Another day, another pretty straightforward American boxcar kit! I was keen to give the new range of Atlas Trainman kits a go to see what the quality is like. Atlas make some of the nicest stuff on the market, American or otherwise and I certainly wouldn't hesitate in buying any of their products.

The 'Trainman' line is their budget range, a bit like Hornby Railroad, only erm, better! Locos get proper all wheel drive, rolling stock is as free running as anything this side of an 1980s Lima Mark 1 coach. The only real difference is that compared to their premium range the additional detail is a bit limited.

The kits are a very recent development, with Atlas taking over the Branchline range and re-releasing them under their own banner. I was keen to pick one up and see what they were like, so plumped for a late 1930s Santa Fe 40ft AAR Boxcar from model junction. Nice and cheap at £8.99.

Here's what you get.

I started off by attaching the nicely detailed underframe to the floor of the car. Must say the detail was very nice, but took a bit of fettling to get it to all fit right.

Unlike the Accurail kit (and nearly all the others I've nailed together over the past couple of years) the Trainman kit comes with metal wheels, and they are lovely free runners too. Happy days!

I attached the bogies (or trucks as they're known in Yankee Doodle land) to the car as it began to take shape

Then the ends went on, to stop you getting them the wrong way around, one end has four lugs, the other has five. Fitted lovely, then glued into place to make sure they stay there.

After that the doors were put in place, there was a mechanism that allows you to have opening sliding doors if you wish