Cattle Car Project : How were the made?

[doctorwayne]

Some roads used them to haul ties, too. 
I think most cars used straw when hauling sheep or cattle, but sand was often used for pigs, as it could be periodically wetted-down - pigs are susceptible to both heat and sun.

I "Canadianised" my stockcars by moving the letter boards up to the eaves.  This accommodates the government-mandated spraying of lime as a disinfectant measure, and, as has been mentioned, many cars had their lower sides painted white to make them look a little more presentable (it probably resulted in less frequent application of lime, too, as its missing prescence would be less noticeable ).

This one's from Train Miniature, slightly modified:

A Central Valley car:

Athearn:

Proto-2000:

Rivarossi/AHM:

Wayne

[ACY Tom]

Somewhat off topic, but it's interesting to note that stock cars were often used to haul other commodities in the off season.  One such commodity was bricks.

Tom

[M636C]

Australian cattle wagons had wooden gratings as the floor, which allowed much of the droppings to fall through. Below the grating was a peaked steel floor with the peak over the centre sill that allowed the droppings to be washed away at terminals following unloading of the cattle. The earlier cars had wooden bodies on steel underframes, but later cars had steel body framing with wooden horizontal planking. The very latest cars were all steel apart from the floor.

The most recent cattle wagons, dating from the 1990s, were converted from small container wagons. These had a flat steel floor covered with thick black rubber (probably neoprene) which gave a good grip for the hooves of cattle.

The bodies were like a container without a roof or floor and could be removed to replace the floor rubber or for maintenance, like painting. These are still in use but sadly are no longer hauled by electric locomotives which are now all in coal traffic.

M636C

[dknelson]

Stock cars were often not used for months at a time -- particularly those used to move animals to winter and summer grazing lands, and would just bake in the sun for the rest of the year.  The photos I have seen suggest that towards the end of the stockcar era the paint was getting rather thin and frazzled -- there would be some bare silvery gray wood spots.  The primary concern was that nothing rough in the interior would harm the animals so in that sense they were maintained -- no busted wood, no nails or bolts sticking out.   

I think the floors were covered with sand to absorb, um, "moisture" but hay might have been used as well.

I have seen pictures of old stockcars lined with plywood and used to haul grain during the fall grain rush.  Think about that next time you eat a sandwich ...

Dave Nelson

 

 

[mlehman]

Big John,

The Athearn car is a stand-in for the Rio Grande's cars. Their bracing ran the opposite direction. The Rio Grande's cars in the last decades moving stock were a mix of composite and all-steel construction. They looked very similar, with only the wood grain differentiating them at a glance. Painted black and from a distance, it would be hard to tell them apart, although up close it was more obvious.

I'm fairly certain that the floor in most steel cars was still wood. Steel, even if slatted or otherwise modified, is very slippery for hoofed animals, so a wood floor resulted in less "damaged goods" and more humane transportation.

[wjstix]

One weathering tip: stock cars were often sprayed with a lime mixture to clean and disinfect the car floors. This was usually sprayed from the outside through the openings in the slats, so an old car would often have a lot of white weathering on the lower 1/4 or so of the sides.

I suspect that's part of why Canadian National (or was it CP - or both?) painted the lower 1/3 of their stock cars white.

[cv_acr]

Yes, you've got it.

All of the side and door bracing and hardware is metal. On this particular car the roof and ends are also stamped metal.

The side sheathing (horizontal slats) are wood boards. The car probably has a steel underframe (structure) but the foor boards would be wood as you guessed.

The design and construction is exactly the same as an outside-braced (Single sheathed) wood boxcar, just with every other side board left out for air.

[canazar]

Howdy all. I picked up a fun little project in this Athearn cattle car.  I want to heavliy weather it and give it the been "parked at the end of the line on a forgotten spur for decades" look.  It appears that the ribs are metal and the horizontal peices are wood. Roof is metal and I assume the floor would be wood?  Any insight would be great.  Thanks all.