A few years ago I found a picture of a C&O 2000 series boxcar on the railroad that I model. I had a Tichey re-built boxcar on hand and began digging for information to possibly kitbash a representation of the C&O Car. I quickly learned that this might not be the best option and determined that I would most likely have to scratch build the car. With the introduction of the Archer rivets I have been thinking about the car again and have gathered various parts to start the project. I know about the Sunshine kit but I really like the look of the 8 panel car. Plus I can't turn down a scratch building challenge.
In the original picture the car was in the background and was coupled to a gondola so I did not have much to refer to get an idea of the height of the car. Nor could I see the ends to look for modifications that might suggest that the car height was increased. The smaller data on the sides was not clear either. In my digging around I have since come up with three other pictures, plus a little information from a Sunshine flyer about the cars. However, that additional information has raised additional questions.
The pictures I have found seem to show two side configurations. One of those configurations is 8 panels. It also seems that the 8 panel cars may have maintained their original height as one of the pictures shows the car in a train with a Union Pacific boxcar next to it that appears to be similar to an ARA 37 boxcar and the C&O car seems to be significantly shorter.
The second configuration seems to be a 10 panel side. This is what the Sunshine kit represents and supposedly has a 10 foot inside height. There is a great wreck picture of this car on Ted's Steam Era Freight cars site. It is an end shot and so you can see the extension between corrugated end panels.
I can only clearly pick out the numbers on two of the photos so I don't have enough information to see a pattern. My questions are:
1. Does anyone know a little of the history of hte rebuilding of these cars? Were the cars rebuilt from different classes of cars or in different shops and is that was causes the use of different side configurations?
2. Were the 8 panel cars shorter than the 10 panel cars? If so what were the number series for each?
Thanks for any insights that you may be able to offer.
