The 70s

[soumodeler]

Does anybody make a 40' boxcar without the running boards, or will I have to take off some of them on mine? I don't like the thought of ripping something off of a Kadee boxcar!

soumodeler

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by soumodeler

Does anybody make a 40' boxcar without the running boards, or will I have to take off some of them on mine? I don't like the thought of ripping something off of a Kadee boxcar!

soumodeler

There are some kits out there that give you the option of adding or not adding the running board during assembly. Brand names escape me at the moment and I am at the office, not at home, so I can't check. You can pull the running board on the old Athearn Blue Box line, use the tabs on the underside to fill the holes in the roof, sand it smooth and paint it and you have a nice version of a "modernized" 40 foot (or 50 foot for that matter) box car. If you can't match the paint, then paint it aluminum and weather it. A lot of box car roofs were "metal" colored.

Enjoy!

[potlatcher]

QUOTE: An article in the now defunct Kalmbach magazine "Trains Illustrated" several years ago featured the then recent grain harvest in the Pacific Norrthwest and showed a "grain train" made up of all 40 foot boxcars pressed into service because no more covered hoppers were available. To top it off the power was a lash up of A & B F units. Except for the missing "roofwalks" and yellow beacons on top the locomotives (and the BN on the locomotives) it looked like the 1950s revisited.

The photos in that article were taken on both the ex-NP Central Washington Branch and the ex-GN Mansfield Branch. The reason they continued to use 40' boxcars was that the trackage on portions of those branches was too old and fragile to bear the weight of 100 ton grain hoppers. Thus the 50-ton boxcars remained in service until the tracks were either removed or rebuilt.

The F's were mainstays on the CW line during the late 70's, but the lashup would often include an elderly GP-7 to run cars on the spur between Davenport, WA and Eleanor - again because the relative light weight of the geep was less likely to damage the tracks.

I grew up in that area, but just a little too late to catch the F-unit action. Today, the Palouse River & Coulee City RR GP-30's and 35's that run on the CW and nearby P&L lines still put on a pretty good show.

Tom

[AntonioFP45]

BTW: Forgot to mention.

Earlier this year on t.v, one of the cable channels was running the classic 1970s "NBC Mystery Movies" series. I greatly enjoyed watching these police detective flicks as a kid. (Columbo, McMIllan & Wife, Hec Ramsey, and of course everybody's favorite cowboy: McCloud.)

I saw a "McCloud" episode. (Marshall McCloud is a New Mexico detective stationed in New York City---he always manages to get in trouble, give his boss a migraine, but get the bad guys in the end).

During a fight scene at a river dock, there were a number of freight cars present, including several 50ft. Boxcars. I noticed that they had Running Boards that were clearly visible and intact! I can't remember the road names, but I think one was in the Rio Grande scheme.

I'm not sure but based on most of the automobiles in the move, this episode was circa 1973-75. There were loads and loads of GMC Fishbowl buses in the "electric blue" paint scheme.

I always enjoy watching old tv movies and looking for any trains and buses in them.

[Anonymous]

I believe Branchline Trains, blueprint cars have solid roofs,you have to drill through the bottom if you want to add roofwalks, Intermountain , Accurail and Red Caboose, I think have small holes easy to fill. Intermountain kits had both high and low ladders and you could put brake wheel high or low. Accurail and Athearn have cast on ladders and brakewheel apparatus. Don't forget a lot of cars and locos had ACI labels on them, they started showing up in '69.

[Dayliner]

Like a lot of you, I was a teenager in the 70s, and thought I rememebered the decade well until I started trying to build a model railroad set in the seventies! One thing I do remember is reading a letter to the editor of MR, in which the author was poking fun at modellers of the future modelling the "picturesque" (read "decayed and run down") roads of the seventies. Yeah, he's right, I thought, that would be pretty lame. Ain't nostalgia wonderful?

I model the Canadian scene, and from your replies and my general recollections of the time, I wonder if things were a little different north of the border. Canadian roads in those days were generally ten years or so behind the American roads in adopting new developments (although some innovations, like wide cabs, moved from north to south). In the mid seventies, 40' boxcars, roof walks, station agents, and train orders were all part of the everyday scene. Grain moved not in covered hoppers, but in boxcars (the Government of Canada covered hoppers were just coming on the scene). Generally, too, things were better-maintained than I remember seeing in pictures of American roads (at least the eastern ones) in Trains magazine.

I wonder how accurate my recollections are? Any other Canadian fans/modellers out there care to share their memories?

Thanks,

[SpaceMouse]

Me, Disco? PLEEEEEEZE.

[Tracklayer]

QUOTE: Originally posted by West Coast S

Ah.. Spacemouse, Hustle to the strobe of the Disco Ball...BTW what did you name your pet rock?


Dave

I had to get rid of my pet rock. It bit me... ([:p])

Tracklayer

[AntonioFP45]

Good Goobly,

I enjoyed disco. In fact, back then when I was only 5ft. 9 inches tall, I dropped from a hefty 190 pounds to a slim and wiry 155 pounds from skating up a sweat at the rink to the disco music, which was very easy to dance to.

I used to wonder what in the world was it with all of the anti-disco crowds since no one was trying to shove disco down their throats, but they had their "Disco Sucks" shrits and posters. Yet, I didn't see any "Kiss Sucks" or "Black Sabbath Rots" shirts worn by disco fans, even though me and other kids I knew disliked the lyrics from those bands. A friend of mine summed it up as cultural bias, since disco's roots were from Latin and Soul rythyms.

