Eel River Models - Beer Cars

PC&F Insulated Boxcar Models

The recent delivery of the ExactRail 62' PC&F insulated boxcars to the Meridian Speedway prompted me to reach for my small stash of Eel River Models' version of the beer car next in my cataloging process.

These cars were first released as a kit.  At the time the cars were considered cutting-edge with some very crisp details.  I purchased a handful of the kits and assembled one, a model of ATSF 625418. Eel River Models subsequently released a Ready-To-Run version of the car which appealed to my schedule.  Looking through the collection it appears that I picked up six of those.  Since then I have sold the balance of the kits which were never put together.

The Eel River Models cars are a nice compliment to the ExactRail cars with a different sill profile as well as two door sizes.  They do sit a bit lower than the ExactRail cars adding variance and interest to the fleet.  The Eel River Models do, however, have plastic wheels which will have to be replaced.

The RTR cars in the fleet are ATSF 625328, ATSF 625342, BN 747429, BN 747499, CRLE 20004, and SSW 28843.  The RTR ATSF cars are red with a black roof and black ends while the ATSF kit has a white roof and red ends.  The large Santa Fe herald on the kit is much weaker with the red bleeding through than the heralds on the RTR cars.  The Santa Fe prototype cars had red roofs and either black or red ends.  I think the three Santa Fe cars in the fleet may become repaint fodder.

SSW 28843 is very good looking to me with the exception of the road number.  For some reason the first "8" in 28843 is printed right on a vertical outside brace.  I think this is something that I can overlook, for now!

Eel River Models no longer exists.  RailShop Inc. has taken over the remaining inventory.  Two kits are still available on their website, a Missouri Pacific car and a Southern Pacific car.  The button below will take you to their website:

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RailShop Inc.

Below are images of the seven cars in the fleet:

Chris