Detailing a retired box car

[tstage]

Greetings!

I posted a resemblance or this over at Railfan.com, on the Fallen Flag forum, but have yet to receive a response.

I am trying to do some research in order to historically detail a couple of buildings on my HO layout. The buildings - American Model Builders Box Car Depot kit - are fashioned after old 36' wooden box cars, like what the RR's used to do when they deserviced a freight car that might be too old or not safe enough keep in service but still useful enough around or, in this case, in the yard. (Here is the photo from AMB's web site:)



My question is this: Which older RR companies would have been absorbed by the NYC, whose decals and information I could use to detail these old box cars with? Also, what color would those box cars have been? I'd like to have some of the box car details (i.e. weight, BLT date, etc. - like the photograph above) still visible on the outside of the building in order to both give it a more realistic appearance on my layout and recognize where the building actually came from. See picture below:

I have already gone to Microscale's web site but I couldn't find any decals specific to the older wooden NYC boxcars. (Mostly modern - i.e. 1950-68. They didn't even have the NYC&HRR listed.)

Anyhow, many thanks for your responses and input ahead of time. [:)]

Tom

[ericsp]

Here is the Conrail family tree. There is some information about NYC.
http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/000/381bqard.asp

[dehusman]

For 36 ft car decals, Art Griffin sells appropriate ones. New York and Hudson River, Boston and Albany, Big 4 would all be appropriate. They also might use a wrecked foreign line car that was too damaged to return. just about any boxcar red, dark reddish brown would be appropriate.

Dave H.

[rogerhensley]

Perhaps you didn't get a reply because you said you wanted available decals.

Big 4 and Michigan Central would be two, but there is a lack of decals for the time period that you want.

[dknelson]

My experience is that old cars used for storage often kept their reporting marks and logos; If the old car was used as a depot or office is was often repainted in company colors so decals would not be needed.
Here in the midwest we often see old old boxcars used as farm buildings. I have seen some real antiques while driving around Galesburg IL.
Another source of info for predecessor roads to the NYC (and other railroads) is George Drury's Historical Guide to North American Railroading (Kalmbach) -- not sure it is in print but often seen at swap meets
Dave Nelson

[dehusman]

There isn't a lack of decals, Griffin sells over a thousand different decals for the 1880-1920 era.

Dave H.

[orsonroy]

The NYC was an amalgamation of many different roads (almost a dozen), and by the 1920s was the second largest railroad in North America (next to the Pennsy). For a quickie history of the NYC, I highly recommend this book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0760306133/qid=1109085890/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-7187688-4605646?v=glance&s=books

As for lettering, try Art Griffith and Westerfield. Both have decals appropriate for the pre-WWII era for NYC rolling stock. The AMB car doesn't really look a whole lot like any NYC 36-footer, but it should be fine lettered for the MC or PMCKY. A great resource for finding decals for this hobby is:
http://www.greatdecals.com/

[tstage]

I had perused both the Art Griffin and Great Decals websites the other day but lacked more historical background. Orsonroy, you said that "the AMB car doesn't really look a whole lot like any NYC 36-footer, but it should be fine lettered for the MC or PMCKY"." I was wondering about that but hoped that maybe one of the other "absorbed" lines would fit that bill. I really like the detail on the AMB buildings.

Anyway, thanks for the additional help and information! I REALLY appreciate it, guys!! [:)]

Tom

[jrbarney]

Tom,
Just a thought, but have you looked at the dry transfer lettering for 36-footers in the Clover House catalogue ? :
http://www.cloverhouse.com
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[orsonroy]

Looking through photos of old NYC and affilliate roads, the car should be OK for several pre-1900 boxcars. The thing that bugged me was lack of corner braces (easily added with small strips of .010x.030 styrene) and the ends, but I can live with them (I'm now looking at buying two of these AMB cars for MOW service!). There are several photos on the NEB&W website (let's see if these links work):

http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Box-cars/36-foot/NYC-55749-shorty-xm-1898-cyc.jpg

http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Box-cars/36-foot/NYC-xm-1900.jpg

http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Box-cars/36-foot/NYC-94283-36-foot-wood-1906-cyc.jpg

http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Box-cars/36-Foot/NYC-36-xm-Bruins.jpg

http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Box-cars/36-foot/XM-shorty-P&LE-1910-ACF.jpg

http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Box-cars/36-foot/P&LE-box-1912.JPG

http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Box-cars/36-foot/XM-shorty-Mich-Central-32580-c-1890.jpg

There are a lot more photos on the NEB&W site, but you get the idea...

[tstage]

Ray,

That's GREAT!!! Exactly what I'm lookiing for! So, do you think that any boxcar red or brown paint ought to suffice?

Ray, I don't know if you've put together any other of the AMB kits. There is a white backing that peels off some of the pieces. I glued the inside shell and walls together with wood glue before I discovered that. Oh, well. They are very handsome models. I'm worried though. I may have trouble going back to styrene after this.

Tom

[orsonroy]

HI Tom,

Railroads are notoriously frugal, so yes, a much faded and a bit gritty boxcar red would be fine for this boxcar shed. I'd opt for a more brownish BCR than oxide red, since that was more of a Pennsy color (the NYC preferred a darker brown).

I've put together loads of the AMB kits, mostly their cabooses. While they are really nice kits, I wouldn't throw away the plastic yet. I find that it's much easier to scratchbuild in plastic, as the whole process is much faster (plastic glues faster, cuts more easily, and requires much less prep time). Plastic also looks more like wood at scale distances: youwopuldn't want to go anywhere NEAR wood with 1-2 scale FOOT splinters sticking out of it, which is how a lot of wook kits end up looking! I generally reserve my wood use on the layout for bridges, fences and whichever Branchline or AMB house kit my wife decided to buy me for a present!