Are there any resources out there that describe what equipment is applicable to each era? i.e. motive power, rolling stock, and how long they would be allowed to be on the rails, industry types and related equipment? Thank you!
Interesting that you should ask this. I was just looking for answers on this myself. I recieved a bunch of used freight cars, and I am trying to sort through which ones are suitable for use during the 60's. So far, I haven't been able to find a good reference source yet.
I model the middle 1950s. My resource for rolling stock is the April 1954 Official Railway Equipment Register which lists all freight cars in interchange revenue service on the real railroads for that date, by car number, dimensions, car type etc. Every time I look at a freight car model to buy or build, or catalogue a prototype photo, I check it against the Equipment Register. I was lucky to get one for $5 or $10 some 25 years ago. I have made a special slip case to protect it, since I use it so much.
The ORER is the best source for car information. You can get actual copies or reprints on eBay or from railroad book sellers or there are several people that sell copies on CD (Westerfield among others). Buy one for the era you are interested it will give you the car initials and numbers plus the quantity and size of the car. There are no pictures and it doesn't say when they were built, or what paint scheme was on them. So you know that the RDG had 55 40 ft flat cars in the 9901-9955 series. If you find a model of 40 ft RDG flat car numbered 9936 you have a pretty good chance the car is good for your era (assuming the manufacturer did due diligence in painting the car and the car is similar to the prototype.) You can use that information to look on web sites with pictures of cars to identify the car types.
Howdy,,, I did a search on flea bay,, and found a seller, dougvv4935,,, he has orer's on dvd/cd.. I found one that I can use,,, 1982,,, 85 would have been better but oh well.. Adios Wyatt
