Growing up on long Island in the early 70's, all I saw were LIRR passenger trains. When i would venture out to Sunnyside Yard in Queens, NY, I would see more passenger trains and some freight trains sitting there. When traveling on family vacations, I would see both freight and passenger. Now, I see, as others do, mostly intermodal and tank trains, along with auto racks. In NJ, where I now live, I can watch on YouTube a live feed from CSX CP10 and see it many dedicated trains as well as mixed freight with lots of colorful (and dirty) freight cars of all types. On my model railroad layout, the box cars are from various railroads, very colorful, and I enjoy it as do others when we run trains.
Neal
When my best friend Bill and I would watch trains on the C&NW in the mid 1960s one of our favorite games was "this car could have been pulled by steam." There were still wood single sheathed box cars in use back then, and locally a tannery got its hides in them. The early built dates intrigued us. There were also still wood ice bunker reefers and now and then, a 2 bay "war emergency" hopper that had not had its wood sides replaced by steel. Most of those wood hoppers were CB&Q it seems to me. 8000 gallon riveted side tank cars were also still quite common.
Most freight cars seemed to be boxcars back then and when you'd see a long train, the differences in car height were amazing. And of course the 1960s also saw very large cars, auto parts boxcars, huge tank cars, and so on. The variety and the disparity between newest and oldest was astounding.
I still enjoy seeing any kind of train but I do think the 1960s saw the most interesting blend of modern era large capacity cars with cars dating back to the wood car/early steel era and everything in between.
Dave Nelson
Now I understand what I was feeling all these years when watching the real trains. I just couldn't pinpoint what it was, or put it into words. But basically most of you just did that. Thank-you. Although, I feel sad about it as it's the way of the future.
Oh, and someone mentioned graffiti on autoracks and hoppers. That's about the only cheerful thing I look forward seeing when a train passes by nowadays. To me, graffiti break up the monotony of colours (lack thereof) and shapes and bring a temporary disruption.
Lastly, I hate to say it, but watching the vehicles on the highway seems more interesting than watching trains on the railroad, if we consider the variety in appearance (I just drove back from the LHS and was stuck on the highway for an hour, go figure).
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TrainzLuvr Lastly, I hate to say it, but watching the vehicles on the highway seems more interesting than watching trains on the railroad, if we consider the variety in appearance (I just drove back from the LHS and was stuck on the highway for an hour, go figure).
Really? It appears we're awash with a whole lot of cars that look the same and are painted silver.
Why, when I was a lad, things were MUCH better:
Tailfins and swoopy's all over the place. Why the '59 Chevy could slice off an arm. And probably did. And then there were TWO-TONE cars! And real fake wood on things called station wagons. Giant glass windows. White wall tires.
You kids, today. You don't know what you missed.
Ed
Station wagons are still around. They just renamed them SUVs.
CG
CentralGulf Station wagons are still around. They just renamed them SUVs. CG
"Crossovers" are station wagons in everything but name.
I can see busy tracks from my office window and I think people are dismissive of the variety of equipment and road names that are out there. Even a stack train could have eight or nine different types of rolling stock and dozens of container owners.
Cars all look the same these days and I suppose to some extent you could say the same about trains.
Joe Staten Island West
riogrande5761 Since young folk today have no point of reference to compare modern trains to old trains of 25 or 50 years ago, then how or why would they feel board [sic] by what they see? Does that make sense? They would be seeing trains as you did when you were young, and either be drawn to them or not. Some kids are naturally drawn to trains and some, probably most, don't see them as anything special.
Since young folk today have no point of reference to compare modern trains to old trains of 25 or 50 years ago, then how or why would they feel board [sic] by what they see? Does that make sense? They would be seeing trains as you did when you were young, and either be drawn to them or not. Some kids are naturally drawn to trains and some, probably most, don't see them as anything special.
I didn't see steam engines as a kid - they were before my time - but I knew what they were, from photos, films, and model trains. I could appreciate them intrinisically without experiencing them firsthand. It is possible that a kid could be interested by the variety seen in model trains moreso than in contemporary real-world freight trains, especially when they are nothing but strings of shipping containers (as they are in my region).
