcement and Webpage
• The First and Second Run ExactRail TTX Trinity 50′ Hy-Cube Announcements
• TTX (aka Trailer Train, Railbox and Railgon) history

• Atlas ACF 4650 Announcement Webpage
• Joe Shaw’s Private Owner Covered Hopper Webpage

Atlas also announced a new Master Line 40’ AAR postwar box car. Based on the Branchline kit Atlas recently acquired, these ready to run box cars have six foot doors and separately applied grab irons, ladders and underbody detailing. They’re available undecorated and with three numbers each in Burlington (CB&Q), Canadian National (CN), Erie Lackawanna (EL), Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (N de M), Spokane Portland & Seattle (SP&S) and Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo (THB). List price is $27.95 ($22.95 undecorated) and they’re also due in the second quarter of 2012.

• Atlas 40’ AAR Box Car Announcement Webpage

Previously, Walthers had these cars in their Gold Line and listed for $29.98. From the description of the new cars, it sounds like they’ve added more detail as they moved it into the WalthersProto line. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, they’ve changed.

• Walthers 23,000 gallon funnel flow tank car webpage

The second WalthersProto car announced this month is their 50’ Gunderson Hi-Cube paper service boxcar. It’s Available in Arkansas-Oklahoma (AOK), Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF), Canadian National (CN) and CSX Inc. (CSX), with each road getting two numbers. The cars feature separately applied details, including grab irons, door details and brake platforms. List price is $29.98, a small increase from $27.98 when these cars were last released in Walthers Gold Line. They’re due in June.

• Walthers 50’ Gunderson Hi-Cube paper service boxcar webpage

Last this month is the WalthersMainline 36′ wood chip hopper. It’s also available in two numbers each for Baltimore & Ohio (B&O), Louisville and Nashville (L&N), Northern Pacific (NP) and Western Maryland (WM). List price is $21.98 and it’s also due in June.

• Walthers 36′ wood chip hopper webpage

• SD45 PDF Announcement
• Athearn’s SD45 webpage
• Wikipedia’s EMD SD45 page

Next up is Athearn’s 50′ Combo Door box car. It’s available in three number each for Canadian National (CBOL), Delaware & Hudson (D&H), Rock Island (ROCK) and Western Pacific (WP). The list price is $24.98 and they’re due in May.

• 50′ Combo Door Box Car Announcement
• Athearn’s 50′ Combo Door Box Car webpage

Finally, Athearn has more of it’s 33,900-Gallon Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tank cars, in both early and late versions, announced for June. They feature photo-etching and separately applied grab irons. The early version is available in Mobil Oil (MBLX), Procor (PROX) and Union Tank Car Company (UTLX). With the later version available in CGTX Inc* (CGTX), Procor (PROX), and Union Tank Car Company (UTLX). All have three numbers available. The early cars are appropriate for 1992 and later, while the later version debuted in 1997. List price is $49.98.

• 33,900-Gallon LPG Tank Car PDF Announcements: Early and Late
• Athearn’s 33,900-Gallon LPG Tank Car webpages: Early and Late
• Joe Shaw’s “Private Owner Tank Cars” webpage

*Originally Canadian Tank Car Company, then Canadian General Transit Company, then CGTX Inc. during the period these cars were made and now GATX Rail Canada Corporation.

• GP15 PDF Announcement
• Athearn’s GP15 webpage
• Wikipedia’s EMD GP15-1 and GP15T pages
• Guide to CSX paint schemes

On a personal note, I have two MoPac units (in DC) from Athearn’s first run and whole heartedly recommend them.

The MLW FPA4 is not the only new locomotive Rapido’s working on. They also have a mystery freight locomotive in the works. Clues are in the October Issue of Rapido News.

• Accurail November Releases Flyer

This is a bit of a complicated issue. On the one hand, I’d like to commend Athearn for fixing the issue. On the other hand, you have to ask yourself how something like this can slip though the cracks, especially after the errors were identified on pre-production models. Did they really not notice it? If they did and initially decided not to fix it, but are now, what made them change their minds? Like most things, it probably came down to dollars and cents. Of the four roads already produced, the errors are most noticeable on the SAL and UP models because of their paint schemes. It would be nice if Athearn offers to swap the shells if they re-run affected models in the future.

Here’s Athearn’s full statement (it’s getting harder to find as it’s pushed down the wall on Facebook):

Concerning Athearn Genesis GP7 and GP9 products: some dimensional discrepancies on these products have been pointed out and we regret any inconvenience to our customers. Some small measurement errors occurred in the development process and were not realized until after the first models were shipped. In order to address these issues we have measured actual full scale units in detail and are in the process of making the necessary tooling changes to ensure that, while our measurements show the current model is already the most accurate reproduction available, the revisions will make it even more so. These changes are limited to moving the side doors and grilles up .040″, and the cab side front and rear windows down .020″, but since these changes are important to our customers they are most important to Athearn. Already announced road names to be produced with the changes include the Santa Fe Zebra Stripe, New York Central, Boston & Maine and NKP, as well as any future announcements. We sincerely regret any inconvenience to our customers and continually endeavor to produce the most realistic, accurate, and affordable model railroad products in the industry.