Model Railroader – September 2019

QUICKLOOK

Fox Valley Models N

scale Pullman-Standard

coal gondola

68 http://www.ModelRailroader.com

Product Reviews

Price: Single car, $27.95; six-pack,

$159.95

Manufacturer

Fox Valley Models

P.O. Box 1970

Des Plaines, IL 60017

http://www.foxvalleymodels.com

Era: 1975 to present (as decorated)

Road names: Burlington Northern

(four six-packs), Cajon Electric Power

(three six-packs), and Fayette Power

(three six-packs and one single car)

Comments: Modeling unit coal trains

of the 1970s through ‘90s in N scale is

easier than ever thanks to the latest

release from Fox Valley Models (FVM).

The company has released a Pullman-

Standard (PS) 4,000-cubic-foot-capacity

coal gondola. The plastic model fea-

tures a one-piece body; separate

underbody; and

press-fit, pin-

mounted trucks.

Our sample six-

pack contains gondolas decorated for

Burlington Northern. The cars are cor-

rectly numbered in the 575360 through

575759 series, built by PS under lot 9770

in May and June 1975.

The hand brake, brake wheel, and

brake wheel platform are separately

applied. The balance of the details are

molded. There should be a horizontal

flange that runs along the sill between

the stirrups. This would be easy to add-

ing using styrene strip.

Modeler-installed interior bracing is

included with the cars. The parts sprue

is from Fox Valley’s Southern Ry. coal

gondola. The floor is notched for six

braces per side, but the PS cars only

used five per side.

Most of the PS 4000’s dimensions

are within scale inches of prototype

drawings and data. Two notable dis-

crepancies were the truck centers (a

scale 38'-3" instead of 40'-6") and the

distance from the railhead to the top of

the top chord (11'-6" instead of 12'-3").

It appears the plastic underbody is also

recycled from the Southern car. On pro-

totype PS gondolas, the outboard

wheels on each truck stick out past the

end of the car.

The gondola weighs 1 ounce, which

is correct per National Model Railroad

Association Recommended Practice

20.1. The rigid-jaw couplers are body-

mounted at the correct height. The 36"

metal wheelsets are correctly gauged.

I tested the gondolas on our

Canadian Canyons project layout. The

gondolas negotiated the 13" radius

curves and Peco code 55 medium turn-

outs without incident.

The PS 4000 gondola was a signa-

ture car on unit coal trains from the

1970s through the 1990s. A solid train

of FVM gondolas would look great

hauling black diamonds on an N scale

model railroad. – Cody Grivno

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