Detailing NH XIH Insulated Boxcar

No need to wonder, the 75 Years of Model Railroader Magazine DVD is chock full of info and contains exactly what you need, even in O scale.

Matt

Matt,

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

For now, I only ordered the Dec. 1989 back issue of MRM compared to the $200 for the DVD 75 years of issues set.  Would like to have the complete set someday but also would like to have a complete set of the Keystone Magazine too for us Pennsy buffs.

I confirmed on MRM's website that the Dec. 1989 issue contained an article as you pointed out entitled, "Paint Shop: State of Maine heater cars" by Alan Houghton.

Looking forward to learning more about these interesting cars.

I have a DVD of the PRR in the 1950s and these cars are easy to spot in old color films.  So I know they ran on the Pennsy too; probably off season from the New England potato harvest.

Bob 

Excellent!

Always refreshing to see posts about modeling...for a change.

Matt

That looks like a really cool project.  Not a real hard one but will add a great detail to an otherwise run of the mill car.

The May 2000 issue of Mainline Modeler has a Tom Houle article on these cars including an O scale drawing by Fred Harris and sketches of the charcoal heater. The article calls it a Preco heater but it looks like the heater in the photo you posted. You can probably get the magazine from railpub.com.

The December 89 MR paint shop article by Alan Houghton has comparable info including a photo that shows the heater and a dimensioned sketch of the  heater but on car drawing.

Larry Kline

Thanks everyone for all the great advice.

I have ordered both magazine back issues (MRM Dec 89 & MM May 00) as well as purchased a very inexpensive used copy of Morning Suns book on NH freight and passenger cars so I should be set in getting the background information needed to scratch build the heater.

I am no model craftsman by any stretch but thought I could tackle this little project.  Should be fun.

Happy Holidays!

Bob Kline

Yes.

Thanks Rule292.

I have the Vol. 2 book.  It was the pictures in that book that made me aware these cars had heaters and put me on this mission.  As you mention, the pictures aren't close enough to provide much in the way of information needed for scratchbuilding.

Even though I am a Pennsy enthusiast, I also have an interest in the New Haven, perhaps because they had a strong affiliation with PRR and a neat variety of paint schemes on rolling stock.

I like to have examples of unique and sometimes low build quantity cars to interperse among the more common and prolific cars in circulation on the PRR Middle Division in the late 1950s.  That is why I landed on having one NH SOM car.

There is a close-up photo of the heaters in "Bangor & Aroostook in Color" by Jerry Angier.

Malcolm

Thanks again gentlemen.

All very useful information for me and for others with an interest in these cars.

Will let you know how I make out on this project.

Bob

I haven't received the references I ordered yet but if I find details on when heater removals started will pass along.

One sure way to know is to check ORERs published in the 1960s to see how many of the road numbers series in question were listed as Class XIH vs. XI.  The "H" designation referred to the presence of the heater.  Once the heater was removed, they were reclassified as "XI" boxcars (insulated w/o heaters).

Note that starting in the early 1960s, the BAR cars started undergoing more simplified paint changes (single color vs. RWB) and conversion to gondolas (essentially cut in half lengthwise) for wood pulp transport.

The NH cars also underwent simplified paint changes in the 1960s.

Not sure how long the RWB paint scheme lasted on these cars for either the BAR or NH.

The photo I attached to start this thread is dated September 16, 1959 which works for me since I model the late 1950s.