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Larry thanks for your comments.  I agree, when Lionel asks some $90 for a box car the idea that these are "toys" is sort of out the window.  These 2022 prices are really staggering.  When I started work in 1962 I made $1.47 / hr which was 1.5 X minimum wage so not too bad. That means a week and 1/2's pay to buy one box car !  YIKES!

Best wishes Larry, thanks for commenting. Love your rolling stock, esp the MKT cattle car and the Burlington refer.

Don

@trestleking posted:

Like the FM’s.  Just curious, did all owners run the FMs short end first?

Most of the photos I've seen were front end first. There were a few I found long end first. I have a friend who is retired from the BNSF and though he never road in an FM he hated trains that were set up long end first. As for this owner of 19 FM's I prefer short end first.

Last edited by Dave Ripp.

Larry thanks for your comments.  I agree, when Lionel asks some $90 for a box car the idea that these are "toys" is sort of out the window.  These 2022 prices are really staggering.  When I started work in 1962 I made $1.47 / hr which was 1.5 X minimum wage so not too bad. That means a week and 1/2's pay to buy one box car !  YIKES!

Don

Yes, but Lionel boxcars were NOT $90.00 back in 1962!! They were $2.50.

@Dave Ripp. posted:

Busy day tomorrow so a little early but here are some videos I took tonight. The cars are as follows MTH GN, Weaver BN, K-Line GN, & the rest are Weaver GN's. I have more Great Northern's but my storage room has poor lighting, and I couldn't find them.



Dave, awesome consist, great videos! It’s great to see your layout in motion! Thanks for posting, really enjoyed it! Happy Sunday

All I can say is WOW, and with that in mind I'm reluctant to post anything among these hand-crafted items. I will because I am partial to these two cars, the old PFE reefer from K-Line being something a forum pal of mine put me on to, and the much more recent billboard car from MTH being a Pat's Trains special I could not resist:

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Well, I am about out of pictures of just cars, so here are a few of my boxcars "in action".

A couple of PW Lionel 6464's and an AF "Beep"

Beep and Boxcars 1

A Lionel Blue Bell Ice Cream refr gets unloaded with the ice cream truck standing by.

Blue Bell Ice Cream Unloading

A PRR "BEEP" handles a Lionel PRR automobile , double door car and caboose.

Lionel Caboose Hop1

A Hornby / Marx powered switcher pulls a mixed including an American Flyer pre war auto car.

Marx tank switcher and train front view

Well Happy BxCrSun everyone.  Thanks for the great pictures and video's.

Best Wishes, hope you have a great week and a Happy Halloween!

Don

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@CAPPilot posted:

John,

I like the green of your RoW car.  I have Weaver's version, but the color is a lot darker.  Plus it is not brass.

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The green cars were ones which REA leased from the B&O and could be seen on other rails.  The blue wagon top REA cars were not suppose to leave B&O tracks so more than likely ran in passenger trains.  I don't know about the red and yellow.  I think 3rd Rail/Sunset offered cars in four colors.  John

@rattler21 posted:

The green cars were ones which REA leased from the B&O and could be seen on other rails.  The blue wagon top REA cars were not suppose to leave B&O tracks so more than likely ran in passenger trains.  I don't know about the red and yellow.  I think 3rd Rail/Sunset offered cars in four colors.  John

John,

Thanks for the data.  I have the blue express also, but per my limited research there were not many of those.  I have seen two shades of brown on the non-express boxcars in pictures but not a yellow one.  Again, need to do some more research.

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Happy BCS !  
I do enjoy seeing what creative train mods you’ve been doing—-inspiration! Tom, great work on those SOO and Rock Island cars.

Here’s a different take on “boxcar.”   It’s meant to handle only one box at a time. 🙈The car is K-Line, originally SP, redone with the help of my friend.  He made the custom decals for the MASS Central.  The container (k-Line) was CSX, repainted and decaled for JB Hunt with MicroScale decals.

Don

F8D6EE62-11C1-4593-A8A3-F2261A0B33D1

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Happy BCS !  
I do enjoy seeing what creative train mods you’ve been doing—-inspiration! Tom, great work on those SOO and Rock Island cars.

Here’s a different take on “boxcar.”   It’s meant to handle only one box at a time. 🙈The car is K-Line, originally SP, redone with the help of my friend.  He made the custom decals for the MASS Central.  The container (k-Line) was CSX, repainted and decaled for JB Hunt with MicroScale decals.

Don

F8D6EE62-11C1-4593-A8A3-F2261A0B33D1

Don, I have the boxcars in the background except the Canadian National with the yellow door. I'd like more info on that one, is it MTH? Nice scene also.

Up early with the time change.



MTH Premier car stripped and repainted by me…Buffalo Creek RR…

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Another MTH Premier car I stripped and repainted. This one is in a Rock Island RR scheme…

3918F937-FFB4-433E-9DAD-453134851FF8

Two MTH Railking 34’ cars. The Lehigh Valley car started as an MTH 2000 car. Stripped and painted by me.

The Shawmut reefer, a stock MTH paint job, received a taller brake stem and period brake wheel, as did the LV car…

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Tom

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Last edited by Krieglok

After WWII, Washington journalist Drew Pearson came up with the idea of collecting food and sending it to war-torn Europe to help people in France and Italy who needed it.  Other papers took up the cause, and it became a reality in November 1947 as the Friendship Train (FT).  The train started out in Los Angeles headed to New York City with the hope of collecting 80 boxcars full of food.  Soon there were three trains running and over 700 boxcars of food was collected and loaded on ships to Europe.

Each railroad pulled the FTs with their own engines on their right-of-ways.  The PRR pulled the train with a BP60 AA set.  I have Lionel's version of the Centipede and now collecting/modifying boxcars with FT markings to make up a decent consist.  Here is what I have so far:

FT1

I have multiple numbers of the SP and NYC cars because both Lionel and MTH made those.  I have also purchased a few other standard paint cars that I will add FT marking to as soon as I can.  That leaves about 680 cars to go.

The biggest disappointment so far was Lionel made one of the two painted FT coaches from an observation car.  Both, as well as other passenger cars not painted, were coaches.

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@Dave Ripp.- those are really neat Ham's beer boxcars, I must admit I had not seen them before.  @CAPPilot- Great display of boxcars from the FT.  Thanks for the story, I admit that was a piece of history I had forgotten.  Great story

Well my contribution today is unique to me, its a boxcar by Williams (may be my only one) but when I saw the logo I just had to have it.  Its from the Toledo, Peoria, & Western (TP&W ).  This line, some 287 miles long has gone through various mergers, owners, bankruptcies, acquisitions etc since its founding in the 1800's.  Finally most recently owned by ATSF it was sold off to its current owner and now functions quite well as a short line of just over 480 miles and makes a profit.  So here is the TP&W box car from Williams.

Willialms TP&W box side viewWilliams TP&W box RR name end

I will admit, as an ex NASA guy, I just had to have the "rocket" box car!

Williams TP&W box logo end

Oh one more...when someone said Box Car Sunday, I thought they said Box Cat Sunday, so I got this one for fun.

Max in box

Best wishes for a great week everyone.  Stay healthy and happy.

Don

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Oh one more...when someone said Box Car Sunday, I thought they said Box Cat Sunday, so I got this one for fun.

Max in box

Best wishes for a great week everyone.  Stay healthy and happy.

Don

@Don McErlean

A modern Lionel Miller beer refer.

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Former Great Northeastern Railway Chairman of the "Bored", Chaz Harrison, sends regards from his box in the spirit of celebrating Box Cat Sunday.

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Last edited by Randy Harrison

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