Very much enjoyed MRR Mag's Open Auto Rack article in the Nov. issue, especially photo #4 with those new "Fords" dressed in Mopar clothing.
Regards, Peter
Yes, the article on auto racks is interesting. After reading the article, I thought I would share some insights in the prototype information section of the forum. I’ve been busy in recent days but hope to get to it soon.
i worked in the marketing department of Grand Trunk Western RR in the 1970’s . Much of GTW’s traffic was General Motors business .
I have saved only a few photos of many I once had. I had pictures of GM vehicles being loaded in Flint, Pontiac, and Lansing. The MR article has no pictures of auto racks being loaded and unloaded, and I plan to show some of that .
I was there at GTW when the rail industry changed from open auto racks to enclosed auto racks . I will share some of that too.
At the moment , I’m posting via IPhone. So I am limited without using the computer.
Cheers
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Please do post photos. I'm interested in auto racks as well for late 1970's traffic. D&RGW did haul Ford auto's (FAST) as well as GM (ARRO) and I am working on some loaded auto racks.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I started a thread in the prototype information section pertaining to auto racks. My photos are included with my comments.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/p/272326/3095838.aspx#3095838
Here is one of the photos.
Below are some HO auto racks along with some TTX flat cars I built in the 1970's from kits made by Quality Craft Models. The kits were mostly wood.
Garry, Thanks for sharing your interesting photos. I've always had a soft spot for auto racks. I would think acqiring enough same year/model vehicles to fill even one 85' auto rack would not be easy, though I've seen some good work done using 3D printed automobiles.
HO-Velo I would think acqiring enough same year/model vehicles to fill even one 85' auto rack would not be easy, though I've seen some good work done using 3D printed automobiles. Regards, Peter
I would think acqiring enough same year/model vehicles to fill even one 85' auto rack would not be easy, though I've seen some good work done using 3D printed automobiles.
kasskabooserunning 85' cars
My interest in the big auto racks is at least part of the desire/dream to model what one sees, and growing up and living in the S.F. bay area there were and are lots and lots of auto racks riding the rails out of the ports of Richmond & Benicia.
Years ago my son worked the port of Benicia (UP served) for awhile and loaded many import cars onto enclosed auto racks. He mentioned the job being a bit unnerving at times loading the top racks.
Of course one could interestingly represent some automobile transport in numbers via tractor trailer car carrier.
kasskaboose auto industry is transported by rail.
Russell
I would like to see the loading/unloading process.
Garry- Do you have pictures that had survived showing different open auto racks than the three different types.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
angelob6660 I would like to see the loading/unloading process. Garry- Do you have pictures that had survived showing different open auto racks than the three different types.
Angel ... The November MR article has photos of several types of open auto rack cars. I did not save mine unfortuantely. ... (Actually, I lost photos. )
Everybody ... If you have further comments you may wish to include them in the thread I started in Prototype Information section. The General Discussion section moves quickly, and soon this trhead will be on the second page.
I enjoyed reading the Article too.
From the start I was a little dismayed knowing that somewhere along the way they would have to start covering car carriers up because vandalism was a given.
To make a long story short kids started throwing rocks at trains in the 70s. (The 50s and 60s kids were still somewhat wholesome) Vandalism was a given.
I still don't for the life of me understand how theft was involved. There was no elaboration on that.
How do you steal a car from an auto rack? Bring your own ramps onto Railroad property....IF....the train is split? How do you get it off the end and across the tracks...... Things that make you go hmmm. Sorry I don't quite get or understand the theft problem
TF. The thieves did not steal whole cars . They stole parts off of the cars. In the process, they did damage to them. For example, they might break a window to get in the car to steal the radio. also, they could open the hood and take parts off of the engine. Mostly, the parts were small enough to carry away.
Oh....I don't think like a Thief.... Thanks for setting me straight Garry
PS Kids again, not that I would ever think this way, but if it was my profession, I wouldn't risk petty theft, I would take the whole car
kind of like the jobs I follow up on. The last construction guy opened up the cash box and took all the money out.... then I come by and fix the problem
I have several tri and bi level cars both open and enclosed. I rarely run them, but they sure look nice sitting in the yard.
hobo9941 I have several tri and bi level cars both open and enclosed. I rarely run them
I have several tri and bi level cars both open and enclosed. I rarely run them
Why not?
Autorack cars are like another teaser to me. I would like to have some but I know they are not very practical for my layout.
Like many, I did not have the space to construct a layout with large radius curves. I did the best with what I could constructing a 4 by 8 layout with minimum radius of 18 inches in N-Scale.
Maybe I'll just park some Autoracks in the yard too because they look really cool. To me they are in the category of Passenger cars and double stack cars. They probably wouldn't look good on an 18 inch radius curve. They probably would look rather toy like
I'd think an 18" radius curve would do N scale auto racks reasonably well. My planned layout will have minimum 32 inch radius and while racks should operate well enough, those are still pretty sharp curves for long cars in HO but it's the best I can manage. I will have some large curves as well but not enough to really improve appearance by much.
I am planning to model a small part of the east-west mainline of the D&RGW and auto racks were among the freight traffic. During the 1970's there was a mix of open, semi-enclosed and enclosed racks so I have purchased a number of the Genesis bi and tri - level racks and a few of the Accurail as well for variety.
