Tweaking Accurail

One thing that I haven't seen pointed out about some Accurail cars is that they have recesses molded into the backs of the side sills that correspond to the tabs you sometimes see. This applies to their steel reefers and their 50-foot boxcars. It's possible to use the recesses as guides to carve out the side sills and leave tabs. Here's a stock fishbelly side sill on an Accurail B&O 50-foot box:

Here's a WP 50-foot box where I carved out the fishbelly to leave tabs:

Here's a pair of unmodified Accurail steel reefer sills:

Here's a BAR car where I carved out tabs on the sidesill based on the cast-in recesses:

This is a doable project, but it isn't all that quick or easy. The carving itself needs a couple of sharp #11 blades and takes 1-2 hours, but then it's necessary to touch up the paint.