Nominations for "that car gets everywhere..."

[298]

Bear with me for this:

 

Going back a few years, it was a thing for HO model railroaders to interchange cars between layouts, complete with the relevant paperwork and sometimes by posting them across the states, and it could take several years for members to get their cars back after being interchanged between layouts.

 

Now I'm not proposing the same thing, but after seeing one of Robatron's videos I realised that we both have an Athearn blue box UPFE reefer, no.460135. This was my first US railroad car twenty years ago and already from a past time when Athearn hadn't quite learnt to change numbers during the tampo printing process. 

 

So what I was initially wondering is what car numbers are popular and that you've seen used on other layouts...? They don't necessarily have to be blue box Athearn but probably still in use from the era when manufacturers didn't produce as many number variations...

 

For starters I'd nominate 57' Reefers UPFE 460135 and PFE 457603. 

[Prof Klyzlr]

Dear RMWebbers,

 

Surely it's gotta be a Railbox boxcar?

Both "common as mud" on the prototype, and a scheme painted on every "modernish" boxcar model produced over the last 3 decades?

 

Also, unlike a dedicated/captive/specific-service reefer, a plausible "mis-switch"/"mis-routing" candidate that could appear on Any RR at Any time...

 

Happy Modelling,

Aim to Improve,

Prof Klyzlr

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

This is a UK forum for UK people.

They are not cars, they are wagons, cars run on the road.

 

Mike.

Hat, coat and speedy exit!

[F-UnitMad]

13 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

This is a UK forum for UK people

Says who, exactly????  

 

 

[Keith Addenbrooke]

The “State of Maine” 40’ boxcars in a red, white and blue striped paint scheme (Bangor and Aroostock?) would be my nomination, perhaps for HO layouts set slightly before the ubiquitous Railbox era.  Seem to see a lot of them in layout articles.  That said, I don’t have one myself to photo, but my Dad does on his layout.

[Phil Parker]

2 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

Says who, exactly????  

 

 

 

Says no one. It's a worldwide forum for everyone. Even Great Western modellers. 

[Oldddudders]

2 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

The “State of Maine” 40’ boxcars in a red, white and blue striped paint scheme (Bangor and Aroostock?) would be my nomination, perhaps for HO layouts set slightly before the ubiquitous Railbox era.  Seem to see a lot of them in layout articles.  That said, I don’t have one myself to photo, but my Dad does on his layout.

I think these might often have been full of potatoes?

[doctor quinn]

7 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

I think these might often have been full of potatoes?

Not necessarily, BAR shipped had quite a large heater equipped reefer fleet for potatoes in winter and lease to other roads in summer which dovetails with the Prof’s post - BAR reefer in sunny California?.

 

I think the State of Maine cars were often used in paper service and really did get everywhere.

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by doctor quinn
Spellcheck

[Robatron86]

@298 It really does get everywhere. 

[Patrick SPF]

The PRR X29 and the NYC USRA Steel box the sheer numbers of cars and the location and size of the roads meant they got everywhere.

[Regularity]

4 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

This is a UK forum for UK people.

They are not cars, they are wagons, cars run on the road.

What about 2-car DMUs, etc?

4 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

Says who, exactly????  

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Phil Parker said:

 

Says no one. It's a worldwide forum for everyone. Even Great Western modellers. 

 

Mike,

 

I got the joke - which means I know that you meant the exact opposite.

[Regularity]

53 minutes ago, Patrick SPF said:

The PRR X29 and the NYC USRA Steel box the sheer numbers of cars and the location and size of the roads meant they got everywhere.

The OP was about specific car numbers, not types of car.

[Enterprisingwestern]

1 hour ago, Regularity said:

What about 2-car DMUs, etc?

 

Where does car come into DMU?!!!

 

Mike.

[Regularity]

Single-car dmu, 2-car dmu, 3-car dmu, 4-car dmu, etc. Standard terminology, presumably and abbreviation of "carriage", which is where I presume we get "car" for automobile, a shortening of "motor carriage"?

(In France, "autocar", or just "car", is used to refer to a motor coach.)

[mdvle]

3 hours ago, Patrick SPF said:

The PRR X29 and the NYC USRA Steel box the sheer numbers of cars and the location and size of the roads meant they got everywhere.

