Tangent’s May release kicks off with our first ALL-NEW HO freight car system for 2021: HO Scale Pullman-Standard PS-1 40’ Boxcar with 9’ Door! No pre-orders are required – these cars are available right now! This is the third Pullman-Standard boxcar system – after our PS-1 40’ Mini Hy-Cube and PS-1 40’ Combination door box cars – in our line of cars that introduce market-leading design and tooling practices, and is geared toward consumers who desire the most accurate models with a “family-appearance” between prototypes manufactured by the same builder.
Pullman-Standard’s PS-1 box car line evolved to feature a variety of different door combinations in order to satisfy customer requests for “purpose-built” box cars. Across the transition and early diesel eras, between 1951 and 1962, Pullman-Standard built 9-foot door, 40-foot long PS-1s for several railroads. Each railroad specified different doors and other appliances, and as production progressed the exterior sill and end arrangements changed. Railroads purchased the 9-foot door cars for various services, including forest products, machinery, appliances, paper, and merchandise, where the large 9-foot door opening made loading with forklifts significantly easier. These cars wandered all over the North American rail network into the late 1980s.
The Tangent Scale Models PS-1 9-foot door boxcar will stand out on your layout just like the real cars did. Our models include incredible road-specific detailing, and we have produced three road-specific body shells. Each model includes see-through running boards, accurate door options, multiple hand brake options, wire brake piping, release rods, metal underbody-mount stirrup steps, and fine bracket grabs and ladders. Like all Tangent models, these cars come standard with HO scale’s most accurate colors and car stenciling. These models are finished with correct road-specific plain or roller bearing 50-ton trucks, representing a total of four all-new truck designs for our 40’ PS-1 system car replicas. Finally, our cars are weighted properly and are equipped with Kadee® couplers which means they operate as good as they look.
Our May 2021 release includes four railroad schemes:
– Southern (SOU) “Original 1951” illustrates the first PS-1 with 9’ Doors built by Pullman-Standard. The Southern Railway ordered more than 2,000 of these 9’ door cars during the transition era! These cars have distinctive “early” side sill configurations that have a pronounced deep side sill support underneath the door area only, ending before the trucks. These models have the early version of the Superior 9’ door, and Miner handbrake housings and wheels like the prototype did. These cars have the “classic” transition-era red carbody with red trucks. Stenciling includes “The Southern Serves the South” logo on the right side of the car, a Pullman Bessemer plant logo, and other Southern lettering technicalities just like the prototype. The roof is unpainted (galvanized) but includes the typical Pullman overspray onto the top of it from the sides and at the ends. Finally, these models ride on Tangent’s gorgeous new Barber S-2 50-Ton plain bearing truck, complete with separate brake beam detail. Our Southern models are offered with your choice of 12 road numbers, where SKUs 01-06 have a 11-51 build date, SKUs 07-12 have a 12-51 shop date.
– Chicago and North Western (C&NW) “Original 12-56” offers another classic box car scheme, this time the C&NW “brown” car with black ends. This beautiful car includes the sharp, large C&NW logo in black and white on the upper right carbody side. The left side of the car includes the CNW reporting marks with lines above and below them as found on these Pullman-Standard painted cars. Unlike the Southern cars above, these boxcars were built at Pullman-Standard’s Michigan City, IN plant and of course our car covers that correctly with the stenciling next to the door. These cars include the second version of the Superior 9’ door, with a different horizontal support pattern than the Southern car noted above. These cars have a black car cement roof, but the roof includes the typical Pullman carbody color overspray onto the top of it from the sides. This new model rides on an all-new truck for Tangent Scale Models, the 50-Ton ASF A-3 plain bearing truck. Our C&NW models are offered with your choice of 6 road numbers. And don’t forget – C&NW stenciled “Safety First” with yellow stenciling on the carbody side corners!
