36' box cars

[Cajonpassfan]

Doing research on my "Spring 1947 - 1951 era" I discovered I need as many "short" 36' house cars as I have fifty footers, a good proportion of my freight car fleet. While the railroads were trying to get rid of their antiquated equipment, the realities of the time didn't allow the car manufacturers to build new cars fast enough and many roads couldn't afford them anyway. While archbar trucks were prohibited in interchange service in 1940, truss rod cars were not outlawed until 1952, and "old time" 36' footers, boxcars, reefers, and stock cars with steel underframes lasted as long as the laws of physics allowed them.
Today I discovered a half a dozen unpainted 36' boxcar castings I bought and forgot about a while back, so I took an airbrush to them, see below. Now I need to find appropriate decals or dry transfers to finish them. I'd appreciate any feedback about what may be available to finish these cars.
Thanks in advance,
Otto K.

[jmlaboda - RIP]

Clover House has a number of suitable dry transfer lettering sets available for early equipment such as this.  The link below will take you to their site...

http://cloverhouse.com/Store/index.php?cPath=64

[wcfn100]

Along with the cars I listed in the trading post, I have a bunch of the Clover House transfers for 34'-40' cars.  If you're looking for something in particular, maybe I have it.


Jason

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks, Jerry, for the Clover House link. Wow, they have quite a variety, although most of it strikes me as too early for my post WWII era. I need to do a bit of research, but the NYC and Nickle Plate look promising.

Jason, thanks also, I'll PM you.
Regards, Otto K.

[thomasjmdavis]

I recall the discussions about meat reefers when Rapido brought out their N scale model, and being quite surprised by how late some of them were produced, being built with steel underframes in the late 20s (IIRC). As it turned out, the main reason appeared to be the spacing of warehouse doors of major meat packers- new reefers needed to be the same size as old reefers, so the doors would line up for efficient loading.

Did the same reasoning apply to stock cars or box cars, if a railroad had major customers who preferred a shorter car?  I am thinking of a large stockyard with loading or unloading chutes with particular spacing, or a downtown freighthouse built in the 19th Century.  Is there a resource out there on later built "short" cars that might have remained in play into the later 50s and 60s, and/ or rebuilds?

[tom mann]

How is the quality of those Clover House decals? Anyone got a close up photo?

[JMaurer1]

Clover House makes dry transfers. Quality is just fine (about the same for all dry transfers). I've done DOZENS of cars using their dry transfers. Different from decals, but once you get the hang of it, it's not difficult.

[Cajonpassfan]

I recall the discussions about meat reefers when Rapido brought out their N scale model, and being quite surprised by how late some of them were produced, being built with steel underframes in the late 20s (IIRC). As it turned out, the main reason appeared to be the spacing of warehouse doors of major meat packers- new reefers needed to be the same size as old reefers, so the doors would line up for efficient loading.

Did the same reasoning apply to stock cars or box cars, if a railroad had major customers who preferred a shorter car?  I am thinking of a large stockyard with loading or unloading chutes with particular spacing, or a downtown freighthouse built in the 19th Century.  Is there a resource out there on later built "short" cars that might have remained in play into the later 50s and 60s, and/ or rebuilds?

Tom, Ted Culotta's Steam Era Freight Cars Reference Manual, Volume One is a great resource for box (and furniture/automobile) cars. Highly recommended, and full of photographs.

As to your first question, no, I don't think so at least relative to box cars. Unlike meat reefers which were built new relatively late for the reasons you note, the last short boxcars built new in any significant numbers were built for the Southern Ry. in 1926, and they were already an anachronism when new. However, many older shorties got rebuilt in the thirties and forties with steel ends and/or roof and sheathing (including the famous yellow cigarband "Dixieland" cars of the NC&St.L), and those lasted well into the early diesel era. Those are the cars I'm interested in because we have so few available... The MDC/Athearn car and two old resin kits by Fine N Scale (don't know if these are still available). The FNS kits are actually quite nice, see below, unpainted. It would be nice to know what prototype they are based on...
Otto K.

[Spikre]

 
  Missouri Pacific had a number of 36" boxcars rebuilt with steel sides
  that ran into the late 50s or early 60s.
  have read,but not seen pics of Wood Meat reefers built as late as 1948.
  but GATC built wood reefers of the early 40s were hi-lited in an RP CYC
  issue,but don't recall the number off hand ?
  the MP boxcars were in RP CYC also.
   go to RPCYC.PUB to see the contents of the issues done to today.
   New Haven,Lackawanna,and Southern ran 36' boxcars into the early 50s,
   and there were other roads also.
     Spikre
     

[Cajonpassfan]

Thank you, great resource!
Otto K.

[up1950s]

I have used the Clover House dry transfers in the past . I found the transferred printing to be a bit gloppy and at times did not transfer all of each letter which required re burnishing of that area before the carrier paper is completely removed , even then some areas failed . Maybe the surface of my equipment was not perfect for the dry transfer process to adhere . Maybe your and others will have better results . I really like some of the schemes he has . He also has some very fine brass wire in many diameters , you'll need a tool to measure some as they almost look the same .

Wasn't he going to retire or close up , but changed his mind ?

[peteski]

Wasn't he going to retire or close up , but changed his mind ?

Clover House was sold to a new owner several years ago.

[Cajonpassfan]

Acquired one of the Athearn 36' cars on feebay, cheap. Replaced the archbar trucks (outlawed in interchange in 1940), installed new BLMA wheel sets and MT 905 couplers, thinned out the stirrups, hit it with a little weathering and voila, got a nice new "old" car. Love the contrast with the new fifty footer
Otto K.

[nkalanaga]

Otto:  Was 1962 the date ALL cars with truss rods were outlawed, or wood-frame cars with truss rods?  I've seen cars from the early 1900s with steel center sills AND truss rods, and wonder if those were also included.

Some of these lasted into the 1970s in MOW service in the Northwest.  In particular, the SP&S had some riveted, fishbelly sidesill, truss rod flatcars (!), built for the NP in 1903, bought by the SP&S in 1938, and converted to MOW in the early 60s, which lasted into the BN era.

[Cajonpassfan]

A very good point. My recollection of the research I've done a while back is that cars with steel center sills were not subject to the 1952 interchange service ban, even if they had truss rods. So it was the lack of a steel center sill and not truss rods per se that triggered the prohibition. And cars in company service like MOW etc. that weren't interchanged lasted as long as their owner found them useful.
Thanks for pointing out the subtle but important difference.
Otto K.