Hi,

  Most of the posts to this group are directed at the details of the

prototype for the era.  

  Are posts that discuss the methods used to MODEL the

prototype for the era OK, tolerated, or "off topic" and 

should not be posted?

  Example - I have posted and gotten responses about the

brake hoses ... I'd like to move on to discussing how people

are modeling those same hoses.  OK?

                                                                    - Jim B.

It is fairly common to see brake hoses (on models) that have been painted.
What I think is correct for our era is that the hose itself (the rubber part)
should be DULL black (rubber) - with considerable road grime that is often
almost brown, and the fittings (valve and hose end) should be oxidized rust
(most of the time), black (some times - if that particular RR painted theirs ...
but still dirty), and ... rarely ... white. Additionally,
I know that some RRs used a band of metal around the hose near the
end that is sometimes painted white, red, or (later, past our era) silver.
Were these bands even there in the post WW-II era?
What I do not think is 'ever' (never say never) right is that the metal
fittings are silver.

Hi,

  It is fairly common to see brake hoses (on models) that have been painted.

What I think is correct for our era is that the hose itself (the rubber part)

should be DULL black (rubber) - with considerable road grime that is often 

almost brown, and the fittings (valve and hose end) should be oxidized rust 

(most of the time), black (some times - if that particular RR painted theirs ... 

but still dirty), and ... rarely ... white.  Additionally,

 I know that some RRs used a band of metal around the hose near the 

end that is sometimes painted white, red, or (later, past our era) silver.

Were these bands even there in the post WW-II era?

  What I do not think is 'ever' (never say never) right is that the metal 

fittings are silver.

  Do I have that, for the most part, correct?  For the post WW-II years!

Are there some RRs for which the exceptions I mentioned above are

'the rule' rather than the exception?

                                                                                                - Jim

Armand and others,

     I realize Tony Thompson and I may differ on the amount of Canadian cars in the US however he is in California, some states south of the border while Minnesota (always serving to keep Canada safe from Iowa), is on the border and well could see more Canadian cars.

     All joking aside, I have some documents which I have presented on and allow you to draw your own conclusions.

     The file on this site posted by me titled Canadian Cars on US Rails, the one which the sub-descriptor titled “17000 cars on US rails in 1950”, in which a letter from the CN relates that there are 17000 XM’s on US rails in September 1950. That letter relates they are needed for newsprint, lumber, and pulpwood. (And this is just CN cars, not CN and CP, so the total number of Canadian cars must be greater.)   

     The 1950 SCO No. 59 (June 1950, several months earlier) above in the same file relates to a need of Canadian XM’s to be returned.  

Later in my own time frame, I came across AAR bi-monthly reports of 1956 and 1957, where the additional data concerning Canadian cars on US rails was found.

From the Nov. 21, 1956 AAR report came this: Because of traffic patterns, there is always a large number of Canadian boxcars located on US roads. The movement of Canadian grain and paper together with miscellaneous commodities has resulted in a tight box car situation on Canadian roads. Handle under SCO 90.”

Then about six months later in history, Jan. 20, 1957 came this: The boxcar balance between the United States and Canada has favored United States roads during the past months, resulting in short supply in Canada. The loading of Canadian ownership box strictly in accordance with Car Service Rules and the expeditious return of these cars to home rails cannot be urged too strongly.

…………

      I will be the first to state that this is still a works in progress however circling back to the earlier file noted and the other internals NP letters in the above STMF file, I feel that I need many CN cars and my past buying habits have reflected this. TLT has some nice ones though pricey.   

      More-so, I would like to check additional Railway Ages in the 1951-1955 time frame and other sources for SCO notices however can state that I am convinced by what I have found so far, that I believe Canadian cars are given too little credit for their numbers on US rails, most notably in the northern tier states.   

           You can read the above, check the file and letters noted, and are free to draw your own conclusions.

                                                                                                     Jim Dick – St. Paul

Your proportions reflect the higher number of home road cars on he Santa Fe during the Great Depression. When I was in Sacramento, I discovered an accounting document evidently to justify future expenditures in the mid forties. I am away from my copied pages, but it did track the numbers of foreign. cars on line, and home road cars off line for a period of at least ten years. The percentage of foreign cars grew from about 10% in the early thirties to about 70% during the start of WWII.   I have to verify the exact percentages, but the difference was incredible.

So a word of caution, using that great adult under garment : It Depends!  With the Depression the traffic was really down and foreign cars incurred Per Diem and most RRs were short of cash.  The traffic crush of the war had just about anything that could roll carrying loads.

John Barry