Santa Fe fans, please help.

[wcfn100]

I have the MT 32050 with SFRB markings and I need to know if the paint scheme can be back dated to the mid-60's as is.




I'm hoping all I need to is back date the service date of 3-70.


Thanks,

Jason

[wm3798]

Do what I do... Take off your bifocals while operating the layout. ;D

Lee

[Bob Bufkin]

And here I thought you only operated after finishing a 12 pack.

[wm3798]

Blurry vision by whatever means possible! ;D

[oakcreekco]

Works for me, and that's what's great about N scale. Get "blurry" and just run them.

[Ryan87]

The big question would be... "when did they get the large Santa Fe logo?"
And was the large Santa Fe applied to the cars with the Ship & Travel Logo?

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=669094
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/atsf/sfrb6490l.jpg
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=43461

[atsf]

Yes, you can change the weigh date.

Santa Fe received 300 Rr-57 insulated boxcars from Pullman Standard in 1955.  They were painted in the scheme used since 1947 with a train slogan on one side of the car and the two line Ship and Travel... slogan on the other side.  In addition, they had orange plug doors and "DF Insulated" slogans.  Any cars repainted starting in 1959 would have received the new scheme with the 9' diameter "big circle" logo replacing the old 3' square logo and the new three line Ship and Travel... slogan on both sides of the car.  There would be no more name train slogans.  Starting in 1972, the Ship and Travel... slogan was replaced by large "Santa Fe" lettering as there was no longer a reason to promote travel on Santa Fe passenger trains.

The Micro-Trains car has the correct scheme for a car repainted between 1959 and 1971.  However, any car in a shop for repairs and repainting after April 1966 should have had its running board removed and the end and side ladders on the "A" end of the car shortened to meet new safety appliance regulations.  Any car repainted starting about 1969 would have had an ACI label applied.

Weigh dates were stenciled on the car when it was painted and then restenciled every time the car was reweighed.  Originally this car would have had something such as "New 4-55" to denote that it was weighed by the car builder when new.  The stencil was changed each subsequent time the car was reweighed.  The "TS 3-70" stenciling on the car next to the light weight stencil denotes that the car was last weighed at Topeka, KS in March 1970.  Changing the date to 1964 or 1965 would be fine.
 

[wcfn100]

Great info, thanks a lot. I can live with a late '65 shop date.


This car is a great fit into my CGW roster as it can be used in both north and south bound trains hauling canned meat and brandy respectively.


Jason

[sizemore]

both north and south bound trains hauling canned meat and brandy respectively.

Sounds like my kinda train!

[Walkercolt]

Really, those cars would have been very hard to find by 1970. They may have still had roofwalks, if they hadn't been shopped, because removing the running boards was a fairly low priority to the FRA, compared to shortening the ladders and moving the brake wheels down. Freind of mine used to work in the Frisco car shop at Springfield...the shop foremen weren't nearly as concerned over running boards, correct sized logos and some other things as getting cars back in service. We have photographic proof of many "short-cuts" that were taken. :

[atsf]

According to Santa Fe live lists, 281 of the original 300 cars were still in revenue service in 1970. 

The revisions to the Safety Appliance standards required shortening the appropriate ladders at the time of running board removal.  Both projects had to be completed at the same time for the car be be in compliance.  There has never been a requirement by the FRA to lower the hand brake on existing railcars.

[randgust]

I've got Official Railway Equipment registers, Morning Sun books, and a sometimes distorted memory.  One of the things I like about modeling ATSF is that you'd see 2-3 schemes on what was basically the same car.  Until it hit a major shopping, nothing much got repainted.  They rarely seemed to do an entire class of anything at the same time.

I got pictures of 1949-era 'map' cars all the way up to the 1980's, here in Pennsylvania, 8 years after the "Santa Fe" billboard became standard, and almost 30 years after the 1960's scheme change.  So I've got 40-foot boxcars on my 1972 layout in all three schemes; the 49er maps, 'Ship and Travel' era, and 'still sticky' freshy-shopped "Santa Fe" cars with changed doors, lowered ladders, and no roofwalks.  It's hard to sin on ATSF with a 'too old' paint scheme unless the car itself was obsoleted.