PS-1 trucks

[TinyTurner]

I'm slowly updating my cars to new trucks and wheels and making note of the years they ran together, sort of aware that older stock probably didn't disappear over night, but made a transition.
Over the course of this, it seems that various trucks were changed for modern higher capacity.
It's a lot to discover.   
I have picked a roundhouse PS-1 as it's the first I came to.
I can keep any older cars that don't really apply separate, even running separate era train sessions via a convenient timewarp and enough staging.
What are the correct trucks for 'modern', and when did the converted cars run from and to?

[Bill H]

Tiny, I would assume you did some research on your own before asking, as that info is readily available. Was there something you did not find? A lot of stuff out there, can you share your findings so far and how that will affect your roster  choices. IT might help so folks don’t repeat what you already discovered.

[Missaberoad]

This is quite the rabbit hole depending on how specific you want to get. I'm judging from your post that you want a general idea.

Bluford has a railroad history timeline that may be helpful.

https://www.bluford-shops.com/bluford_93_024.htm

A few highlights that may be of interest.

1964 - new orders of cars with solid bearings plummet

1994 - solid bearing trucks are banned from interchange

1995 - converted trucks are banned from interchange

[Mark5]

Some railroads were early adopters of roller bearing trucks, others not. It is best to try to find photos of the actual box car that you are trying to model.

For the ones that did adopt roller bearing trucks - you won't see any 100 ton trucks on them. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

This is quite the rabbit hole depending on how specific you want to get. I'm judging from your post that you want a general idea.

Bluford has a railroad history timeline that may be helpful.

https://www.bluford-shops.com/bluford_93_024.htm

A few highlights that may be of interest.

1964 - new orders of cars with solid bearings plummet

1994 - solid bearing trucks are banned from interchange

1995 - converted trucks are banned from interchange

That set of pages on the Bluford site is such an amazing resource. I don't think @Bluford Craig gets nearly enough credit for it.

[Bill H]

This is quite the rabbit hole depending on how specific you want to get. I'm judging from your post that you want a general idea.

Exactly on point. I expressly asked Tiny how was he already researching, what has he found himself that did not answer his question etc. Otherwise it is not too far akin to asking what color are boxcars... Simply no context to the question and apparently not the slightest effort was made by the OP to find out on his own.

[TinyTurner]

I hope that it can be appreciated that even though I began to search for what I could find, I am starting with very basic knowledge of the subject matter.  As in I did not know that the PS in PS-1 is Pullman service.
I have everything to learn. 
Some of the cars I have are at least secondhand with the wrong trucks and bolster pins fitted as 'upgrades' by the last owner and may well be 'foobies' anyhow.  And that's a word I had to learn from The Railwire.

That Bluford shops info is excellent, and will do very nicely, thankyou.
General will do as a guide for now and will satisfactorily cover cars on a protolanced subdivision, until such a time as I feel the need to do an exacting model, and have the space to do the entire Pacific Northwest Milw Boxcab route, complete with hydro electric plant and substation.

The only way out of ignorance is to ask.

[Mark5]

As in I did not know that the PS in PS-1 is Pullman service.

The PS in PS-1 stands for Pullman Standard.

It's ok to ask anything.  Try to add context when possible.

When I saw Roundhouse PS-1, I assumed it was the N scale 50' PS-1 from Roundhouse - is that correct?

http://www.spookshow.net/freight/mdc50ps1.html

Mark

[Frank Amato]

@TinyTurner lots of good proto info on this site http://www.steamerafreightcars.com

Especially here http://www.steamerafreightcars.com/prototype/frtcars/protofrtcarsmain.html

  Frank

[Bill H]

[TinyTurner]

The PS in PS-1 stands for Pullman Standard.

It's ok to ask anything.  Try to add context when possible.

When I saw Roundhouse PS-1, I assumed it was the N scale 50' PS-1 from Roundhouse - is that correct?

http://www.spookshow.net/freight/mdc50ps1.html

Mark

Great links, thanks.

