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The railroad police officer is getting an early morning workout at the "Charles Street Yard" chasing an uninvited overnight guess in one of the empty boxes!  The white "Narragansett" beer reefer, loaded full of the best beer in New England from the nearby brewery, will be headed out later for spotting at a distributor one state over on Tuesday morning.   

Boxcar Sun 6

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Morning guys some great looking box cars!

@Dave Ripp. Dave way to start it off with the Red, White, and blue! What a great idea!

@Capetrainman Paul Nice to see the RR Coper is on the job keeping your beer safe!

I hope you all have a great 4th and I will have to get out to the train room to see if I have something to offer a day late!

@CAPPilot Ron, I might have a reading box car you might be interested in. it doesn't fit my layout area.

Well BcCrSun fans, I am a day late but I was traveling all day yesterday back from the TCA convention in Nashville.  OBTW- what a great time I had there, meeting leapinlarry and touring his layout - we had some great fun.  Well today, since its 4th of July we need to showcase our red,white, and blue boxcars etc...so here is mine.

Here is the Marx 7" series State of Maine boxcar #4854 from 1955-1957.  In these pictures that car is being pulled by the Marx GE 70 ton switcher from the Cape Canaveral Express of 1959-1964,

RWB loco 3RWB trains 3

In keeping with the 4th of July, here is the Jeremiah O'Brien, Spirit of 1776, GP-9 by Lionel (MPC), catalog # 8665, pulling some 6464 box cars .  This loco was available in 1976 only and is in fact a Seaboard locomotive.

RWB loco 2

Best wishes everyone for a great holiday

Don

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Larry :  Thank you for the compliment.  Yes that AF boxcar has had a long life, it would be fun if they could talk and tell us about where they have been!  Your BAR  car is neat, I don't have a Lionel "Sounds" car but might look for one at the Convention next week.  Great photo's everyone, I always learn a lot from this thread.  Have a great week!!

Best Wishes Don

A few months ago I bought a couple of Lionel box cars with Sounds and I'm very happy with them.

As long as my wife is not asleep, I like to run my trains with the maximum noise. The squeaky brakes and other noise made by the Sounds cars are a great addition to the racket generated by my trains.

In case you hadn't noticed, real trains, at least in my experience, make a tremendous amount of noise as they thunder down the tracks. Arnoldo

Wow, time flies and I missed Box Car Monday, but better late than never, @Don McErlean, it was a true pleasure meeting you and your coming to my open house, then getting to introduce you to Dr. Jack Fisher and his remarkable layouts, truly the 8th wonder of the world. The box car I’m going to show is my door prize for offering my layout to be on the great TCA National Convention Tour 2022. We had 37 folks come to our home Friday, 7-1 and we had a grand time. Again, to anyone reading this posting that came to my home during the TCA National Convention, thank you. On July 25th, we will have folks attending the LCCA National Convention so that’s what we are now preparing for, fun running Trains… Happy Railroading Everyone 48008575-6C32-46A9-8BC4-0E0331A9220DA05EAC3B-DD53-4431-9A4D-EDD8D9749247

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Well hello BxCrSun fans, I was all prepared today to offer a mystery, BUT in reviewing Dave Ripp and Patrick's posts I may have already found the answer.  This PRR box car came to me at the Nashville TCA convention from the $5 box!  The seller pointed out that there was no name of any manufacturer on the car (which I confirmed) so he had no idea who made it.  Well it was a handsome car and for $5 I had to take it home .  As I said in my opening line, now that I have reviewed Dave and Patrick's posts, I believe it could be Weaver mostly by looking at the door casting but that name does  not appear on the car.

First here are some views of the car.  The livery is very well done, crisp, clear, and no smudges or mistakes.  I don't know if it is accurate for PRR in some era (comments by better experts please) but it is very well done.

Unk PRR box side view

The PRR logo end and note "add on" ladders and roof walk not cast in.

Unk PRR box logo end

Here is the brake wheel end, again "add in" parts and not just cast into the body.

