Hello everyone. To allow me to model some steam engines I decided to switch my modeling era to the ATSF between 1945 and 1971. However I have a few questions relating to that time area. 1. What point in time did 50' boxcars with roofwalks come into play? 2. What time area did 40' boxcar disapear from view? 3. when did autoracks come around? I have a few 2 deck open air autoracks and I want to know if thye would exist in my time frame. 4. not related to era but. i recently aquired a ton of detail parts. one of which is a cab signal box. My question is. Did the ATSF ever install these on any units? I know there GP20's had cab signals but would thye have had these? thanks Jimmy
45-71 is a very long time. 40' boxcars could be found into the 80s - at least in Canada, into the 90s. Open autoracks were introduced around 1960. In the 70s, they went to enclosed racks. So autoracks aren't suitable for running with steam. Santa Fe last ran steam in 57, and there was very little for the last few years. Really, to get a steam-diesel mix, you're looking at 45-53 or so. Since this is the Santa Fe, the transition era began earlier than even that, but I digress. 50' boxcars were produced in quantity starting in the late 40s. Cars without roofwalks didn't come until the 60s.
the reason I choose 1945-1971 is because I already have a few pinstripe GP30's and GP20's. 1945-1962 is a better idea. seeing a GP20 pair with a reefer block passing a 3700 class with a mixed in tow just sounds cool to me :tb-biggrin:. I don't really care on being 100% proto. But I don't want to make it too far fetched (but don't be suprised if i upload a picture of an autorack train with a steamer on the head end)
Just to stimulate some friendly discussion on this .... not to try to change anything in your RR. For me an "era" is a period of time identified by a defined "character" or a series of event with "start and end". For example "The WWII" , "The Depression" and so on. To me your time-slice is too wide. 1945-1971 contain so much facts that more or less have "revolutionized" the way of life. Have you try to compare an aerial picture of the Silicon Valley (the former "Prune Country") both in '45 and 1970s! Or put side by side a TV set of same years. ( well, seams a Mogul near an SD45? ). And RRs follows (and in some cases anticipate) the technology on every aspect: Engines are maybe the more evident, but what about rolling stocks? Same reefers? TOFCs an so on. What about radio communication, dismissing Cabooses, CTC vs Train orders, Different type of signals, Hot box detectors...... Well, I respect the sentence "it's my railroad" , and I like that every modeler have their own perspective .... so, as I say before... TO ME... is too wide. Cheers, friends
well to be more precise, I already have some ATSF steam and plan on getting more. and thus I thought the 40's. But i had some pinstripe SD40's and 45's. This had me over a fence so I choose that. however the 50's to the 70's is basically what i had in mind. I model a branchline anywhey so It won't look too bad.
You might be able to pull it off if you have different era automobiles and trucks to switch around and maybe leave some buildings loose so they can be swapped for the appropriate era. It 's a lot easier though to focus on a certain time and not have to compromise ...dave
The other thing to remember is that a 3700 class Northern at the end of its career probably wouldn't be on a branchline, it would probably be confined on select mainlines between or radiating out of a major terminal, since by ATSF standards it was one of their largest engines. One of my friends set his era as 1952, in order to run certain deisels and steam. But as you say, you can run anything you want. Since you asked the question I am giving you an answer, what you do with the answer is your business. Model railroading is full of compromises, I always like to know what are the ones I've made. Dave H.
