MTL announcements for December

[Ngineer]

MTL announced a bright red Great Northern box car with roof hatches.

On their website, they state: "In 1961 GN refitted 12 cars from series 45000 - 52999 with roof hatches and numbered them 21950 - 21961. They were reclassified LC and used to transport foundry sand. "

1961? AFAIK the big white "goat logo" wasn't introduced until 1967 (BSB era). Is this model a stand-in? Has anybody ever seen a picture of the white "goat logo" on a red car?

Javier

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Are they finally doing the Conrail SW1500s?

I want a pair for Christmas!

[CBQ Fan]

Burlington diner please!!

[davefoxx]

Are they finally doing the Conrail SW1500s?

I want a pair for Christmas!

We hope you "get a pair" for Christmas, too.  BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Kisatchie]

We hope you "get a pair" for Christmas, too.  BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Hmm... I am so
embarrassed...

[jmlaboda]

I've emailed the GN Goat list @ Yahoo! Groups out of the hope of finding out when GN started using the large goat herald.  Hopefully a reply will yield some understanding about the herald's beginning.

[C855B]

...1961? AFAIK the big white "goat logo" wasn't introduced until 1967 (BSB era).

Well, you're exactly right - the car MTL is showing for December is of the BSB design, including Univers typeface and conspicuity stripes. However, keep in mind that just because the cars were modified for the service in 1961 does not preclude a repaint of the car series into something unique under the BSB image package. Or even the one car with that number, which I would not doubt as part of the new image presentation. There is likely a photo somewhere.

Faded memory recalls that slightly orange red on this car as one of the "trendy" designer colors of the era, as was the BSB blue. There was also a turquoise for a special series of cars, IIRC. If purple pigments of the day didn't fade in 60 seconds, I'm sure there would have been something in purple or, heaven forbid, lavender. BSB is a classic example of graphic designers run amok.

[wcfn100]

w

1961? AFAIK the big white "goat logo" wasn't introduced until 1967 (BSB era).
Javier

The shop date on the GN car is '67. 


Jason

[nkalanaga]

As far as is known the only one of these cars, and possibly the ONLY boxcar, painted red with the BSB style lettering was the 21953.  So, in that sense, this car is "prototypical".

HOWEVER, the 21953 was not a USRA car.  It was a 1937 AAR design with wood instead of steel sides, and standard steel doors, ends, and roof, a very common style on the GN.  They built about 8,000 of these cars, in the 45000-52999 series, although only about a dozen had roof hatches.  A much closer model could be built by replacing the sides on an IM 1937 car.

Most(?) of these cars had vertical board sides, but several groups were built with plywood sides.  An article and plans for these appeared in the last Carstens-produced RMC. 

[GonzoCRFan]

Are they finally doing the Conrail SW1500s?

I want a pair for Christmas!

I'd like one too, provided the finished ones don't actually look like the current artwork on the MTL website with all-blue underframes and silver trucks... 

[sirenwerks]

Most(?) of these cars had vertical board sides, but several groups were built with plywood sides.  An article and plans for these appeared in the last Carstens-produced RMC.

Did that article include plans for the plywood side cars?  Twould be nice if IMRC would just tool up its car in N.

[nkalanaga]

Sirenwerks:  Yes, it was specifically about the plywood cars, and included plans for three variations, including two different underframes.  Plenty of information for building a model.

Since the car is basically a 1937 AAR design, all that would be needed are the new sides, and since other roads used the individual board sheathing on 1937-style cars, they could easily do that in multiple roads.  The plywood cars seem to be unique to the GN, but they came in almost every paint scheme used by the GN, and were seen nationwide into the 70s, so should sell as well as the 12-panel cars.

A lot of these cars were later rebuilt with steel sides, but there were still hundreds, of both plywood and board styles, in service on merger day.  In good condition the plywood cars looked like steels, so you might be able to get away with removing the rivets and adding batten strips to an existing model.  Doors changed frequently over the years, so almost any six foot door would be suitable for later years.

[Ngineer]

GN. They built about 8,000 of these cars, in the 45000-52999 series, although only about a dozen had roof hatches.  A much closer model could be built by replacing the sides on an IM 1937 car.

So we have at least a door thing on that car (wood instead of steel)? And we have a box car that was built quite often with nobody making an accurate model?

There are a few pictures of this box car series in the book GN Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment on pages  37 - 38.

Javier

[nkalanaga]

This exact car is on page 26 of Four Ways West's "GN Equipment Color Pictorial, Vol. 1", still in service in 1974.  Apparently no pictures of it are online yet.

Incidentally, these roof-hatch cars are in the same number series originally used for the GN's only PS-1 boxcars, which were renumbered a year or so before these received their roof hatches and new numbers.  So, if you have one of these, you can also have one of the Atlas orange and green PS-1s.

[Ngineer]

Does that mean that the Great Northern box car will look more prototypical if you exchange the wood doors for the Micro-Trains Youngstown or Superior doors?

Javier