Freight &/or Passanger cars for ....

[Anonymous]

I recently purchased a IHC Pacific 4-6-2 Lackawana Steam loco (HO), and I was unsure of whay type of car(freight &/or passanger) to get that whould match the era of that loco. Being that I am new to the hobby, I'm not sure what to look for in. Could someone suggest cars that would most likely be pulled by this loco. Again, it could be ore cars, box cars, passanger cars, etc., I just need to know what exactly to look for as far as names and types.
Thans.

[CNJ831]

Without getting really specific (cars matching those actually run on the Lackawana, absolutely correct paint schemes, etc.) this steam locomotive puts you pretty much in the pre-1950 era. It is a passenger locomotive but could have been pressed into freight service in a pinch. Passenger cars would be old heavyweights (3-axles per truck) - Riv., Athearn, Bachmann and/or smooth sided pre-WWII lightweights (2-axle trucks) - Con Cor, Riv. et al. For freight, Accurail's box cars - double shealthed, out-side-braced, 1937 40' steel; a similar selection by Athearn; 1937 AAR and X-29 from Red Caboose. Wood reefers - just about anybody's but no "billboard" reefers unless modeling the 1920's/early 1930's. Just about any steel or composite gondola. Anybody's 8,000-10,000 gal standard-sized tank car. Just about any 34'-40' open hopper by Accurail, Athearn, MDC (avoid covered hoppers 'til you understand more about your era). Flat cars - most any with all wood decks and of normal length. Caboose - any standard wood or steel (generally avoid bay window or extended vision examples).

The above is a highly generalized listing but it will put all your cars in the same era as your locomotive. If one were to be specific the answer could fill pages! I'm sure others will have additional suggestions.

John

[joseph2]

Yes,on occasion a 4-6-2 would haul a freight train.Avoid roadnames like Penn Central,Burlington Northern,Erie Lackawanna,Norfolk Southern,Csx and Seaboard Coast Line they are all post1960.A lot of cars have the builders date painted on the side somewhere,so if it says blt-48 it means the car was built in 1948 and would probably meet your criteria.I agree with the other posting on the list of manufacturers.Above all have fun!

[Anonymous]

vwnobby;
If the locomotive is a semi-streamlined unit, it's pretty well going to be a passenger engine only. The Delaware,Lackawanna & Western is the full name of that fallen flag RR. "The Route of the Phoebe Snow" was a motto,and I think there may have been a set of Rivarossi or IHC passenger cars that were meant to go with it.
good luck & regards / Mike

[Anonymous]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I initialy wanted to have the loco pull coal cars, but that would mean I would have to set up some sort of facility on my layout. So I may go with the passanger cars. (By the way I've been planning a layout for a little over one year now.) Since I only have room for a 4x8 layout I have to conserve space. My main focus of the layout is going to modern intermodal. Most of the layout is going to be dedicated to that. But since I just recently aquired the 4-6-2 Steam loco, I wanted to add it to the layout. I know that most modelers will probably freak out when they hear that. But my plans are to have the steam loco on a dedicated track running in the background. If anyone has any suggestions on how to lay something like this out, I'm all ears. Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

well, the DL&W was pretty much a coal hauling railroad