So I found a guy selling all his Dairyland Power coalveyors at a recent show. They were new and only $6! "Hey those'll go with my other blue ended coalveyors." I thought. I gladly bought them and went home happy. I dug out my other ones only to find that sure, they are indeed "blue - ended". Vunderbar! But then my shock set in as I realized that the others were actually Wisconsin Power Coalveyors! WHUPPS! So my question is - back in the day, did they ever run these guys together? I know, they are two different power companies. But since they have very similar color schemes, was they any corporate connection? I.E. Can I find an excuse to run them together? I realize: 1. Its my railroad, so who cares. 2. Only keen observers may actually notice. 3. They all appear to match, so again, who cares? But perhaps its the purist in me that wonders - "Is there is a real world excuse?" Thanks!
I'd be happy to kill two local railroads with one stone and be able to run a longer matching train. It'll be a good conversation piece, even though I doubt it happened in real life.
Well interestingly read this: http://www.snl.com/irweblinkx/Mobile/file.aspx?IID=4057067&FID=1643360 It sounds as if the these two utilities jointly own a major power plant, so who knows???
W Neal, its YOUR rr so anything can go!! If it does bother you, you could always sell them off for $9-10 and make some money on the deal. I personally dont need them. My coal trains, run "leased" 90/100-ton rent-a-wreck cars... Jerry G.
Actually I was just looking at those cars last night (ordered one of the WSPX cars online to check em out). I think Atlas also makes WEPX (Wisconsin Electric Power Co.) cars that have yellow ends. For me, I'd be fine running them all together, I'd just block together each roadname so they weren't mixed up in the train. Odds are low they'd really be run together, but you never know, and I'm not really that picky as long as they look good! Plus, Atlas is coming out with another run of WSPX cars (even though I think WEPX is more common in my part of Wisconsin), so I think I could build up a nice set. But $6 is a great deal on those, if you don't want em I'll take em! lol
I can't speak of those power companies' cars specifically, but observing the CSX mainline in this area (WV) I see mixed trains of coal cars all the time. Virginia Power, Appalachian Power...there are more I don't recall at the moment. But rarely do I see a nice long uniform string of cars...like never. I've often wondered why that is - I suppose the different companies are actually owned by a larger company, or there are some leased by others....who knows.
Thanks for the responses fellas. I read the article and found it informative. Now I know more about each utility. I do appreciate the opinions. I get the feeling that it probably did not happen very much back when they were new. But who can be sure? Although two different companies, it sounds that a combined train is not too far into fantasyland. Since they are painted essentially the same, I'll just squint my eyes as they pass. I too have seen mixed trains. I recall one Detroit Edison train passing by in Michigan with all BN hoppers, except for the three "Portland Rose" utility hoppers mixed in. (Hey, what are those doing here!)
First of all you have the right attitude - run what you like!!! There are multiple reasons for mixed trains: - commonly owned cars (due to mergers, etc) - leased cars (someone has an excess of cars on hand - utilities tend to be winter or summer heavy on demand) - sold/lease changed - new reporting marks, old paint - emergency fill ins Mixed system hopper trains (rr owned cars) are common today on NS and CSX because a massive number of the former Conrail rebuilt twin-tubs have been withdrawn from service due to weld issues. - Lou
