Branchline "Blueprint Series"

Matt,

The 'Blueprint' series cars are very nice - individual grabs, etc...nice paint jobs as well. They come in kit and RTR with multiple numbers.

Jim Bernier

Matt & Kathleen Brennan wrote:

=>Hey Folks, =>

=>I have not seen or handled a Branchline "Blueprint Series" car. =>

=>Could someone please comment on their overall quality [perhaps comparing =>them to Kadee and/or InterMountain cars]. Also, is the kit fairly =>straight forward? =>

=>Thanks! =>Matt =>

Very good quality, parts fit right, etc. There are lots of small fiddly bits to attach, so take your time. Some, eg handrails, could be replaced with aftermarket metal parts.

HTH

Thanks you guys.

Another follow up question if I may.

They offer a large selection of unusual color schemes that I had not seen before. Schemes that are quite appealing. Are they accurate renditions or has Branchline taken some liberties?

Thanks Again!

=>They offer a large selection of unusual color schemes that I had not seen =>before. Schemes that are quite appealing. Are they accurate renditions or has =>Branchline taken some liberties?

Accurate, but if you want paint schemes appropriate for your era or tmeframe, or a geographical region, you should do some research. Quite a few are "fallen flags" (roads that no longer exist) or older paint schemes, others are shortlines. Some shortline cars were and are seen everywhere, others were pretty well confined to their lines. Also, some cars, such as coal hoppers, rarely went outside the mining region in which they were used. AFAIK, Branchline will occasionally put a scheme on a model that's "close enough", but not exactly accurate. Drives the nitpickers up the wall. :-)

There are several websites that list reporting marks and the roads or lessors that own them. Google "railroad reporting marks" and you'll find several interesting sites, some of which are linked to photo galleries, so you can check lettering and paint schemes too.

Good hunting!

Matt,

Cannot speak for all schemes, but the C&NW modified AAR boxcar is very accurate....

Jim Bernier

Matt & Kathleen Brennan wrote:

Well, I'll re-post my review of my first-ever Branchline from at least a year ago, probably longer - an IC 50' Berwick boxcar. I've built several 50' Berwick's since, and they kept getting easier. I love their 50' Berwicks and now you might be able to find some for about $8.00!:

"... Lots of detailed parts. I'm really glad I bought myself a sprue cutter for fine parts at the same time I bought the Branchline car at the Wheaton show last Sunday. I'd have botched the thing with an Exacto knife. I only broke one item, a corner end step. And that happened after I had successfully cut it away from the sprue. I got a bit too much glue (ed: a combo of Plastruct and CA) on it and it weakened the part. I think I can fix it pretty easily, but I may just leave it as is and rust it up to make it look like the rust ate away at it.

It took about three hours to put together. I'd recommend a small drill bit to open up most of the holes (I used a #77), CA, small needle-nose pliers and, most of all, sprue cutters. It comes with metal wheels that had burrs in the center of the axles. I replaced them with Intermountains. They also supply two hex nuts for weights, which I used, but added six pennies on double sticky tape because it seemed too light for my liking. I also used McHenry knuckle spring couplers instead of the ones supplied.

This is the first kit with this level of detail I've ever done. I usually opt for RTR - I just don't have the time to do too many kits. That said, I'd do this again. Overall, it looks really nice - looks like some of the $20.00 RTR's I've seen in the past, but I got this kit for $12.95, not a bad deal.

Begin at kick-off and be done by the two-minute warning (unless, maybe, it's a Detroit Lions game). And I've put together Athearn engines that were a LOT bigger P'sITA!"

had not seen

renditions or has

Personally, I love the fact they do those unusual paint schemes from lesser known, and 'fallen flag' lines. They fit right into my Railroad Museum layout theme.

I can't speak for all of their kits, but the ones I've done have been dead on. The nice thing is most of them are available in 3 or 4 packs with different numbers. And when they rerun a road name they use a different set of road numbers.

If you don't want to mess with the extremely fine plastic detail parts, they also have the 'Yard Master' series with less detail.

Len Head Rust Scraper KL&B Eastern Lines RR Museum

: Another follow up question if I may.

: They offer a large selection of unusual color schemes that I had not seen : before. Schemes that are quite appealing. Are they accurate renditions or has : Branchline taken some liberties?

: Thanks Again!

With the Blueprint and Yardmaster series they have tried to be very accurate. I've asked for a scheme that they hadn't done. They were willing to consider it if I could find prototype drawings and photos. Unfortunately I have access to neither.

From what I can tell they haven't taken any "liberties". If a scheme is wrong it's an honest mistake.

The Branchline cars are similar to Intermountain in terms of the parts count and overall structure - separate ends, underbody details, separate ladders, grabs, brake gear, etc. Assembly is very similar, I'd give a slight edge to Branchline on fit at least comparing the box car kits, but both go together well.

Andy

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- Pre-Interstate Urban Archaeology

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Branchline has a good reputation for sticking to the prototype.

Beware of the era of the unusual color scheme cars that you're looking at: most of the steel boxcars are in the post World War Ii era up to the present, but if the cars in the unusual color schemes that you're looking at are wood sides refrigerator cars, most of them are 1930s or earlier. But even then some of the wood reefer kits that they offer are of 1940s+ prototypes.

As others have said, these cars are about on par with Intermountain kits. You've done P2K and InterMountain kits -- if you enjoyed them, you'll enjoy Branchline kits.

another nice thing is they tell on the box what era the scheme is appropriate for. Like "as delivered 1957" or "sold and relettered 1980", etc. At least on some of the cars they do this.

Yeah, I like that a lot.

A few years back Branchline offered a number of refrigerator cars in the 'billboard' schemes. These were all based on the Accurail Burlington Refrigerator Express reefer model, the prototypes of which were built by American Car & Foundry and others in 1923. These were reasonably accurate renditions of the prototype cars.

The Blueprint Series cars are models of the AC&F reefers built between

1927 and 1931 for Union Refrigerator Transport and other operators. They are suitable for the period dating from their construction up until the late 1960s.

As other posts have noted, these kits compare favourably for detail and finish with other high-end products such as Intermountain, etc. I have a small fleet lettered mainly for the Nickel Plate or North Western Refrigerator Line, they make an interesting contrast to the more typical PFE cars commonly seen on layouts. I highly recommend them.

All the best,

Mark.

That is a nice feature, I wish more manufacturers would go to "truth in labeling". Walthers' new passenger cars all have a specific prototype, and Bill or anyone there in the know will gladly tell you what they are, but they don't label them in their advertising as an NYC grill diner available in Santa Fe, UP, etc. I can see why they don't, but the prototype info isn't really available for anyone who doesn't have access to the online lists or newsgroups, or the entire Randall book set at their disposal.

My favorite Branchline car so far is the PRR 50' plug door. I found a prototype photo and other than the sill (needs a straight across sill) it's dead on. I weathered one while I was on the road last spring, and it ended up being one of my favorite freight cars. Brought it to Cleveland and found two other guys had done the same thing, popular car. I got a 4-pack of them which I will try to make the sill modifications - pretty straightforward I think, but I haven't been one to modify freight cars much in the past.

Andy

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' I also wish they would start putting this information on truck models.

Yeah, that would also be helpful - not being a truckie myself, I really don't know much about what I'm looking at and what's on the road with the major haulers turns over every 8-10 years.

How many people know why RPP did the Timpte trailer?

Andy

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