I can be as good at research at anyone!
The remarks about King Solomon above are exactly on target.
You can look at the Built or Repaint/Shop dates on every single freight car you pick up. You can determine the end of the steam era on your railroad, real or imagined and set a month and year in time as your final cutoff date for steam operations.
However, what happens, or at least what happened for me personally, is only heartache.
Excepting the plethora of Pacific Fruit Express Reefers, the number of TRUE 100% steam era freight cars available on the market is NOT whatever you think it is. In MANY cases, the 40' boxcars readily available from Kadee or elsewhere represent repainted cars that do NOT belong behind steam, even if you are modeling Colorado & Southern during fall of 1962 (the last gasp of mainline, Class 1 railroad, steam operation in America, with only one 2-8-0 still running.)
Those beautiful Rutland PS-1 green and yellow boxcars date from 1957, after most railroads had abandoned steam. The Blue and Black B&M boxcars, from 1956. The hot yellow Kadee ACY boxcar is a 1964 repaint of an earlier freight car red boxcar, and was limited to very few yellow repaints (perhaps only ACY 745). The red GB&W Kadee 40' boxcar is a 1968 repaint, and on and on it goes. The vast majority of Kadee 50' boxcars do not belong behind steam at all, are 1957 and later boxcars.
Excepting the refrigerator cars, most steam era freight cars were brown, black, or occasionally silver (tank cars).
Most Intermountain ATSF stock cars are post-steam era rebuilds and repaints. Only the early ones belong behind steam. Many Intermountain ATSF reefers represent post-steam era repaints.
People like myself, born during 1968, tend to prefer more modern freight cars including the colorful boxcars of the 1960's and 1970's. It can be difficult to rationalize putting any of them behind a steam engine, or even early diesels (a lot of Alco road switchers were already going to scrap by the mid-1960's).
It's my railroad, and I run what I want to run on it. Unfortunately, that means most of my freight cars are averaging 1 decade or more too new as compared to the factual last dates of operation of my steam power in real life.
Respectfully submitted,
John Mock
P.S. I cannot tell you the number of times I have been in a store and picked up an interesting new freight car, contemplated buying it, and then put it down realizing that it was just way way too new for "transition era" modeling, at any stretch.
One of the reasons I sold so much plastic recently was the realization that virtually my entire freight car roster was so implausibly modern as compared to my steam power (Rock Island 2-8-2's scrapped during February, 1953, and T&P steam, scrapped by 1952) that my trains were somewhat of a "joke".
Gary,
One of the things you may want to consider are the built and re-weigh dates on the cars you do acquire. They should fall within the end date for the era you choose. I suppose that that date could be a bit later for a short line than with a major, maybe an extra 8 - 10 years? Not only do you want to avoid car bodies that didn't yet exist, you can have old bodies that have been refurbed and repainted with dates beyond your established range. If you acquire a pre-lettered car that has dates that are incompatible with the bodies or are beyond the end of your era, you may be subject to two issues: the sharp eyes of RR-minded folks admiring your pike, or the labors you'll have to go through to re-letter them. That's a factor of just how exact (anal?) you are with such things.
And one thing to keep in mind on your research: King Solomon said that "Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body." I'm discovering too late how true that is! I wonder if anyone has ever discussed in these forums the "down-side" of research and how to recognize when it's time to wind it up . . .
John
One thing you'll notice looking at transition era freight trains is the difference in car sizes. You could have a 50', 10-1/2' high boxcar coupled to a 38' 8-1/2' high reefer. Although the 40' by 8-1/2' steel boxcar became standard for new construction in the late thirties, in the 1950's you could still find quite a few 40' by 8-1/2' boxcars - some all steel, some with single-sheathed or double-sheathed wood sides.
One thing to keep in mind is you not only need to learn about what types of cars are appropriate, you need to know which paint schemes are appropriate. A boxcar built in 1942 would be fine on your layout - unless it's decorated for Penn Central or Burlington Northern!
sone
7j43kThere is a list of every freight car in interchange for any quarter of any year during that time. It is called the "Official Railway Equipment Register".
Westerfield Models http://www.westerfieldmodels.com/9101.html has some Official Equipment Registers on CD. The oldest is from 1885 and the latest 1965. Go to their secure store to find them.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
gdelmoro Hi all, I'm trying to find out what freight rolling stock is appropriate for the Steam - Diesel transition...but its Freight cars I need a resource for.
Hi all, I'm trying to find out what freight rolling stock is appropriate for the Steam - Diesel transition...but its Freight cars I need a resource for.
There is a list of every freight car in interchange for any quarter of any year during that time. It is called the "Official Railway Equipment Register".
Ed
Lumber would be boxcars and flat cars, freight house would be boxcars
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Try any one of the links below. You can search by date on some of them.
http://www.steamerafreightcars.com/
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/Search/SearchPhotos.aspx
http://photos.greatrails.net/search/
Some of these will have photos of yards and trains, which will give you a good idea of the mix. If you have a parent road or a road you interchange with you can search for cars under their reporting marks too.
Assuming a no-later-than date of 1955, you'll see a combo of wood and steel cars, 40' and 50' boxcars, few covered hoppers, and a wide range of other cars.
Modeling whatever I can make out of that stash of kits that takes up half my apartment's spare bedroom.
Hi all, I'm trying to find out what freight rolling stock is appropriate for the Steam - Diesel transition. My layout is basically a short line with access to a large city, and about 4 Industries (Lumber mill, Lumber yard, a Car Ferry service that links to the Western pacific, a freight terminal and two passanger stops). The passenger cars are easier to date but its Freight cars I need a resource for.
Gary