Unk PRR box brake wheel end

Here is a side by side comparison to the well known Lionel 6464 boxcar series.  Note that on the 6464 at this time (6464-100 WP with yellow feather 1954-1955),the ladder and roof walk were part of the casting and not add on parts.

Unk PRR box comp with 6464

I wondered since I did not know who made the PRR car if the couplers would link and match up to Lionel and they did without much trouble.

Unk PRR box coupler ht

Finally I compared sizes, the unknown make PRR car is larger all around when compared with the Lionel 6464.  Here are the dimensions:  First number is 6464 and second number is this PRR car

Length (less couplers)          9 1/4 "                                10 1/8"       

Height of box                       2 1/2 "                                   2 3/4"       

Width                                      2 1/4"                                   2 1/2"

So there you have the mystery PRR boxcar which may be Weaver (comments appreciated).  Clearly unmarked by maker, very well done as far a decoration is concerned, more add on parts than a 6464 but considerably lighter (all plastic including trucks).

Well Happy Box Car Sunday everyone.  Hope you have a great week.  I am staying inside, it was 107 degrees outside yesterday!!

Best Wishes

Don

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Last edited by Don McErlean

Well hello BxCrSun fans, I was all prepared today to offer a mystery, BUT in reviewing Dave Ripp and Patrick's posts I may have already found the answer.  This PRR box car came to me at the Nashville TCA convention from the $5 box!  The seller pointed out that there was no name of any manufacturer on the car (which I confirmed) so he had no idea who made it.  Well it was a handsome car and for $5 I had to take it home .  As I said in my opening line, now that I have reviewed Dave and Patrick's posts, I believe it could be Weaver mostly by looking at the door casting but that name does  not appear on the car.

First here are some views of the car.  The livery is very well done, crisp, clear, and no smudges or mistakes.  I don't know if it is accurate for PRR in some era (comments by better experts please) but it is very well done.



The PRR logo end and note "add on" ladders and roof walk not cast in.



Here is the brake wheel end, again "add in" parts and not just cast into the body.



Here is a side by side comparison to the well known Lionel 6464 boxcar series.  Note that on the 6464 at this time (6464-100 WP with yellow feather 1954-1955),the ladder and roof walk were part of the casting and not add on parts.



I wondered since I did not know who made the PRR car if the couplers would link and match up to Lionel and they did without much trouble.



Finally I compared sizes, the unknown make PRR car is larger all around when compared with the Lionel 6464.  Here are the dimensions:  First number is 6464 and second number is this PRR car

Length (less couplers)          9 1/4 "                                10 1/8"      

Height of box                       2 1/2 "                                   2 3/4"      

Width                                      2 1/4"                                   2 1/2"

So there you have the mystery PRR boxcar which may be Weaver (comments appreciated).  Clearly unmarked by maker, very well done as far a decoration is concerned, more add on parts than a 6464 but considerably lighter (all plastic including trucks).

Well Happy Box Car Sunday everyone.  Hope you have a great week.  I am staying inside, it was 107 degrees outside yesterday!!

Best Wishes

Don

Don, The Pennsy is no doubt a Weaver Model. I don't believe I have any Pennsy 40 footers I'll put it on the list.

Continuing the discussion on B&O's wagontops, lets take a quick look at the express version - the C-16 class.  25 of these were converted from the M-53 boxcar in 1939 to meet the increased demand for mail storage and REA movements leading up to WWII.   They were painted Pullman Green.  The B&O did 100 more over the next five years.  After the war, starting in early 1947 through 1959, all the C-16s were retuned to freight service. 

DSC_0005

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There is evidence that some of the cars were painted blue.  That is a story for next week.

This car is a Weaver

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@CAPPilot posted:

Continuing the discussion on B&O's wagontops, lets take a quick look at the express version - the C-16 class.  25 of these were converted from the M-53 boxcar in 1939 to meet the increased demand for mail storage and REA movements leading up to WWII.   They were painted Pullman Green.  The B&O did 100 more over the next five years.  After the war, starting in early 1947 through 1959, all the C-16s were retuned to freight service.