But, time moved on, got along with people, and I still enjoyed trains.

[TrainFreak409]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

Good Goobly,

I enjoyed disco. In fact, back then when I was only 5ft. 9 inches tall, I dropped from a hefty 190 pounds to a slim and wiry 155 pounds from skating up a sweat at the rink to the disco music, which was very easy to dance to.

I LOVE ROLLER SKATING! Disco music, organ music, and then other songs with good beats. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT![:D]

[Anonymous]

Accurail's 40-footers are the easiest boxcars to modernize IMHO - just clip the pegs off the bottom of the running boards, glue them in the holes, and you're done.

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

BTW: Forgot to mention.

Earlier this year on t.v, one of the cable channels was running the classic 1970s "NBC Mystery Movies" series. I greatly enjoyed watching these police detective flicks as a kid. (Columbo, McMIllan & Wife, Hec Ramsey, and of course everybody's favorite cowboy: McCloud.)

I saw a "McCloud" episode. (Marshall McCloud is a New Mexico detective stationed in New York City---he always manages to get in trouble, give his boss a migraine, but get the bad guys in the end).

During a fight scene at a river dock, there were a number of freight cars present, including several 50ft. Boxcars. I noticed that they had Running Boards that were clearly visible and intact! I can't remember the road names, but I think one was in the Rio Grande scheme.

I'm not sure but based on most of the automobiles in the move, this episode was circa 1973-75. There were loads and loads of GMC Fishbowl buses in the "electric blue" paint scheme.

I always enjoy watching old tv movies and looking for any trains and buses in them.

LOL! I saw another McCloud episode (the one with Barbi Benton I think...anybody remember her?) where they were arresting some guys loading stolen stuff on a boxcar at a freight yard...funny thing was, all the switch engines were SP, as was a lot of the rolling stock (even some 40-footers as I recall) Hmmmm - what is a yard full of Espee switchers doing in NYC? Guess it was really filmed in LA all along[:D]

[AntonioFP45]

GrayLoess,

You're right. Back in those days most of the filming was in California. The scenes of traffic moving through and the Manhattan skyline were editited in. That's Hollywood!

[mopacforever]

QUOTE: Originally posted by GrayLoess

Accurail's 40-footers are the easiest boxcars to modernize IMHO - just clip the pegs off the bottom of the running boards, glue them in the holes, and you're done.

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

BTW: Forgot to mention.

Earlier this year on t.v, one of the cable channels was running the classic 1970s "NBC Mystery Movies" series. I greatly enjoyed watching these police detective flicks as a kid. (Columbo, McMIllan & Wife, Hec Ramsey, and of course everybody's favorite cowboy: McCloud.)

I saw a "McCloud" episode. (Marshall McCloud is a New Mexico detective stationed in New York City---he always manages to get in trouble, give his boss a migraine, but get the bad guys in the end).

During a fight scene at a river dock, there were a number of freight cars present, including several 50ft. Boxcars. I noticed that they had Running Boards that were clearly visible and intact! I can't remember the road names, but I think one was in the Rio Grande scheme.

I'm not sure but based on most of the automobiles in the move, this episode was circa 1973-75. There were loads and loads of GMC Fishbowl buses in the "electric blue" paint scheme.

I always enjoy watching old tv movies and looking for any trains and buses in them.

LOL! I saw another McCloud episode (the one with Barbi Benton I think...anybody remember her?) where they were arresting some guys loading stolen stuff on a boxcar at a freight yard...funny thing was, all the switch engines were SP, as was a lot of the rolling stock (even some 40-footers as I recall) Hmmmm - what is a yard full of Espee switchers doing in NYC? Guess it was really filmed in LA all along[:D]

Ahhhhhh Barbi Benton.....I remember her well......She was in many young men's dreams. I wonder what she looks like now.

I remember the MoPac locomotives from the 70s. Some were rough, some looked brand new. They bought locomtoives all the way up to the 80s so it was common to see clean and dirty. Of course, a brand new SD 40-2 on the lead of a coal drag from up North is gonna look pretty ragged when it gets home, especially in the Winter.

I really miss seeing the cabooses running down the rail.

We had our share of crossings out in the country and most of them didn't have any kind of crossing gate. Many of them just had the "X" sign and that was it. I lost a class mate at one of those crossings.

As for the disco scene...Most of Arkansas was then and still is into Country Music. LR was the only place you could find anything else. Of course Southern Rock helped bridge the gap.

I was talking with some friends the other night about the 70s and the TV shows. Do ya'll remember the TV shows like The Mac Davis show, Donnie and Marie, Sonny and Cher? Seems like everybody had a one hour variey show then. I miss those days....
TV Land has alot of them now and they are a hoot to watch!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TA462

I grew up in the 70's, Southern Rock and Trans Am's were the best part of the 70's for me. I still listen to Southern Rock and I still own a 1978 Trans Am.[:D]

What's this expression "I grew up..." mean?

[SpaceMouse]

In the Seventies, I listened to fusion jazz. Chick Corea, Stanly Clark, John McGloughlin, Carlos Santana, and rock like Hot Tuna, Pink Floyd, Yes, and Beautiful Day. No John Travolta finger pointing for me.

[Anonymous]

[chutton01]

I was talking with some friends the other night about the 70s and the TV shows. Do ya'll remember the TV shows like The Mac Davis show, Donnie and Marie, Sonny and Cher? Seems like everybody had a one hour variey show then. I miss those days....
TV Land has alot of them now and they are a hoot to watch!