4 wheel freight cars were an oddity in railroading after the civil war. there were a lot of coal jimmies still bouncing around and some of those consists were still a mile long by the 1890s, but not many 4 wheeled boxcars existed. However, the Eastern Railroad, which operated between Boston, MA and Portland, ME had a few of these boxcars. The sad truth is, we do not know much if anything about these cars at all. we have three photographs of these cars in service, two of which show them lettered in Boston & Maine paint, and with knuckle couplers, meaning they must have lasted past 1900 with the Railroad Safety Appliance act.
For making this kit, I recommend using 33" wheelsets and Kadee No.5 couplers (you will have to supply your own coupler boxes). The car weighs one ounce before adding weights, so you should add the other ounce of weight per NMRA standards. I do not have exact references for paint but if you are modeling this car prior to 1900, I would use a rich dark brown akin to prince's mineral. If you are modeling the car as it existed after 1900, Oxide red or Boxcar red will suffice depending on what you think is appropriate for B&M equipment. I will be releasing Decals soon for this model and the other ERR models I am making.
