Review by Gareth Bayer/photos by the author

Teased with a plain plastic body at the Northeastern Railroad Prototype Modelers Meet in June 2018 and officially announced in September 2019, the Atlas Master series HO Scale Gunderson TBOX 60’-9” high cube box car has finally arrived.

Followers of the current railroad scene will instantly recognize the importance of this model. While several 60’ box cars have been produced before in the popular TTX scheme, all represent or are stand-ins for cars delivered between 2003 and 2014, which are characterized by two sets of seven vertical X-posts spaced either side of the double 8’ plug doors. When construction resumed in 2016, they featured three additional rows of horizontal stiffeners, making them look like elongated 50’ FBOX cars. Almost 12,000 alone of the revised Gunderson variety have been built, nearly as many as all other TBOX combined.

The 7550-cu.-ft. TBOX is partnered in the Atlas catalog with a 7538-cu.-ft. BNSF boxcar, 600 of which were delivered in 2012. These were specified with two sets of eight vertical X-posts — and no horizontal stiffeners — sandwiching a single 12’ plug door. Other cars close to the original TBOX design were built for Arkansas-Oklahoma (AOK) and Canadian National (with DWC reporting marks), while Kansas City Southern has acquired many secondhand. As for the versions built with additional stiffeners, Riverside Rail (RVRX), Union Pacific (BKTY reporting marks) and  Utah Central (UCRY) all now roster almost indistinguishable cars.

TBOX 664222 at Mile 18 York Sub, Markham, Ont, on March 20, 2021.

This Atlas model represents the 1,189 cars built to TTX Class XGH61B between February and November 2016 and numbered TBOX 663810-664998. These were followed by a further 6,461 cars to the same class type, TBOX 638000-644460, which were completed by September 2021. A further group of 4,300 almost identical cars, TTX Class XGH61C, were delivered from November 2021 to the present, with TBOX 644461-644999 being followed by TBOX 630000-632460 and TBOX 633411-634710.

All were assembled in Ciudad Sahagún, Mexico, at a leased section of the Bombardier passenger car/light rail facility, and the cars proudly state that the majority of components were sourced in the U.S. They were initially branded as built by Gunderson Concarril but in 2019 this changed to Greenbrier Sahagún. TTX is also sourcing TBOX cars of a similar design from Freightcar America and Trinity Rail.

In this release, Atlas is offering 12 numbers, plus an undecorated car. The specification includes finely molded separate ladders, hand brake and door rods, etched metal end platforms, a roof with three Stanray X-panels at each end, seven diagonal center panels, and the underbody brake equipment offset to the non-hand wheel end of the floor. The BNSF version also includes the additional door stirrup that is unique to this version…

The underside detail of the new 60′ double-door boxcar from Atlas.

Read the rest of this article in the September 2023 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. Subscribe Today!