AUTIO-PARTS CARS CIRCA-2000

[atsf2021bnsf]

Hi - some advice please for a UK modeller - on typical cars that might be seen in auto-parts service circa 2000 (or even late 1990's). I have ordered a few of the upcoming Athearn Genesis Texarkana 60' rebuilds. I am wondering what other auto-parts cars I could run with them (other than 86' cars) and am also wondering if any decent models of such cars are available in HO. Many thanks guys in advance. Jon 

[drolsen]

Hi Jon,

For the year 2000, you have quite a few options for 60’ auto parts boxcars in HO. Depending on how accurate you want to be. I’m a prototype modeler and a stickler for selecting correct car types and road names for my 1996 time period and locale. In the case of the Athearn Genesis Texarkana 60' rebuilds, for example, I’m not sure if any of the ATSF cars were still around in 2000, but the GTW cars with plug doors would be perfect. Here are some other models that would be appropriate, but as I mentioned, you may want to look at what road names and paint schemes are correct for 2000:

Athearn 60’ Berwick Waffleside
Athearn 60’ ICC Single Door
Athearn 60’ FMC Single Door
Athearn 60’ FMC Double Door (the smooth side car in SP/SSW and Golden West)
ExactRail 60’ Greenville
ExactRail 60’ PS 7315
ExactRail 60’ Berwick 7580 (about to be re-released by ScaleTrains and available for preorder)
ExactRail / ScaleTrains 60’ PCF 7633 (technically an appliance car, but a good model, and similar PCF cars were used in auto parts service)
Walthers MainLine has a 60’ 6’ + 10’ door car and a 60’ double plug door car that are less detailed models, but I haven’t researched to see if those were used for auto parts.

As I alluded to with the PCF 7633, some of these cars may have originally been built for appliance service, and some might have been assigned to specific routes, depending on road name, when originally delivered. But by 2000, all of that would be out the window, so I’d be comfortable using any of them in an auto parts train and have seen examples of nearly all of them myself.

For road names, I’d consider Conrail, CSX, NS, SOU, NW, UP, ATSF (later repaint schemes), BNSF, and a few short lines like CRLE to all be viable in 2000. I’m sure I’m missing a few!

I hope that helps!

Dave

[Mr. Trainiac]

The Intermountain 60 foot PS-1 is another option. Those cars were at the end of their lives, but a few oddballs survived into the 2000's. I know BNSF had a few in ATSF paint. They shouldn't make up the majority of your fleet, but one or two would be some fun variety. The Atlas 60 foot ACF boxcar is similar. I know some Conrail, GTW, and blue CN cars still existed in the early 2000's. By the 2000's, a lot of auto-parts boxcars were Plate F excess height cars, but having some Plate C 60 foot boxcars mixed in will make your train less repetitive. 

[csxt8400]

Good answers so far, I'll add that for me (and my admitted lack of being trackside in my era of 1999-2001) I want to limit the amount of certain visuals that have taken on an unrealistic connotation. I think most prototype inclined modelers will agree when asked if they want more plain jane, run of the mill equipment per train vs eye catching oddities.

Case in point, by 2000 you still have several DT&I cars floating around. Both 60 foot and 86's were still in service at the turn of the century, but it might be hard to put three of them in one train without photographic evidence to support.

I'm one of the many that is enamored with auto parts and I have tried to bolster the majority of my equipment with the big players to create a reasonable cut. If you load up on GTW, NS, CSX, and Conrail you will have a nice look for your time period. The odd Southern, NW, DT&I, Chessie, Mopac, yellow CNW, and perhaps a wild SP/SSW car can be intermixed nicely with the larger ratio of the former.

Edit: I see you're mainly concerned with 60', and that definitely limits a person especially in the CR category. We could sure use one of the many rebuilds that they had, whether the half door mod or the raised versions.

[atsf2021bnsf]

Guys, that is hugely helpful.
Lots to ponder. Tempted in some ays to back-date a little to 1990-2000 range. Many thanks.
JM

[drolsen]

May 2, 2024 9:22:54 GMT -8 csxt8400 said:

I'm one of the many that is enamored with auto parts and I have tried to bolster the majority of my equipment with the big players to create a reasonable cut. If you load up on GTW, NS, CSX, and Conrail you will have a nice look for your time period. The odd Southern, NW, DT&I, Chessie, Mopac, yellow CNW, and perhaps a wild SP/SSW car can be intermixed nicely with the larger ratio of the former.

Edit: I see you're mainly concerned with 60', and that definitely limits a person especially in the CR category. We could sure use one of the many rebuilds that they had, whether the half door mod or the raised versions.

There are a surprising number of NW, SOU, and CR boxcars still in service today in those paint schemes (i.e. not repainted by NS). I lived in Michigan from 2020-2023 and saw a local NS auto parts train past by office every day. SOU was the least common, but every train would have a couple NW cars, including ones still in the black 13D scheme with the big NW letters. The 60' Berwick waffleside boxcar that Athearn makes still shows up regularly. Here's Athearn's 2017 announcement of a run of that model:

60’ Berwick High Cube Box Announced 7.28.17

If you look up the Conrail numbers in the announcement, CR 223007, 223031, and 223108, they unfortunately represent a slightly different prototype from the Athearn model, Conrail class B63A. That class has five evenly spaced rows of waffles, compared to the 1-3-1 arrangement of rows on the Athearn Berwick, which matches Conrail class B63B. However, all three Conrail car numbers were still in service in that paint scheme after 2010:

CR 223007 - 2011
CR 223031 - 2012
CR 223108 - 2016

Lots of NW cars in the 6045XX series cars can be seen at this link in both the black 13D and later brown repaint schemes:

RR Picture Archives N&W 6045XX class B139 Boxcars

I have Athearn 60' Berwicks from the original Genesis run in the early 2000s, and three numbers I checked all match post-2000 photos in the RR Picture Archives:

NW 604508
NW 604523
SOU 43490

This provides a great opportunity to run "fallen flag" paint schemes in the 2000 timeframe.

Chessie 60' boxcars lasted into the 2000s, and while most were repainted, some lasted patched with CSXT reporting marks, and a few even kept their C&O / B&O reporting marks for a few more years, such as this one that I caught in 2001:

B&O 410140

Unfortunately, we don't have a good, correct model of those most common Chessie Berwick 7327 cuft boxcars.

Dave

[atsf2021bnsf]

Again hugely helpful - many thanks to you all for sharing your knowledge.
JM