The main cars I have are Boxcars, Covered Hoppers, and Hoppers.
My Conrail has more coal hoppers than I was expecting. I have enough to model at least 3 trains. I'm still missing Bethgon Coalporters that they rebuild from old hoppers.
Although I model multi-eras I try to stay within my actual timeline in the 1990s but I do travel into 2006.
Freight cars I'm still missing are Auto Racks, Bulk end flatcars, refrigerator cars, Centerbeams, Tank cars, Auto Parts boxcar, and Coil cars. Plus Maxi stacks and containers.
*Results may vary around a picky person and N Scale modeling*
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
John Teichmoller put it this way for non-Pennsy modelers, "You probably have too many PRR (and other foreign road) hoppers unless their owner interchanged with your line and not enough PRR boxcars".
You weren't likely to see a SP hopper in New Jersey or Connecticut (why do you think they built the Poughkeepsie Bridge?) more than a couple of times, if that, in a lifetime - not with all that good Pennsylvania and West Virginia bituminous next door.
See http://prr.railfan.net/freight/classpage.html?class=X29 for the data on one class of PRR boxcars - about 28,000 units (more than most lines had total cars of all types) in 1944.
PRR's wooden XL class boxcars topped out at around 37,000, what is almost assuredly the record in the Western Hemisphere and probably the world (how many cars of one design did Russia and Germany build in Worl War 2?). The X-29's mainly replaced them year by year 1924-1934, but the end came when the Pennsy ordered 10,000 new cars in 1936 and scrapped most of its wood cars (some went to MOW service). Accordingly to the November 1936 National Geographic, the flames at the Lucknow, PA scrapping plant (just north of Harrisburg) could be seen for miles as the wooden cars were burned to recover their metal components. In those wide and spacious days, you didn't have to worry about OSHA and the EPA.
%WESTERFIELD_MODELS_SECURE _MODEL_STORE% - *1300 XL 36' DS BOXCAR, PRR, NYP&N, CA&C, LIRR, GR&I, CV, VRR (securedata.net)
More covered hoppers than boxcars. Yes, it is possible in current day railroading, depending upon where you are located.
I could not help but notice in the SD40-2 survivors dvd series that it seems the majority of freight cars in service, at least in areas where SD40-2's were surviving in mainline service after 2015, were indeed covered hoppers.
That is also why I recently loaded up on ScaleTrains covered hoppers and the Tangent 4750 cf covered hoppers.
I noticed in one of the BNSF Motive Power Annuals some years back that their roster of standard, not-specialty equipped boxcars was stated as being down to zero. Sure they had once acquired a bunch of former Railbox cars etc. but the standard 50' jack of all trades boxcars are gone from some roads. There are undoubtedly reasons for this, one of which being that the TTX and former Railbox fleets of go anywhere anytime cars are still in existence, so when a standard boxcar might be needed, just get one of those....
Late Transition Era, upper Midwest for me, using the Milwaukee as a prototype. I've been building up my fleet with Milwaukee boxcars. I also like cars that match my industries. I have a brewery and an icing platform, so ice bunker reefers fit in. I'm 74 now, but as a teenager I got a number of tankers, so I have those, plus a bunch of open coal hoppers.
I bought and built a tannery complex a few years back, so I added a couple of Hides Only old boxcars, an acid tanker and my only covered hopper for salt. I've also got grain boxcars for a baking company and a few meat reefers for a slaughterhouse. The scrapyard feeds a few scrap metal gondolas.
Most of the boxcars are just along for the ride, but can be used for shipping at a number at industries. I think having a number of freight cars which are keyed to particular industries works well.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
CSX through Tennessee has more covered hoppers
The Fleet Of Nonsense is more than 50% boxcars, just because all of the neat custom decal sets I have collected look best on boxcars.
I only have three plastic covered hoppers.
This one is my favorite, a Kadee PS-2 with Detail Associates square roof hatches.
Most of the rest of the covered hoppers are brass models.
This one was built from a Funaro And Camerlengo resin kit. It is a "Carbon Black" covered hopper, again modified with Detail Associates square roof hatches.
Building 40 foot boxcars from plastic kits is quicker and much less expensive.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Does having more covered hoppers than boxcars reflect the types of industry(ies) on the layout? Mine has a mixed variety b/c model the 1980s in SW VA. The state strongly favors coal cars, so many open hoppers. Of course I have other types of cars to reflect the types of industries found that that location and timeframe.
It really depends on where and especially when.
I freelance so not one of the things I lose sleep over.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I model modern era and have more box cars than covered hoppers or tank cars. I do have quite a few gondolas to carry steel coils. I also have intermodal cars as well as a handful of auto rack cars..
It's your railroad, so run what you want!
Neal
My layout is present day
Nope, I have more boxcars than hoppers and only a few covered hoppers because most do not fit my era - i.e. they are slightly early. I'm more into coal drags so most of my hoppers are open to the elements.
I also have a decent quantity of tank cars, gondolas, and reefers plus a smattering of stock cars and a couple of flat cars. That gives my freight fleet some nice variety.
The only exception to the above is when the 20th Century Limited or the Aerotrain comes roaring through. I have a 10-car and a 9-car consist for each, respectively.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I am finding that like the prototype my railroad has more covered hoppers in operation than box cars. Anybody else discover this?