Athearn ATSF boxcars compatibility question

[stefanuccio]

I am sorry for mistakenly swapping the titles for my two recent questions my apologies

My question

I have 4 Athearn boxcars ATSF 74901  and 2 ATSF 70161 both 40ft double door boxcars in brown paint scheme

the Athearn 70161 have black trucks frame

The Athearn 74901  have brown trucks frame

Is this correct ? can someone explain the reason for a different colour trucks  frame on the same ATSF type Fe-26 double door boxcars ?

thanks very much for your reply

stefano

  

[wholeman]

I don't know if they are correct for your particular cars, but some freight car trucks were painted black and others were painted to match the color of the car.  Eventually they would both tend to rust and get dirty overtime.

[stefanuccio]

Will

Thanks very much indeed for your reply

regards

stefano

[Sperandeo]

Hello Stefano,

The Fe-26 cars were built in 1945. At that time, and really through 1980, the Santa Fe's practice was that new cars were delivered with black trucks and underframes, but that when the cars were first repainted these parts would be painted Mineral Brown, the Santa Fe's version of boxcar red. This was because car builders generally painted the trucks and underframe separately, before the carbody was added to the underframe, whereas the railroad's shops repainted cars as assembled units.

Cars were repainted more frequently in the 1940s and early 1950s, in part because of the harsh environment of steam-era railroading, and in part because the paints then in use didn't hold up as long as later formulations. By the late 1950s most Fe-26s had probably been repainted at least once, and any that weren't would certainly have been showing the age of their paint jobs.

So long,

Andy

[stefanuccio]

Hallo Andy

Thanks very much for the overview on the colour of the trucks frames

The ATH 70161 ATSF boxcars have fine printing painted on the side placing them around 9-1969 but black trucks frames does this means that they never been repainted [since 1945]? or is  the colur likely to be incorrect ?

thanks very much again

stefano

[Sperandeo]

Hello Stefano,

I don't have access to any Santa Fe painting records, but it's unlikely that any cars built in 1945 and remaining in service in 1969 hadn't been repainted at least once. So yes, black trucks on those cars are wrong, which isn't at all unusual.

Most of the Fe-26s were still in service, though. The Santa Fe Railway Listing of Freight Cars by Class and Car Number, 1906-1991 (published by the Santa Fe society at atsfrr.net), shows a few more than 300 cars of the Fe-26 class still on the "live list" in 1974, out of an original 500 cars built.

So long,

Andy

[stefanuccio]

Hallo Andy

Thanks very much again for your clarification and general overview of this type Fe boxcarsI am thinking that my ATSF zebra stripes motive power should be better at home with older paint scheme boxcars but i have difficoulties to find theme here were i leave.I am relatively new to the American railroading but always loved the Santa Fe as i consider the ATSF one of the most representative and pioneristic of the greatly succesfull American railroad companies

Last week in a bid of modeling a proper prototopical project i manage to find one of your excellent books from which i am learning a lot the book in question is "Freight yards'

thanks again

regards

stefano

[BRAKIE]

stefano,There are other reasons a car may have black trucks in '69..

Like all things railroad perfection doesn't enter a railroad's  vocabulary..

As a example that car could have been shopped and outfitted with black trucks from a scrap car or was rebuilt by a contractor and black trucks was added.

One would need to study pictures of  that car  that  covers its service years from built date to retirement date.A daunting task at best.

.

 

[stefanuccio]

I agree with you Larry thanks however for your clarification

regards

stefano