B8 40 foot box car with Plug & Sliding door, Vermilion, sans-serif

HO scale kit with trucks and magnetic couplers.

This is a 40’ steel box car with plug and sliding doors, GST B8, Vermilion with side facing goat and sans-serif or ‘Empire Builder’ lettering, car number 11886. Body is somewhat similar to GN 11880-11887. Stencil B53 P56 indicates car built in 1953 and painted in 1956. Built date and paint date are credible.

After World War II boxcars became more specialized. Customers demanded wider doors so that they could use fork lifts to load and unload all manner of products. Interchange list data to the CB&Q, in the 1965-1970 period, shows commodities in double door box cars to have included: Aluminum Ingots, Copper, Copper Bars, Ingots, Lumber, Plywood, Shakes, and Zinc (ingots).