A lot of the "things are all the same" discussion really means people aren't familiar with the differences so don't see them or don't bother to learn the differences.
The transisition era was all 40 ft boxcars and twin hoppers until people started learning the difference between the various car types (a PRR X29 is not the same as a USRA steel boxcar).
People tell me the 1880-1910 era cars are "all the same", but there is a huge variety of cars. If you know what to look for and actually take the time to look for them.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Regarding boxcars, one thing that was interesting back in the day was seeing the various railroads' slogans sprawled across the cars - "The Route of Phoebe Snow," "Way of the Zephyrs," "The Peoria Gateway," "The Silver Meteor," etc. The slogans seemed to suggest a magical world waiting to be explored.
Shock Control Regarding boxcars, one thing that was interesting back in the day was seeing the various railroads' slogans sprawled across the cars - "The Route of Phoebe Snow," "Way of the Zephyrs," "The Peoria Gateway," "The Silver Meteor," etc. The slogans seemed to suggest a magical world waiting to be explored.
You mean how like Hamburg Sud (Germany), ZIM (Israel), MSC (Switzerland), CMA CGM (France), Hanjin (South Korea), COSCO (China), and Mitsui O.S.K. (Japan) on all those containers suggest a magical world waiting to be explored? All those boxes full of the produce of the world, brought right to our doors, from exotic lands.
NittanyLionYou mean how like Hamburg Sud (Germany), ZIM (Israel), MSC (Switzerland), CMA CGM (France), Hanjin (South Korea), COSCO (China), and Mitsui O.S.K. (Japan) on all those containers suggest a magical world waiting to be explored? All those boxes full of the produce of the world, brought right to our doors, from exotic lands.
There's no magic left, it's all pure, cold hearted, commerce now. Boxes full of produce heading for walmarts around the country.
NittanyLion You mean how like Hamburg Sud (Germany), ZIM (Israel), MSC (Switzerland), CMA CGM (France), Hanjin (South Korea), COSCO (China), and Mitsui O.S.K. (Japan) on all those containers suggest a magical world waiting to be explored? All those boxes full of the produce of the world, brought right to our doors, from exotic lands.
NittanyLion Shock Control Regarding boxcars, one thing that was interesting back in the day was seeing the various railroads' slogans sprawled across the cars - "The Route of Phoebe Snow," "Way of the Zephyrs," "The Peoria Gateway," "The Silver Meteor," etc. The slogans seemed to suggest a magical world waiting to be explored. You mean how like Hamburg Sud (Germany), ZIM (Israel), MSC (Switzerland), CMA CGM (France), Hanjin (South Korea), COSCO (China), and Mitsui O.S.K. (Japan) on all those containers suggest a magical world waiting to be explored? All those boxes full of the produce of the world, brought right to our doors, from exotic lands.
I don't see large text on shipping containers, at least not on the ones in the region where I live. I see blank containers. If the name is on the container someplace, it is not legible from reasonable distances. On the mid-century boxcars, the slogans generally took up a quarter or more of a side.
Right.
EVERGREEN spread all along the side of a green container is being shy and dainty?
Visually, the paint and lettering schemes on the sides of containers are exactly the same as boxcars fron the '50's and '60's.
Actually, I will agree. Sort of. As much as I see a pretty broad use of "big letters" across containers, I don't see ANY great graphics.
THAT is pathetic.
All hail McGinnis!!!!
I'm fortunate enough to live close to a CN line and a NS yard. The variety of locos and cars is great! Regional short lines in our area also make for varied consists. Check out the Facebook "Foamer Nation" page managed by one of our local modelers and see stills and video from all over the country, as well as our area.
Hi!
Can't disagree with the OP............ I've been a train nut since the late "40s" (that is 1940s) and spent my youth marveling at the CNW and IC trains in Chicago and southern Illinois. Those awe inspired experiences drove me into the hobby (Marx, then Lionel, then HO).
Most of the trains today (that I see) are consisted of the same type cars - auto carriers, or container flats, or covered hoppers, or tank cars. It is very unusual to see a mixed car freight train here.
I still marvel at the immensity and power and size of the trains, but they just don't inspire me at all.
