Athearn blue box kits have a decent reputation. They were basically shake the box kits, but you got reasonably running rolling stock for a good price. Cosmetically, they were adequate. They lacked the fine details that are expected in today’s models. They were designed to run on some very sharp minimum radius track. Generally 18 inch radius was the norm and 22 to 24 inch curves were considered generous. It is not to say that running on that sharp curve looked realistic. (This discussion is not intended to support or refute the use of a particular car on a given minimum radius)
It has been my experience that some of the blue box kits had short comings when assembled as describe by Athearn. This discussion pertains to the 85 foot Excessive height boxcars.
Some of the discussion applies to the later version 40-60 foot boxcars as well.
The early design boxcars had some horizontal tabs that kept the boxcar floor in place in the shell. The figure shows a 40 foot and a 50 foot floor.
The horizontal tabs are clearly seen.
Later designs did not have these tabs, as shown in the following figure.
It us not clear what motivated the change, but it led to significant issues with the kits. The idea was the floor would rest in the reassessed ledge on the bottom of the shell as shown in the following figure.
This issue is a problem because the floors would skew slightly and slip into the shell. The structure holding these pockets was not strong enough to hold the skewed floor. The pockets broke off or were significantly bent, virtually unusable. Thus is particularly true of the 85 foot boxcars.
What is needed is some kind of block in the shell to keep the floor in place. What I use for this block is the coupler pocket covers that come with 20 series Kadee couplers. These are shown in the following figure.
Other pocket pieces could be used, the main requirement is a flat surface on the piece. This flat surface is glued inside the shell at three locations on each side of the shell as shown in the following figure.
These pieces should be installed just above the factory shelf line. (Deeper in the shell when looking in as shown in the figures.)
A second issue with these 85 foot boxcars is the coupler height. When installing on the swing arms, as defined in the kit, or body mounting, a lower shank coupler is the best choice. This differs from most Athearn cars which use a center shank coupler.
Even with that selection, the height must be checked with a proper gage. Typically, the coupler will still be low. To elevate this problem, small thin washers should be installed between the truck and the frame. This raises the coupler location relative to the track. Because the trucks on this kit are plastic, it does not matter what the material washer is used for this application. The goal is to be at or slightly higher than the gage. Low hanging couplers are a constant source of operational problems.
Finally, as with all cars, the car weight needs to be checked and weights should be added to achieve the level that you use for your railroad. I change the Athearn wheels with metal wheels and add sufficient weight to be at or slightly more than the NMRA RP on car weight.
The need for metal wheels is the subject of lots of discussion. In the past, the metal wheels were heavier than the Athearn blue box wheels. So adding this extra weight low on the car was an advantage. Modern metal wheel sets weigh the same as the Athearn blue box sets, so that reason has gone away.