Ah bugger.  That's what happens when you try to rush an idea before bed, and you really want to know.  It was pretty close  
Context is important, but sometimes I don't know where to start.  I can see the picture, but what do I say?  Life story. 

Yes it's an early roundhouse Milw PS-1.  It matches the description on Trove-star that I frequent.  Pizza cutters and all.  Sometimes it's the wrong box and that makes it confusing.
I bought all sorts of stuff at first before I realised I was doing a lot of stuff without going anywhere.  A lot like ADHD in fact...funny that
So now I have to go through it all and see if I can Milwaukeeize it. 

I quite like the roundhouse cars as they are a good weight out of the box, often at a good price. I try to get as many as I can find, putting aside to repair and repaint in good time.  Got a growing selection of mechanical reefers.

[nickelplate759]

@TinyTurner
Ah, the joys of being new to a forum where many people are highly skilled and take their fun very seriously!
In general, the more specific you can make your question here the better your chances of useful answer, but don't be surprised if your question about boxcars suddenly results in the discussion being about airplanes made by Fairchild!

When PS-1 boxcars (both 40' and 50' cars were made) first came out, the most common truck under them was a 50-ton or 70-ton solid-bearing (a.k.a. "friction bearing") truck, commonly referred to as a "Bettendorf" truck.  But even in the 1950s some (not many) cars came with roller-bearings.  Over time, starting in the 1960s many received (were upgraded with) 70-ton roller-bearing trucks, but solid-bearing trucks remained common into the 1970s.

If you want to be particular about accuracy, first define the time period you want to be accurate for, then look for photos from that time period.   PS-1 cars (both 50' and 40') were very common for a long time, and the 50' cars were common in service later than the 40' cars.

[TinyTurner]

Yes, the time period is the key. 
I had an idea in mind after being inspired by a club members model set right at the end, but then caught onto the idea of the 'peak caboose era' which had everything you could want in operations. 

I won't do it yet, but could model the same train in another era to show how it evolved and keep them separate.
Another good way to do this is with the museum conservation scene, to portray the hard work of your N scale volunteers.

All this takes more resources than sticking to the one theme and quickly becomes a diversion.
I would have said at one point that it is an excuse to run anything, I feel most who do that are more inclined to buy rather than build. 

It's odd, I am above the 'trainset' level but not at the museum quality standard either.  I am aiming high, so it is taking longer.
I found that of the shelf never worked that well (older stuff) and was limited to sectional geometry.
This has been regarded with strange looks when I mentioned that I intend to build my own track over buying commercial, as though that can't be any fun, or why would you do that?  I don't look at it as too difficult, it will be a challenge and a reward.  I get exactly what I want, and that is where the art of it is.

I have been practically scolded for suggesting that birch plywood for bench work should be used over crappy Chinese ply, when I know that cheap ply will warp horribly as it is still green and full of voids.  So at that point I was made out to be the 'serious' one, but because I don't like to see my work get trashed and I care about the effort put into it, that's what I have gone with. 

It's interesting to see how long the cars ran for.  I started a Microtrains stash to allow for easy swapping out.

All madness to the casual average modeller. 

[pedro]

I hope someone can take down the d!ck post from @Bill H. If he doesn’t have the b@lls to do it himself.

[thomasjmdavis]

@TinyTurner lots of good proto info on this site http://www.steamerafreightcars.com

Especially here http://www.steamerafreightcars.com/prototype/frtcars/protofrtcarsmain.html

  Frank

Excellent site for all things freight car related.  And don't let the "Steam Era" in the title frighten you if you model a more recent era- it covers cars manufactured until at least 1960, many of which were in use for decades after that.

For the 50' PS-1, a particularly useful resource on the site is http://www.steamerafreightcars.com/prototype/frtcars/PullmanStandard50ftPS1BoxCars.pdf  which lists every lot built, by railroad.  Includes information on rivet vs. welded, door type, truck type, etc. for dozens of railroads.  (note the section at the end with definitions for all the various abbreviations.)