Questions, Answers & Tips -
For all cars that are left off-spot, the car card would then be
placed in the off-spot section ready for the next crew to move
as directed.
Office Max, Office Depot and Staples sell a number of small
boxes made of cardboard, metal, or plastic and they may have
what you need. Shopping in person will let you check the sizes of
compartments and dividers. Craft stores like Michaels are also a
good source of small boxes.
– Steve, MRH
Grain Service Box Cars
Q.
I received a big box of old Athearn Blue Box kits. Among
them were three “Grain-Loading-Door” box cars. They are 40’
boxcars with double plug doors molded into the body. There
are a couple of hatches near the top of one side door. When
were these cars in use? I model 1955 in Southern Ontario.
Would these find a home on my layout or are they fodder for
eBay? Who had these cars on their roster?
A.
Your Athearn model, except for some issues with the ends, is
a good representation of the BF-50-2 “grainloading boxes” the
Union Pacific rebuilt from old 40-foot box cars. UP had more
than 2600 of them. They appeared in 1966-67, just when cov-
ered hoppers were coming into grain service in a big way.
In the mid-1950s, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National
used unmodified 40-foot cars to haul grain. Grain doors were
inserts, mounted inside the regular doors to keep the grain
from spilling out when the main door was opened. These
allowed any suitable car to be used in grain service.
CP had some 40-foot cars modified in a similar way to the Union
Pacific cars, but in the late ‘60s or early ‘70s.
MRH-Feb 2013
