Please click on the images at right for pricing, SKUs, high resolution photos, prototype photos, car number options, and/or to order these HO scale replicas!
Tangent Scale Models is pleased to announce the availability today of our second release of the HO Scale Thrall 5880cf 60’ Double Plug Door Box Car System! This is the first Thrall box car product in our line HO scale freight car replicas that introduce market-leading design and tooling practices.
The 1960s freight car building boom was fueled by specialty car types. 60’ box cars designed for dense auto parts such as engines, bumpers, axles, and glass were an emerging car type. Thrall Car Manufacturing Incorporated, based in Chicago Heights IL, was a new carbuilder in the 1960s who had a strong market offering of specialty auto parts box cars. Thrall built its first 60’ auto parts cars in 1963 and utilized welded construction. In 1969, Thrall constructed this modernized Plate C 5880cf design for Ford service with centered, double plug doors, distinctive “double weld” side construction, and “X-Panel” roofs. Twelve railroads initially bought these cars, and these workhorses remained in service into the 2000s, including service in the conspicuity stripe era.
More than 500 Thrall 5880cf box cars were built in 1969, and production included two different underframe/EOC Cushioning variations:
• CN, LN, MILW, NW, SLSF, SN and WP orders were built with Freightmaster End-Of-Car Cushioning and Stanray Coupler Centering devices.
• ATSF, CP, MP, SP and UP opted for Keystone End-Of-Car Cushioning, larger underframe I-beam caps at the large cross bearers and a more offset underframe brake equipment layout toward the B-End of the car.
The Tangent Scale Models Thrall Car Manufacturing Company 5880cf 60’ Double Plug Door Box Car is a dimensionally-accurate replica of the real car, designed from actual blueprints. Our Thrall 5880 60’ system includes multiple underframe and cushioning configurations, plug door details and end brake appliance configurations appropriate for the era of the model. Additionally, we include a beautifully-rendered Stanray “X-Panel” roof, accurate Stanray ends and the signature Thrall “double welds” walking down the sides of the model. Underneath, the car includes full prototypical brake piping, appliances, and our “near-scale” draft gear box including side cushioning/centering device detail. These cars are ready to roll with Tangent-accurate Barber 100-Ton Barber S-2 trucks and 36 inch wheels. Our ready-to-operate replica is finished with coupler lift bars, accompanying Kadee® scale couplers, sufficient hidden weights, and CNC-machined wheels to ensure the model operates as good as it looks.
Our May 2025 second production of our Thrall Car Manufacturing Company 5880cf 60’ Double Plug Door Box Car System includes FOUR all-new RTR paint schemes. Check them out now at www.tangentscalemodels.com
And as usual, all our offerings below feature photos on our website showing the actual model and the prototype cars! Here are our schemes:
– Santa Fe ATSF “Topeka Shops BX-138 Repaint 10-1979” gives modelers some standout Santa Fe red repaint variations. ATSF’s big group of 50 Thrall box cars were built in 1969. As the 1980s approached, Santa Fe’s Topeka, Kansas car shops were busy repainting cars in bright red paint. The prototypes featured the “Super Shock Control A Smoother Ride” branding on the right side. What a paint scheme! This model features Keystone End-Of-Car Cushioning and related coupler centering devices, matching the prototype photos. The model has Ajax brake equipment on the B End along with a modern brake wheel and original Thrall coupler lift bars. The double plug doors are equipped with era-appropriate single Auxiliary Top Crank arms. This replica is equipped with 100-Ton Barber S-2 trucks with rotating Timken caps. There are four numbers available, with SKUs 01 and 02 featuring simplified October 1979 Topeka data, while SKUs 03 and 04 also featuring October 1979 data but with different placement layout and an ACI label on the car side. Check out the prototype photos on our website to compare the prototypes’ variety! SKU 34014
– Canadian Pacific CPAA “Original 7-1969” replicates the CP’s delivery paint scheme for this Thrall 5880 box car system. The CP order for 43 cars were built in the middle of 1969 and were painted in a gorgeous reddish-brown. The roofs were unpainted galvanized steel, with side paint overspray across the roof edges. Leased through National Equipment Leasing in Pittsburgh, PA, the prototype cars feature simplified CPAA graphics, and all that beautiful Thrall-applied fine data. The model mimics the prototype, including Keystone End-Of-Car Cushioning and related coupler centering devices, Ajax brake equipment on the B End and a modern brake wheel. Check out those see-through Apex crossover platforms on each end! The coupler draft gear includes the yellow-painted coupler centering device handles, too. Underneath, you can spot those gorgeous Tangent 100-Ton Barber S-2 trucks with rotating Timken caps. Assigned to Ford Parts pool routes, these cars could be seen across the US and into Canada. SKUs -01 through -04 are lettering for “Code 17” (Ford in Detroit, MI), while SKU’s -05 through -08 are lettered for “Code 196” (Ford’s Indianapolis Steering Plant). These sharp and accurate cars are available in eight numbers! SKU 34015