As far as their effect upon youth......... well I would like to think they are impressed and in awe as I once was, but I suspect most are not..........
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Maybe it's because I don't see them too often, but the only time I'm bored/disappointed with a passing train is when it's really short.
To me the containers look better in a yard setting where you wil see all the differrent colors from my collection for example
Zim(burgandy) P&O (white and Blue some silver) CMA CSM (blue and white) Matson (White with big blue letters) Hanjin (Red) US Army (Olive) Evergreen (Green and White or White on Green).
Thats why I have an intermodal yard The SIW has no room for long trains but then neither does Staten Island :) So having a yard full of containers and one string of Kato well cars works for me.
I've always thought that the Santa Fe 40' boxcars with the system maps were cool. I learned my geography as a kid from watching those cars! I also loved the way railroards used their boxcars to advertise their named trains. The Chief, The Super Chief, The El Capitan, The Grand Canyon, etc. Each one as exciting as the next.
"Shovel all the coal in, gotta keep 'em rolling" John.
I agree there is a lot of variety in the names on those modern containers, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A name like P&O, or Maersk, Hanjin, or Matson, or even Evergreen, may evoke something in somebody's imagination, but not mine. In the old days, those names were accompanied by slogans: "Everywhere West"; "Linking Thirteen Great States With The Nation"; "The Southern Serves The South"; "The Route of Phoebe Snow". I agree with Ed (7j43k): Logos were more distinctive, perhaps best examplified by New Haven's intertwined script. My imagination is not jolted and captured by those modern paint schemes, irrespective of the equipment they are painted on.
Tom
Another factor that the OP may be getting at is that modern trains tend to be unit trains. All one commodity or rolling stock. Looking at 150 well cars with domestic containers all labled "JB Hunt" for example or 150 tank cars etc can get tedious.
I still call mine a station wagon even if FORD does not:
And it is interesting that its major dimensions match this very close:
Yes, without question, "boring" is in the mind of the individual........
I don't like modern trains or most modern cars......But the FLEX, well that is the best car I have owned since I owned one of those Checkers......
Sheldon
ATLANTIC CENTRAL
VERY nice, Sheldon! You sure don't see too many of those these days. I bet the back seat of a Checker has more room than the entire interior of most modern economy cars.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
7j43k Right. EVERGREEN spread all along the side of a green container is being shy and dainty? Visually, the paint and lettering schemes on the sides of containers are exactly the same as boxcars fron the '50's and '60's. Actually, I will agree. Sort of. As much as I see a pretty broad use of "big letters" across containers, I don't see ANY great graphics. THAT is pathetic. All hail McGinnis!!!! Ed
I think they accept the realities of their environs that the containers live in. They have short, brutal lives getting banged around and exposed to salt air. Why waste paint?I watched an intermodal train go by my office today and learned (from the side of a bright blue CMA CGM container) that some containers use bamboo flooring these days.
And Dong Fang's little dolphins amuse me. I miss Mitsui OSK's alligator. Haven't see one of those in a long time.
tstage ATLANTIC CENTRAL VERY nice, Sheldon! You sure don't see too many of those these days. I bet the back seat of a Checker has more room than the entire interior of most modern economy cars. Tom
Tom,
I learned to drive on a 1969 Checker wagon almost identical to the one in the photo, same colors and all. My father special ordered it brand new. Then I later owned three others, two sedans and a wagon.
All Checkers have a flat back seat floor, no drive shaft tunnel. The sedans have 57" of leg room, about 30" of flat open floor, the rear seat is basicly behind the doors. The wagons have less for the folding seat, but still have plenty of room.
That 1969 wagon I learned to drive on lasted 14 years, 270,000 miles, when my sister crashed it........others had similar life spans in terms of mileage....in a day when most cars only lasted 100,000 miles.
I saw American Graffiti seven times at the drive-in in that red Checker wagon.......
The FLEX is the first modern car to have the comfort, utility and space that can compete with the Checker design, combined with modern features - 360 HP twin turbo V6, all wheel drive, etc. The Checker actually got slightly better gas mileage than the FLEX does. Some of the Checkers had V8's, they got about 20 mpg on the highway. Some had inline 6 cylinders, the wagon I had with a six got 28 mpg highway......from a full sized car.
