Hi guys,
i want to model Boeings plane train in HO scale. I got several photos of it, but all are from “today” showing it with BNSF equipment. My question is, did the train also ran before the BN SF merger, and if yes, which year did it start?
Thanks, Michael
The service in some shape or form has been going on since the B747 started production, which was sometime around the late 1960’s. I recall seeing a photo of it in a book I had about the history of Boeing, with a car being pulled by a GN engine.
Regrettably, I don’t recall the title of the book, and I’m not even sure if I still have it. But, perhaps if you go at it from the airplane angle in addition to the railroad angle, you’ll have better success in finding information.
I remember seeing BN cars and some SP cars, when I lived in Everret WA . I have several models I bought several years ago . I don’t recall who made them , they may still be available .
An interesting point is the Boeing plant in Mukatio (SPELLING?) Wa, outside of Everrett , WA .
is the grade to to the plant a 5% + grade . I seem to recall BN used a 5 axeled GP 35 designed just for this grade .
There is a company in Torrance, CA (I forgot the name) that sends parts to Boeing via rail. If there are SP cars involved, those cars were probably in that service. I have seen SP and SSW (not in a long time), BN, BNSF, and MTTX.
Are you referring to what they call the “Sky Boxes” for parts http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~keay/plane1.jpg or 737 on a flatcar? http://www.flickr.com/photos/hunter1828/502507299/sizes/o/in/set-72157600052115588/ I thought I remember seeing pictures of the 737 trains before the merger but can’t be certain. Like was mentioned before, the Boeing cars were running before the BN merger. The Milwaukee Road, NP, GN and SP had Boeing cars, I believe.
This is a link to how someone built one http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~keay/planedoc.html . It is not a totally correct but gives you a good idea. The angled top sides on the “tail car” box are not painted white as the model was, only the ends are. I’m guessing the modeler mistook the light glare in the photo as white paint. From the pictures and the cars I have seen, the ends at the end of the car are not tapered. Just make it straight to the top. Another model was built and here is a link to it http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2251065410100861041knzxcf Good Luck!
Thanks for your help. An aircraft related website told me, that the 737 fuselage production went to Wichita in 1983, so that was the year, the train started. So i can model it surely with 1990 BN equipment…
The Boeing plant @ Wichita builds the fuselage components which are then shipped to Seattle. This has always been an interesting train to observe a large airplane fuselage being hauled down the tracks. Usually the train runs 5-6 cars in length. The routing of the train has varied over the yrs on SF and BNSF. Around 1999 the route was Wichita-Newton, Newton-La Junta then north on the Joint line. Currently these cars are hauled on the WICLIN which runs Wichita-KC on former SF then north on ex BN rails to Lincoln.
Rail shipment of Boeing components can be traced back long before BN, and before the start of the 737 line. After reaching K.C. as noted above, the cars are usually handled on the headend of HKCKPAS on BNSF to Laurel, MT, and MRL/BNSF to Hauser, ID. At Hauser Yard, the Boeing cars are set out since the HKCKPAS heads to Pasco, not Puget Sound. A Seattle-bound train will pick up the cars at Hauser. You occasionally get a JWICSEA (referred to as a “J Train” or “Boeing Special” on the radio) making a dedicated run straight through, as well as an empty J symbol bringing the cars back east at least as far as Hauser.
My dad actually worked on many of those cars as an employee at Boeing for 38 years before retiring. He also received a cash reward for designing certain hold downs on the cars to be reusable. This saved Boeing money and they gave my dad cash. Before his idea they simply used a lot of pieces of lumber to steady the aircraft sections in transit. He designed some adjustable aluminum or steel pipes with rubber pads on one end and they were bolted to a swivel mount on the RR car body. Since the cars were in dedicated service Wichita did not have to go out and purchase lumber for the cars any longer. As far as I know they still use this method today.
Al - in - Stockton
Here’s a link to some pictures which you may find useful:
Are you talking about this:
If so, I’ve been looking for some for a few years now with no luck. These are 737s though.
The cars I mentioned earlier were made by LBF , I am not sure they are still around or not .
What is the reason for the “icebreaker”?
Why, to break ice, of course!
Seriously, Sis, I’d rather use a metal bar at the clearance limits to knock icicles down from tunnel roofs than have those (relatively) thin-skinned airplane parts hitting the ice.
Good call!! I can’t say I didn’t learn anything today.
So that’s really what they are used for…I don’t know if we even have any tunnels between here and KS, so would have never thought of that.
LBF is no longer around. Hubert’s Model Railroad Manufacturing Corp bought molds from LBF, so they may make them in the future.
For those interested, here is some data concerning the Boeing train operation in KS The empty cars arrive into Newton, KS on the MKCKNEW. From there Boeing cars head 25 miles south to Wichita on the JNEWWIC. Some Boeing cars are stored @ the former SF North Wichita yd, thus sometimes a stop will be made there. This job runs w/a single unit and a three man extra board crew(ie, brakeman). The huge Boeing plant is located in south Wichita. This is located at Connell siding eight miles south of North Wichita. When the train departs Connell to return back to Newton, the symbol becomes the JWICLIN and a outbound crew is then called @ Newton. Upon arrival into Newton, a crew swap takes place and a pool crew off board KCK board 93 will take the short train back home. This method goes back to the last yrs of the SF. Prior to that, switching @ Boeing was done by a local and sometimes one of the two North yd jobs. Looking back at old notes, on Memorial day 1990, the 1st shift North yd job w/ GP7 1325 was seen leaving the yd @ 1230 w/ 19 Boeing cars and a caboose on the end.
