Would the following ore cars from Walthers be appropriate prototypically for a layout based in the late 1960’s-early 1970’s?:
http://walthers.com/exec/productinfo/932-4559
If not, could anyone suggest a manufacturer who makes a car that would be?
Thanks!
I think those are just fine. I doubt there has been much change in ore car design over the years. I think Roundhouse makes a nice ore car model too. I know they used to at least.
I just checked Walthers, and yes, Roundhouse does still make them. They come two ways, tapered sides and rectangular sides. The tapered sides have the ribs exposed, and the rectangular sides have a plate over the ribs.
The particular model of ore car that your link refers to would have been brand spanking new in the late 1960’s/early 70’s. Well, new as in referring to style, the cars themselves would have been quite beat up. A little on the history:
Up until the mid-late 60’s, ore cars carried raw ore, which was quite heavy. Hence, they were short in both length and height. In the 60’s, mines started running dry on high grade ore, so switched to processing low grade ore (as an aside, high grade ore was generally mined underground, and low grade always mined from pits). The ore is processed into pellets, which are not as heavy as the raw high grade ore. Hence, more in a car. Railroads put side extensions on the top of the old ore cars so that they could carry more. This is the type of car that the Walthers model accurately reflects. Both of the MDC styles represent ore cars without the extensions, and therefore are appropriate for high grade ore. In case you want to know, the Walthers car is modelled after a Missabe car; the MDC taper side an LS&I car, and the MDC rectangular side a Milwaukee style.
Clarification: these are NOT “taconite” cars. They are pellet cars. Taconite is a type of ore only found on appreciable quantities on the Mesabi Range in Minnesota, and is only profitable when processed into pellets. Hematite and magnetite are the other two main ores which are also pelletized.
And yes, I do fancy myself a bit of an expert on this subject, so if you have any futher questions, feel free to ask.
I know that Steel mills need Ore. Do I model a mineshaft with a loading dock for my ore cars (Iron) or is there a “Middle” industry that needs the raw ore before the mill gets it?
Ore almost always goes straight from the mine to the mill. In modern days, the ore is processed on-site into the pellets before it is loaded into ore cars, though. Between the mine and the mill there is no other industry that uses it, per se.
However, it must be noted that iron ore rarely gets to the mill exclusively over rails. Almost all American and Canadian iron is transloaded into ships for transport over the Great Lakes, as the mines are at one end and the steel mills at the other. The iron railroads transport the ore some miles to the waters edge, where it is transferred to ships via an ore dock with rails on top, or rotary dumped and loaded via conveyor in more modern times. The ships either bring it direct to steel mills, or transload it back to rail for inland mills. There are a few operations where the ore travels all-rail, either short distances or more notably when the water freezes up in winter. The iron industry has almost always behaved this way, as trains cannot possibly match the efficiency and low cost of ships.
If you want to model both ends of the process (mine and mill), it is far easier to leave out waterways entirely. Unless, of course, you have a gym sized layout. All of the larger layouts that represent iron hauling only have one end, either mine to dock or dock to mill. Small and medium sized layouts would be best just hauling iron ore from mine directly to the mill. Older era layouts would have the mineshaft and loader for the mine, with steamshovels for small stockpiles; modern layouts would have floodloaders (with or without balloon track) and front end loaders for huge stockpiles. Steel mills have generally used rotary dumpers to unload.
Thanks for the question.
Thank you for the answer That crystalized my plans.
Very good, useful info. Thank you for passing it on. Much appreciated!
I do have a question, since these cars would not be carrying the higher quality ore, but instead hauling pellets as you indicate, are there suitable loads available for the pellets? If not, are there any photos of which you’re aware which I could use as a starting point reference to possibly come up wit
Chooch makes pellet loads for the Walthers cars; they are good quality albeit quite expensive for filling long ore drags.
Fine gray or brown ballast would be suitable for making your own loads. The individual pieces would probably be a little too large, but most people wouldn’t notice. One of my friends came across some really fine iron shavings that are nearly perfect in size and color. The label said that they came from a scientific supply store, so if you have any of those around (or their catalogs), you might want to look through there.
Here is a good picture for seeing the loads: 
And if you have a lot of time and are more interested in iron mining, the parent site is very good: http://www.geo.msu.edu/geo333/iron.html
How about ore cars for the 1920-1930’s era? Would the Roundhouse models still be representative? Any other suggestions?
The MDC cars would probably be a little too new for the 20’s/30’s. They would work if you didn’t draw too much attention to them. The Tichy cars would be more appropriate. Steel ore cars did not come of age until a little before diesels did, but you could ignore that fact as many don’t know it.
Just thought I’d let y’all know I ordered two, twelve-paks of the Walthers, GN cars from my LHS the other day.
Again, thanks for all the helpful info.
Judging from what I’ve seen in books about a local iron ore hauling railroad, 50 ton steel hoppers were used in the 20s and 30s. However, the one Roundhouse ore car I bought is printed with a 1934 build date.