I'm also kind of "loose" on built dates. I model from the early 60's to mid 70's. For example I have a Burlington Northern covered hopper (did the merger between the GN and the CB&Q even occur in that time period?), and it has a 1986 build date on it. Is that appropriate for the time period I'm modeling? I don't know, but I'm also leaning towards the free-lanced side of things.
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
Yikes, I forgot about the ORER as well.
I have two of them (44 and 58) and they have served me well when I was building my fleet years ago.
One in your timeframe should answer most or all of your car availability questions.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
NVSRRIs there a comprehensive list of freight car designs and the time frame they operated? Example. A 40 foot boxcar design A, built by builder, operated from 1930 to 1949. A list like that I am looking to go through my fleet and remove all cars not operating in the modern time frame.
There is, but not the way you asked the question.
As stated, there is no list and there isn't really a way to generate that list. Railroad A might have ordered a car from one builder and operated it unti 1983 while Railroad B operated their cars until 1991. If you are modeling 1985, then yes, the design was in service, but only for railroad B. If you have a railroad A model of that car its out of your era.
However there are Official Railway Equipment Registers (ORER's) that are books that look like large phone books, issued quarterly, that list every car in interchange service in N America. They give the, initials, numbers, dimensions and capacities of the cars, NOT the builder or "model" of the car, nor does it tell you what the paint scheme was.
If you are really interested I would suggest getting an ORER from 2009 or 2010 (or as close as you can get). They are available on E-Bay, railroad swap meets or delaers in railroad books and paper.
You can use that info to cross reference with model cars to see if the model is an actual number, if its listed in your era, and if the model matches the description of the car.
For example, I have a Jan 2008 ORER in my collection. Looking at some recent cars for sale, there is a Hornby DRGW 60900 boxcar, a Scaletrains CSXT 493005 coil gon and an Atlas FURX 733790 bulkhead flat advertised for sale.
Looking at the ORER, in the listing for the UP, the DRGW section, there are no cars listed in the 60000-60999 series. That would indicate that that car DRGW 60900 is NOT appropriate for a 2008 (or 2010) era layout.
In the ORER, in the listing for the CSXT, the CSXT section, there are no cars listed in the 491581-493999 series. That would indicate that that car CSXT 493005 is NOT appropriate for a 2008 (or 2010) era layout.
In the ORER, in the listing for First Union, FURX section, there is a listing for a 733793 that is a 73 ft bulkhead flatcar, which matches the dimensions for the Atlas car. However FURX 733790, the number on the model, is not listed. Then it becomes up to you to decide whether being in the correct series, but technically not a valid number for 2008 or later is acceptable to you (I would take it).
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Model the same era and they did have covered hoppers and container cars. The covered hoppers were wood and the container cars looked nothing like modern ones. Where I fudge is on dates printed on cars and war cars (they look like the time period and there were some early examples that most people would say looked generaly the same.
NHTX....Restricting your car fleet to nothing older than 2010 would not only be unrealistic but, will be pretty boring as well. f
I agree, but what the OP actually said was...
NVSRR....I am looking to go through my fleet and remove all cars not operating in the modern time frame.
For that, you will likely have a good deal of research to do, depending, of course, on the cars that you currently own. Some model manufacturers, especially recent ones offering models very true-to-prototype, will state the date that the real ones were built and any other pertinent dates within the lifespan of those cars. For older models, don't believe, without reservation, the BLT. dates printed on the car - some may be accurate, but some not at all. Likewise for the roadnames on the models you have - if they're models based on real cars (even if not particularly accurate) you may be able to locate info on the prototype, and decide if it fits within your chosen timeframe or not.
I model the late '30s, and, for the most part, try to keep the rolling stock appropriate for that era. However, I'm not above making exceptions - my penchant for 40s/50s-era covered hoppers dispenses with my "rules", and because my layout is for a freelanced railway, I have no compunction about warping time just a bit.These scratchbuilt Dominion-Fowler boxcars, converted to dual-sevice covered hoppers/boxcars are not necessarily prototypical, but they are at least within the realm of possibility...
...of course, once you step onto the slippery slope of freelancing, you may slide further than originally intended. This prototype of this one dates from 1935...
...and this one, built from a Bowser kit purports to be built in 1937...
...so how hard would it be to believe this one dates from 1936...
...or this one, from 1934...
Do I care? Well, enough at least to decide that my free-lanced railroad, which commissioned the conversion of those Dominion-Fowler cars, also had a big finger in the carbuilding pie, and actually owns the patents that ACF and Pullman-Standard used to build cars like the last four shown above.
That's my story, anyway, and I'm stickin' to it!
Wayne
Freight Cars used in INTERCHANGE have a 40 year service life mandated by the AAR and regulatory bodies, unless the car is rebuilt to the extent it could be considered the equivalent of a new car and, quailfy for a new RBLT date instead of a BLT date.
Cars OVER 40 years old may continue in service but MAY NOT BE INTERCHANGED, or leave home rails. Cars not fit for interchange but are still serviceable for on-line use may be put into a special number series as well as having conspicuous markings such as "DO NOT INTERCHANGE" applied, and go on to serve their owner for years after their interchange days are over.
In restricting your "modern" era to 2010-to date, you will be excluding half to 75 percent of the equipment presently serving America from being replicated in your car fleet. Only now, in 2019, are the Pullman-Standard 5277 and 5344 cubic foot and FMC 5077, 5277 and 5347 cu. ft. box cars that first apppeared in the Incentive Per Diem fleets of obscure shortlines now facing the scrappers. These cars traded their gaudy first operator paint schemes long ago for ugly patch-outs and, went on to serve many subsequent lessors. Consider all of the cars making up the nation's active freight car fleet that are still in service such as all the corn syrup tank cars built between 1989 and today! These cars are in pretty much a captive, one commodity, service. They receive a higher degree of maintenance as food service cars and their appearance does not betray their 30-or more years of age. Restricting your car fleet to nothing older than 2010 would not only be unrealistic but, will be pretty boring as well. f
Sice some railroads have a lot of track now, interchange rules have no bering on a lot of trafic.
This is a slightly related question. Do cars no longer allowed in revenue service get marked? How?
I do have a pair of boxcars which I built (Tichy kits) when I built my leather tannery complex. They are clearly marked "Hide Service Only" because once a car is loaded with hides, the odor makes it unsuitable for anything else.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I tried to pose the question simply. Knowing mow. And cars used on the line that are beyound interchange life. I do have a couple of thise that would classify as such
2010 to present is about it time wise. So i want to keep it reality now that i am at the point where operations are starting to appear because construction is coming down to weathering, details, and improvements
I just thought of paint schemes as well That would have time lines
Much of that information is available, but pretty much on a car by car basis.
I am a real stickler for having rail cars that fit my time frame of the 1950s, with nothing built later than 1959. So that was my top date, and the bottom was the late 20s or so, depending on the cars trucks, etc.
You have a problem on the other end, in that your concentration should be on the build date, but not too early. Assuming your definition of "modern" is say 2010 to present, then I probably would not want any cars on the layout with a build date of say 1989 or earlier.
Know this however....a lot of cars were held onto for maintenance of way, or storage, or just the fact that they were still serviceable. So you could certainly be legitimate in having build dates of the '70s/'80s without much question.
If you do end up with specific cars you question, I would present that to the Forum or Google the particular car model / builder.
Is there a comprehensive list of freight car designs and the time frame they operated? Example. A 40 foot boxcar design A, built by builder, operated from 1930 to 1949. A list like that I am looking to go through my fleet and remove all cars not operating in the modern time frame.
Wolfie