Heyy Everyone,
It always confuses me when i see peoples layouts, and they have boxcar after boxcar of the same roadname. too me, that is not realistic at all. a mixed freight train includes all different kinds of cars in all different road names. When was the last time you all saw a freight train with 50+ cars of the same roadname. No offence too anyone because modeling is all about what you want too see, but this is my opinion.
Thankyou again,
Keith
Running all boxcars of the same roadname is prototypical in certain circumstances (and/or era). However, I don’t think it occurs nearly as much as a typical unit train (like a coal train).
In some cases all one road name can be prototypical…unit coal, grain or ore trains. Express reefer trains also tended to be solid roadnames.
However, it is more realistic to vary the roadnames in most trains.
Nick
I think few modelers run 50+ car trains, even N-scalers. That requires a large layout. Whether a train would realistically be entirely from on road would depend on circumstances. A branchline that receives freight entirely from shippers entirely on the home road could realistically have all the cars from one road. A mainline freight would be far more likely to have interchange traffic from other railroads so in that case, it probably wouldn’t be realistic unless it was a unit train.
KCS does it all the time with unit coal and gravel trains.
The vast majority of us are not slaves to total realism. A lot of us don’t have deep knowledge of the time or place that we are nominally modelling. I have great admiration for those that have the patience and knowledge to accurately model a single car correctly down to the last detail, let alone a complete train. We each have to set our own boundaries as to what is acceptable. I have a nominal cut off in the mid to late 50’s, but there are locos on my layout that go beyond this. When I started back in this hobby I assumed that each RR pulled its own freight cars. After a little research I discovered the concept of interchanges and started to add freight cars that came from interchange roads. In doing this I discovered that the research and historical aspect of the hobby is now one of my favorite parts. I suspect that many experience a similar enlightenment as they learn more about their subject RR. As this happens our standards change and we modify our approach. So writing as someone that ran a train for a while with nothing but CB&Q frieght, I would now agree that it does not look like any photo I have ever seen, but I did not know any better at the time.
I think it depends on the area/era. My 1950’s era layout has at least 50% of the freight cars painted/lettered for the Milwaukee Road. And 50% of those cars are box cars. Most of the cars are oxide/box car red as well. If you are modeling an extra train in a grain rush, lots of 40’ box cars would be in order(usually ‘home road’ cars if possible). So, that solid train of box cars may not be all that strange.
Jim
Well, it may not be the case most of the time…but recently I have seen several Union Pacific trains go through my area with almost new looking all UP hoppers (30+).
Not all railroads have connections to the “outside world”. I model the White Pass and Yukon Route, a narrow gauge line that ran from the port of Skagway Alaska to the interior of Canada’s Yukon Territory and has no connections with other railroads. While some might think that such a line would only run short freights, during the 60s and 70s, it was not unusual for the WP&YR to run 60 car trains using modern diesel locomotives.
Likewise the Alaska Railroad’s only interchange with other railroads is via a rail barge connection to the lower 48. Prior to that all the cars on the ARR would be ARR cars.
However, this would be the exception rather than the rule.
In the book “How to Operate Your Model Railroad” Bruce Chubb provides some guidance to come up with a plausable mix of road names based on the railroad you model and the railroads your road interchanges with.
-George
Keith,You home(the railroad you model) road cars should be at least 50%.Like all things there are exception such as short lines that own no freight cars…The cars they use for loads should be their Class 1 partner,private owners and lessors such as UTLX,GATX,RBOX,RailGon(both are now part of TTX)TTX,ACF etc.Now inbound loads can come from any road.
Yes you are all right. But basically what i am saying, when i stand and watch a huge mixed fright come rushing by me, ive noticed that most cars are not the same, maybe 5-6 railbox’s but most are just all different road names. that was point, thankyou for the responses though, this has really got me thinking!
About 20 minutes ago. On the joint line allmost all the trains running south from the Wyoming coal mines are composed of all cars of the same road name. I agree this would be the exception. I did once see a grain train of all totally brand new Burlington Northern Santa Fe cars. I thought it was quite a sight.
I always scenic my layout well but I always throw a little whimsy in somewhere. One layout I built back in the 80’s had a large industrial area on it that was very well detailed. Over at the back left corner of this was a tree line with a clearing beyond. In the clearing was a bunch of kids playing ‘spin the bottle’. On another section of the layout, close to a small yard, was an interlocking tower with a man standing outside the door of the second floor. There was a dinosaur looking at him as if he was lunch.