– Green Bay and Western (GB&W) “Original 6-59” marks the first GB&W model from Tangent Scale Models. GB&W’s yellow scheme looks great on these 9’ door cars! The right side of the car includes the large “Green Bay and Western” letters and the left side includes the distinctive “Green Bay Route” logo with red background. These cars are assigned cars, as identified with the stenciling “Assigned for paper loading at Biron, Wisconsin” and a “When empty return to Green Bay and Western R.R.” notation, typical for assigned cars of the period. These cars have a black car cement roof, but the roof includes the typical Pullman yellow overspray onto the top of it from the sides. Our GB&W models come complete with an accurate 9’ Pullman-Standard door, which is different from the earlier versions. Like the Northern Pacific cars released in April 2021, this new model rides on the new Tangent 50-Ton ASF A-3 Ride Control Roller Bearing truck – with rotating “Timken” bearing caps! Our GB&W models are offered with your choice of 6 road numbers.
– Milwaukee Road (MILW) “Original 3-1961” illustrates our newest exact replica for the Milwaukee Road modeler. Delivered in Milwaukee Road’s standard box car red color, the 9’ door PS-1 was a large example fleet car utilized for many different services, similar to the “ribside” fleet but more useful in the 1960s and onward due to the larger door arrangement. This portion of the Milwaukee Road car order had Camel/Youngstown 9’ sliding doors on them, which we represent beautifully with our models. These cars have Ajax handbrakes and wheels on them. The Milwaukee Road PS-1 9’ door cars include the large, classic “Milwaukee Road” stenciled herald in white on the left side of the car, with the Milwaukee Road herald located on the right side of the car. The roof was left unpainted (galvanized) but includes red overspray, just like the prototype did. This new model rides on another all-new truck for Tangent Scale Models, the 50-Ton Barber S-2 Roller Bearing truck – with rotating “Timken” bearing caps! Our Milwaukee Road model is offered with 12 road numbers.
– Undecorated SOU / L&C Body (7-Panel Superior Door) KIT 1951-1952+ offers a kit version of the Southern / Lancaster and Chester early version Pullman-Standard PS-1 9’ door cars, described above. This is a great option if you want to build or customize a car for a particular modeling project. It is based on our SOU / L&C carbody, featuring the 9-foot door opening, early style Pullman sill, and early style riveted Pullman PS-1 ends. This includes the 50-Ton Barber S-2 Plain Bearing truck and other details. This is ready for painting and lettering in a prototype or your own private road. You supply your own favorite couplers.
– Undecorated C&NW / L&N Body (6-Panel Superior Door) KIT 1956+ offers a kit version of the C&NW / L&N version Pullman-Standard PS-1 9’ door cars, described above. This is a great option if you want to build or customize a car for a particular modeling project. It is based on our C&NW / L&N carbody, featuring the 9-foot door opening, larger style Pullman sill, and early welded style Pullman PS-1 ends. This includes the 50-Ton ASF A-3 plain bearing truck and other details. This is ready for painting and lettering in a prototype or your own private road. You supply your own favorite couplers.
– Undecorated GBW / MKT Body (Pullman Door) KIT 1959-1961+ offers a kit version of the GBW / MKT version Pullman-Standard PS-1 9’ door cars, described above. This is a great option if you want to build or customize a car for a particular modeling project. It is based on our GBW (Original yellow paint) / MKT carbody, featuring the 9-foot door opening, larger style Pullman sill, and early welded style Pullman PS-1 ends. This includes the new Tangent 50-Ton ASF A-3 Ride Control Roller Bearing truck – with rotating “Timken” bearing caps – and other details. This is ready for painting and lettering in a prototype or your own private road. You supply your own favorite couplers.
– Undecorated GBW (‘New Pullman’ Door) Body KIT 1970s offers a kit version of the GBW modernized version Pullman-Standard PS-1 9’ door cars. This is a great option if you want to build or customize a car for a particular modeling project. It is based on our GBW (Original yellow paint) carbody, featuring the 9-foot door opening, larger style Pullman sill, early welded style Pullman PS-1 ends and a running board. This kit includes the modernized “new Pullman” sliding door part found on GBW cars from the 1970s and onward. This includes the new Tangent 50-Ton ASF A-3 Ride Control Roller Bearing truck – with rotating “Timken” bearing caps – and other details. This is ready for painting and lettering in a prototype or your own private road. You supply your own favorite couplers.