 

Thanks to the virtual presentations on the Hindsight RPM I initially thought the same thing for the steam/transition era - as you note those railroads had massive fleets of cars, and many of those cars did travel around the US and Canada.

 

But then I reconsidered based on the original query - same roadnumber, a byproduct of the past where manufacturers never changed their artwork between runs.

 

Which brings 2 things into play.

 

First, the PRR X29 has only ever been done rtr by Red Caboose (now part of Intermountain) - a niche vendor whose product wouldn't have sold in the same numbers as an Athearn, LIfeLike, Bachmann, Tyco, etc.

 

But more importantly, it is based on a prototypical modeler of the 2000's mindset on the choice - and that really didn't apply to almost anyone in the heyday of the Athearn blue box product or even to 80% of the people in the hobby today.

 

Which means it is more likely to be a product that isn't a railroad (the Railbox as suggested by the Prof) or the State of Maine boxcars - which both have the advantage of being visually interesting and thus something to be an impulse purchase at the hobby shop.

[Patrick SPF]

Actually TM, TMI and now Walthers to a "trainset" version of the X29 which is not too bad.
The "State of Maine" cars are a group of cars specific to the BAR, so also if it is a specific single vehicle we are looking for would fail, though their paint job does encourage modellers to buy them...

[298]

5 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

 

Says no one. It's a worldwide forum for everyone. Even Great Western modellers. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Western_Railway_of_Colorado

[F-UnitMad]

3 hours ago, Regularity said:

I got the joke - which means I know that you meant the exact opposite.

So did I  especially as a 'speedy exit' was also mentioned, but two can play at stirring things.

 

2 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Where does car come into DMU?!!!

 

Mike.

Looking for the "well, du-uuh...." smiley       

 

[Regularity]

2 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said:

So did I  especially as a 'speedy exit' was also mentioned, but two can play at stirring things.

I know you did, but I wasn't sure about someone else...

[Keith Addenbrooke]

15 minutes ago, Patrick SPF said:

Actually TM, TMI and now Walthers to a "trainset" version of the X29 which is not too bad.
The "State of Maine" cars are a group of cars specific to the BAR, so also if it is a specific single vehicle we are looking for would fail, though their paint job does encourage modellers to buy them...

I’ve had a bit of time this afternoon to check and there are multiple product runs / variations available for the “State of Maine” car I suggested this morning so, as Patrick and others have noted, its ubiquity will not be quite in line with the rules of the game.

 

(I had the experience with my OO UK collection at one time of having two different locomotives of different classes but with the same running number, but that would be another game)

[melmerby]

9 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

This is a UK forum for UK people.

They are not cars, they are wagons, cars run on the road.

 

Mike.

Hat, coat and speedy exit!

Tell that to TfL, their's run on 4 rail electrified tracks

[Johann Marsbar]

29 minutes ago, 298 said:

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Western_Railway_of_Colorado

But they don't have a copper capped chimney.....

 

 

.....and they certainly weren't painted green when I was there in 1999 !  (think they were yellow before the orange scheme as I've got one of their callendars somewhere....)

 

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by Johann Marsbar

[298]

11 hours ago, Prof Klyzlr said:

Dear RMWebbers,

 

Surely it's gotta be a Railbox boxcar?

Both "common as mud" on the prototype, and a scheme painted on every "modernish" boxcar model produced over the last 3 decades?

 

Also, unlike a dedicated/captive/specific-service reefer, a plausible "mis-switch"/"mis-routing" candidate that could appear on Any RR at Any time...

 

Happy Modelling,

Aim to Improve,

Prof Klyzlr

 

...and you know where I can run Railbox boxcars. But unfortunately in terms of this game I am unable to check the running number of the Athearn BB car I have, as only one end now exists as a stubby space-filler in the end of Blue Heron...

[298]

6 hours ago, Robatron86 said:

@298 It really does get everywhere. 

 

Now passing through Blue Heron...

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by 298

[298]

2 hours ago, Patrick SPF said:

Actually TM, TMI and now Walthers to a "trainset" version of the X29 which is not too bad.
The "State of Maine" cars are a group of cars specific to the BAR, so also if it is a specific single vehicle we are looking for would fail, though their paint job does encourage modellers to buy them...

 

BAR 5226 seems that be a popular number judging by a quick look at past eBay auctions, and may have been covered by more than one manufacturer. So, are there any out there...?