I think there is room for all make-ups of trains. Here in Canada, CP and CN trains have mixed road names in tow, but you will surely understand if I tell you that 30-60% of any one train will comprise CP or CN rolling stock. It is the nature of the beast.
With all of the prototype research (more like interested reading) that I have done over the past two years, with seeing what other modellers have installed, and in reading general discussions here, I decided early that my trains would be all mixed up. However…[:o)]…my PRR J1 is at this very moment sitting on a siding with 12 H2a hoppers of the N&W type, every one of them from B&O…cuz the price for two 6-packs from Outlet Direct was right.
(ducking, with worried look on his face)
I love the elegence of a unit train snaking along -yes… that is “elegence”!
I also like mixed up muddles with something of everything.
In between a block of cars in a mix up is good and a single odd shape or different livery in a unit train is great.
I like TRAINS! [:P]
Re: Boxcars,
I’ve seen 1940s photos of boxcar unit trains. Mostly 40 footers, they looked impressive. ( NYC, UP, and Pennsy)
By the 1970s, it was more common to see certain freight trains having groups of boxcars with the same road name. Auto parts and packaged lumber/forestry products could be seen here on the east coast back in the 1970s. Was really cool seeing trains with batches of Southern (“Gives a Green Light to Innovations”) and bright yellow RailBox cars cruising by.
Today, with intermodals, unit grain, and unit mineral trains, long boxcar trains are not common. A reasonably close exception would be the TROPICANA JUICE train run by CSX from the Florida west coast to northern destinations. It’s a solid train of mechanical and cryogenic reefers. Interestingly enough, once the cars reach their destination, they’re returned in batches on southbound CSX freights.
Model Railroader ran a good story on this a few times, most people that are into prototype operations use the following as a guide to what runs on their layouts. I modeled the Soo, so about 55% of my cars should be Soo, the real railroad wants to haul their own cars as long and as far as they can. But you mix-up that 55% said if your modeling the 50’s about 38% of your cars would be boxcars, then 15% gons, 5% flat cars, 25% refers,some coal cars. Then your going to have 35% of other midwestern cars from interchange, CB&Q, Milw RD, CNW, Rock, etc.
The rest of the cars would be a mix of east, west, and southern cars. But now model the Soo in said 1980, your going to have about 10% boxcars and 35% Covered hoppers for grain, why?
1950 almost all grain moved in 40ft boxcars by 1980 almost all grain was in covered hoppers and the 40ft boxcar was in anew car somewhere.
See it just depends on you if you want to run 20 different roadnames on one train thats up to you. Thats whats nice about this hobby your free to do what you want not what Joe Blow wants. But if you go to someones layout and you see that they are running a more Prototypical
mix of cars you can bet they have proably done alot of reseach to find what the railroad they model really ran and to where.
Also starting in the mid 80’s came the leasing boom, where some real railroads that only had said 5 miles of track, owned 500 50ft brightly colored boxcars and they where all over the place. This made it so the big railroads like BN, NS no longer had to own and repair all those cars themselfs.
Theres alot more to it then just running a train around in a oval, if you want there to be. Railroading is the most researched industry there is, there 1000’s of books out on own the real railroads operate.
AntonioFP45,There are long boxcar trains left…I see 2-3 50-60 boxcar trains a day.These trains are 60 foot auto part boxcars.
I still see hundreds of boxcars in a weeks time to include those old yellow RailBox cars…[:D]
Fear not those old Southern boxcars are still proclaiming Southern “Gives a Green Light to Innovations”…I see them every day on the NS as well as NW,N&W cars.
I seen a full blooded SP gon the other day-NO UP shield! I even see some old D&TSL cover hoppers at least twice a month.
There is a lot of those old fallen flag cars left if one cares to spend time track side and observe the passing freight trains.
I once saw a CP train heading east that was pulling around 60-70 transport truck trailers on flat cars. Every one of the trailers were 53’ Canadian Tire trailers.
I too am guilty of this act, i have 9 southern serves the south boxcars, and 9 other xouthern boxcars, and when you run them together in one train, yes it looks great, but you dont normally see that, maybe its just where i live.