Would kind of like to know because I want to be able to do a transition on the layout. Any help appreciated and a pic would be even better. Thanks Paul
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The next cars would be, Covered Hoppers. Atlas, Lionel, MTH, Weaver all made them. Also, for some cool history, check out the "Big John Grain Case" with the Southern RR's Bill Brosnan and the AAR and Government. Great story..
What years and what region are you interested in?
On heavy mainlines the box cars were replaced by Covered Hoppers in the 1950's.
On branchlines with light track they still used 40' Box Cars until the end of the 1970's.
Andrew
Thanks guys and Andrew I was looking to model at first on switching layout maybe 1945 through the late fifties. At some point later on I would move to the time frame 1960 to 1970. I have hoppers for the later but have to see what type of hopper was used in the fifties. Thanks Paul
Grain was still loaded in box car when I started with CN in 1965.... We switched the Elevators at Midland and Collingwood Ontario on the great Lakes (actually Georgian bay).
It wasn't long after 1965 .. Cylindrical hoppers replaced the Box car.( late 60s or early 70s). A engineman had his hands full handling a 125 cylindrical loaded grain train on the territory I worked. ( roughly 12 thousand tons)
The Car dept would sweep out the box car and install card board across the door ways... When loading the elevator would weigh and send the grain down the chute into the box car in about 2 minutes.
Unfortunately most of the elevators are now completely gone... Midland and Owen Sound Ontario are still operational. Collingwood is still standing .
I have a book on Canadian grain elevators, including pictures of some being demolished. I was lucky to go up to the Calgary Stampede and camp in the Canadian Rockies, Banff and Lake Louise, about 1980, and managed to drive out east of Calgary onto the prairie and get a few pictures of the famous red elevators along the rail lines. Always wanted to get back and hunt down a lot more but never made it and now I guess it is too late.
You would have to get the Atlas O Trainman PS-2 3-bay covered hoppers in 1950's paint schemes since they were the earliest large capacity covered hoppers that are readily available.
Andrew
I worked for a grain company in the late '70's / early '80's. Export shipments coming into our elevator along the Houston Ship Channel were all 100 ton covered hoppers. We had regional elevators in the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and Kansas that did occasionally still load out boxcars as late as 1980. Typically shipments moving in boxcars were headed either straight into Mexico or to an elevator we had in Eagle Pass, TX.
One of my first "big jobs" was filing and successfully prosecuting a large loss claim against the bankrupt Rock Island for a number of boxcar loads of wheat they had picked up at an elevator in Enid, OK. The cars were in such bad shape the floors gave way in transit and dumped wheat all over the tracks. How a derailment was avoided I'll never know.
Curt
I know HW would correct me, but I think UP used some baggage cars for grain after being removed from passenger service. Are some part of UP's heritage passenger fleet?
