Manufacturer: ARISTO-CRAFT TRAINS/Polk's Model Craft Hobbies, Inc., 346 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07304. Price: ART 41302 Hooker Tank Car $49.95; ART 46220 Railway Express Agency Reefer $59.95 suggested list.

The Hooker chemical tank car is a nice looking single dome version with good detail and a colorful orange, black, and white paint scheme. It has solid brass handrails, end steps, and grab irons. The rest of the car, except for the steel axles, is plastic with a removable platform around the dome. The die work is good, with crisp rivets and seams, a nice representation of the hardware on the dome, and a good approximation of the underbody brake rigging. The lettering is crisp and appears accurate. The orange paint on our sample shows two spots where the solvent-type glue seeped through joints and marred the surface of the tank but a little weathering would disguise that.

I have three comments: The brake wheel is heavy looking and its staff is too short. If they bother you when you unpack your car, replace those details. The long handrails surrounding the tank should have a few more stanchions to secure them; as a result they tend to feel loose. Cut some styrene strip the same size as the cast on end stanchions to represent side stanchions. Glue them over the tank bands and directly beneath the ends of the side platforms cast onto the tank just below the domes, at the top of the ladders. That is where they appeared on the real cars and they'll keep your handrails more rigid. The brake cylinder ARISTO-CRAFT modeled represents a Westinghouse "KC" brake; while earlier cars did have KC brakes, this car suggests a slightly later prototype and might have had the more modern "AB" type.

I find none of the above very disturbing.

The car looks small next to other ARISTO-CRAFT rolling stock, but it actually is correct. The length is 15 inches, the width 3 7/8 inches, and the height above the rail about 6 3/8 inches. In 1:29 scale that equates to about 36 feet 3 inches long by about 9 feet 3 inches wide. Just for fun, we compared those dimensions to those of a very similar 1:32 Precision Scale car costing far more. The Precision Scale tank car was three scale inches longer overall and exactly the same scale width. (It did have Westinghouse AB brake gear, though.)

ARISTO-CRAFT provides an extra set of tank bands to represent the more common four strap method of securing petroleum tanks to the car frame. They also include six different sets of stick-on hazard labels to fit over the four warning placards on the sides and ends of the frame.

Now for the reefer.

Our sample is unlisted in ARISTO-CRAFT's 1991 catalogue; it appears in the 1992 catalogue. ARISTO-CRAFT mentions no specific prototype for the car in its instruction manual. The manual only says the car is based on a 40-footer from the 1930s and follows AAR (Association of American Railroads) practice. The body measures a scale 40 feet 6 inches long, just under 10 feet 3 inches wide, and 11 feet 5 inches high at the roof walk (17 by 4 1/4 by 4 3/4 actual inches). The lettering on the side of the car indicates the prototype is a 1951 steel version of the original 1930s wood design. It and the rest of the lettering typify that on the real car.

The striking color scheme is forest green with gold lettering on the sides and ends, an oxide red roof, and black hardware including the truck sideframes. The well-known, red and white Railway Express Agency emblem appears on each side. The finish on our sample was flawless. The reefer is mostly plastic with solid brass grab irons and center steps and steel axles. Screws hold together the major subassemblies. If you're especially picky, you could color the metal hardware with Hobby Black or paint it to match the body.

Several thoughtful features characterize the car. Just as the tank car, the reefer also comes with knuckle couplers and an extra set of hook and loop couplers. The nicely detailed trucks have operating, individual springs. The side doors open and latch shut. The roof hatches also open. Unlike some other mass-produced freight cars, ARISTO-CRAFT's have individually attached ladders and grab irons; they add much to the appearance. Those of you preferring to run your cars inside-out will appreciate the wood grain molded into the floorboards. The underbody brake detail is as attractive as that of the tank car, but the reefer has the later Westinghouse "AB" system.

Both cars rolled smoothly through LGB's tightest (1100) curves and turnouts with no trouble. Frankly, you'd have to look hard for things to criticize on these cars. They're high quality, attractive, and rugged. If you model the steam-to-diesel transition era in 1:29 scale, you'll want a fleet of ARISTO-CRAFT's excellent freight cars.--RR

Walter Matuch, Product Manager at ARISTO-CRAFT TRAINS, responds:

Unlike other manufacturers, ARISTO-CRAFT TRAINS will paint and letter the body shell components and then assemble the finished tank car halves. This allows more paint detailing and the accurate lettering that characterizes ARISTO-CRAFT TRAINS. Sometimes an excess of solvent-glue is visible but this is the exception rather than the norm.

The handrail stanchions on the tank car sides were intentionally omitted. The reason? Because most people tend to hold the car at these points thus breaking the handrails and/or stanchions. To make them able to withstand this misuse would result in an "out of scale" or overly thick handrail stanchion. The OR solution should be quite acceptable.

Not shown in early tank car production, but standard as an ongoing production upgrade, is prototype lettering on the center sill/underframe of each ARISTO-CRAFT TRAINS tank car. Regarding the reefer, one possible modeling tip: Use the remaining safety placard labels from the tank car to attach to the sides of the reefer or any ARISTO-CRAFT TRAINS boxcar for added realism.