Hi folks, Been trying to shop for locos & rolling stock by era but I'm having a hard time identifying rolling stock in particular by era. How do you know if a particular car (box, refer, flat, gon) fits in a particular era? Usually, there is nothing in the description text telling you so and trying to do comparisons from photos is incredibly difficult. Any tips out there? thanks, Mark
Just a thought, If you know the paint scheme of the rail road you are modeling in that era you could go by that.
Magazines like Model Railroader usually say when locomotives or rolling stock were first used as part of their product review articles. The Steam Locomotive Encyclopedia has a lot of information on all locomotive types but I think it is out of print. Some model manufacturers will also list the era of when something was used on their web site. I would also look for books on the railroad and era you are interested in. Most major railroads have a historical society - the C&O historical society, for instance publishes all kinds of information on the locomotives and rolling stock they used.
Kalmbach has a book on freight cars that describes the developement of the major car types and in the back is a list of what manufacturer builds a certain type of car and the era. Model Railoader's Guide to Freight Cars http://www.kalmbachstore.com/12450.html From that it's a little research to find the right paint scheme for the model you want.
When I can hold the car in my hand and look at it (or at least see it through a clear jewel box) I sometimes look for the build date to see if that date sounds plausible for the situation I have in mind. This usually works, but sometimes the model will be of a particular repaint of an older car and then it may fall too late for your era again.
Classic Trains magazine might be a good resource. Also check out the older photos on George Elwood's Fallen Flags web site (www.rr-fallenflags.org). Athearn (in their former Roundhouse line) has a lot of rolling stock appropriate for the 1920's. Any of the USRA steamers would have been state-of-the-art for your era.
If you are modeling a particular road primarily, I have found that getting one of those freight car pictorials is invaluable. I have the two volume set on the Milwaukee Road - excellent books.
Good suggestions all Thanks for the responses so far. This is all very helpful. I have not decided on a particular prototype to model as yet but I know it will be an eastern/north eastern road.
I use the build date method but it is not foolproof. A car could have been designed and manufactured ten or more years before the car you have in your hand was "built". On the other hand- the only person who is going to know the build date on the cars on your layout is you. OR another modeler who will understand perfectly what you did when you purchased the car. Just have fun and throw the nit pickers out of the basement or garage or wherever you are setting up.
If you're doing 1920-30 (a great era!), a good basic rule of thumb for you would be: concentrate on wood boxcars and reefers, and shorter (i.e., 33 foot) hopper cars. Also, read up on railroads as much as you can---it's fun, and will add immeasurably to your hobby experience. Nothing beats "finding out."
Mark: Great era-one of my favorites too. The Bowser GLA 2-bay and H21 4-bay hoppers were around in thousands at that time. You might also want to take a look at the web site for "Westerfield". The models are HO; but they specialize in early 20th.cent. equipment. Lots of info & photos of their cars that should help give you ideas of what was in use. Best of luck, JimR.
Prototype engines http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/locolist.php?steam=1&nonbrass=3&brass=4&sortby=1&Submit=Submit On this site, N-scale Locomotive Enclyclopedia, they list over 30+ brass and plastic locomotives between the prototype years of 1920 and 1939
While I model a diferent era, I like to use historical photos as the basis for my collection. I find pictures in old magazine, historical socities and newspapers from the area in question. Trains for a focal point then so it would not be hard to come across photos of railcars in the backround.
