Does anyone know the numbers of these box cars with corrigated doors vs doors with flat panel sections? I noticed Intermountain has offered versions according to the website pictures with the flat panel section doors on the second run vs the corrigated doors on the first run. BTW does anyone know a discount source of the first run cars? I missed that due to a dealer snafu.
Jim, as far as SP cars are concerned, here is the site to visit: http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/spcars/byclass/box/index.htm A quick glance at some of the classes shows the following: B-70-67, -69, -71, -73, -74, -75, -77, and -78. The corrugated doors are Youngstown and the flat panel doors are Superior. Most of SP's cars were delivered with Youngstown and it looks like one order of Cotton Belt's were delivered with Superior. Modeling the SP is a good example of having prototype photos, as they were always doing something out of the ordinary. Many of the cars still in service appear to have Superior doors installed. I don't know if SP started this, but UP has been swapping out doors on a lot of cars. Also, I don't believe the Intermountain car has the Hydra-Cushion underframe, but that can be added with parts from Details West. Hope this helps, and good luck. John
Do you mean they are changing to new, different doors or they are mixing them on the cars as they are replaced? Thanks.
It looks like they are replaced on an as-needed basis, Flash. Most of what I've seen have been both doors replaced, but there have been several cars with one new/one old door. A lot of these cars are a few years away from the end of their service life, so maybe this will keep them in service until "The End"! John
Actually, it does have the correct Hydra-Cushion underframe, complete with the hydraulic cylinder. It is missing the extended draft gear on the ends, though. This is easily fixed with aftermarket coupler pockets from either Accurail or Details West.
Thanks for correcting my misinformation. Even though I'd like to have a "fleet" of the cars, I just couldn't bring myself to spend $30+ for one car. Now, if they had been available in kits. Sigh.:sad: John
I feel your pain! They're sweet cars, but yeah, the price tag can make it kinda hard to build a huge fleet of 'em, which is essential for modeling those SP lumber drags of the 70s-80s. I've built up a fleet of a dozen or so - just have to shop around for deals, and/or buy one or two at a time to spread out the cost.
I need lots of them too and I missed out on the more common Youngstown first run. I even saw a 6-pack in Springfield MA but passed on them because I believed the second run would be Youngstown too. Oops and too late!
Well, I lucked out and a guy on another forum directed me to a dealer who had 4 of the Youngstown FMC boxcars in SP left. The only miner snafu is one of them is a duplicate number for one I already had. I'll see if I can swap it out later for a different number. These Pinnacle series box cars sell for $31.95 MSRP but I picked ten of mine for $24 each and a Golden West for $17. So if you hunt, you can find them for a good discount. Lumber traffic from the Pacific Northwest came down accoss the Modoc plateau and onto the Rio Grande in the1980's so these double door SP box cars were very common on the Rio Grande. I've now got 8 SP (5 Youngstown door and 3 Superior door), plus 3 Cotton Belt. They are sweet!
