Box cars the long and short of it lol

Hi, just wondering about box cars in the 1925-1930 time frame here in canada, i would imagine they were all wooden at that time, for the most part im talking general freight/grain/ and stettlers effects, im looking for Canadain Pacific cars and they seem to be scarce,, could you buy flat cars for running gear then build the box out of real bass wood like stuff sold by campbell's i think it is? ship lap or something
 

Gil Finn

Active Member
Dont know anything about it but how is the weather where you are?

Chili here in W Va along the Kanawha River.
 

doctorwayne

Active Member
The CPR was building steel cars in the mid-teens, although one of the most common cars in your era would have been the Dominion Fowler Patent boxcars. The CPR owned thousands of them, mostly 36-footers. The cars were singlesheathed, with an exterior framework of "Zed" bars (that's Zee bars to our American friends:) ) These cars saw service at least into the 1960's, especially on light rail prairie branches. Proto1000 makes a model of the cars, in CNR, CPR, and TH&B paint schemes. If you can live with the oversize plastic grabirons, these are an otherwise excellent representation of the prototype. Here's a photo of one of mine; the grabirons and steps have been replaced with metal parts.
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The CPR also had quite a few of these cars with drop doors in the floor, and some with hopper bottoms, for coal and grain service. The Proto1000 cars are a bit pricey, at between $35.95 and $39.95 around here. They also make, in the same roadnames, 36' Fowler Patent stockcars, offered at a similar price.
Don't forget that the CPR was connected, through interchange, with all other common carrier roads in North America, so you could conceiveably have just about any car that was running in that era show up in your neck of the woods. Lots of the bigger roads started building steel cars in the early 20th century, in particular the NYC and PRR. Any of the USRA doublesheathed cars, as offered by Accurail, would also be appropriate, along with their 6- and 9-panel singlesheathed boxcars.

Wayne
 

msowsun

Member
Besides the 36' Fowler cars, CPR also lots of 36' double sheathed wood boxcars. Some had truss-rod floors and wood ends. Many had steel undrframes and/or steel ends. Roundhouse made cars similar to these but you would probably have to letter them yourself.
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http://www.roundhousetrains.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=36'+Box&CatID=THRF
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There is also a Canadian company called NORWEST KITS & CASTINGS that makes models of CPR 36' double sheath cars.
http://www.promodelbuilders.com/norwest/nw-109.htm

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CPR also had lots of and also 40' outside braced "USRA Clone" cars. Tichy makes an accurate version of this car.
http://www.tichytraingroup.com/index.php?page=view_product.php&id=57&picture=4034_2

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Accurail makes a slightly less accurate, but cheaper version of this car.
http://www.accurail.com/accurail/art/4300/4308.jpg

4308.jpg



The all steel 40' "Minibox" was first built in 1929 so you could have a few of those as well..
http://www.fandckits.com/HOFreight/6660.html

6660thumb.jpg
 

dsfraser

New Member
Westerfield also have kits for Fowler single-sheathed boxcars and stock cars that are accurate for CPR.
 
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