Is this logo prototypical? This boxcar model was manufactured by Athearn, stenciled "NEW 3-44." I heard that the wet noodle started in 1961......
Cars get repainted, so not a problem. A car with the older logo and a build date after the new logo came out would be incorrect.
Have fun,
Richard
Thank you Richard. Since the car numbers are printed on the ends of this model, I guess it is a relatively recent product. I was surprised that Athearn made such a mistake.
I don't take issue with the date painted on the car as much as I do the really anemic "wet noodle" herald. It almost looks like the paint shop just laid down some white duct tape, rather than paint it in. The lines need to be at least twice as thick to really look like the CN's herald.The artwork on this car is from the era when Athearn cared far less about accurately reproducing paint schemes. They've done much better renditions of the "wet noodle" since then.
-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.http://www.pmhistsoc.org
The car is, I think, Athearn's take on the 1937 AAR design boxcar. CNR bought over 18,000 of them, originally with the white leaf herald, then later a couple different versions of the green leaf herald. Many later received the noodle logo. The first such cars were built in 1943 and '44, but many would have been re-done with the noodle after its introduction. However, Fritz is right about that anemic-looking noodle.
The "NEW 3-44" would have been appropriate until approximately 9-46, when the "NEW 3-44" would have been painted over and re-stencilled with the symbol of a weigh station and the date on which the re-weighing was done. "NEW" in this case refers to the weight of the car when it was new and weighed for the first time. Up until about 1948, most freight cars had to be re-weighed ever 30 months. After that, the re-weighing was necessary every 48 months. So, for your car to be more prototypical, the noodle needs to be fatter, and that reference to the original weighing needs to be painted-over and re-stencilled with a weigh station symbol and recent post-1960 date suitable to your operating era.
The noodle on freight cars was introduced mid-order on some 40' heated and insulated boxcars.
Wayne
Thanks everyone. Unfortunately I am not familiar with CN equipment. Does anyone know the weighing station symbols and the meaning of the yellow door? The roof walk maybe the key point in the time setting. I think there is no way to get into this poor lettering.
Yellow door was for newsprint service if I recall correctly.
As pointed out by others, the lettering is anemic.
A much better model of the 1937 AAR Standard car with CN 1961 scheme is done by True Line Trains. You might still be able to get one of these, although the price point will be much higher.
Have fun.
BN7150....Does anyone know the weighing station symbols and the meaning of the yellow door? The roof walk maybe the key point in the time setting. I think there is no way to get into this poor lettering.
Some of the CN weigh station symbols were: AK, H-Q, J-B, LU, PK, PR, PU, and RH.
You don't really need to "get into the lettering"...simply paint-over (or use a piece of painted decal film) to cover the incorrect lettering, then add decal data better suited to your layout's operating era.
Here's an example from an earlier era, on a slightly modified Athearn Blue Box car similar to yours...
Great! Thanks for your information. Knowledge is starting point for all.
Originally my models were focused on BN equipment. Since a year ago, I have been reworking a huge amount of second hand models (almost transition era), just exchanging couplers and wheels. Among them, such a strange model is a cause of trouble. There are also leaned Silver Meteor, golden Aspen Gold and unpainted doors. There are still hundreds left, so I do not want to take a lot of hands.
BN7150...Originally my models were focused on BN equipment....
There's nothing wrong at all in focusing on a specific railroad, but you should be aware that cars from any common carrier road can show up on another railroad's tracks. That's how interchange functions. It also allows us modellers to run cars which might be seen only rarely on our modelled road's track, so if you have a favourite road, paint scheme, or car other than those of your primary choice, don't be afraid to run it.I grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, and because it was the industrial hub of Canada, saw cars from all over North America, including ones from Mexico, and anywhere in the U.S. I make no apologies for the wide-ranging choice of roadnames frequenting my layout's tracks - I've seen them all, at one time or another.
doctorwayne BN7150 ...Originally my models were focused on BN equipment.... Wayne
BN7150 ...Originally my models were focused on BN equipment....
For example when I was a teen there was a near-daily train on the Chicago and North Western headed south (railroad east) towards Chicago consisting largely and sometimes almost entirely of Canadian boxcars with yellow doors. They were taking huge loads of newsprint to Chicago, presumably to the Chicago Tribune.
Dave Nelson
The CN and Seaboard cars appear to be good representations of the relatively poor quality of kit decoration common on Athearn and MDC/Roundhouse cars made during the 1960's, '70's and '80's. The white ink or paint used was more like milk, and the CN 'wet noodle' herald is a poor representation of the real thing. That's why companies like Walthers and Champ made such extensive lines of decals back then, as often the only way to get a properly done car was to paint and letter it yourself.