Boxcar Sunday, Let's see your boxcars.

@pennsyfan posted:

Tucker automobile boxcar

Bob, I haven't seen that one before, who made this?  It looks like it's nicely detailed and the round roof is cool.

Weaver (I may’ve posted this before)

@Dave Ripp. posted:

Bob, I haven't seen that one before, who made this?  It looks like it's nicely detailed and the round roof is cool.

Dave,

It was made by Lionel for LOTS.

Wagontop boxcars were first introduced in 1936 by the B&O to eliminate leaking roofs.

A few cars from the South…from my archives…

Tom

I scratched the body of this 34 ft. Reefer, and shortend the frame of an MTH 1900s donor Reefer with arch bar trucks, installed Atlas roof details and added decals. A tedious but fun project a long time ago.

That car is so well done.  Your modeling skill is evident, at a very high level.  The scratchbuilt body/ detailing is impressive!

Many thanks Don. I count this as one of a few successes but I have several flops!

Here's my boxcars for this fine Sunday!  

B&O Wagon tops by Weaver.

Old brass, rather lightweight (brand unknown, but old enough to be of Japanese origin); added 3RO trucks. The ride height even worked pretty well w/o mods:

Later:

Here's a Lionel PS-1 40' boxcar that I modified with Kadee couplers and weathered.  I've always liked this Rutland paint/lettering scheme.

For those who like their boxcars nice and clean (right out of the paint shop!), here's a "before" photo...

Well Boxcar fans, I have a somewhat common one today but with an interesting detail.  Marx made these plastic bodied, metal framed cars beginning in the 1950's, this SF #3280 was first released in 1956.   At that time, these cars had sheet metal framed trucks (Type G) which distinguished them from the more elaborate "Deluxe" cars (opening doors, larger, more detail) which had more detailed plastic overlay frames with journal boxes (Type F).  Then things became confused (or more confused if you will) when in the early 1960's plastic overlay frames began to appear everywhere.  So today I have a "medium" line boxcar but it has the plastic overlay framed trucks from 1962.  These "medium" line cars were smaller than the deluxe, in 0 gauge this somewhat less than 8" car would be not even 40 ft in scale and were used in Marx's middle line of sets.  However in the late 1960's and 1970's the "Deluxe" cars were discontinued and this line became the Marx top end.

Note the car lettering claims that it was "new" in 6-56 which would be correct if it had the sheet metal truck frames of that period.  The addition of the plastic overlay truck frames pushes her date to 1962.

Best Wishes

Don

I'm getting this Rock Island 40 footer ready for grain service.

@pennsyfan posted:

Tucker automobile boxcar

A whole lot nicer than the Weaver version and a proper "4-door" automobile boxcar:

Who made it? I'd like to find one, if possible.

Here's a pretty "sweet" car from Weaver:

This car would have carried bulk Sucaryl (sodium cyclamate) manufactured by Abbott Labs in North Chicago, IL south along the Skokie Valley "bypass" route of the North Shore Line for use in various consumer products such as foods, beverages, and liquid and powdered sweetener until its use was banned in 1970.

This car was sold by Weaver in 2-rail form and, except for the trucks and couplers, is identical to the 40' outside-braced cars produced by Crown Model Products (CMP) in 3-rail. In fact, "CMP" is molded into the underframe. I installed Weaver's die-cast 3-rail Bettendorf trucks on the car and had to modify them a fair amount to get the car to roll freely. I replaced the stock Weaver diecast zinc wheelsets with sintered iron Lionel, added a cross-brace under the bolster to keep the sideframes parallel and m2.5 SS washers between the wheels and sideframes to keep the wheels from scraping the sideframes:

@Bill Swatos posted:

A whole lot nicer than the Weaver version and a proper "4-door" automobile boxcar:

Who made it? I'd like to find one, if possible.

Bill,

My earlier post. https://ogrforum.com/...7#182889129328806037

@pennsyfan posted:

Bill,

My earlier post. https://ogrforum.com/...7#182889129328806037

Oops! Missed that. Thanks, Bob! Just got one NIB on you-know-where. My first "wagon-top."

Joe, (CNJ)

Great weathering on that Rutland car.  What approach did you use to get the fine control on seams and the grime on grabs, lower level, etc.  Are the trucks powdered or airbrushed?

I was very enthralled with the LOTS Tucker automobile boxcar. I went on the hunt, and found one a short while ago. That car will be a welcome addition. Certainly pleased to see the LOTS version in the Boxcar Sunday edition Thanks!!

@pennsyfan posted:

Dave,

It was made by Lionel for LOTS.

Wagontop boxcars were first introduced in 1936 by the B&O to eliminate leaking roofs.

I just want to clarify something.  The Lionel LOTS "Tucker" boxcar is not a B&O wagontop design.  That boxcar is based on Lionel's PRR X-31a "Round Top" boxcar.  Basically, it is a PRR boxcar where the roof was rounded to increase internal capacity but still make it through Pennsy's low tunnels.  It was first built in 1936 as a replacement for the Pennsy's much smaller capacity X-29s.  The X-29 was eventually rebuilt with a larger car body but not until 1948.

Here is the Lionel X-31a.

Here is a Weaver B&O wagontop.

Bob is correct that the wagontop design was meant to eliminate leaking roofs and you can see why it works. 

@Bill Swatos posted:

Oops! Missed that. Thanks, Bob! Just got one NIB on you-know-where. My first "wagon-top."

Per @CAPPilot, I stand corrected. She won't be my first "wagon-top."

