This morning on the way to school i spotted a handful of Northern Pacific and Great Northern woodchip cars mingled with the rest of the BN ones... Wow, they looked in real good shape. I could say those brown and Sky Blue cars looked like they were delivered only 5 years ago and not the 30 years they probably were... Anybody else see cars from 'old' fallen flags?
I constantly see old GN and NP wood chip cars on their branch that runs through the Willamette Valley (Oregon). But none of them are in as good of shape as you describe. And I remember as little as five years ago I saw a pair of GN boxcars rolling through on an SP train. Gives me hope that SP cars will be around for a long time. ------------------ Mike Smith lcso_927@hotmail.com Eugene, Oregon LCSO's RailPics ~ License and registration please... "She's not really gone if her memory lives on in our hearts." Southern Pacific 1865-1996
Back east (Selkirk, NY) I saw some B&M boxcars in the old Blue/Black and white scheme. B&M as a seperate company ceased to exist in 1983, so it does take a while for companies to repaint rolling stock (as the first few years they are just doing locos!!). ------------------ Corey Lynch Pres - Rensselaer Model RR Society NEB&W RR http://www.rpi.edu/~lynchc/Railfanning/railfanning.htm - My Site http://www.union.rpi.edu/railroad/ - NEB&W
I saw a CSX local pulling a string of sand/cement hoppers. There were numerous fallen flags paint schemes, including SCL, C&O, and Reading! They appeared to be in very good shape, although the reporting marks had been changed (numerous times ) Chessie ------------------ Harold Hodnett Fan of NS, CSX, and their predecessors! Coming soon: The North Carolina Railfan Web Site http://www.trainweb.org/ncrail/
It is wishful thinking for me to even think about any cars for the old CNJ or LV to still be around anyplace but a museum. The last time I saw any CNJ cars was the mid 70s just after CONRAIL took over and the cars were on the ATSF Valley Line in central California (Hanford). ------------------ Jim Krapf (thetrainman00@aol.com)
I was watching a UP train switch a long string of coal hoppers omce. I saw the normal, a mixture of UP, C&NW, BN, MP, but then I saw am old red one with the word FRISCO painted on the side. It was a nice sight to see! ------------------ Drew WISCONSIN CENTRAL LTD.
A few years back I was chasing an SP(UP) coal train down into the LA/LB Harbor, and mixed in with the usual DRGW and CTRN hoppers was a green MKT car! Still looked pretty good too, considering the service it was in. Those Espee coal trains were some of the neatest when it came to variety; you'd also see BN, UMP, and Clinchfield hoppers, although they had been re-stenciled. Paul #3 ------------------ Have A Nice Day!
<font color="336633">in 98 i saw a GN ACF covered hopper and it was in very good condition and still had GN reporting marks, i wonder if the maintance people try to keep these old ones in spotless condition.....</font> ------------------ Matthew wheres all the C636's???? stickymonk.com Matts Photo gallery
The best place I've found to find pre-BN-merger cars is at the Pasco hump yard in Pasco WA. THe chip cars are a regular (almost daily) visitor there, and I've also got pics of GN box and tank cars and even some CB&Q hoppers in MOW service hauling ripped up ties. There are a few CB&Q gons sitting abandoned around western Washington and I've aslo ocassionally seen NP gons in Eugene OR. Now If I can just fins a SP&S car somewhere, that would really make my whole year!
Another neat sighting was this past November at BNSF's Commerce, CA. facility; a 65' Northern Pacific gon in original paint and lettering. It was part of a cut of MOW cars, and a little beat-up, but still a neat sight to see(and photograph).
There are actually quite a few oldies still floating around out there if you look for them. Many people stop looking and put away their cameras once the power goes by. Things I've seen around here lately include a pristine DT&I 60' auto box in green, and there is a whole string of DT&SL 2-bay hoppers assigned here now. I saw a few SCL gons a month or so back, too. The best one I've seen yet though was a pair of three-bay covered hoppers. One was solid black with untouched Wabash lettering, and the other Nickle Plate. That was about 3 or 4 years ago, spotted on an NS train in Chicago. Keep your cameras out when the power passes! George CN WC Division Engineer
I see an oldie or oddball every few days. I'll keep an eye out and post the road and road-number the next time I see one. Sorry, but a camera is kinda useless at 50mph and 50-100 feet away
Saw a hopper car in the light blue paint and R logo of the former Rock Island RR at Eloa yard last week.
