The MTH 50 foot high cube box car is a well executed model of a 1990s Gunderson design that deserves more attention. It is easy to convert to Kadees and to swap out the trucks for MTH 2 rail trucks.
I believe both the MTH and Atlas funnel flow tank cars meet the post 1985 criteria although I have neither car and have not studied them. If anyone knows more please share your info.
If you widen the criteria to cars the are commonly seen in operation post 1985 the list can get much much longer.
Atlas has their 89 foot flat cars, 60 foot box cars, 50 foot P-S box cars, 53 foot Evans box cars and 90 ton chlorine tank cars in addition to the above mentioned equipment. Add the new coil cars and the Trainman 50 box car and new bulkhead flatcars too.
MTH has ACF 4650 and GATX air slide 100 ton covered hoppers that have been upgraded in detail in recent years. Their auto rack is a little short of scale, but only a little. They also have center beam and bulkhead end flat cars and a coil car.
Lionel has made several versions of ACF center flow covered hoppers and their PS-2 4427 cubic foot covered hopper is on a par with the Atlas model. Their Pullman-Standard 60 foot box cars are nice models too. The Lionel Paccar 57' mechanical reefer is also top notch.
All of the above are legit for modeling past the year 2000. By 2005 some of those cars were coming to the end of their lives. I'd love to see some more new prototypes but we do have plenty to work with into the 21st century.
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