Freight car information

[mrrdad]

Hello fellow railroaders,

My model railroad is based off of the B&O Chicago Terminal Railroad in the early 1950's. To be honest, I'm not real familiar with freight service and operations during that era. I'm trying to figure out what types of cars were used for freight during those times, particularly on that railroad. Anyone have any insight they can share on this?

Thanks,

Ed

[dehusman]

The BOCT was a terminal company so it switched cars for other railroads and it was in Chicago.

Basically any car built after WW1 and before 1960 would be a candidate.  Look on the sides of cars there will be a very tiny BLT date (BLT 07-45) that tells you the month and year the car was built.

If you buy a Official Railway Equipment Register (ORER) for a year in the period in which you are interested, it will list all the cars in service.

A terminal railroad like the BOCT would more or less see cars in roughly proportion to the national fleet, except there would be a lot fewer hopper cars (they tend to be used on the home road and go towards the coast and rivers).

Generally speaking, cars with roller bearing trucks will be right at the edge of your era, most of your cars will have plain bearings.  Most of the boxcars will be 40 ft. cars with some 50 ft cars.  Hoppers will be mostly 90 tons or less. Most all steel cars with fewer wood sided cars.  Covered hoppers will be smaller, 2 or 3 bay cars.  Very few intermodal cars. 

[gmpullman]

This book makes a handy reference:

https://kalmbachhobbystore.com/product/book/12489

Good Luck, Ed

[SPSOT fan]

I find that a good way to figure out what kind of cars a certain railroad would have is simply do some reading and look at pictures. In books about specific railroads there will often be sectons describing he trains that regularly ran on your railroad, and what those trains carried, or section about the major industries on your chosen railroad. These things can give you a good idea about what cars you will need. Pictures also give a good idea, so look at some pictures and then look for similar cars to purchase.

I’d say that on a terminal railroad in a busy interchange city like Chiago, almost anything that exsisted in your era could make appearances. In the 50s you should note most cars would be boxcars, with the bulk of them being 40 foot versions.

Also the car type’s will in someways be determined by the online industries you put on your layout. I would note, however, this is less true on a terminal railroad, as alot of it’s traffic will be interchange.

Hope this was helpful!