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The particular model of ore car that your link refers to would have been brand spanking new in the late 1960's/early 70's. Well, new as in referring to style, the cars themselves would have been quite beat up. A little on the history: Up until the mid-late 60's, ore cars carried raw ore, which was quite heavy. Hence, they were short in both length and height. In the 60's, mines started running dry on high grade ore, so switched to processing low grade ore (as an aside, high grade ore was generally mined underground, and low grade always mined from pits). The ore is processed into pellets, which are not as heavy as the raw high grade ore. Hence, more in a car. Railroads put side extensions on the top of the old ore cars so that they could carry more. This is the type of car that the Walthers model accurately reflects. Both of the MDC styles represent ore cars without the extensions, and therefore are appropriate for high grade ore. In case you want to know, the Walthers car is modelled after a Missabe car; the MDC taper side an LS&I car, and the MDC rectangular side a Milwaukee style. Clarification: these are NOT "taconite" cars. They are pellet cars. Taconite is a type of ore only found on appreciable quantities on the Mesabi Range in Minnesota, and is only profitable when processed into pellets. Hematite and magnetite are the other two main ores which are also pelletized. And yes, I do fancy myself a bit of an expert on this subject, so if you have any futher questions, feel free to ask.
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