Boxcar Sunday, Let's see your boxcars.

@lee drennen posted:

Well since Steve has put me in Reading mood and I’ve been that way all last week here’s my contribution this week.These are a couple Weavers I bought a few years ago  

Nice Reading boxcars! I have to do some like that. I have been buying some Crown and Weaver cars and doing some upgrades like diecast trucks and couplers…

Tom

@Don McErlean - your comment made me quack up... we must be birds of a feather

I’ve always loved the colorful State of Maine boxcars. Here is a pair from Altlas:

@Apples55:  OH NO!  our jokes are so bad they may make me..."fly off the handle".

Don

@Don McErlean posted:

@Apples55 / Paul :  I am afraid that your last joke was so bad, it will require a fine...so we will send you a "bill"  and don't try and "duck" out of it!!

Hey, building on Sitka's theme with the State of Maine boxcars, here is Mr. Marx's take on that theme with a 7" lithographed car circa 1956.

With a GE 70 ton type switcher from NYC.

Behind a Marx 994 type steamer (out of sight) .

Happy BxCarSun everyone...the sun is out and the snow / ice is gone here in central Texas !

Best wishes

Don

They are a sharp looking box car, should pick up a few more.

Here are boxcars for this fine Sunday.  Great Northern  and a Western Maryland insulated boxcar.  

@Don McErlean posted:

@Apples55 / Paul :  I am afraid that your last joke was so bad, it will require a fine...so we will send you a "bill"  and don't try and "duck" out of it!!

Hey, building on Sitka's theme with the State of Maine boxcars, here is Mr. Marx's take on that theme with a 7" lithographed car circa 1956.

With a GE 70 ton type switcher from NYC.

Behind a Marx 994 type steamer (out of sight) .

Happy BxCarSun everyone...the sun is out and the snow / ice is gone here in central Texas !

Best wishes

Don

Very nice line up Don and a good come back on sending the “Bill” and Ducking out of it.

@trumpettrain posted:

Here are boxcars for this fine Sunday.  Great Northern  and a Western Maryland insulated boxcar.  

Patrick I like that Western Maryland Reefer

@Krieglok posted:

Nice Reading boxcars! I have to do some like that. I have been buying some Crown and Weaver cars and doing some upgrades like diecast trucks and couplers…

Tom

Thanks Tom you will have to post them

@lee drennen posted:

Patrick I like that Western Maryland Reefer

Thanks Lee!  I'm pretty certain the WM "reefer" is a plug door type of boxcar.  There are no ice hatches on the roof and no mechanical refrigeration apparatus.  

This box car was in the mass of freight cars I picked up a couple of weeks. It has seen a lot of miles... if my preliminary research is correct, this POST WAR circa 1946 and Lionel was in such a hurry they pit it on a Pre-War chasing and trucks. I was excited.it was a double door, may be a a diamond in the rough.

Let me know any thoughts on this old road warrior, not sure what to do if anything. I kinda like it like this.

CR Cole :  This is what your Box Car would have looked like when newer and without the corrosion.  There are two identical or nearly identical cars the PW version from 1946-47 was numbered 2458 (as the pictures I will attach) there were a few pre-war bodies that were used and these were numbered 2758.  I can't really tell which number yours carries.  Except for the number, the cars were virtually identical in terms of the body.  The trucks used were ALL post war although in this era Lionel was still experimenting with wheels, axles, and couplers.  My car, pictures included below is a relatively late version from 1947 since it does not have a rivet below the "8" nor does it have steps at the corners.  It does have the early coil couplers.  Your car does have steps so its likely somewhat earlier than mine but I cannot tell from the pictures about the rivet.  All of these cars are very similar with differences in details between 1946 and 47.  The pre-war car would have been numbered 2758 and would have had the old box couplers.  As far as I can tell your is not a pre-war car although it might be a pre-war body if numbered 2758 vice 2458.

Here are some pictures for you to compare to your car.  As best I can tell, mine would date from 1947.

Great car by the way, once cleaned up the extra weight of the sheet metal body gives it good tracking.

