A Limited Edition Rapido Trains PC&F 5258 50' Double Door Box Car painted for freelance model railroad Wyoming Valley and Western! Road Number Variant: WVW 56332.
The Wyoming Valley & Western is a northeastern regional freelance railroad created by Sam Meehan. The railroad began operations as a short line in 1992 in the Wilkes-Barre, PA area and grew to a substantial competitor after acquiring former D&H and PRR trackage. Sam currently operates the WV&W out of the Hudson Model Railroad Club in Hudson, PA.
The B-70-69 boxcars were acquired second-hand as part of the WV&W's expansion during the late 90s. The cars, being former SP and Cotton Belt, ran around patched for a few years before receiving paint in the mid-2000s.
As the demand grew in the 70s for larger capacity boxcars, along with the need to replace aging 40’ cars, this series of 50’ double door boxes was produced by PC&F between 1972 and 1975. These boxcars are 50’-7” in length with a capacity of either 5258 cu ft for standard cars, or 5119 cu ft for those equipped for DF (Damage Free) Loading. All B-70 boxcars feature Hydra-Cushion underframes and were delivered with either Youngstown or Superior doors.
The PC&F 5258 is an amazing car for freelance application! Many freelance model railroads handle paper products at one end of the journey from origin to destination. This car type also could plausibly have been used in general merchandise service hauling any of a wide variety of commodities.
The Rapido Trains HO scale WV&W PC&F 5258 boxcar features:
- Separately applied metal grab irons
- Scale sized draft gear with a detailed Hydra-Cushion underframe
- Full underbody brake rigging
- Multiple door styles as appropriate for each fleet
- Road number specific number patches
- Separately applied coupler cut levers
- Youngstown double sliding doors
- Separate door tracks
- Factory-installed Rapido semi-scale knuckle couplers
- Newly tooled 70 ton trucks with turned metal 33” wheels