What car(s) would be correct for grain and cement? I have seen pictures of grain cars that are a box car with a wood panel blocking the door. Also grain cars that might have been box cars but have hatches on the roof. And of course the current grain car design, 2 or 3 or 4 bay.
Are today’s grain car and cement cars interchangeable? They look the same. Tank cars look the same too but I have seen models with the description including chemicals, or other products.
I think I am going to have both grain and cement cars passing through my layout. Grain, in particular, was an important product for the NLPB in the 60’s and 70’s as the product was a big export by ship from Hampton Roads.
Boxcars and 2 bay covered hoppers for cement.
Boxcars transitioning to covered hoppers in the 1970’s. Grain would have mostly been in the large 3 bay covered hoppers like the old Athearn blue box covered hoppers. 1965 25% covered hoppers, 1975, 905 covered hoppers. By 1980 virtually all the grain in the US was covered hoppers, the majority of boxcar moves in the US were to Mexico.
They also used heavy brown paper with steel strapping in it that was nailed across the door of the car. Grain cars were commonly 40 ft, 6 ft wide door, boxcars (search for “grain doors”). There were also boxcars with a hatch in the door for loading grain (Athearn model). While there probably were some boxcars with hatches used for grain, most of those I have seen were for kaolin (clay) loading.
Actually they aren’t the same and are very visibly different. Cement is very heavy and grain is relatively light. A cement car is rarely over 2 bays and has a much smaller cubic footage than a grain car. Grain cars generally have more bays and a much higher cubic footage. If you filled a grain car with cement, the car would probably collapse. If you filled a grain car with cement you would probably have to reline it because the cement would contaminate the inside of the car.