@Bill Swatos posted:

Here's a pretty "sweet" car from Weaver:

This car would have carried bulk Sucaryl (sodium cyclamate) manufactured by Abbott Labs in North Chicago, IL south along the Skokie Valley "bypass" route of the North Shore Line for use in various consumer products such as foods, beverages, and liquid and powdered sweetener until its use was banned in 1970.

Apparently the prototype used for this model was sold to SP shortly after the cyclamate ban of 1970:

In addition, the "external height" should probably be "13-7" not "18-7." I wonder if this error was actually on the prototype or made by Weaver...

@Don Sierakowski 111617 posted:

Joe, (CNJ)

Great weathering on that Rutland car.  What approach did you use to get the fine control on seams and the grime on grabs, lower level, etc.  Are the trucks powdered or airbrushed?

Hi Don, sorry for the delay in responding.  Thank you very much for the kind words!  My techniques have really evolved from when I first dipped my toes into the weathering water around 10 years ago.  I started out using mostly paints...both dry brushing and airbrushing on car and locomotive exteriors, but have since moved on to mostly pan pastels and powders rather than paint.  I do still use mostly paints for car underframes and interior walls, doors & floors...then "highlight" them with pan pastels.

Back to the Rutland boxcar...the exterior was done mostly with pan pastels.  I use various sizes of very soft make-up brushes (yes, make-up brushes!) to apply pan pastels.  By using light, very quick strokes, they do a great job of applying just enough color to highlight all the raised areas--such as the seams and grab irons you asked about.  This method really makes all the fine details "pop".  The longer you keep brushing, the "heavier" the weathering will appear.  You can really control the amount of weathering this way!  Layering different pan pastel colors helps to achieve the desired look.

As for the trucks, I typically start with paint (applied with a brush) to lay down a base color, then switch to powders and pan pastels to finish them.  Mixing weathering powders with a small amount of matte medium forms a paste-like "paint" that adds great texture to trucks, or other areas on the car or locomotive where you want to imitate rust or heavily-weathered metal.  This is a really cool technique!

Hope this answers your questions.

Two Rat River Railway cars:

A friend has one of these, I liked it and was able to dredge this one up out of the 'bay:

@D500 posted:

Old brass, rather lightweight (brand unknown, but old enough to be of Japanese origin); added 3RO trucks. The ride height even worked pretty well w/o mods:

It might be an International Models car.

@jlm1973 posted:

I'm getting this Rock Island 40 footer ready for grain service.

I remember cars like that in Baltimore's street trackage in the Inner Harbor area. Some were unloaded through a hatch in the top panel of the door. A suction hose was inserted through the hatch and the grain vacuumed out. There are views of this on the web.

Note that Athearn (HO) once offered a "grain loading boxcar".

Joe, CNJ

Thanks  for responding.  I really liked what you did.  I’ll need to try smaller makeup brushes with the Pan Pastels.  Great suggestion!  I’ve used larger ones for overall grime, but sometimes the end result doesn’t meet my expectations.  I appreciate your comment about layering as well—especially on the trucks.  

Welcome boxcar fans. Here is a Lionel Monon with hatches for grain hauling. I wonder how they emptied these.

Lionel LOTS Club car, 9464 style, w/ die cast frame

Lionel Monon operating car with sprung trucks and Lionel with plastic trucks basic boxcar.

My layouts and many of my model locomotives and boxcars reflect the years between 1920 and 1950, including the Great Depression, when hobos rode the rails by hopping aboard a freight train to get from town to town – no ticket required. So, aside from placing hobos on the layouts, I began to put them in the doorways and atop some boxcars.

MELGAR

S scale; no idea as to their origins:

...all I did to these was add sprung trucks and Kadee couplers....

Mark in Oregon

@pennsyfan posted:

When I first saw the New Haven State of Maine boxcar, I thought it might be a fantasy car and I wasn’t sure if I should order it. I did some digging and here’s what I found out.

In 1950 the Banger and Aroostook ordered 300 insulated and heated plugged door boxcars for potato service. The cars were equipped with ventilators and charcoal stoves. Another order was placed for an additional 150 cars. The New Haven RR piggybacked on that second order for 100 cars. The factory decorated the cars in the State of Maine scheme which saved the New Haven some money.

Rather than just show the one car, I thought that I’d show all my State of Maine cars.

My first car is a paper and wood model made by my Dad about 70 years ago.

...this one is my favorite....

Mark in Oregon

Here are two Weaver 40' PS-1 boxcars being unloaded on the local team track siding.  The Lehigh Valley car is factory painted and lettered and is loaded with sacks of flour.  The Delaware & Hudson car was painted and lettered by me and is loaded with general merchandise.  I shaved off some of the molded-in grab irons and stirrup steps on both cars and replaced them with metal ones.  I also added Kadees...and weathered both cars.  There are additional photos below.  You can click on the images to enlarge them.

@Strummer posted:

...this one is my favorite....

Mark in Oregon

Thanks, me too. Aside from the attachment to my Dad; it’s got character.

All great posts this week!

Nothing new this week from me….doing custom cars and other types of freight cars.

Here are a few from my archives, just to look at…

Tom

Here’s this week's addition to my fleet of PA rolling stock:

Well guys, great pictures as always.  Today is a bit nostalgic for me.  In the 1990's I worked in an office in a part of Arlington they called "Crystal City" (lots of glass etc) but it ran along the border of the RF&P rail yard in Arlington which was quite large and had a lot of action.  So lunch time train watching was rather common and fun.  So last Sat at the Plano, Tx train show when I encountered this Lionel box car I just could not resist.

So here it is from 1979, the Lionel (MPC) #9412 RF&P boxcar:

Best wishes from a COLD central Texas - but we don't get any snow!

Don