Freight Car Friday (the 13 th)

 Hi folks - didnt realize it was Friday the 13th until I sat down to submit this post - hopefully I will make it through the rest of the day unscathed!!! I pulled out an old Walthers kit that I picked up for $8 back in the spring of 2019 at a train show in New Brunswick. It is a Maine Central (MEC) waffle side boxcar. The enclosed paperwork gave a pretty good history lesson on the origins of this car - it was an interesting read. The kit however was not all that interesting  - it was made back in the early 90's  -  at a time when Walthers was still only including horn hook couplers and plastic wheel sets - ugh! It is what I would consider an "operators freight car" i.e one with molded on ladders and other details - not a car that would be easily damaged from the rough handling common in some operating sessions. The paint work was relatively good and the kit went together in under an hour. I tried adding Kadee #148's to this car, but found that they were too short in length - luckily I had some Kadee #146"s  - - they are the long shank center set versions of the #148's and fit correctly  - The only other change I made was to install a pair of metal wheel set trucks ( 70 ton -3 spring) .It is not what I would consider a "foreground quality car" but is certainly suitable to use in making up a train and to be spotted at an appropriate industry. Another plus is that back at the time of its release, it was priced so that the average joe could afford to have several of these cars without breaking the bank. Till next time.....