There is evidence that some of the cars were painted blue.  That is a story for next week.

This car is a Weaver

Ron, Nice history lesson and a beutiful car. Thanks for both.

@Dave Ripp.:  Dave thanks for the input, I agree the car appears most certainly to be Weaver.  Dave, I picked this car up more as a research project and a lark than anything else.  If you can use this car for your collection (I don't intend at age 77 to start collecting Weaver!) let me know and I am more than willing to send it to you (NO charge of course).

Don

Box car sundays go by as fast as front end fridays, and midwest mondays, time simply flies, @Don McErlean, beautiful PRR box car and the price was right, I also love the 6464 WP with feather box car, both very nice, @Dave Ripp, those are beautiful Penn Central box cars, nice green color, and @trumpettrainn,  your WP with Feather Weaver box car is beautiful to, great color, @CAPPILOT, I love that wagon top B&O car, very nice. Today, I’m showing the VL B&O time saver box car with sounds and it’s a real crowd pleaser when running the trains, lots of unique sounds, also a nickel plate box car, and a long 86’ CSX car, all fun to run. Happy Railroading Everyone 4C09D3E7-4245-4825-9EAA-011D9AF67B6B5D81A20D-516E-466E-85FF-1873F520C846CF70F256-0F03-4EFF-ACE7-F7D026E64ECD

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  On the eve of World War I Marklin began exporting a new line of trains to America.  At that time Ives was the main US competition and, for the most part, their trains featured engines with cast iron superstructures and lithographed cars.  Marklin started to meet that competition by exporting a couple of cast iron steam engines with 0-4-0 and 4-4-0 configurations with either Pennsylvania Lines  or NYC&HR tenders, a series of five lithographed boxcars, a PRR caboose and Pennsylvania Lines  and NYC&HR passenger cars.

   The boxcars displayed the then latest features of the real railroads - steel under frames and single sheathed, outside bracing.  The steel under frame was a clever piece of litho treatment.  The basic frame for the car was stamped sheet metal with truss rods.  The litho for the under frame was part of the car body lithography. It covered the sheet metal truss rods on the frame and used the truss rods as reinforcement for the litho steel under frame of the boxcar body.

   The five roads were CNJ, Erie, P&R, PRR, and Union Pacific.  Below is an example of the Union Pacific car.

Marklin_UP_Boxcar

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Last edited by Robert S. Butler

@SIRT - What a fascinating car, the curved roof and the level of detail especially on the end by the brake wheel is amazing.  Your realistic weathering is top notch.  Great job.  @Dave Ripp.- Great car, neat idea to change the livery wording to make it era appropriate. Patrick - Great photo scene with different seasons.

My offering today is a new car (for me), I just purchased it at the TCA convention in Nashville.  Its a Lionel  (LTI) boxcar from 1990. Although you can never be certain, this car does not look like it was ever even on the track at least not for very much.  The box had the original store price sticker on it.   I picked this one today in part because it can serve as both a posting for "Box Car Sunday" and "Santa Fe Sunday" - so its a "twofer"

So here is my new, Lionel #19216 boxcar from 1990:

Lionel 19216 SF box car side view

After looking at the livery I noticed the square box with "SL" inside.  I had not seen that logo on any of my other Santa Fe rolling stock.  I assume it means "Santa Fe Lines" but I am not sure of that meaning nor am I sure its at all prototypical.  Comments Welcome.

Lionel 19216 SF box car - logo end

Here is the logo end for the "Super Shock Control" smoother ride advertisement.

Lionel 19216 SF box car slogan end

Well happy Sunday everyone, hope you have a great week this week.  Keep healthy - not sure how its going in your area but this ****COVID is making a comeback here in Central Texas, not sure where this will lead.

Best Wishes

Don

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This is my last (maybe) discussion on B&O's Wagontops.  We first looked at a couple boxcars (M-53 class), then the common green express version (C-16 class).  Now we are going to look at the elusive blue C-16.

