A.T.S.F.box cars compatibility question

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

Hi All

I have Athearn boxcars A.T.S.F ath70037 with slogan of El Capitan or Chief

Can this boxcars be prototopical for the late of 1959 ?

thanks very much for your reply

stefano

2

Absolutely [:)]

3

Hi again Stefano,

The boxcar you mention looks like this:

Based on this particular “Chief” font, I would assume there is a map on the other side of the car.

I know the map design was replaced with the “Ship & Travel” slogan. I’m not exactly sure when the new slogan first started to appear, but I do know it was very prevalent during the 1950s.

The Ship & Travel looks like this (as shown on a Kadee HO scale PS-1 Boxcar):

The fonts also changed with this new slogan. So the Chief version looked like this (also on a Kadee boxcar). Compare it with the top photo of your Athearn boxcar:

And by 1959, there was an even newer style just starting to appear. It looked like this:

So I can’t be 100% sure if your style of car is prototypical, but I’m guessing that there must have been some “map” cars still on the active roster in 1959. If there were any around they likely would be a little on the dirty side.

4

The Santa Fe historical society publishes a number of reference books on freight car paint schemes.

http://atsfrr.net/store/book.htm

I recall seeing Santa Fe boxcars with the slogans naming passenger trains into the mid 1960s and maybe beyond. After all a boxcar might wander for years before returning to home rails, and even then a trip to the paint shop would not be a top priority. You’d see C&NW 40’ boxcars advertising the Route of the 400 or Route of the Streamliners well after advent of Amtrak and the end of all passenger service.

Dave Nelson

5

I believe the Santa Fe started putting the slogan and map on steel boxcars in the mid-late thirties, about the time the 10’ high steel boxcars started to become the preferred new boxcar. Walthers “521 Prototype Lettering Diagrams” (their first decal catalogue) published in 1942 shows cars with slogans for The Chief, Scout, Grand Canyon, Super Chief, and El Capitan, all with the map on the other side.

There is a difference that came in at some point re the map…I think the first maps had straight lines between the cities, sometime in the late forties-early fifties maybe it changed to curved lines.

6

Hi all

Thanks very much indeed to all for the nice help and explanation about the boxcars compatibility

Matt thanks very much indeed for the pics as well as for the comparison it was essential to my understanding

regards

stefano