Best wishes

Don

Two different Rat River cars, one from ebay and one from a train show:

I have no idea as to the builder(s) other than they seem to be the same kit.  Note the first one was weathered with the door part way open !

@CR Cole posted:

This box car was in the mass of freight cars I picked up a couple of weeks. It has seen a lot of miles... if my preliminary research is correct, this POST WAR circa 1946 and Lionel was in such a hurry they pit it on a Pre-War chasing and trucks. I was excited.it was a double door, may be a a diamond in the rough.

Let me know any thoughts on this old road warrior, not sure what to do if anything. I kinda like it like this.

CR I have one also, take a look at Lionel PW Library on line will give info on that car.

Mark

Santa brought my car Christmas 1947.

Ron

Here they are - 2758 and 2458

Robert:  Is your picture not of the POSTWAR car that happened to use the prewar body, hence retained the 2758 number? It seems that way to me because the prewar car, if sold in fact in the prewar period would have prewar trucks and box couplers, no?

Don

If you blow up CR Cole’s third photo, you can make out the 2758, and it’s got a postwar frame and trucks, much like Bob’s top photo.

Don, that's correct - prewar body sold in postwar period with postwar running gear. 

Robert / Artie :  thanks for the info. I thought that was the case.

Don

Per my Greenberg's 1901-2008 it shows up as a 1941-42, as Prewar, with PW trucks. Have 2 this I got today, no doors but I can get by the traintender. HAGF Mark

That’s a nice one Sitka, and it has the corner stirrups, too!

Yes the ‘41 date is on all the cars but if it has pw trucks it dates to ‘45 or later.  They simply used up the prewar bodies post war until they were depleted  

Don

@Artie-DL&W posted:

That’s a nice one Sitka, and it has the corner stirrups, too!

The 1st one I bought I seen that on line, and someone on this forum had posted one. Thought it looked nice now I got 2, Guess that's where Williams got the Idea and Menards.

@Don McErlean posted:

Yes the ‘41 date is on all the cars but if it has pw trucks it dates to ‘45 or later.  They simply used up the prewar bodies post war until they were depleted  

Don

That's right,  Lionel should have stuck to that style. HAGD Mark

For a snowy Sunday morning….An Atlas 40’ boxcar, painted and decaled by me..

Tom

@Krieglok posted:

For a snowy Sunday morning….An Atlas 40’ boxcar, painted and decaled by me.

Tom

Beautiful work, Tom.

Weaver Gulf Mobile & Ohio

The USRA built 25,000 of their 50-ton single-sheath wood 40' boxcars between 1919 and 1920, and assigned them to 24 different railroads.  The PRR received 9,900 of these cars and classified them as X-26 boxcars.  The design was good enough that some lasted into the 60s.  The car had steel ends and roof.

Starting in 1945 and going through 1949, the PRR rebuilt 3,500 X-26s with metal sides and new roofs and reclassified them as X-26c.  The PRR kept the ends and underframes.  Most of these cars lasted until the 60s.

Cars are Atlas.  They have the circle keystone applied from 1930 to early 1954.  Cars before that had no keystone.

Have a Great Sunday all, here are some operating Box cars, had to put the U.S Mail on with all your trains.

Some K-Line Looney Tunes box cars.

When I was a young boy growing up in Meriden Connecticut with the New Haven RR having a main line right through the downtown area. My uncle was an avid model railroader and always looked for odd cars going through. the West India Fruit and steamship Company was one of those oddities. Another was the Buffalo Creek and Gauley. The New Haven script cars ran through quite often and became my favorite boxcar. I have 5 on my layout.

I snapped these photos yesterday at the B&O Museum in Baltimore.

The famous Wagon top boxcar built at Mt. Claire shops in Baltimore.  This car has come full circle as it was built in B&O's Mt. Claire Shops and is now back at Mt. Claire at the B&O Museum.   I used to see these cars in service on the B&O when I was a kid.  I always loved the design of these cars back then and still do now.  

This boxcar built in the 1920s has an interesting roof line.  

