40 Foot box cars.

Dave Ripp. posted:

I model 1970 and one of my favorite cars is the 40 foot box car. While reading the April issue of Trains Magazine I saw the ones pictured in the Minnesota Transportation Museum have no roof walks. Was there a time when roof walks were removed.

Yes.

All of my 40 footers from Lionel, MTH, Weaver , etcetera all have roof walks.

Your photo doesn't show.

Thanks, some of the cars in the photo look to predate 1966 but that information is appreciated..

Minnesota Transportation Museum box cars in front of roundhouse.

Dave Ripp. posted:

Thanks, some of the cars in the photo look to predate 1966 but that information is appreciated..

It doesn't really matter when the car was built, after a specified date, the roof walks and vertical side/end ladders were to be removed. Only a ladder to access the hand brake was allowed.

It was a long long time ago that brakemen had to run from car to car to manually set brakes on a moving train - before air brakes. Makes me wonder why the roof walks lasted as long as they did.

ACE,

I'll throw inertia into the package, the brake wheels were high, so we know how to produce/repair them there.  Low-mounted brake wheels would sure be safer and quicker to use in placing them at the local industry.

ChipR

"specified date"?  (where is Minnesota Transportation Museum?}

colorado hirailer posted:

"specified date"?  (where is Minnesota Transportation Museum?}

Roofwalks on interchange boxcars and reefers were outlawed 12/31/83.

Rusty

colorado hirailer posted:

  (where is Minnesota Transportation Museum?}

Minnesota.           Google is your friend.

I remember my Great Uncle telling me the brakeman was highest casualty among railroad workers. He had a friend who was a brakeman, when he was on the PRR as a conductor, went out to check the brakes in the dead of winter, was never seen on that run then reappeared on the way home... His friend said he had the best day ever at work. He slipped off one of the cars, fell down a ravine and was knocked out, hour later came too and went to the bar... spent the rest of the day there until the same train made it back through town on the return.  Honestly could not see my self making 30 years as a brakeman....

Kelly Anderson posted:

Ace posted:

It was a long long time ago that brakemen had to run from car to car to manually set brakes on a moving train - before air brakes. Makes me wonder why the roof walks lasted as long as they did.

Not that long ago. 

Classic Trains recently re-ran an article from the 1940's where the author rode a trip in the cab of the then new FT diesels on a Santa Fe freight.  At least once during the trip, he commented about the train stopping at the summit of a grade, and the brakemen leaving the cab and caboose to ride the tops of the box cars as a precaution until the train reached the bottom of the grade.  Made it sound like that was standard procedure. 

I read about that being done as well on a Colorado narrow gauge passenger train in the 1930's (which isn't as surprising as on a Santa Fe hot shot).

The brakeman was probably  putting on   retaining valves  on a certain amount of cars so   the    trains brakes remained "on".  This  gave the  engineer  better control of the train.

.. At that time the most  retaining valves  were  near the top of the car right beside the hand brake.  

   Setting off  or switching long cuts of cars with poor radios  (1965)  often meant climbing and riding on top of cars relaying signals to the engineman.  Most of the senior train crew members here could switch a yard in no time without radios. Yep at  night as well. 

The radios back in the 60s were heavy,  (mostly battery)  awkward. and a pain in the butt. 

Thanks for the '83 date.  Another 40 foot boxcar question I would have is, have any of the manufactureres: MTH, Lionel, Weaver, Williams, or ? ever offered a specific grain box car, maybe with grain doors included?  And, before covered hoppers, there were some boxcars with small doors at the top in the ends.  Every grain elevator had pipes and hoses to the ground, to load box cars, over the top of grain doors, but I wonder if any were "topped off" through those end doors?  OR, what was the purpose of those end doors?

Gregg posted:

Kelly Anderson posted:

Ace posted:

It was a long long time ago that brakemen had to run from car to car to manually set brakes on a moving train - before air brakes. Makes me wonder why the roof walks lasted as long as they did.

Not that long ago. 

Classic Trains recently re-ran an article from the 1940's where the author rode a trip in the cab of the then new FT diesels on a Santa Fe freight.  At least once during the trip, he commented about the train stopping at the summit of a grade, and the brakemen leaving the cab and caboose to ride the tops of the box cars as a precaution until the train reached the bottom of the grade.  Made it sound like that was standard procedure. 

I read about that being done as well on a Colorado narrow gauge passenger train in the 1930's (which isn't as surprising as on a Santa Fe hot shot).

The brakeman was probably  putting on   retaining valves  on a certain amount of cars so   the    trains brakes remained "on".  This  gave the  engineer  better control of the train.

.. At that time the most  retaining valves  were  near the top of the car right beside the hand brake.  

   Setting off  or switching long cuts of cars with poor radios  (1965)  often meant climbing and riding on top of cars relaying signals to the engineman.  Most of the senior train crew members here could switch a yard in no time without radios. Yep at  night as well. 

The radios back in the 60s were heavy,  (mostly battery)  awkward. and a pain in the butt. 

Those are good points about why they still had roof walks. Widespread use of dynamic braking eventually made retainers generally obsolete. And train radios weren't in universal use until after the 1960's.

I became a brakeman in 1972 and promoted to conductor in 1974 and i recall around conrail time we were told to stay off the roofs which i thought was a wonderful idea !! if you needed to get up high ( totally different meaning ) you could stand on the top rung at the roof and see plenty...also at this time the carshops were cutting the side and end ladders down to their current levels while also taking off the roof walks and repositioning the handbrake and retaining valve...conrail john