September 3, 2025 - M.T.H. Electric Trains will be releasing RailKing 50' Modern Box Cars in six different roadnames next winter. Each item will be limited in production and expected to begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers in February 2026.

Check out each of these offerings HERE.

These items are available to order from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.

ABOUT THE RAILKING 50' MODERN BOX CAR

Our 50’ modern boxcar is modeled on the fleet of cars originally built for Railbox service in the 1970s and early 1980s. Formed in 1974 as a subsidiary of Trailer Train Company (now TTX Company), Railbox did for box cars what Trailer Train had done earlier for piggybacking: established a pool of cars that could be used by all member railroads, without the burden of routing rules that prioritized empty cars for return to their home railroad. With its slogan of “Next Load, Any Road!”, Railbox strove to minimize empty backhauls and keep loaded cars flowing wherever needed, throughout the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

The initial 1974 Railbox order was for 10,000 boxcars with the reporting marks RBOX, supplied by a variety of car builder,s including Pullman-Standard, American Car and Foundry, and FMC. The 50’ RBOX cars exemplified modern box car design at the time: welded rather than riveted construction; exterior support posts to maximize interior space and provide a smooth interior wall; and a lack of roof walks, which had been outlawed in the 1960s for safety reasons. With roof access no longer needed, the cars’ end ladders only went partway up the sides, to allow crew members to ride the cars during switching moves.

Beginning in the 1980s, the need for box cars — once a mainstay of American freight trains — began to shrink as loads that had formerly moved in box cars shifted over to containers. Many Railbox cars were sold off to other railroads and repainted in a variety of paint schemes. Although the earliest RBOX cars are approaching the end of their legal 40-year service life, many are still plying the rails for various owners, and TTX Company still supplies 50’ and 60’ RailBox boxcars throughout North America.

FEATURES

• Intricately Detailed Durable ABS Body
• Metal Wheels and Axles
• Die-Cast 4-Wheel Trucks
• Operating Die-Cast Metal Couplers
• Colorful, Attractive Paint Schemes
• Opening Car Doors
• Decorative Brake Wheels
• Fast-Angle Wheel Sets
• Needle-Point Axles
• Unit Measures: 12 7/8” x 2 9/16” x 3 9/16”
• Operates On O-31 Curves

Check out each of these offerings HERE.

Scheduled Arrivals Thru September 15, 2025

September 3, 2025 - To review a list of items scheduled for arrival between September 1, 2025, and September 15, 2025, click HERE. Upon the completion of quality assurance inspections, the items will begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers and Distributors.

As always, you can stay apprised of the latest shipping dates by using the M.T.H. Product Search tool. Once items have shipped, their individual pages will show the month the item has shipped and a list of retailers reporting the item in stock.

M.T.H. Electric Trains will be releasing RailKing 4-6-0 Steam Locomotives and matching 3-car Overton Passenger Car Sets in six different roadnames next winter. Each item will be limited in production and expected to begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers in January 2026.

Check out each of these offerings HERE.

These items are available to order from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.