B&O Time Saver boxcar.  When I saw this car yesterday it reminded me of a prototypical sized model of the 027 Lionel boxcar.  It seemed to it sit high off its' trucks which gave it a toy like look ( although a BIG toy .. lol ) Last week I attended the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium, Md where I purchased this brand new Weaver boxcar for $20.00.  Since I don't have any DL&W rolling stock on my layout this was a must have and the price was right!  It' now on my weathering list, albeit far down on the list.   I've got several to weather for a client before ever getting to this one.

@Krieglok posted:

For a snowy Sunday morning….An Atlas 40’ boxcar, painted and decaled by me..

Tom

Great looking work Tom.

Well hello all our BxCrSun fans...its a sunny and sorta warm day here in central Texas just over 50 degrees.  You may know, as I have posted it before, that I am trying to assemble the "I LOVE XXXX" cars for all the states where my wife and I have lived (8).  After finding this one, I have 2 more to go (Georgia and Maryland).  So here is my "I LOVE TEXAS" Lionel box car from 1992.

Well hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend

Best Wishes

Don

Sorry to say, but B&O Mount Clare dd not build any of the M-53 wagon top box cars. All 3,000 of them in two classes (2,000 M-53 in 1937/8 and 1,000 M-53a in 1941) were built at Keyser WV, Du Bois PA, Chillicothe OH and Washington IN. 

Below is an Intermountain double-door box car I am re-working into a B&O Class M-59 built in 1946.  These cars had Duryea underframes with deep side sills, similar to the B&O M-53.

This model was found in less than great condition with several missing or broken detail parts.  Intermountain cars while looking great are also quite fragile. Over the years I've found some IM detail part sprues for box and refrigerator cars, which helps with repairs and restorations. But they are not easy to find now! So, a few needed detail parts were handmade to suit.

I re-worked the side sills with styrene and moved the couplers out from the car ends by about a scale 10" to model the Duryea cushion set up and adding the center sill support brackets and guides. Under the car, I covered the center sill on each side the bolster with rivet embossed styrene panels to represent the covered cushioning spring and snubber arrangement at each end.  Also, I added door top hangers with bits of styrene and thin sheet aluminum, as the IM model lacks them.

The Duryea design has the entire center sill under the car fee to move back and forth for about 6" in each direction. The car body sits on bracketed under body framing with the center sill passing through the bolsters and cross bearers.  While the IM under body framing is not exactly spaced for modeling a Duryea type, it was close enough for this model which is not intended as a contest entry.

It looks rough here, but as old shipyard hands used to say in the days of wooden sailing ships; "Putty and paint can make the Devil a Saint!"

S. Islander

@Don McErlean posted:

Well hello all our BxCrSun fans...its a sunny and sorta warm day here in central Texas just over 50 degrees.  You may know, as I have posted it before, that I am trying to assemble the "I LOVE XXXX" cars for all the states where my wife and I have lived (8).  After finding this one, I have 2 more to go (Georgia and Maryland).  So here is my "I LOVE TEXAS" Lionel box car from 1992.

Well hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend

Best Wishes

Don

Nice boxcar and idea on collecting the "  I  ❤  "  cars Don.

(  central  Pa. ......half your temp at 25  )

Are you anywhere near Ft. Hood or Central Texas College ?

Dallas:  We are "close" by Texas standards.  We are about 1.5 hrs to Ft. Hood which I know because the wife and I shop at the BX and use some of the medical facilities there.  We are closer to Killeen, only about an hr from Waco and about 1/2 way (South and slightly West) down to Austin where our son lives.  When we lived in Pa we lived just outside Philly in Doylestown.  My lab that I worked at was in Johnsville.

Don

Here’s a couple I recently painted for UP. I’ve got 6 of the 86’ auto parts cars painted like this, and 2 of the 60’ Atlas O cars painted in this paint scheme.

Jeff Sohn, those are beautiful box cars, I love the long ones, so unique. I see your using the Kadee coupling system to, very realistic. These are some of my favorites. Happy Railroading Everyone