Model Railroad Hobbyist | June 2015 | #64 GETTING REAL column Jack Burgess Building three Yosemite Valley Railroad box cars | Going a little further to make more accurate models IN 1938 AND 1939 THE YOSEMITE VALLEY Railroad purchased four used box cars, numbering them 610-613. These cars were unique on the YV because they had pressed steel underframes, rather than wood underframes with truss rods like the rest of the YV box cars. When I first acquired photos of these prototypes a couple of decades ago, I did not realize that their distinctive rolled side sills identified them as ex-Southern Pacific Railroad box cars constructed during the Harriman era. From an exchange of emails and photos with Al Westerfield, I learned that 610 and 611 were Class B-50-2 box cars and 612 was a B-50-4 box car, while the 613 was a B-50-5 box car. Class designations such as XX MODELING REAL RAILROADS AND WHAT THEY DO MRHMAG.COM • TABLE OF CONTENTS • INDEX