Actually, Jim answered my questions perfectly, which leads me to
think I might still put off building these particular models
considering I still have about 10 to 15 Branchline 50' cars still to
build.

I would note that an increasing number of these have side sill
contours, or something else, that are just a tad too different from
the prototype for my (mainly) skill in matching the paint when I need
to add more sill than the model has. Carving sill sections away has
gotten to be a frequently-practiced skill at my house.

That said, I'm grateful to Branchline for getting as close as they
did to so many useful cars. There are about 20 of the 50' cars now
in service here.

Ron Merrick


--- In STMFC@..., "jim_mischke" <jmischke@...> wrote:

Several responses:

- I've put off building mine as well. The protoype Duryea
underframe imposes some major appearance changes on the model.

Even

a resin conversion kit (yet not produced for a 50 foot car, much
less this one) does not change the annoying cross bearer changes
needed on the model shell. Research Bob Witt has been doing on
Duryea patents shows that Duryea underframes evolved significantly
over time. One size or one era does not fit all.

- In 1954, GATX built some 50-foot lease boxcars for itself (green
with a big diagonal yellow stripe) with Duryea underframes. At
least PRR and B&O availed themselves of some. These cars were more
likely to be the last new Duryea underfames built.

- Very captive. B&O used these in auto parts service, they were
tied to particular pairs of auto plants. By the road number. There
were also a multitude of subclasses based on the fixturing and

racks

within.

- Having seen some parts lists for B&O freight car orders, B&O
spread their parts business around. Trucks, journals, running
boards, brake hangers, .... many parts were all split between
vendors. If you see one M-61 with a Morton running board, it
doesn't mean they all had them. Half could have had Ajax.
Sometimes this seems to be A-B testing (let's see which is best).
Mostly it is shipper schmoozing and recipriocity. The B&O traffic
salesmen don't want an icy reception from Morton when they call, or
come away empty handed thereupon, just because B&O has been buying
all Ajax running boards lately.




--- In STMFC@..., "mopacfirst" <ron.merrick@> wrote:

I've put off building any Branchline 50' B&O cars until now,

since

as

soon as I did research on these I realized they would be more
complicated than average.
References: Ed Hawkins articles in RMJ, November 98 and August

99,

and a couple of photos of similar classes on rr-fallenflags.org.
Now for the questions: B&O 282000-282149, M-61, and 299300-

299326, M-

61B, are 8' door riveted box, more or less Branchline out-of-the-

box

except for Duryea underframe and Morton running board, and minor
changes to the sill tabs. I can't really tell how many crossties
there are, the deep ones that run under the centersill, but I'm
guessing four. Is this right or are there six? Is the triple

valve

located under the left edge of the door? Are there any photos

that

show this better? And, are these just about the last (maybe

only)

50' box built with Duryea underframe? Were these cars mostly

captive

or, especially a few years after being built, were they free-
runners? Did they get converted into anything else, within the
timeframe of this list?
B&O 288000-288698, M-65 double door. These don't seem to be

Duryea

underframe. Did they have Morton running board?
Anything else useful to note about these cars?

Ron Merrick