– Milwaukee Road MILW “Repaint 6-1979” provides a heavily-requested repaint scheme for the late 1970s-early 2000s modelers. Milwaukee purchased 10 cars in 1969, and by the late 1970s, the MILW’s Milwaukee shops were cycling them through for repainting. The model is a careful recreation of 1979 Milwaukee Road graphics and data. This model features Freightmaster End-Of-Car Cushioning, but the Stanray coupler centering device equipment has been removed. Yes, this matches the prototype photos. The model has Ajax brake equipment on the B End along with a modern brake wheel and later-era replacement coupler lift bars. Also present are era-correct single Auxiliary Top Crank arms at the top of each of the plug doors. This replica is equipped with 100-Ton Barber S-2 trucks with rotating Timken caps. These gorgeous Milwaukee Shops repaints are available in six numbers! SKU 34016
– Frisco SLSF “Original Yellow 2-1969” replicates the as-delivered scheme applied by Thrall to the SLSF order of ten cars. The left side of the prototype featured the large FRISCO logo, while the right side featured their slogan “Ship it on the Frisco!” What else can you say – this is a sharp paint scheme! The model even features the prototype’s yellow overspray onto the galvanized roof. The model is equipped with Freightmaster End-Of-Car Cushioning, Stanray coupler centering devices (see those handles flanking the draft gear!) and an Ajax handbrake with a modern wheel, matching the prototype cars. The ACI label is mounted on a stand-off plate, matching Frisco’s specification for these cars. The box car rides on Tangent 100-Ton Barber S-2 trucks and are equipped with rotating Timken caps. The prototype cars were initially in Ford Parts pool lanes, and would eventually settle into glass service by the mid-to-late 1970s, assigned to Nashville, TN on the L&N. (Ford operated the Nashville Glass Plant in Nashville, TN until 2007.) This is one of our most requested schemes for our Thrall 5880 box car and is available in eight numbers! Do not miss out. SKU 34017
The Tangent Scale Models Thrall Car Manufacturing Company 5880cf 60’ Double Plug Door Box Cars
are shipping NOW. See https://www.tangentscalemodels.com for photos and more.
Features for our Thrall Car Manufacturing Company 5880cf 60’ Double Plug Door Box Car replicas include:
• Dimensional accuracy – designed from Thrall Company plans
• Highly correct “true to life” colors
• “Hyper-Accurate” lettering including exact fonts and lettering placement
• Multiple road numbers for each scheme where appropriate
• Multiple Thrall Underframe and Draft Gear assemblies to handle end and underframe phase/era feature combinations 1969-2000s
• Separately applied door rods, handles, tackboards.
• Separately applied door track details.
• “See through” Apex, Gypsum or Morton end crossover platforms where appropriate
• Genuine Kadee® scale couplers
• EOCC (End Of Car Cushioning) “near scale” draft gear with “Keystone” and “Freightmaster” variations
• Underframe detail and brake system variations
• Separate flexible rubber air hoses
• Beautiful details – metal stirrup steps, metal coupler lift bars and “Tangent-Thin” ladders – no thick “chunky” plastic details anywhere!
• Three coupler lift bar variations
• Two Ajax and two Equipco 3750 prototypically-accurate brake stands
• Two different Auxiliary Top Crank arm parts to be configured in multiple ways
• Precision Tangent Scale Models 100-Ton Barber S-2 trucks with roadname-specific rotating bearing caps and separate brake beam parts
• Four “rotating” roller bearing truck cap options for 100-Ton Barber S-2 Roller Bearing truck
• CNC-machined 36” wheels with accurate front and back profile detail
• Replacement 36” semi-scale wheels for our “rotating bearing cap” trucks are available separately from Tangent in either blackened or nickel-silver finish
• Genuine Kadee® scale “scale-head” couplers
• Recommended age 14 years and older
Do not miss out on the Tangent Scale Models Thrall Car Manufacturing Company 5880cf 60’ Double Plug Door Box Car, a highly requested and relevant Thrall box car prototype.
Please click on the images at right for pricing, SKUs, high resolution photos, prototype photos, car number options, and/or to order!
