What rolling stock is available for a period of a few years either side of 1935?

[Specter3]

Gruppe

I am doing a small sub model of the New Haven in 1935 ish. I am looking for about 15 cars that would be appropriate for that time and railroad.

Thanks

Ryan

[bbussey]

That might be difficult.  There is no N scale rolling stock past or present that depicts New Haven from that time period, and any rolling stock back then would be overwhelmingly marked for the home road.

[up1950s]

Westerfield is the company , N is not in their offerings .
https://id18538.securedata.net/westerfieldmodels.com/merchantmanager/index.php

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Fine N Scale has a bunch of great kits for earlier stuff (36' reefers and boxcars).
http://www.finenscale.com/rollingstock.html

The catch is that you have to put the kits together yourself 

Otherwise some MT cars are 20s & 30s: mainly the 36' reefers (like the Swift cars).
And Roundhouse put out an "Old Time" line of 36' wooden double sheathed boxcars that you can still find around.
http://www.model160.com/n-scale-news-blog/mdc-36ft-wood-double-sheathed-old-time-boxcars/

[bbussey]

I forgot about the MTL 36' Swift reefers.  Swift had a huge presence on the New Haven.  But I don't think any of those mdels are appropriate for the time period.  The initial three-pack is a couple of decades too early, and the yellow car with the red logo released last year is about a decade too late. 

[M.C. Fujiwara]

These Atlas reefers have 1931, 1922 & 1922 build dates, respectively:


These MTL Swift (3-pack) meat reefers have no build dates, but I think 1910s, so would be still around in the 1930s, yes?


Can't tell if this is Atlas or Roundhouse, but it's got a 1922 build date:


Intermountain has some 1937 AAR 40' boxcars
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Intermountain-N-Box-Car-p/imr-65761-01.htm

And Atlas has some 1932 ARA 40' boxcars
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Atlas-N-Box-Car-p/atl-50%20000%20529.htm

Maybe not the road names you need, but useable for some decaling.

[bbussey]

Not the 40' cars.  The 36' cars in the second photo were physically still around in 1935, but most likely not in those schemes and not with truss rods.  And most of the schemes in the photos were not indigenous to southern New England. The Miller car is MTL, as is the banana reefer in the first pic.  From a company standpoint, Swift and Armour had reefer traffic on the NH, especially Swift.  ART, maybe here and there but not significantly.  NH was FGE territory big-time.  Meat companies that saw regular traffic on NH included Wilson and Hormel.  Not sure about the origins of the Atlas Beer car.

I forgot about the 1932 ARA cars.  There are a couple of schemes that Atlas has done that would be appropriate on the New Haven in the 1935-ish time period - Maine Central c.1939 (via Boston) and Erie c.1932 (via Maybrook).  The other schemes are either too late or rarely traveled to the area.  Some of the 40' USRA wood-sheathed cars - NYC, MEC, PRR, P&LE, Rutland, CP and others - might be appropriate depending on the build/service dates.  The InterMountain cars are too late, which is unfortunate as they were the backbone of the NH boxcar fleet in the mid-20th century.  The year 1940 would have been an easier year to tie N scale equipment to.

[Specter3]

What about this 40 ft wood box?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/310380654473?_trksid=p5197.c0.m619

Or this one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110699647988?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

[bbussey]

The first one is a foob.  Should have been a 36' car, and that road number was in use for only a short time (a renumbering shortly before the class was retired). 

You'd have to check the service date on the second car to see if it is viable.

[Specter3]

Brian

The Maybrook line is what flavor I would be looking for. I am from Hopewell Junction and have recently discovered the true railroad history of my sleepy little home town. I have a couple of books and a locally produced history of railroading in Dutchess county and a wonderful one on the building of the Poughkeepsie bridge. It has definitely become a serious sub interest of my hobby railroading. I purchased a New Haven 2-6-0 and have a oNetrack module that  I have timed for the mid thirties in my head. Hopewell was a major junction in the 20s of the CNE,(controlled by NH) and the N,D & C. Crossing traffic had declined quite a bit by the mid thirties but The Maybrook line was very busy. So for my secondary interest I need about a dozen cars and a cab. 20 would be the max.

Thanks

Ryan

[timwatson]

Atlas has some great outside braced boxcars that might fit the bill. Multiple road names not sure if any were New Haven I have the NYC ones. I too model the 30's. The latest I go to is 1939. My sweet spot time frame is '36-'38.

[bbussey]

Ironically there are NH motive power and caboose models from the time period, but no rolling stock.  If you're modeling the Maybrook interchange, then that opens up Erie, LH&R, NYO&W and NYC for you.  Yes, Atlas has released NYC wood boxcars, but you have to check the service dates on the models.  Actually, 2-10-2 steamers might have been handling the New Haven/Maybrook traffic back then.  I don't know what was being used to man the yards. 

The only NH caboose model available for the 1930s would be the NE2 (Pennsy N5) from Bowser.  Technically the steps are wrong, but the rest of the model is close.

I just checked my roster.  There are more possibilities than I realized.  Although many of the models are out of circulation, they probably can be found on the secondary market with little effort:

• The AAR 1937 boxcars were built for NH in 1945; the PS-1 boxcars in 1948, so both of these models are out.
• Yes the ARA 1932 boxcars were built during the time, but the majority of the Atlas schemes are for later eras.  One exceptoin is the first Erie scheme.
• The NE2 build date is 1935 and was the first steel caboose for the railroad.
• the NH 40' flatcar from Red Caboose has a build date of 5/29, but a service date of 4/47 (which can be changed).
• BLW offers an MTL offset hopper in the NYNH&H scheme, which dates to 1930.  The model has a service date of 1950, which is incorrect for the paintscheme and can be changed.
• MTL offered the offset hopper with panels in NH, with a build date of 1919 and service date of 1933.
• The ARA 1925 (X29) boxcars offered by MTL and RC fall within your time period.
• The FVM ribbed MILW boxcars have a build date of 1938.
• Most of Athearn's wood milk reefers have build dates in the 1920s.
• The Atlas 40' Narragansett reefers have 1934 build/service dates and ran on the NH.
• Many of the IM 8k gallon tanks have 1920s/1930s build/service dates and some ran in the NY/NE region.
• GHQ's depressed center flat can be kitbashed into a NH transformer flat, which was built in 1929.

[Specter3]

Brian

Thanks for that great info. That is what I needed. I do not know when they appeared but the 2-10-2s were stationed in Hopewell as pushers eastbound until the end of steam on the NH.

Ryan

[Specter3]

Bryan

Do you have, or can you point me to any pictures of New Haven rolling stock from around this time period?

[bbussey]

Not easily.  If you can get your hands on the Stauffer book "New Haven Power", some rolling stock is covered there, but it is long out of print and very expensive to procure at this point.  I might have some photos, or references to photos.  I can check later when I'm home and let you know.