Dave Parker returns with his techniques to upgrade the MTH HO scale USRA hoppers.
About three years ago, I purchased an MTH ready-to-run USRA twin hopper with the intention of kit-bashing it into a Boston & Maine car. The B&M bought 100 used twins from the C&O in late 1934 but, after squinting at several photos, I decided it was a no-go. The C&O cars were USRA-like, but had noticeable differences in overall structure and in the details. The MTH car came lettered for the Erie, and can be seen in the 1920s plastic freight car summary, but it is a foobie – the Erie never owned any USRA twins.
Orange, NJ, freight house circa 1920. Photo from the Steamtown NPS archives.
Ray Breyer has completed a another prototype review for the upcoming Accurail HO scale 36-foot box car model. Four variations of the model are planned. Initial paint and lettering schemes were announced a couple of months ago. Ray’s latest summary covers prototype cars for each of the introductory models that will have straight center sills and steel ends. This is another solid resource for modelers to understand the similarities between the model and prototype. The initial PDF data sheet is posted on a special blog page, Accurail Prototype Data.
Two additional data sheets are in the works to cover the prototypes Accurail has announced for the other 36-foot box car versions. These will appear over the next few months as the release date for these new models approaches. It’s great to see such a wide variety of prototype box cars that can be represented by these new models.
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One of many prototypes for the new Accurail models.
As announced here a couple of months ago, Accurail is working on an HO scale 36-foot box car model. They are planning four variations and have announced the initial paint and lettering schemes. Ray Breyer has pulled together prototype photos and details for each of the introductory models that will have fishbelly center sills and steel ends. He has created a very nice resource that can help modelers understand the similarities between the model and prototype. The initial PDF data sheet is posted on a special blog page, Accurail Prototype Data.
Freight cars ready for the next operating session.
I received an email from a regular blog visitor at the end of 2015 that posed some very interesting questions. Here’s the message.
“Many of your recent posts describe prototypes built no more than fifteen years prior to your 1926 modeling period.
Do you know of – or have a feel for – the average age of the freight car fleet at that time? It seems to me that the great majority of the prototypes you have modeled so far represent relatively new cars. I know there was a lot of rolling stock construction going on around the end of the First World War and through the nineteen-twenties, but how much of this replaced older cars, rather than augmenting them and growing the overall fleet size?
I also am aware that car (and train) weights were increasing at that time so the very oldest cars may no longer have been man enough to run with the new construction, but presumably you need some cars built prior to 1910 or so to maintain a representative total fleet?”
There are some good questions here for anyone modeling the 1920s or a specific era. Let’s take a look at each question and some data and opinion.
Photo from the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library.
The Wheeling Freight Terminal is set in Wheeling, WV, but there were similar facilities in other cities across the country. The above photo arrived via email this week from another modeler who is looking for layout inspiration. The photo is from the extensive John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library Flickr site, which is another amazing web resource.
A couple elements in this aerial image jump right out so let’s take a closer look.
