The May 1972 issue of Model Railroader magazine includes a review of the Atlas O Box Car and Plug Door Box Car models. As with the other selections in the line, the 40-foot Box Car was a product of Roco in Austria. Roco produced model trains for a number of companies in the United States. Atlas also cataloged Roco-made pieces in its HO- and N-scale lines at the time of the O-scale 1970s offerings. The review states the Atlas O Box Car weighs 6.75 ounces and is able to navigate tinplate O27 curves (13.5-inch radius). The initial group of roadnames are the only roadnames Atlas sold for this model. The base tooling for this model returned in 2005 as part of the Atlas Trainman series. For 2012, a 40th Anniversary 4-Pack was issued that contained new examples of the 40-foot Box Car dressed in the four schemes offered in the 1970s (GN, L&N, IC, and PRR). The 2-Rail version of this special collection retailed for $179.80; 3-Rail versions sold for $191.80.

The Box Car model follows the general design found on all the freight cars in this 1970s Atlas series. The running boards on the roof, ladders, and brake rigging are all separately cast and applied. All are presented on the model in a metal-gray color. The Box Car, Stock Car, and Plug Door Box Car share similar roof and end design features. All three models also share the same underframe. The underframe is a two-piece design. The outer or metal portions of the underframe are cast in a gray-metal color plastic. Snapped into the underframe is wood colored plastic with plank design. There is no metal weight of any kind on this model. The end is a 3/4 Dreadnaught design. The roof is a Pullman-Standard design. The door is an 8-foot Youngstown example. On my Illinois Central example, the doors are not cast in orange, as is the shell for the box car itself. The doors are painted orange. The tack boards are separately applied to the door sides. End tack boards are separately applied and painted orange.