help needed with 50's era

StickyMonk May 4, 2000

  1. StickyMonk

    StickyMonk TrainBoard Member

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    im going to make my layout able to back date to 1952 as well as the modern day with the exchange of a few buildings and autos, and i need some help as to what freightcars would be accurate for the area and period, My layout is a freelance set in Lewistown Montana, the cars i need are:
    4 reefers
    6 boxcars
    2 tankcars (for oil)
    3 flatcars
    1 gondola
    4 covered hoppers (cement)
    and 4 cars for grain would these be boxcars or covered hoppers or both?

    i would like good quality stock of proper prototypes.

    any help would be great

    ------------------
    wheres all the C636's????
    stickymonk.com
    Matts Photo gallery

    [This message has been edited by StickyMonk (edited 04 May 2000).]
     
  2. Justin May

    Justin May TrainBoard Member

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    Stickymonk,
    You say you need help with car types, here is a word of advice search the back issues of RMJ and look at their index of "Freight cars of the 50s" here is the address: http://www.railmodeljournal.com/. As for immediate help I will try to take a stab at it.

    Reefers- use the Intermountain R-xx-x kits as these are accurate FGE and the like.

    6 boxcars- which type are you looking to model USRA/clone or PS1s- if USRA try Red Caboose as well as for the PS1

    2 tankcars-You have a choice here of the P2K, Red Caboose, or Intermountain, all of these are of specific prototype(10000 Gallon or the proper equivalent)

    3 flatcars( I would go with the 50' from P2K or the 42' from Red Caboose as these are the most accurate

    1 gondola- Again look at the P2K release of the 52'6 drop end gon , and see what prototypes would have used them , if not these try the new composite gondola from Intermountain- I have one and it is a great kit

    4 covered hoppers (cement)- Try the Atlas or Bowser as these are both accurate and have many uses other than the perscribed use of cement- other minerals and foodstuffs also

    and 4 cars for grain would these be boxcars or covered hoppers or both?- dependent on the road modeled, many RRs still used Boxcars, but were moving into the era of covered gons. Unfortunately, a good looking Grain Box is not made, but try kitbashing one of out stadard 40' PS series.

    Hope this helps and keep us posted as to your choices and prototypes. Have a good one, Justin May
     
  3. StickyMonk

    StickyMonk TrainBoard Member

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    i have some models that i got from one of my friends wh died a few years ago and was wondering if i could use them im not sure if i can as they do look old, they were made by silver streak and are wooden one is a NP 40'reefer one is a T&P 40' Boxcar one a WP 40' hart Gondola and one which is still in kit form 40' hart gondola in SP if thses are to old for 1950 could they be used in MOW service? also what are the hart gons used for??

    i think ill start off by getting the P2K flats if i can stil find any, then the reefers.
    thanks

    ------------------
    wheres all the C636's????
    stickymonk.com
    Matts Photo gallery
     
  4. Justin May

    Justin May TrainBoard Member

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    Stick,
    All of the older silver streak cars were fine for their day and were needed to get this hobby where it is today, but unfortunately they lack the advantages of today's plastics. But otherwise they are fun to build, I love the old Walhers passenger car kits from balsa and stainless sides.
    To answer your question of the use, the boxcars would definitely still be used in the 50s, albeit beaten and bruised, the country was coming out of a war time expansion and the RRs was lacking freight cars and many older cars could still be found in service, so by all means paint and detail the he#$ out of them and put to use in revenue service. As for the Hart gon, it too would have been used, but mainly on MOW service and if I remember correctly the design was aging rapidly with the influx of compostie and steel sided gons, but these still could be found in service, the gons mainly wee used for materials such as ballast, sand, and other aggregates that could be exposed to the weather without much harm. So it sounds as if the cars you have are viable for the 50s and perhaps even in the 60s if you pushed them that far. Glad to hear you are going with the flats, as these were the most usuable car the railroads owned and could be placed into any type of service. I have seen flats carrying large machinery, boxes , crates, lumber and even some small piles of ballast and the like for MOW service. Hope this helps and till next time, Justin
     
  5. slynch

    slynch E-Mail Bounces

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    Stickymonk: Yes! And the P2k 52' gondola should fit nicely. I added the AMB laser floor, what a beauty car. Also Accurail 40' outside braced boxcars with the vertical brakewheel work in this time frame, or the P2k tank cars. Many others just my favorites at the moment. Enjoy
     

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