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GN USRA boxcars, was Re: What can I model?

Robert Heninger
 

Tim,

A couple of errors in your post. GN series 24994-25993 were not USRA design boxcars, as Todd Sullivan has pointed out, but "USRA clones" (how can clones be different?) with differences in the doors, door tracks, and most notably, the ends, which are 7/8 Murphy, not 5/5/5.

And the 27000-27799 series (famous for being the first Glacier Green cars) were rebuilt from 45000-52999 series boxcars, not USRA cars. The GN never rebuilt the USRA or USRA clones into steel boxcars. Examples from both series were rebuilt into stockcars in the 1950s, as the GN was retiring their older truss rod stock cars. Many others were sent to MOW service, lasting well into the BN era.

Regards,
Bob Heninger
Minot, ND
Tim O'Connor
 


Thanks, I saw Todd's post, too. I had no information on the clones.

Does Accurail offer its USRA DS box car with 7/8 ends??

Thanks for the info about 45000-52999... (WHAT A HUGE NUMBER RANGE!)

In my very first attempt to buy mail order RESIN kits I wrote to Andy Carlson
maybe 25 years ago to try to order some GN rebuilds. (The GN had so many great
rebuilds and virtually nothing in resin is now available.) Anyway I failed Andy
had decided by then not to produce any more kits.

Tim O'



A couple of errors in your post. GN series 24994-25993 were not USRA design boxcars, as Todd Sullivan has pointed out, but "USRA clones" (how can clones be different?) with differences in the doors, door tracks, and most notably, the ends, which are 7/8 Murphy, not 5/5/5.

And the 27000-27799 series (famous for being the first Glacier Green cars) were rebuilt from 45000-52999 series boxcars, not USRA cars. The GN never rebuilt the USRA or USRA clones into steel boxcars. Examples from both series were rebuilt into stockcars in the 1950s, as the GN was retiring their older truss rod stock cars. Many others were sent to MOW service, lasting well into the BN era.

Regards,
Bob Heninger
Minot, ND
Bill Welch
 

I am fairly certain that Westerfield offers the post-war 7/8 GN USRA clone.

I was one of the lucky ones with Andy Carlson's castings. I have his 50-foot steel rebuild using the old Walther's 50-ft SS underframe with fishbelly cnetersill. Mine is Orange & Green with DF and delineators. I also have two models since offered by Sunshine, the Pratt trussed SS 40-foot boxcar that built into a very nice model and one the GN's Plywood cars. This required Detail Associates 4/5 Dreadnaught ends and Red Caboose roof. Mine has orange sides and black ends and roof.

Bill Welch
Tim O'Connor
 

Bill, have you published photos of your plywood box with the DA ends?
I am very interested to know what that looks like. :-) What do you think
of the Intermountain plywood box? (Other than the bottom sill, which I
know has to be replaced.)

Tim O'Connor

I am fairly certain that Westerfield offers the post-war 7/8 GN USRA clone.

I was one of the lucky ones with Andy Carlson's castings. I have his 50-foot steel rebuild using the old Walther's 50-ft SS underframe with fishbelly centersill. Mine is Orange & Green with DF and delineators. I also have two models since offered by Sunshine, the Pratt trussed SS 40-foot boxcar that built into a very nice model and one the GN's Plywood cars. This required Detail Associates 4/5 Dreadnaught ends and Red Caboose roof. Mine has orange sides and black ends and roof.

Bill Welch
dahminator68
 

Hello Bill & Tim:   Westerfield does not yet make the USRA clone with 7/8 ends, but the patterns for it are being worked on.  We will certainly make an announcement about this car when we get it ready.

Bill, you might be thinking of our #10400 Series kits for GN DS boxcars, but these are different than the USRA clone.

Thank You.
Andrew Dahm
Westerfieldmodels.gmail.com

On Monday, April 10, 2017, 10:13 AM, fgexbill@... [STMFC] wrote:

 

I am fairly certain that Westerfield offers the post-war 7/8 GN USRA clone.


I was one of the lucky ones with Andy Carlson's castings. I have his 50-foot steel rebuild using the old Walther's 50-ft SS underframe with fishbelly cnetersill. Mine is Orange & Green with DF and delineators. I also have two models since offered by Sunshine, the Pratt trussed SS 40-foot boxcar that built into a very nice model and one the GN's Plywood cars. This required Detail Associates 4/5 Dreadnaught ends and Red Caboose roof. Mine has orange sides and black ends and roof.

Bill Welch
Dennis Storzek
 




---In STMFC@..., <dahminator68@...> wrote :

Bill, you might be thinking of our #10400 Series kits for GN DS boxcars, but these are different than the USRA clone.

Thank You.
Andrew Dahm
===================

Which is the reason Accurail never tooled a 7/8 end for their kit; many of the "clones" were reduced in height to 8'-7" IH instead of 9'-0", since many of the railroads felt the USRA cars were too tall.

Dennis Storzek
Tim O'Connor
 

So since the GN cars were not true USRA clones, does that make them
prototypical foobies? :-)

Tim O'Connor

Bill, you might be thinking of our #10400 Series kits for GN DS boxcars, but these are different than the USRA clone.

Thank You.
Andrew Dahm
===================

Which is the reason Accurail never tooled a 7/8 end for their kit; many of the "clones" were reduced in height to 8'-7" IH instead of 9'-0", since many of the railroads felt the USRA cars were too tall.

Dennis Storzek
Todd Sullivan
 

Tim O' wrote:

Does Accurail offer its USRA DS box car with 7/8 ends??

I don't know if Accurail does, but Westerfield offers a 7/8 corrugated end that looks like it should fit their USRA DS kit.  I'm going to try those soon to see if they do.

Todd Sullivan
Todd Sullivan
 

Well, my 1952 ORER says the GN USRA originals and clones had the same height to the eaves, running board and top of the brake staff, and the same cuft capacity (3098).  The only difference is that I can see from the dimensions is that the clones had an extreme width 2" wider at 10'-1" and the extreme width point occurred at a different height from the rail (12'-6" vs 11'-7" on the originals).

Guess I'll wait on the ends if Andrew is working on them.

Todd Sullivan
Bill Welch
 

Tim, here is photo of my GN Plywood model. Going on memory Andy only offered the doors and sides. In addition to DA ends it looks like I used their ladders. Mostly I used CDS Dry Transfers applied to decal substrait. An intersting detail on these cars was the used of drop grabs on the left end of the sides, the left end of which was a Bracket. For this part I used the now discontinued Overland bracket.


The other two models built from Andy's casting are also there if you look around.

Bill Welch
Bill Welch
 

No, it means the person that labeled it that way was wrong. Don't blame it on the model.

Bill Welch
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