Getting Real Column - 11
the bottom of the car side removed, and some of the clunky
Athearn details remedied.
Class R-30-9.
Although one of the last classes I will illus-
trate here, it is certainly not the least among the PFE car class-
es, numbering more that 7000 cars at one time. I believe this
is a frequently overlooked class, and there is no good reason
not to have a representative number of models, because Red
Caboose produced a fine model of this car. Both kits and, more
recently, ready-to-run cars have been offered.
I have built a couple of the Red Caboose cars from kits. The
one shown (29) was modeled with ice hatches latched open
29: Class R-30-9 is among the largest PFE classes, and
yet is often neglected by modelers. My chart, Table 2,
should make the need clear. My model, shown in a train
passing the Shumala section house, is a Red Caboose
kit, built with ice hatches latched open for vent service.
This particular kit was a special run for an annual meeting
of the Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society. It
is lightly weathered to indicate a car recently washed.
29
MRH-Oct 2013