Some background first.  B&O paint specification for head-end cars was olive green before 1947, blue until 1953, then blue with a gray window stripe.  As mentioned in my earlier post, the C-16 express version was being returned to freight service starting in 1947, so it seems like B&O would not have bother to paint any of the C-16s blue. 

However, there is some evidence that there were at least a few blue C-16s, either 5 or 10 depending on the source.  Maybe some got painted in 1947 before the decision to return them to freight service was made.  Another source stated this was done as early as 1942, the date B&O changed the green C-16 paint scheme (removed herald).  In this case, maybe management thought since they were changing the scheme anyway, paint some blue.

Anyway, whether they were painted in 1942 or 1947, there were some blue C-16s on the rails.  Here is Weaver's "Bando Blue" Wagontop with the correct post 1942 scheme.

DSC_0002DSC_0003

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@Mark V. Spadaro- Yes Mark, it looks just like mine only the number is different.  Interesting that Weaver would go to all that trouble to change the livery for just a number change?  Sitka - I have heard of those rusty cars being called "Rat Rods" so maybe you have a "Rat Box" .  Ron - Interesting information on the change of colors for the B&0 Wagontops.

Great pictures everyone!

Best Wishes

Don

Well hello BxCrSun fans!  Today I want to exhibit two brand new custom boxcars done for me by Krieglok...and to illustrate his exceptional craftsmanship.  First a little background.  The Raritan River Railroad was a 12mile shortline that ran between South Amboy and New Brunswick, New Jersey.  Began in 1889 it ran until absorbed into Conrail in 1980 and some of its lines are still used today by the successors of Conrail and 4 of its principal customers over those decades are still working and shipping by rail.  It was all steam until the 1950's when the last of its (then) 2 engines were scrapped and the round house/shop was closed.  It dieselized with 6 EMD SW900's which lasted until scrapped in 1984.  However, here is the back story, in 1966 a young newly married couple, Don and Sally McErlean, came to live in their first apartment in New Brunswick and could watch the comings and goings of the RRRR on a daily basis.  From 1966 until 1970 the RRRR was our neighbor.  I had always wanted some reminder of the RRRR for my layout but was unable to find any commercial source.  When I found that Krieglok was willing to custom make a couple of boxcars for me I could not have been happier.  I just received these two this week and I think you will agree that the workmanship is superb.

Here it is in the last of the steam days (about 1948) when the switcher at the Sayerville Yard is in process of picking up two RRRR boxcars to deliver to customers on line.

RR boxcars with Lione 1615

Here are the two handsome, nearly new, RRRR boxcars in their most recent livery.

RR boxcars 100 & 101

A close up of RRRR car #100 and illustrates Krieglok's craftsmanship.

RR boxcar 100 close up

Her companion, RRRR Car # 101

RR boxcar 101 close up

All coupled up and ready to begin the day's work of delivering and picking up on line freight loads.

RR boxcars with Lionel 1615 leaving yard

Best wishes and hoping everyone has a safe and healthy week.

Don

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Don, thank you for the kind words! They were fun cars to paint and decal.I am glad they stay on the track! Lol. They look right at home on your layout.

I painted one for myself too!

84ECF0FC-6985-4288-8C9D-F107A896AE22



I just completed another car. I stripped and painted it for a simple B&O scheme. I used Tamyia Redish Brown paint and K-4 decals…

7DC12985-31F8-43BF-9F3D-AED091CDDA9D

Tom

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Last edited by Krieglok

Well good morning BxCrSun folks...I see that SP is the "brand of the day" so here is my contribution.

Here is one as interpreted by KLINE. I guess 2-tone doors is a compromise between yellow and brown

Here is the Lionel 6454 from 1949-1952.

Best wishes ... hope everyone has a great week ahead.

Don

Very nice Don, I don't know if the yellow door or angled yellow stipe were protipical but I like them both.

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