HO Scale PC&F 5241 - The "Berlin Mills" Car
In 1979 Pacific Car & Foundry built 799 50’ exterior post boxcars of either 5241 or 5317 cubic foot capacity (depending on the interior configuration). Boston and Maine received 200, while shortline Berlin Mills Railway (BMS) in New Hampshire leased 399 and Olympic Railroad (OLYR) in Washington state leased 200.
These boxcars came at the end of the Incentive Pier Diem era, a time when shortlines (or investors using shortline reporting marks) bought large numbers of cars for favourable car hire rates. This car is known as the “Berlin Mills Boxcar” because of the iconic paint scheme on the largest batch of cars. It also has a distinct look amongst the sea of IPD boxcars from the late 70’s, owing to its uncommon flat roof and large end ribs.
All three original road names for this car have a common theme - their traffic was dominated by the pulp and paper industry, and the cars could be seen nationwide carrying products from New England or the Pacific Northwest. The B&M cars have worn many schemes, beginning with a bold blue body and black door scheme at delivery, followed by various Guilford and Pan-Am schemes. The original B&M scheme has been documented as late as 2020!
Even more widely known are the 399 light green Berlin Mills cars, painted for the Berlin Mills Railway, which served paper mills in Berlin and Cascade, NH. Throughout the 1980’s and 90’s, cars traveled nationwide carrying paper products and other commodities. Gradually, the mills closed, the railway changed hands, and the cars were sold off. Since then, the Berlin Mills cars have gotten many patchout schemes and “dip” repaints, including AGR, EEC, GMRC, HS, LVRC, SLR, SRN through the early 2000s. Many cars continue in service today under BKTY and CAIX reporting marks. The BKTY (a Union Pacific reporting mark) cars are often seen in beer service from Mexico – another commodity that has them travelling all over!
The Rapido Trains HO scale all-new HO PC&F 5241 boxcar model features:
- Accurately scaled from prototype measurements and photos
- Three door styles
- Full underbody detail
- Separate wire grab irons
- Rapido semi-scale metal couplers
- Free-rolling trucks with turned metal wheels
- Accurate paint and decoration
- Multiple road numbers available for each paint scheme
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