A-Stack Container SFCM 950005-7 Kit

The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad built seven of these containers in 1982. Three were made of aluminum, while the other four were of fiberglass. The containers have trough hatches on the roof, similar to a covered hopper as an experiment in bulk material containerization. They were designed to be double stacked on the Santa Fe's Fuel Foiler spine cars. The cars were modified to have no trailer deck, instead having low mounted container pedstals on transverse beam assemblies. The Fuel Foiler car design was eventually purchased and sold by ITEL as their IMPACK model. The Athearn or Walthers model would be a good candidate for modification in order to carry these containers.
The strange shape of the container allowed it to effectivly wrap around the spine car's spine and be low-slung enough to be double stacked and still fit within the loading gauge. The units were 45 feet long and were not interchangeable with standard ISO containers, which understandably led to their demise. The corner posts that are normally at 40 foot centers on regular containers are not spaced the same on the A-Stack. Three of the A-Stack containers are preserved at the Western America Railroad Museum in Barstow, California.

SFCM 950005 - 950007 were the three alumninum containers built. Unlike the fiberglass units, which all have some defining feature that makes them unique, the aluminum containers are all identical. This model would be accurate for all three containers. The aluminum containers also have a different roof hatch style from the fiberglass ones. The stiffener courrugations are different on the aluminum hatches. This detail, along with weld beads and rivets, are all represented on the model to highlight the differences in the two types of containers.

In order to build a complete model, you will need:

• A-Stack container (this product)
• Santa Fe trailer decals
• Low-Luster aluminum or grey paint

Model Assembly:

1. Paint model - The exterior of the container is bare metal, so a grey or low luster metal paint would be appropriate
2. Decal model - The container is painted in the same scheme as some of the Santa Fe trailers, with 'Santa Fe' in large blue lettering. Trailer decals would be appropriate for this container.