Rolling stock: Box cars BN 57947 and CB&Q 62965

Two of my recent eBay acquisitions have been a couple of used 40' steel box cars made by USA Trains. BN 57947 is nearly identical to a box car I already have, but that wasn’t about to stop me from getting a second one!

This car already had metal wheels, so the only thing I had to do was swap out the couplers and give the wheels a little cleaning, then it was out on the track for a test run. The car body was in perfect shape and the trucks looked like they had seen only minimal usage.

CB&Q 62965 was also in pretty decent shape. Not as shiny new as the BN boxcar but it was clearly well cared for.

Unfortunately it was not packed well and got tossed around in its box quite a bit during its voyage. There was only some cosmetic damage which can be repaired, but it's sad because damage like this never needs to occur. A note for any eBay sellers: If you don't know how to package an item for shipping, take it to the professionals at The UPS Store® where they will do it for you!

Not only did this car already have metal wheels, but the former owner had installed some Kadee body-mounted couplers. I checked to make sure they're installed at the correct height, so I don't see any reason not to keep using these.