– Undecorated MILW / GBW Body (Superior Door) KIT 1962+ offers a kit version of the Milwaukee Road Pullman-Standard PS-1 car. This is a great option if you want to build or customize a car for a particular modeling project. It is based on our Milwaukee Road / GBW (Original green paint) carbody, featuring the 9-foot door opening, larger style Pullman sill, and later welded style Pullman PS-1 ends. It includes the Superior door as found on MILW 30000-30249 as delivered from Pullman-Standard. GBW green carbody modelers will need to order the Pullman-Standard 9’ doors, available separately. This kit includes the all-new truck for Tangent Scale Models, the 50-Ton Barber S-2 Roller Bearing truck – with rotating “Timken” bearing caps – and other details. This is ready for painting and lettering in a prototype or your own private road. You supply your own favorite couplers.
– Undecorated MILW Body (Camel/Youngstown Door) KIT 1961+ offers a kit version of the Milwaukee Road Pullman-Standard PS-1 car described above, matching our RTR offering from this run. This is a great option if you want to build or customize a car for a particular modeling project. It is based on our Milwaukee Road carbody, featuring the 9-foot door opening, larger style Pullman sill, and later welded style Pullman PS-1 ends. It includes the Camel/Youngstown door as found on MILW 30250-30649 as delivered from Pullman-Standard. This kit includes the all-new truck for Tangent Scale Models, the 50-Ton Barber S-2 Roller Bearing truck – with rotating “Timken” bearing caps – and other details. This is ready for painting and lettering in a prototype or your own private road. You supply your own favorite couplers.
All of these Pullman-Standard 40’ PS-1 9’ Door Boxcar models can be seen at www.tangentscalemodels.com !
These products are shipping today! A quick synopsis of our era and railroad-specific detail variations include:
• Dimensional accuracy – designed from Pullman-Standard plans
• Highly correct “true to life” colors
• “Hyper-Accurate” lettering including exact fonts and lettering placement
• Genuine Kadee® scale couplers
• “Near-scale” draft gear box with beautifully-rendered side “key” detail
• 6-12 road numbers for each scheme
• Very fine Pullman-style ladders
• Very fine Pullman-style bracket grab irons
• Rubber air hoses
• Road-specific details for each scheme, including:
o Specific body side configurations for sills and door tracks
o 3 different PS-1 end configurations
o “See through” running boards (in 2 possible combinations)
o “See through” brake steps (in 2 possible combinations)
o 5 different brake housings (Equipco, Ajax, Klasing, Miner, or Universal as appropriate)
o 5 different brakewheel options (Equipco, Ajax, Klasing, Miner, or Universal)
• Four All-New precision truck options (these will be available separately in Summer 2021!)
o Tangent Scale Models 50-Ton Barber S-2 Roller Bearing truck – with rotating “Timken” bearing caps! Yes, this is a truck never-before available in HO scale!
o Tangent Scale Models 50-Ton ASF A-3 Ride Control Roller Bearing truck – with rotating “Timken” bearing caps! Yes, this is a truck never-before available in HO scale!
o Tangent Scale Models 50-Ton Barber S-2 Plain Bearing truck
o Tangent Scale Models 50-Ton ASF “Ride Control” Plain Bearing truck
• CNC-machined 33” wheels, with blackened or nickel-plated semi-scale tread (0.88”) available separately, for either rotating or non-rotating truck options (see above)
• Recommended age 14 years and older
Don’t miss out on the Tangent Scale Models 40’ PS-1 9’ Door Boxcar models, which went everywhere in North America! Everyone needs paper and lumber and general XM box cars! With accurate roadname and era-specific details, genuine Kadee couplers, and all-metal wheels, we provide you with a high-value model that will provide you with years of enjoyment and curb-appeal. Pricing for RTR models is $52.95.
That wraps up our update for today, and thank you for supporting the family-owned businesses in our industry!
David Lehlbach
Tangent Scale Models