Robert D. Heninger commented >> I have a couple of the double door cars (RIBSIDE CARS), and the main shortcoming seems to be the underframe, which is lacking detail. The body casting and roof are very

....The RMC article indicates there were some cars with one door and others with 2. Which would car 18303 have been? Steve, Others have answered your questions about car class, length, models, etc.

I believe the C&O converted their 1000 ventilated box cars into "house cars" early on. they would have been for east-west traffic for peanuts, lettuce, apples, etc. I believe. The 36 footers ended

It should be kept in mind that these were convertible cars, in that they had solid doors so that the car could be used as a standard boxcar in the off-season. I've seen in conductors' books all manner

Jim. Trucking put a big hurting on the trains. They could load right in the fields and go straight to the market without extra handling. Cheaper that way! Better highways also hurt. I would think

If you consider all class V ventilator cars "watermelon cars", there were still a number on the rolls in 1961: 807 ACL, 3 L&N, 293 SAL. KL

When did watermelon cars stop being used? I would -guess- some time not long after WWII just based upon their design and the introduction of produce handling methods such as wooden bins and the

Hi Jon, Nice work, mate. Isn't it an IE-X though? Cheers Dave

One of the main reasons to tarp a military load, especially if it's returning from the front (not the case in WWII) or being moved after a live-fire test (which did happen during WWII) is to prevent

Jon Grant wrote: And here's a photo of a real one I took at the Grand Canyon yards in September 1961: http://home.att.net/~pullmanproject/GC3.JPG (Didn't everyone go railfanning on their

based on: 50s. 18303 indicate that is was 36 feet (IL). Hi Steve The January 1938 ORER lists cars in the series 17000-19175 as having IL = 36'0"; IW = 8'5"; IH = 8'0"; side door = 6'0"; capacity =

The kit is definitely a 36' car. I have one that I built just after the dinasauers went extinct and I measured it.

Tim, here's a photo of the built-up version of the Westerfield kit on my layout. http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showphoto.php/photo/54584 Jon

Is this the photo? http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?fsaall:813:./temp/~ammem_c4jr::displayType=1:m856sd=fsa:m856sf=8d15028:@@@ Those aren't duplex drive tanks. DDs had a framework extending

I agree. When I first saw the photo I just assumed it was box car (or mineral) red, given the white lettering and the obvious overall flat grey cast to the photo, as it does not stand out from the

Al, I think this cars is painted in the mineral red scheme based upon the white stenciling, but it's really heavily dusted with an almost uniform coating of grey looking dirt.? Normally, the grey

You mean loosing an M-1 for a month sitting on a siding heading down to Lima, Ohio? Locomotive engineers really didn't apreciate carrying a load of tanks. Cartoons were posted of trains making

The Iron Horse At War, James A. Valle, photo by Jack Delano, p144. When I posted my first comment I didn't have the book at hand, but a scan I made several years ago. The caption indicates the the

Tim - These cars were converted to salt service in the 1950s traveling from salt mines to icing stations. Series was 40050-40094, 45 cars. This is the first photo I've seen of these cars in the gray

That adds up for two more than the extreme 121,000 pounds for a nominal 50-ton flat car. The Helcats were 18 tons each. Al Kresse