As many have noted and complained, outfitting the open racks with auto's or trucks or other vehicles can be quite the challenge. So far I have collected enough of the Atlas Ford F-100 pickups to fill two bi-level racks. Of course some will run empty as they did when returning to the auto factories but outfitting even half of my fleet will be nutty expensive.
riogrande5761As many have noted and complained, outfitting the open racks with auto's or trucks or other vehicles can be quite the challenge.
Ah, the advantage of the fully enclosed rack..........costs nothing for the air inside.
Another advantage is that you're not locked into a specific modelling year.
maxman riogrande5761 As many have noted and complained, outfitting the open racks with auto's or trucks or other vehicles can be quite the challenge. Ah, the advantage of the fully enclosed rack..........costs nothing for the air inside. Another advantage is that you're not locked into a specific modelling year.
riogrande5761 As many have noted and complained, outfitting the open racks with auto's or trucks or other vehicles can be quite the challenge.
I've got both but unfortunately most of my enclosed auto racks are mid to late 1980's which I bought before back dating 10 years to late 70's thru early 80's.
As for cars, the Atlas F-100's are 1973 but look pretty close to later models and will do well enough. I still need to find some sedans for the tri-levels - the quest continues.
I liked that triple Autorack of 64 Mustangs as well as another had mentioned on this thread. What I would really like to see is an Autorack full of 69 Mustangs. That would be like looking at a dream that's so far out of reach it's not even funny. It still would be fun to look at though, especially 429 Cobra Jets
If anyone comes across something like that and would like to post it, I would be way okay with that
riogrande5761 I'd think an 18" radius curve would do N scale auto racks reasonably well. My planned layout will have minimum 32 inch radius and while racks should operate well enough, those are still pretty sharp curves for long cars in HO but it's the best I can manage. I will have some large curves as well but not enough to really improve appearance by much.
Well that sounds somewhat encouraging Rio. A 32 inch radius in HO-scale converts to 17.4 inches in N-Scale.
Still neither one of us knows how it would look. I am just going on (here say) from comments on other threads that it won't look good. Maybe one of the other forum members that knows, can shed some light on the subject...... that would be appreciated.
Thanks Track Fiddler
Those with an interest in automobile traffic by rail may find a wealth of information on the subject in the November 2013 issue of "Trains" magazine. There are nearly 30 pages devoted to the interaction between the automobile and railroad industries including a map of North American assembly plants. The back issue of "Trains" might be available from Kalmbach Publishing.
Heartland Division CB&Q TF. The thieves did not steal whole cars . They stole parts off of the cars. In the process, they did damage to them. For example, they might break a window to get in the car to steal the radio. also, they could open the hood and take parts off of the engine. Mostly, the parts were small enough to carry away.
If you take notice in photos of open racks most vehicles have no hubcaps, dealer installed item. So you would need to paint the steel wheels/rims black or body color.
That's funny 101, I never thought of hubcaps. I'm missing one of my original 1969 Mustang hubcaps because someone stole it in a parking lot at Southdale.
PS Obviously they only needed one because they didn't take them all.
PC101 Heartland Division CB&Q TF. The thieves did not steal whole cars . They stole parts off of the cars. In the process, they did damage to them. For example, they might break a window to get in the car to steal the radio. also, they could open the hood and take parts off of the engine. Mostly, the parts were small enough to carry away. If you take notice in photos of open racks the vehicals have no hubcaps, dealer installed item. So you would need to paint the steel wheels/rims black or body color.
If you take notice in photos of open racks the vehicals have no hubcaps, dealer installed item. So you would need to paint the steel wheels/rims black or body color.
I never noticed that. I seen some photos of the tires and never questioned it.
I never understood the reason of stealing hubcaps.
Stealing hubcap is very common. Notice the above statement was not a plural. Hubcap is stolen because someone has an older car and is missing one. The original is hard to come by. They can be found but takes some effort and costs more.
Someone mean always takes one from someone else that has, (had) all four of them.
I'd think that the hub caps may have been an easy damaged/lost item more then stolen from vehicles on the open Auto racks.
This November edition is a very good month for me, 7 pages of Autoracks, the two featured layouts are superb 'The Clinchfield up side down' and 'Ride along on a mine run' both using Lentz DCC systems (the system I use). The 'Product Review' of the Walthers Jordan Spreader (one sharp piece of equipment) going to be lettered for the PC. Hey that guy using the Dozer with the scoop moving those peskie wood savings off the right of way could really use one of these. Remember, the right tool for the right job does wonders. Model railroading is fun!® (just in case if it's a trademark).
HD CB&Q, I know you say you lost the photos (that sad) but any chance the negatives could be stuck in a shoebox/closet and forgotten? Thanks for what survived.
Just a data point here, YMMV, but I've had good luck running Accurail autoracks on the 28" min R curves on my main. There's no switching of such cars, they simply go from staging to staging over the line, so that helps.
A wider curve would look nicer, but the way the curves are arranged on my limited amount of standard gauge (you see them from the inside of the curves mostly) they don't look bad, either.
Mine are all MT, but to tell the truth I always seems to remember seeing more MT racks than loaded.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Yes, I'd think 28 inches should allow most auto racks to run reliably as long as the track is layed well. I think most have a lower miminum radius than 28, but as always, the closer you are to the minimum recommended, the less likely things are going to be happy happy joy joy.
And speaking of enclosed racks for the 1970's and early 1980's, that is something still sorely missing from the market in HO. AFAIK, all of the enclosed models in HO are 1980's and later. The Walthers designs are really late 1980's and later and IIRC, the IMRC nice but expensive bi-levels are early 1980's and later. Nothing for 1970's, am I correct?