Canadian Pacific boxcars question

[cpbc]

Thanks for links Rick

and thanks for photos and info Wayne... much appreciated.

[cpbc]

Hi thanks for the info :)

i just placed an order for 4 Intermountain 45410’s. That should do for now.

Good to know you are into CP stuff too

[doctorwayne]

In addition to the cars mention by Dave and Rick (the 1932 Atlas cars are actually of the ARA, not the later AAR, recommended design), Trueline offers the CPR Minibox (a CPR design, it was used by only the CPR) and they would have lasted well into your chosen era. Lettering would have been in either the original style or perhaps some of the later ones - you'd need to research that a bit.  TrueLine's version of the1937 AAR recommended design is, I think, the only truly accurate version of the CPR cars, as they have the NSC proprietary ends, and Trueline also offers the Fowler 36' single sheathed wooden car.  Those latter ones were also an original CPR design of the first decade of the 20th century, although a number of North American railroads owned versions, too.  Despite their age, they were still in use in the '60s, often the only car suitable for grain loading on the lightly laid rail of prairie branchlines.

I'll also include the Accurail and Walthers (formerly Train Miniature) cars.  While they may not have the free-standing details of the others mentioned, they can be made into some very acceptable stand-ins, and the newly released Accurail Fowlers are certainly more affordable than the others.  The CPR owned over 33,000 of them.

You'll have four lettering schemes from which to choose, most of which are shown below.

This is an Accurail car, lettered with C-D-S dry transfers.  It's wearing a version of the original lettering scheme (not counting even earlier versions which would not have been in use in your chosen timeframe)...

...same lettering, but this time on a Train Miniature (now Walthers) USRA steel boxcar, modified to represent a 1932 ARA recommended design.  It's not totally accurate, but a reasonable (and affordable) stand-in...

Another TM car, this one has the lettering scheme introduced in 1947...

The "Spans the World" scheme was superseded by the "stepped" CPR design around 1951, and is shown below on another Accurail car...

This is LifeLike Canada's version of the 36' Fowler car.  It originally came with free-standing grabirons, but they were plastic and overly thick, and I've replaced them all (over a dozen cars) with custom-bent wire ones... 

The TrueLine car is, I believe, a re-release of the original LifeLike Canada car, which had some inaccuracies.
 
The car shown below is from Accurail, and other than the notation referring to the International of Maine Division (a CPR subsidiary), the lettering is typical of what would be found on any CPR wooden cars...

Another stand-in made from a Train Miniature car, this is a faux CPR Minibox.  The main modifications were to the sidesills, adding the gussets at the bolsters and beneath the door.  However, the door is too wide (6' rather than the protoype's 5'), the Dreadnaught ends are wrong (should be indented bulges) and the peaked roof would have been a radial style (curved).  It's on the layout only because the TrueLine cars are hard to find and I haven't had time to scratchbuild a couple for myself...

In 1959 (I have a reference to 1954, which I think is a misprint), CPR introduced the "script" lettering scheme.  I don't have a photo (I sold-off a number of such cars when I backdated my layout, long before the time of digital cameras), but this scheme evolved over time, becoming progressively larger, until some versions had CANADIAN on one side of the door, and PACIFIC on the other.  Only the original version would be seen in your chosen timeframe.

Wayne

[dti406]

Welcome to the MR Forum.

Here is a website with a lot of information on Steam Era Freight Cars.

http://www.steamerafreightcars.com/prototype/frtcars/protofrtcarsmain.html

I did a quick perusal and found that the CP had:

1932 AAR Cars - Available from Atlas

1937 AAR Cars - Available from Intermountain and Red Caboose

1944 AAR Cars - Available from Atlas and Intermountain

PS1 40' Boxcars - Available from Kadee & Intermountain

I did not list Accurail, Athearn and Walthers as their cars are not the quality of the ones I listed.

If they do not have cars decorated for the CP they all have undecorated cars and decals for the CP are available from http://www.blackcatdecals.com/

Rick Jesionowski

[hon30critter]

Hi cpbc:

Welcome to the forums!!    

I'm a CP fan too. I think you have already made some good choices. I have several InterMountain F series in CP maroon and grey and they run great. Rapido is a little out of my price bracket, but if I had the money I would certainly go for them.

InterMountain's freight cars are very well done. Both Rapido's passenger cars and freight cars are extremely well done, although the freight car selection is a bit thin. Another maker to consider is True Line trains. Atlas RTR is decent too.

Dave

[cpbc]

Hi,

I’m new here ... and seeking advice about CP boxcars.

Your opinion please of best make and model numbers ... with top quality authentic details, as well as good mechanical.

Im just getting into trains and model railway stuff ... and would appreciate some help from people who know lots about trains and model railroads

My specific interest: CP diesel during mid 1950’s to early 60’s.

I’ve purchased 3 locomotives in HO scale ... Intermountain FP7A, F7B and a Rapido FP9A.

And also six CP passenger heavies.

I have limited space, but was able to get an 8x5 DCC layout I like ... just waiting for a few more track pieces to finish and then construct a table.

Fictional layout will have a small station in BC Canada for passengers and a freight building with team track on the other side. So am interested to have some boxcars for a LCL purpose train and separate passenger train. Or may, at times, run mixed.

 

Thanks for any help with this