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Happy BxCarSun everyone...Great photos all...OBTW Trumptrain out here on the frontier (Texas) we LIKE cattle cars so my view is post away!  My story today concerns my railroad, the Leonardtown and Savannah, today as usual the incredibly cheap management does everything it can to scrimp by but today it has even outdone itself.  The Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia (TAG - a neighbor RR) wants and needs its double door box car back in order to ship some tractors out of a customers plant.  The L&S was planning to move the car on Monday but when TAG said they would pay the extra fee for a Sunday move well management just jumped at the chance.  Of course the Road Foreman of Engines had to dig REALLY DEEP to find something available to pull the car and it found old 1062 sitting on the "ready for scrap" line but still capable of getting up steam and likely OK to pull one car.  They dragged Old Joe out of bed, he being the nearly last engineer who can run steam, and paid him weekend + Sunday premium pay to take this car to the TAG.  Truth is, Joe couldn't have been happier, not only is he getting paid but he got out of digging that new garden the Mrs wanted him to do today. 

Here is Joe backing up 'ol 1062 to that all important TAG double door box car.

Lionel TAG boxcar with Loco

Here is that very important ($$) TAG double door boxcar

Lionel TAG boxcar side

For you reality fans, the TAG double door boxcar is a Lionel (LTI) 19231 made in 1991 and 'ol 1062 is an 0-4-0 Plastic Steamer made at the end of the original Lionel era, 1963-1964.   By the way, despite the very poor reputation of these late issue plastic steamers, this one, purchased with tender in a local antique store for the princely sum of $5,  runs like a champ!

Happy Sunday everyone

Don

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  • Lionel TAG boxcar with Loco
  • Lionel TAG boxcar side

Patrick. Great pics I also like the cattle car being I’m a farm boy. That one pic looks like I’m trespassing on RR property as the B&O truck unloads 

Third Rail. Nice cars I like the MoPac car 

Larry. Thanks for the complement it’s one of my favorites took me a while to find one 

Steve. Very nice MOW cars and lighted as a bonus great job 

 

Last edited by lee drennen
@Bill T posted:

Rusty, very nice ST&P, I am guessing that is a custom boxcar.

Thanks.

Yep, all three are roads I developed.  The ST&P hails back to the 1960's when I was in HO.  It was just reporting marks until the mid-1970's when I finally assembled a sensible combination of names.

The New England Shore Line and Olympia both hail from the mid 1980's.

Rusty

Last edited by Rusty Traque

Wow Robert, that is quite a display of box cars...I think I can id them all except the tiny little 4 wheel job in the center of the second row and the blue WARR #192 in the center of the last row.  If you think of it would you post the manufacturer of those some time?  Thanks.

Well my contribution today is part of something I am trying to add to my collection, the very first MPC boxcars.  Even though they are nearly 50 years gone, you can still find them  inexpensively and usually in the box.  Not that I expect they will really ever be all that valuable but I like the historical aspect of showing a famous name in transition.  They are by the way a fairly good product and run well on my small layout (they are short, 6464 length).

So here is the Lionel (MPC) 9214 Northern Pacific boxcar issued 1971-1972.  Pictured with my "new" KLINE Santa Fe switcher.  I say new because I "discovered" it, still sealed in the box, among my storage units...likely bought quite awhile ago, put away and forgotten.  The box car really has first class printing and decoration, automatic couplers on both ends, and the new "fast track" wheels which lower rolling friction.  I don't normally try to give anyone advice, but if you run a small layout like mine, 0-27 switches etc, these very early MPC cars can be a real good value.  They are  not  yet expensive (this one was $10 NIB) ,  are well decorated and run well. 

Lionel NP boxcar 2

 

Have a Happy Labor Day Holiday everyone, none for me the University has cancelled the holiday to shorten the semester.

Don

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  • Lionel NP boxcar 2

Happy BxCrSun everyone!  Well, a few weeks ago we "broke the barrier" and displayed some cattle cars, so I am going to take that to a slight extension this time.  Here is a Hornby "Milk Service Van" as it is named in the UK.  Apparently the cattle car like appearance comes from the fact that they do not or did not require the insulated and heavily iced milk cars that were common in the US.  In the UK it was typically cool enough and/or runs were short enough that the natural flow of cool air over the milk cans was sufficient to keep the milk fresh on the way to market.  This van is lettered for the Southern Railway and dates in the Hornby line from about 1954 (Hornby was quite late in "recognizing" nationalization in the UK which happened in '48).  So here is a "Milk Service Van" for your perusal.  Note that the slats go all the way to the floor for (I assume) maximum airflow. 

Hornby Milk Service Van

For comparison, here is a Hornby Cattle Van of the same period (about 1954).  Note that the slats only go about 1/2 way down to the floor.  The reason I suppose was to protect the livestock from debris or perhaps pesky children with sticks or maybe just to help contain them.  Later versions of the Cattle car had the center door replaced with a "ramp" door which was hinged at the floor and would swing down providing a loading ramp for the cattle into the car.  The Milk Van of course loaded at a platform and did not need such a ramp.

Hornby Cattle Van

Well , I though you might enjoy seeing how different countries handled the problem of milk delivery most likely due to their different climates or different amount of time the product had to stay on the train.

By the way, if you are interested in how the RR handled Milk in the United States, Kalmbach Media, under the Model Railroader Guide to Industries Series, published a real neat soft cover book titled..."Milk Trains and Traffic" by Jeff Wilson, Kalmbach Media, 2019.  I bought mine brand new for $22 but you could likely find one used today for less. It is packed tight with actual pictures of prototype equipment and processes. 

Don

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  • Hornby Milk Service Van
  • Hornby Cattle Van

Larry, 

The layout is not mine, but it's the property of the Chicagoland Lionel Railroad Club in New Lenox, Illinois of which I've been a member for the last 12 years. Website is CLRCTRAINS.com. No open houses right now but members are able to run trains on a limited time and occupancy  basis. We invite you to visit when this corona virus thing is over. 

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