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I've been doing some legwork lately trying to find out why I'm seeing lines of cars at one local yard that are extremely rare for our area. Unfortunately it looks like they've been sent up here to take that one last trip to the great train yard in the sky. I'm not seeing them in huge numbers, but the kind of cars I'm seeing make me worry. so I was thinking, if there was an endangered species list for freights, what would be on it? There are some real classics out there that are becoming harder and harder to find.
SP Hydra-Cushions (flat or ridged)
these things are west coast classics, and while I dont see any up my way, I know that the numbers are rapidly dwindling.
UP flats (the ones with the big shield or the big map logo)
I see these maybe once or twice a year. the big map logo ones might be gone already, but I know a few of the old gold ones with the huge shield are still kicking.
Odball shortlines (EEC)
I was really stoked when all these EEC boxes started showing up. It looked like they bought up any old abused shortline boxcars they could find. lots of good weird cars I'd been waiting forever to paint. and they still look good in the photos, but its not the same. Half the appeal was how obscure they were, and the hopes that they would disappear somewhere your pieces never usually went. now its just the same as painting an rbox, or any other regular line.
How about the Chessie system cat...any cars with that logo still around...
Any FRISCO cars...
The big green with the black and white CP or CN logo boxcars...like PacMAn sorta...
Lake Erie and Franklin County & clarion RR cars...LEFC
The "Bear Eating the Salmon" logo cars, paper boxes...currently CIC, or maybe Seattle and North Coast
Port of Galveston RR (I think) with the seagulls in silhouette, paper cars, too...
Since I hail from Cleveland this heraldry is rare and always something I try to flick...
ALSO, pale Rock Island grainers...
MEC - Maine Centrals with the big logo...
Last edited by GunterGrass : 10-01-2007 at 10:00 PM.
a lot of maine centrals are turning into pan ams. bear eating the salmon logo cars are McCloud river cars. they are very rare. ive also heard a lot of old cp newsflats are gonna be replaced with new riggy excess height cars. not sure if thats true or not, but there are a lot of rusty old newsflats rolling around.
Right McCloud River, couldn't remember, another rarity at least in Clevo is old Rio Grande with the orange-ish color scheme and the swoosh lettering. Where is the McCloud River?
a lot of maine centrals are turning into pan ams. bear eating the salmon logo cars are McCloud river cars. they are very rare. ive also heard a lot of old cp newsflats are gonna be replaced with new riggy excess height cars. not sure if thats true or not, but there are a lot of rusty old newsflats rolling around.
Maine Central recently changed its name to Pan Am, the guy who owns it also owns the airline. Its a crazy money game with him.
EEC did buy a hoard of old boxes and just restamped them, which is amazing for the continuance of short line boxes. Most of them are single standard door cars, which pool everywhere, mostly for paper rolls but they do carry other products, bagged goods, bricks, things like that.
Check the build dates on all the cars coming into your yard, sp's and what have you, as i am sure most are aware, rule 88 says that a car in regular service can only be used 50 years before being rebuilt, or scrapped. Most frisco boxes are being scrapped, so dont expect to see them for much longer.
The only exception to that rule is maintience of way cars, which are strictly to be used in service on the owning road I.E. CP MOW cars cant be interchanged to any other road, so those you can still catch cars from the 40's and 50's.
News from the north
I know a bunch of CN flats are being scrapped every year, but they still get around north east, east coast to chicago mostly. Talking about the CPs flat green, they are on their last years. Same as QGRYS, the company scrapped more than half of the fleet since early 2006.
Anywayz, ill remember those orange MEC, USLX, Berlin Mills, etc. EEC was doing well with alot of old boxcars running with original paint, I hope the company is not scrappin them out. goodbye 50 footers in a couple of years
i always see odd shortline cars restamped as EECs. i don't think they are being scrapped either. most of their cars seem to be old restamped cars. theres also a lot of HS and GMRC cars around that have been restamped.
also, very uncommon where im from, but i think a lot of those golden west service flats are gonna dissappear soon. they seem to be getting old.
Ese, what cars do you have that you're specifically worried about at your spot? (PM me if you don't want to blow the spot.)
I got a clean Route Rock box with big logo recently, a ridgie stamped HS.
Along with the MEC Pine Tree Route cars, the white BMs with the big G (Guilford) logo are turning into Pan Ams.
The teal green Berlin Mills cars are still rolling with a variety of marks: SLR, GMRC, and I even got one not too long ago with original BMS marks. Another Berlin Mills car had the most peculiar career: stamped SLR (St. Lawrence & Atlantic), then restamped FCCM (Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab, of southern Mexico), then back to HS.
I get misty-eyed for the days when I used to see original Texas Mexican Railway cars occasionally in my yard in the far northeast.
I know the CP and QGRY newsprints are getting a little bit less common, but theres still tons of them in circulation up in these parts. I wouldnt worry just yet. ditto for the CN flats. The mass re-painting program seems to have lost steam. I know personally I've probably painted about 6 with the old paint job in the last 4 months.
I saw a route rock hopper the other day myself. cant remember the last time I saw one of those.
BPRR (buffalo, pittsburgh, rochester RR) has a few of those bear/salmon McCloud River cars.. I've seen at least 5 of them kicking it around here. I've seen them coming back into the states from canada but I get the feeling theyre not circulating too much outside upstate ny.
