for my next railroad, i’m planning a small ore mine. i’ve decided on a time period of the 1930’s. i’m planning on using the 22 foot wood ore cars offered by tichy train group. i’d like to have a couple of the 25 foot steel cars thrown in as well. are these appropriate for the time period?
I believe that by the 1930s, virtually all of the shorty ore cars in use were all steel.
The length of the Ore cars was usually determined by the spacing of unloading pockets on the ore docks. Hence, mixing lengths might be questionable.
But it is YOUR railroad, not mine!
Have fun
Jason,
Great Lakes ore cars are 24’ center to center. This is a standard length as that is what the pockets in the ore docks are built for. The steel cars are about 22’ long, and if coupled correctly, they are 24’ center to center. The MDC ore cars have long coupler pockets and the ‘center to center’ length is incorrect. I cut off the coupler box and mount a Kadee directly to the underframe. The are so short, the lack of ‘centering spring’ really is not an issue most of the time. The Walthers cars basically have correct spacing, so you may want to go that route from the very start.
The Tichey ‘wood’ cars are very old, and were worn out and out of revenue service very early. Steel cars made an early appearance in the iron ore industry.
Jim Bernier
Hi Jason: You didn’t say what type of ore you were going to be dealing with. If it is iron ore Jim’s answere is right. Altho there may have been some wood cars still in service at that time they would have been on there last legs. I have tapes of the wood cars in service but there is no date given. If you do want to run some steel and wood cars together the Westerfield cars would be closer to the time period of the early 30s. I’m modeling an iron hauling road in the upper Michagan reagon. I’m running MDC cars,but since they are hard to come by now I ordered 24 Walters cars. There is a differance but that maybe more info than you want now. If you would like to discuss further drop me an E-mail. I’ll be happy to pass on what little lnformation I have.
I’ll probably be hauling copper since it seems to have been in abundance in the southwest were i’ll be feelancing a railroad loosly based on the V&T, and Sierra RR.
Jason: Your wood cars should be perfect for a copper hauling operation in that time period. I think they would be well worn by that time so hit them with some weathering. If you want to use some steel cars have them lightly weathered or new. Again I’d think that the Westerfield cars would be real good.
thanks for all the help guys. i just took a look at the westerfield cars and i like them. i’m going to buy a couple and lightly weather them, and buy a few of the wood cars to represent older rolling stock.
Jason,
The Copper Range RR used wood ore cars into the 1960, as did the Nevada Northern, so go ahead and use the Tichy cars with confidence. I’ve heard that the Walthers cars are of a newer prototype than the Roundhouse ore cars, so go with Roundhouse for your steel fleet. In addition, for a little variety look to Funaro & Carmelengo. They make at least two different wood ore cars, in addition to wood gons, boxes and coaches (all out of resin). Westerfield’s hoppers and ore cars are beautiful models, but are some of the hardest resin cars to assemble.
Here in the Arrowhead of Minnesota and on the Missabe Iron Range (spelled a number of different ways, but non the less a northern Minnesota Indian legend), the DM&IR along with the GN and Reserve Mining ran two different types of ore cars. I feel the Walthers and the MDC represent both very well…and I run both in my DM&IR drags.
Regarding where you wi***o model…I have no expertise…But, here on the range, I can shed some light.
The steel cars, even the Walther (early cars) fit perfectly, even very early in the 20th. century. The “new” Walthers releases, are the taconite cars (this would be late 50’s to early 60’s when the technology for the taconite industry was being developed). These cars have a “tip top” welded to the very top of the hopper to accommodate the larger volume/lighter weight taconite pellets. The “Red Ore” cars from earlier mining were/is/was for the heavier ore and so…now the need for a car that can handle more volume; thus the tip-tops, as the hematite ore ran out and taconite became the norm…
From what I have read, wood side cars will be appropriate for your area…And…a few steel cars can/will add diversity.
My thought; either the MDC or the early Walther cars, or both, would add the diversity you may be looking for. I say this, because, just yesterday, I heard form a LHS, that the MDC cars are becoming “hard to get”. With that thought in mind, the early Walthers ore cars will do just fine. Just don’t add the taconite cars, as they are/will be totally out of the era you are trying to depict.
Jason,
Westerfield has the PSC hoppers that were used by the YV to haul rocks and lead ore. I believe that they were actually used on the Sierra after the YV folded. I have stood on these cars at Jamestown, CA at the Sierra’s roundhouse. beautiful cars, quite a pain to build…Another choice that was a MOW car but could be stretched into a mining capacity is the wooden side dump gon (Have seen these at Jamestown as well). These are very nifty cars that are offered by Rio Grande Models (google em’)…beautiful cars, harder to build than the westerfield.
I am also modeling part of the Sierra RR. I recommend a visit to Jamestown sometime. There is a lot of old equipment there as well as several operating steam locos…