Thoughts on truck positioning I have given some thought to the truck placing on the Chivers kits, both in terms of wheelbase and height. I have not yet built a kit other that following the instructions (with regard to the trucks), but the following shows my thinking about what I am going to try and why. This drawing shows the proportions of the Chivers boxcar built as per the instructions. I checked the kit against a plan I have for a Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes boxcar and against that plan the spacing of the trucks to the end of the car is spot on. However the SR&RL boxcar was 28' long, almost exactly twice the length of this car, which why this car seems to me to have a wheelbase which is too short. This second image show the same boxcar with the trucks moved out. I know that this can be done because I have seen pictures on the net, however the person who built that kit also changed the trucks. I do not see why the kit could not be built this way using the trucks provided in the kit, although clearance would be tight between the truck cross bracing and the coupler. When I have proved this either way I will post the results here. While comparing the kit to the SR&RL plan I discovered that although the car body heights were about the same the kit rides higher on the trucks. In the kit the whole wheel is visible from the side, whilst on the SR&RL car the side was lower such that part of the wheel was out of view behind the side sill. I feel that the latter arrangement is more representative of narrow gauge stock and intend to try mounting the trucks at this height to test the feasibility. One disadvantage of this height is that sticking with the HO standard heights the couplers will have to be set into the end sill rather than under it (probably the reason the kit was made like this in the first place). Having considered both I feel that a low riding car with raised coupler would look better, again I will post the feasiblity here when I have actually tried it.