Good thought on the lumber. The PNW is almost all softwood. Hardwoods would need to come from the east, like maple (duh!), red & white oak, black walnut, etc. Toothpicks, clothes pins, and textiles

Alot of the BAR loads were potato's, they shipped them all over the US

WHAT? Are you saying they did the rebuilt higher capacity cars?? That's (very good) news if true! Tim O'Connor -- Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts

Is there a reason you're not seeking a Rail Shop Models kit for a Cabot Carbon Black car? They did two versions, early and late. Schuyler

Lobsters and other fish went in EXPRESS REEFERS. And when lobsters were shipped ALIVE they could indeed be sent all the way from Maine to California, even in steam days.

Tony, BAR reefers continued to be used for California produce at least into the mid 1970's. -- Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts

Don't forget clothespins!! Before dryers, everyone needed a lot of clothespins. :-) The Maine Central actually rebuilt 50 ton open hoppers into covered hoppers for

Right on Don. Somewhere I have a picture of a whole string of horse-pulled wagons lined up waiting to unload their wagons into TNO cattle calls. That was in Hempstead, Tx. also.

It is possible that specialty wood items were shipped from New England to the west coast. I’m think of turned wooden thread spools, maybe even toothpicks. Yes the PNW had much lumber, but maybe not

There was an article in RMC a few years ago on making a watermelon 🍉 load for ventilated box cars.

Tony: Not just raining, but a hard rain that splashed and soaked. Just to keep you miserable. David Soderblom david.soderblom@... -- David Soderblom Baltimore MD david.soderblom@...

Group - One good reference is the article, Moving Melons by Rail, by David Steer, Railroad Model Craftsman, Jan. 2014. More about the cars is in Ventilated Box Car, by Robert L. Hundman, Mainline

Thanks all for your info/ideas!

Steve is right, and remember in the steam era there were a lot more refineries than in later years, but of course they were much smaller, which probably makes them more suitable for modeling. Another

Photos: Cotton Transportation Photos from the Jackson County Historical Society: Circa 1910 – Loading cotton at railroad depot,

Well, now, that's a darned sneaky solution to Doug's problem! Todd Sullivan

Doug, I rather doubt that fresh lobsters would make it live to the West Coast by rail, based on years of eating them on Cape Ann north of Boston where my grandparents had a summer house, and on

Doug Paasch wrote: Remember that for awhile in the '50's BAR loaned its reefers to PFE from June 1 to October 1. So there you are! California vegetable or oranges, fresh to Seattle! Tony

I think air hardening green modeling clay is your best bet. You can probably roll a hundred melons while watching a 1 hour TV show. -- Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts

They wouldn't ship spuds or cranberries from Maine to the west coast as Washington and Idaho are spud country, and Washington and Oregon grow cranberries (Ocean Spray). But B&M beans are THE best and