The red FLEX in the photo is actually gone now, the wife was in a crash and totaled it in Oct 2015, but it has been replaced with an all white 2015 FLEX LIMITED with all the same features. The car saved the lives of my wife and grandchildren, no question, only the most minor injuries.
Yes, we love our big boxy "station wagon", and with 360 HP from twin turbos, it runs away from a lot of "sporty" cars.....
ATLANTIC CENTRAL All Checkers have a flat back seat floor, no drive shaft tunnel. The sedans have 57" of leg room, about 30" of flat open floor, the rear seat is basicly behind the doors. The wagons have less for the folding seat, but still have plenty of room. That 1969 wagon I learned to drive on lasted 14 years, 270,000 miles, when my sister crashed it........others had similar life spans in terms of mileage....in a day when most cars only lasted 100,000 miles.
Sheldon,
With a 35" inseam, 57" of leg room is music to my thighs.
I had heard that the Checkers had great life spans; making them quite adept for taxi service - with the bonus of their abundance of rear seating room for multiple fares. I've known only one other person to have owned a Checker. And I remember it being a very quiet car - both inside and out.
NittanyLion I think they accept the realities of their environs that the containers live in. They have short, brutal lives getting banged around and exposed to salt air. Why waste paint?I watched an intermodal train go by my office today and learned (from the side of a bright blue CMA CGM container) that some containers use bamboo flooring these days. And Dong Fang's little dolphins amuse me. I miss Mitsui OSK's alligator. Haven't see one of those in a long time.
Myself, I'm especially fond of Evergreen: Big old billboard lettering. AND. They haven't changed the lettering scheme in about forever. Very convenient, era-wise.
As opposed to Hanjin and Hyundai, that each have at least two lettering variations to consider.
I'm also fond of this one:
http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH27847
It's Saudi. Not something ya see too often over here.
If you have to repeatedly put a child into a car seat and get them out again, you'll notice there is much more to the difference between a station wagon and an SUV than just the name!
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
riogrande5761 CentralGulf Station wagons are still around. They just renamed them SUVs. CG If you have to repeatedly put a child into a car seat and get them out again, you'll notice there is much more to the difference between a station wagon and an SUV than just the name!
Respectfully, that depends a lot on the "station wagon". The long, low, miserable cars of the 60's and 70's, yes. The low, small, cramped cars of today maybe so, but few of even the "crossovers" truely qualify as a "station wagon" in my view.
We care for two grandchildren at our house, and we have owned our share of SUV's, namely FORD EXPLORERS, and we are now 60 years old, plus or minus.
As a daily passenger/pleasure vehicle I don't want a vehicle that I have to "climb up into", nor do I want a vehicle I have to "fall down into" and then "climb out of". The FLEX requires niether, just like a Checker or a 55 Chevy, the seats are at the correct height for easy entry and exit. A fact not lost on my wife who has Rheumitoid Arthritis.
Originally, SUV's were just station wagons built on a pickup truck chassis. They have evolved, but winter weather/light off road ground clearance still requires them to be high enough to require "climbing up".
For work and winter weather I have this:
Most cars have not been designed for real utility in more than 50 years now. In most cases, it is all about "style", or fuel economy, or ego gratification, or as much of all three as they an squeeze in.
The FLEX defies the 50 year trend and captures much of the utility of the CHECKER, or the INTERNATIONAL TRAVELALL - form follows function.....so far, like the CHECKER, the FLEX body design has not materially changed in the 9 years it has been on the market. While CHECKER made improvements, the core design was the same from 1956 until the end of production in 1983.
It's real easy to get the grand kids in and out of their car seats in our FLEX station wagon.......we didn't have car seats like today when I raised my kids driving a CHECKER.
Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To me the Checker is a great looking car, so is the FLEX. Corvettes, not so much. Judging on looks alone, my all time favorite is the 58 Impala. Most all new cars are boring, just like modern freight trains. And I really hate the non discript washed out metalic paint colors on cars in the last 30-40 years........