Available Items

20-93984

O Scale Premier 50’ Waffle Box Car
  • Chessie

20-93985

O Scale Premier 50’ Waffle Box Car
  • Maine Central

20-93986

O Scale Premier 50’ Waffle Box Car
  • Santa Fe

20-93987

O Scale Premier 50’ Waffle Box Car
  • Delaware & Hudson

2023 Premier O Scale 50' Waffle Box Cars Announced

September 13, 2022 - M.T.H. Electric Trains will be releasing a series of 2023 Premier O Scale Waffle Box Cars in four exciting paint schemes beginning early next year. Each of these unique schemes will be available in limited production quantities and are expected to begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers in April 2023.

Check out each of the offerings in the list on the left.

CUSTOM RUN 50’ WAFFLE BOX CAR OFFERINGS

In addition to the M.T.H. releases, you can find all the 2022 Custom Run models of the Premier 50’ Waffle Box Car that M.T.H. is producing for M.T.H. Authorized Retailers by going HERE.

PROTOTYPE HISTORY

In designing a boxcar interior, freight car manufacturers must balance two competing desires. The first is for a smooth interior wall, with nothing to snag, puncture or otherwise damage a load. One modern solution to this was the exterior post car, with its vertical support posts on the outside to allow for an unbroken interior surface. The second desire, however, is for wall-mounted tie-downs or other attachment devices to secure the cargo, to prevent shifting and damage en route. The waffle-side boxcar, introduced in the mid-1970s, successfully satisfied both desires.

The waffle-like bumps on the exterior of the car are actually recesses stamped into the inner wall to accommodate load-restraining devices. Thus the car presents a smooth interior wall for load safety, plus the ability to fasten load restraints almost anywhere in the car. This is especially useful for loads that, as truckers would say, “weigh out before they cube out” — i.e., reach the car’s maximum load weight with space remaining in the car, and need to be restrained so they won’t shift into the empty space and get damaged. Loads commonly handled in waffle-side boxcars include furniture, appliances, auto parts, and rolls of paper for the printing industry.

Like other modern boxcar designs, waffle-side cars lack roof walks and, with roof access no longer needed, have end ladders that run only partway up the sides, to allow crew members to ride the cars during switching moves.

The Southern Railway was one of the early adopters of the waffle-side design, taking its first delivery of 70-ton, 50’ cars from Pullman-Standard in 1974. It eventually rostered nearly 5,000 waffle-side cars, boldly emblazoned “Southern Gives a Green Light to Innovations.” Many other carriers followed suit, buying boxcars with various waffling patterns from a variety of builders. Once quite common, waffle-side cars still ply the rails today but, like other boxcars, are less often seen because containerization has taken over many of the cargos once carried in boxcars.

Check out each of the offerings in the list on the left.

Product Features

  • Intricately Detailed, Durable ABS Body
  • Stamped Metal Floors
  • Metal Wheels and Axles
  • Die-Cast 4-Wheel Trucks
  • Fast-Angle Wheel Sets
  • Needle-Point Axles
  • (2) Operating Die-Cast Metal Couplers
  • O Scale Kadee-Compatible Coupler Mounting Pads
  • Detailed Brake Wheel
  • Separate Metal Handrails
  • Sliding Car Doors
  • 1:48 Scale Dimensions
  • Unit Measures: 14 1/8” x 2 3/4” x 3 7/8”
  • Operates On O-31 Curves