Also, lafarge/blue circle has 6 in their fleet, tcox is how they are stamped, so keep en eye out
there should be more than 6 of those around at you know where. restamped wbcx. could be wrong, its been a while. i doubt anyone outside of this city will see them. as far as i can tell those shits are online cars. occasionally they that spot will ship out of state - but very rare. also that cut of about 20 bcax gons still running around. saw them monday downtown.
more related to the thread, i have been scanning in tons of negs from my earliest days of freight benching. amazing how many of these cars were around back then. especially the Solid colds and solid golds. just about all of the cars you all are mentioning i have fliks of. with the exception of the EECs. those came on the scene on the tail end of my carreer.
after scanning dozens of the (i guess) second generation BARs, i realized they were also no longer around. i havent seen one in about 10 years. there was a time when i didnt see anything else.
im guessing these are the really vintage joints, first generation. the only one i ever saw was in me. complete with the raised running board like this one.
one spot i used to go to used to pack these in 15-20 deep at times. then around 97 they started getting those canadian american grey high cubes mixed in. a lot of them were restamped BAR. and then nothing but the high cubes of all kind.
one car i came accross that sent me for a loop because i havent seen one since the day i took this flik. I looked on my trusty 'complete list of railroad reporting marks' and discovered this is a port huron & detroit, but again, i have never seen one like this since then - and this was in 1993. has anyone seen one of these over the last 10 years?
if i was spanish id say you rhyme like a beech!
Last edited by ~>MooseKnuckle<~ : 10-19-2007 at 04:17 AM.
there should be more than 6 of those around at you know where. restamped wbcx. could be wrong, its been a while. i doubt anyone outside of this city will see them. as far as i can tell those shits are online cars. occasionally they that spot will ship out of state - but very rare. also that cut of about 20 bcax gons still running around. saw them monday downtown.
The gons, i have seen a good bit, i was just commenting on lafarge specifically owning 6 green mkt cars, there are a good many more, they are just in other pools elsewhere
and i've seen what you been uploading on your flickr, were friends on there you know
oh, you meant the MKTs. thought you were referring to the BCAX open top hoppers. i havent seen those MKT restamps. I only did a couple years ago and they were BCAXs then. but then again its been a while since i looked at trains. also i cant really fuck with someone on the inside like you. you are obviously privy to all the most sensitive railroad info - smart guy.
and - nice asshole move taking my quote out of context and using it as your signature. why not put the whole thing....you know, about how you guys do all that ballsy shit but literally run and hide when it comes time to face the niggas that you cross out. Just because we talk about this rail nerd shit here dont get it itwisted. that is still a bitch move and my homies still want your head over their fireplace - dont expect that to ever change.....please dont respond to this in this thread, and dont PM me about it because you already know the fucking deal.
some BAR cars turned into LBRs. lowville and beaver river railroad. they were re-painted, but you can still kinda see BAR under the new paint.
those bar vintage logos are the joint. i got a coffee mug with that logo. i found it in a little rr store in savannah georgia of all places. i had a patch too but i lost that years ago. the spot around here that laid up them bars stopped laying up standard 50' ers years ago. i never saw BARs in transit around here and havent had the pleasure of seeing the LBR restamps BARs. consider me a fan of the BAR...pun intended..
i also often wondered if any of those port st. joes still running around. saw one last year royal blue with the orange lettering.
someone mentioned them old CPs with the pac man logo. looking thru some old fliks and i think i came accross one with the marks on the right side of the car (cant seem to find the flik right now). was that a mistake or common practice?
chessie cats.... havent see them in a long while. ive seen cement hoppers within the last 5 years obviously restamped CSXT (chessie and seaboard merger = csx you guys sound nerdier than me and probably already knew that) chessie boxcars are a true rarity for these parts at least. i got fortunate enough to get on a auto parts carrier but jees, that was 14 years ago.
anybody still see conrail logos, even restamps? or penn centrals?
hard to believe this kitten inspired a railroad giant like chessie.
im sure this has been covered but whats up with the yellow upfes? are they on the endangered list or what?
if i was spanish id say you rhyme like a beech!
Last edited by ~>MooseKnuckle<~ : 10-20-2007 at 06:04 AM.
i also often wondered if any of those port st. joes still running around. saw one last year royal blue with the orange lettering.
chessie cats.... havent see them in a long while. ive seen cement hoppers within the last 5 years obviously restamped CSXT (chessie and seaboard merger = csx you guys sound nerdier than me and probably already knew that) chessie boxcars are a true rarity for these parts at least. i got fortunate enough to get on a auto parts carrier but jees, that was 14 years ago.
anybody still see conrail logos, even restamps? or penn centrals?
im sure this has been covered but whats up with the yellow upfes? are they on the endangered list or what?
I've seen a few port st joes with the atw restamp runnin about, but they are faded, very faded
i still see original b&o reporting marked high cubes with the chessie logo, but most of those are on the die out
the conrail flats are getting cut down and sold, as far as i can tell, though i still see some mini ridges and high cubes
only penn centrals i've see lately are on maintenance of way cars, so but they are all gondola's, original logo though
the upfes are all getting rebuilt to armn whites, so they are on the endangered list as well, all the fiberglass upfe's are all repainted and rebuilt to tilx
unfortunately, none of the BARs were restamped, they were completely repainted, you can't see the logo anymore at all. the old reporting marks are showing through a little on some of them. ill find some flix of them and post them.
Endangered Species -
10-01-2007, 02:36 AM
