Occasionally on eBay I see freight cars (usually boxcars) for sale which have a different roadname on each side. I assume they are home lettering jobs. I'm a little baffled - why would someone would create a car with two mismatched roadnames? Wondering if there is some OPS scenario where they are used? Or is it just a case of folks doing it for the heck of it?
I have always thought it was a way for those with limited space to double their rolling stock roster on their loop layouts, and allowed a "different train" in each direction.
Of course, I could be way off in that thinking....
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Here are some examples with two road names on each side.
MP and Wabash on this one:
And of course on the Pacific Fruit Express UP and SP offered by intermountain.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I have a point to point U shaped layout, so I only see one side of a car or loco. I never see the other side.
I could double my roster by having the other side of the car a different roadname. Simply flip it around.
As it stands, I position a car that has any detail flaws so that the flaws are on the back side of the view.
- Douglas
OldAndWearyWondering if there is some OPS scenario where they are used? Or is it just a case of folks doing it for the heck of it?
Done by modelers who DON'T do Ops so it "looks" like they have more cars because instead of 10 cars with unique roadnames you now have 20, depending on which side of the car(s) are facing the viewer.
It would totally break any sort of operating scheme based on switching by car numbers, unless like doughless above, you have a layout design where you NEVER see the other side of the car. Then you could "swap out" cars simply by rotating them.
Chris van der Heide
My Algoma Central Railway Modeling Blog
riogrande5761 Here are some examples with two road names on each side. MP and Wabash on this one: And of course on the Pacific Fruit Express UP and SP offered by intermountain.
That's not really what he's describing. That's a car with a single identity but the operating pool of cars was run or shared by multiple railroad's whose logos are all on the car. These cars are both prototypical.
What he's seen, and was a thing that modelers sometimes did was actually paint an entirely different identity (like SOO Line on one side and N&W on the other) on different sides of a boxcar, so you can run more roadnames on your layout with the same number of cars. Turn it one way, it's a SOO car. Face the other side to the aisle and it's an N&W car.
Thanks all for explaining the rationale. It now makes sense.
Coincidentally, here are a few samples (of about a dozen) selling on eBay right now... which I snapshotted.
- Boxcar with 2 differing roadnames:
https://flic.kr/p/2mhXjbT
https://flic.kr/p/2mhS9Dv
- Boxcar with a single roadname and 2 differing paint schemes:
https://flic.kr/p/2mhZNR5
https://flic.kr/p/2mhZNT4
Interesting topic. I hadn't thought about it before, but if you had a shelf layout where you only saw one side of the car and you rotated timeframes, you could decorate say a 40' Northern Pacific boxcar in the 1940's scheme on one side, and NP 1960's billboard scheme on the other side. Could be the same car number, just different scheme on each side.
Would work nice if one "industry" was a railroad paint shop. Car goes in wearing weathered older scheme, and next operating session comes out with shiny new-generation scheme.
cv_acrThat's not really what he's describing.
I had the feeling ...
But yeah, I wouldn't want to do that personally; different strokes.
I too won't do that, but whatever.
It does make sense for those with small layouts and/or limited budgets.
Come to think of it, most around the room layout designs would only show one side of a car. A center peninsula could give a quick glimpse as the train rounded the curve, but generally any layout where you follow the train along a tall backdrop would only reveal one side normally.
Have to have reverse loops, dogbone style, or a spaghetti bowl to get the other side view on a regular basis.
If your layout featured a long mainline in some version of a dogbone so trains would be visible on both sides, I suppose having cars with a different lettering scheme on each side might detract from the fact that it's the same train both directions. Might be most effective if you had something like a double-track main folded into a dogbone to represent say New York Central's 4-track mainline north of New York City, so you'd have two trains running at the same time.
IIRC the large 1933 Chicago World's Fair layout that helped boost the fledgling model railroad hobby had trains that were only visible on one side - so the cars were only painted and lettered on one side, other side was just raw wood apparently.
Years ago there was an article (Probably in MR) about this.
Layout was an "out and back" configuration.
Viewing only one side of layout. Bi-directional running. Trains leave yard(s) as train of one railroad, return as train of other railroad. Article also suggested on locomotives in addition to different road names detailing each side differently.
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.
Doughless Come to think of it, most around the room layout designs would only show one side of a car. A center peninsula could give a quick glimpse as the train rounded the curve, but generally any layout where you follow the train along a tall backdrop would only reveal one side normally. Have to have reverse loops, dogbone style, or a spaghetti bowl to get the other side view on a regular basis.
Or a multi-level or "mushroom" layout with helix(es) that have trains travelling in different directions on different levels.
No matter how the car is viewed, it will eventually be noticed by even the most casual observer that the paint color on one end or the other of the car will not match the side being viewed.
maxman No matter how the car is viewed, it will eventually be noticed by even the most casual observer that the paint color on one end or the other of the car will not match the side being viewed.
Not if you only do it with the 75%+ of boxcar paint schemes that are generic boxcar brown as a base...
Another possible application - as an extension of the "out and back" configuration discussed above, one could have two hidden loops on each end. On a simple display/show layout (e.g. a window display), where there's continuous running and only one train feasibly running, these cars could be used to make it look like a different train is running in each direction. It would be more visually interesting than a simple roundy-round loop. However, it may not be worth the custom decalling effort and extra floor space usage (i.e two end loops).
Most of my freight cars have double names. For the reasons already given. of appearing to have more wagons than I really have.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
DoughlessCome to think of it, most around the room layout designs would only show one side of a car. A center peninsula could give a quick glimpse as the train rounded the curve, but generally any layout where you follow the train along a tall backdrop would only reveal one side normally.
Yeah, my around the room layout would make it easy to get more than a glimpse of the side not normally seen (click on the photos for a larger image)...
...unless, of course, if I finally finished the scenic landforms and added some trees or structures to block the view.
I also have a wye, primarily for turning locos and passenger cars...
...but it's also useful when a car placarded like this is spotted at a local industry...
...with this facing the industry's door...
In some other locales on my layout, such a car might be turned on a turntable when necessary. I added the placards to enhance operations.
While my locomotives always stay on the layout, unless they're removed for repairs or servicing, the freight cars do cycle on- and off-layout, so a double-sided car could return with either side readily visible.
Wayne
cv_acr OldAndWeary Wondering if there is some OPS scenario where they are used? Or is it just a case of folks doing it for the heck of it? Done by modelers who DON'T do Ops so it "looks" like they have more cars because instead of 10 cars with unique roadnames you now have 20, depending on which side of the car(s) are facing the viewer. It would totally break any sort of operating scheme based on switching by car numbers, unless like doughless above, you have a layout design where you NEVER see the other side of the car. Then you could "swap out" cars simply by rotating them.
OldAndWeary Wondering if there is some OPS scenario where they are used? Or is it just a case of folks doing it for the heck of it?
So let me ask this, in OPS, when do you NEED to have the exact same car and road number travel with the opposite side showing?
With real railroads, I would think that cars would travel all over the system and the chances of seeing the same car traveling on the same track showing its other side is pretty slim, when standing at a consistent view point like we do with our layouts.
Here in Georgia, they have these huge wood chip hoppers, and its my understanding that they don't travel very far. From the chipper mill to the paper plant for example. In that case, those same cars travel a limited number of tracks and probably "shunt" back and forth a few hundred miles.
I would think that would be the exception and not the norm for Class I railroading.
I would think with large op style layouts, you would run a car from staging to staging, and then replace it with another car. The same car going back the other way would be less realistic than having another car going in the opposiste direction.
Not trying to challege your statement here. It just got me thinking about somehting I wouldn't normally think about.