Lee
The N&W is a class 1 railroad that interchanged as part of the national network, virtually any reporting mark could have been seen along the branch. Depends on what industries there were, what they used and where the commodities came from.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
What exactly are you asking? What different RR's cars could be seen? If so, the answer is anybodys. BTW, Dublin is on the mainline, not a branch.
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Finding out what railroads cars would normally be seen on any given line is very difficult.
The railroads listed every car in every train (Trainsheets) but the lists are not saved after no longer needed. Today they are mostly computerized. Some railfans have obtained some either out of the trash or given to them.
There was an article about a moderler who had the Trainsheets or everytrain that went through a particular town on one particular day. His railroad consisted of an acurate representation of the trackage and setup tracks. He modeled every train (Rpt mark & number) based on this information. The cars used were based as much as possible based on photos of the actual car or car type.
I once found found a Trainsheet on lile for a Western Pacific local. It was a very short train (9-10 cars) and only the locomotive and caboose were WP. More than half the cars were Southern Pacific.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
DSchmittHe modeled every train (Rpt mark & number) based on this information. The cars used were based as much as possible based on photos of the actual car or car type.
BigJimBigJim wrote the following post 4 minutes ago: DSchmitt He modeled every train (Rpt mark & number) based on this information. The cars used were based as much as possible based on photos of the actual car or car type. That seems to me to be a bit eccentric. I would concern myself more with the correct type of cars for the era.
Many British display (as at shows) model layouts model one station and the trains that went thru on a certain date. Complete with a clock and a station board to denote the next train coming.
Of course many Brits are eccentric.
Dave
davidmurrayBrits ....... eccentric
I think those two terms are interchangeable synonyms.
I have interacted with quite a few British Retirees, and they are all quite eccentric.
Of course, maybe they banish all the eccentric ones to the Southern United States!
-Kevin
Living the dream.
DSchmittThe railroads listed every car in every train (Trainsheets) but the lists are not saved after no longer needed.
Trainsheets are generally the documents used by dispatchers to record the movements of trains and don't have car level data on them, just train passing/arrival/departure times and train data.
Train consists or train lists or wheel reports generally have car level reports. Back in the earlier days conductors kept wheel reports, lists of every car in their train. I have one for the Reading railroad from a conductor that ran between Allentown and Darby Creek, PA. I also found Per diem records for the St Joe Belt RR from the 1910 era that listed every railroad they paid car hire too (not by car number, but initials). So some of it exists, its just very spotty and random. Several years ago I ran across a list of every car by train ID that operated through N Platte for a week on the UP, don't have the link to that anymore.
Finding pictures of yards or aerial photos or distance pictures of trains is very helpful. Unfortunately most photographers do just a 3/4 wedgie shot of the engines, so you can't see much beyond the first couple cars.
I think the fellow you are talking about getting the train consists for every car is Joe Atkinson in Council Bluffs who models the IAIS. He has several threads on the MRH forum and is an excellent modeler, I've operated on his layout and even given him some technical assistance on turning that car data into a waybilling system.
dehusmanTrainsheets are generally the documents used by dispatchers to record the movements of trains and don't have car level data on them, just train passing/arrival/departure times and train data. Train consists or train lists or wheel reports generally have car level reports. Back in the earlier days conductors kept wheel reports, lists of every car in their train.
Thankyou for the correction and additional information.
If you can't find actual train sheets, you'll have to delve a bit deeper. Frankly, it's unlikely that you will find them. Your best bet is to look at the industries served by your railroad. You can get a pretty good idea of the types of cars needed if you examine the needs of those industries. Grain was usually hauled to and from feed mills in boxcars until the late 1950's when covered hoppers came into use for this. Before that time, most covered hoppers hauled cement, lime, and other similar bulk commodities. Obviously, gasoline, and oil for home heating, would be hauled in tank cars. Scrap, ties, rail, and heavy bulk loads would likely go in gondolas, with flatcars being used for certain large machinery, oversize loads, etc. Bulkhead flatcars for pulpwood loading were a new thing in the 1940's and 1950's. Hoppers obviously would be used for coal, limestone, etc. Most of these hoppers would probably be N&W cars, although it is possible that specialized coal such as RDG "Blue coal" might be specified by picky customers, and might come from more distant sources. Hoppers from Western roads would be quite rare. The preponderance of the general freight cars would be N&W --- maybe 30 to 50 percent. Nearby roads (VGN, B&O, C&O, SR, ACL, etc.) might be another 30 to 50 percent. I doubt that more than 20 percent would come from distant Western roads, although Midwestern grain might come in boxcars from C&NW, CB&Q, MILW, RI, etc.
Remember that the PRR had the largest freight car fleet in the country, so their cars would be very likely to show up. The late Dr. Richard Hendrickson, renowned freight car authority and Santa Fe modeler, was known to have said "We're ALL Pennsy modelers". NYC was close behind, and B&O was also a major player.
A mention was made of a modeler who had access to train sheets for a specific time period on a particular line. I was involved in helping a friend tabulate that type of complete list for his model railroad, and breaking down the information. His prototype line was an Appalachian coal hauler that connected with the PRR and had very few cars of its own. Most of the hopper cars that showed up on the train sheets were PRR, with a few NYC, B&O, RDG, and other hoppers showing up. Home road hopper cars were only used for local deliveries.
On that railroad, the PRR delivered empty boxcars to be loaded at a local sand plant. The train sheets showed that these were whatever seemed to be available. Many of these came from PRR, B&O, RDG, and B&O, as well as from Midwestern roads such as MILW, M&StL, Wabash, and others, so we speculated that these may have come to the PRR with agricultural loads such as grain, probably delivered to feed mills on the PRR.
If you can find photos showing trains on your line during your time period, that would be best. It might also be helpful to find period photos of the industries on your line, and look for freight cars on their sidings.
Good luck.
Tom
kasskaboose Happy holidays. While waiting for the N&W Historical Society to respond, I thought to ask this question to get other thoughts: what reporting marks were represented on N&W consists along the branch between Radford and Dublin, VA around 1980? It's mentioned here: http://www.brucebharper.info/nwrwy/divisions/NWRad2.html. I have seen mention of L&N, but I thought that line was further toward the border. The B&O and C&O makes sense. Others? This information is helpful as I build an HO scale layout that represents the N&W between these two towns. Thanks for your help, Lee
I would venture to guess these might be safe bets:
Interstate Railroad
Clinchfield
Southern Rwy
Notice I didnt mention Virginian, as it was merged into N&W in 1959. You might still see a few Virginian reporting marks (VGN I believe in 1980), but the 40 year clock would likely be running out by 1980s on many cars.
Maybe these:
Western Maryland (Chsy)
Seaboard Coast Line
Louisville and Nashville
1983 and later you can roll L&N, SBD, and Clinchfield all into Family Lines.
But as has already been mentioned, it depends on online industry and where the loads originated or where they were going. Did this line have a through connection?
Did any SF/SP/UP cars ever turn up in one of N&W's yards during the 1970's/1980's?
How about EL cars? Didn't the N&W do some run-through freights with the EL for a bit?
Probably, There is a Cotton Belt car on a train in this video. 2.21+/-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JOn9vi1Jcs