There are still WP cars rolling off revenue miles out there. In Sparks the 50' double door boxcar are seen regularly. On the Portola side the covered hoppers still haul Gypsum. There are still some 89' tof cars out hauling containers. A good number of the 50' plug door insulated boxcars still can be found. On the MofW side of the coin there are ballast hoppers, 53' flat cars and gondola's. A number of box cars and gondola's have been sold. IC being one of the purchaser's of the boxcars and a short line in New England with the gondolas. Does anyone model WP freight cars out here in cyberland? Greg Elems
Hi Greg I live in Tucson AZ and model the WP in N scale. I have made the trip to Portola six times now and learn something new each trip. This past summer I attended the N Collector Convention at the Peppermill Hotel in Reno. I used to work for ConCor at their Tucson AZ plant and provided correct information for decorating some of their models. Our N club, the Feather River N-Gineers, had a great layout (12 x 40) set up in the recreation center of the Air Force base here, but lost our space this summer. A local construction company donated a spare 40 ft container to store it in, and we are looking for a new home. The city recently bought the old SP depot here, and we hope to be able to set up there within the next 18 months. WP LIVES Don Brown Tucson AZ
Saw WP 86086 last week at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant. It is an 86' Box Car and used in the parts pipeline to the Truck Plant near Louisville. There are also occasional WP 60' box cars in the area. ------------------ Cotton Belt: Runs like a Blue Streak
Greg and Don, I'm after some info on N Scale rollingstock used around the mid-60's. I have a friend modelling WP circa 1968 and with Xmas coming along, thought I would purchase, or paint, a couple of cars for him. Last year's effort was a high nose GP20 modified from a LL unit. Any suggestion on likely candidates and schemes, and when did the modernised feather logo come into use? Thanks in adavance, Gary. ------------------ Gary A. Rose The Unofficial TC&W page TrainBoard Moderator and Member No.377 N to the Nth degree!
Gary, Two cars that were common still in 1968 that might be quick were the DD 50' box car and the 50' GS gondola with racks added like the SP sugar beet cars. The gondolas were black with WP 50## and some had a "Keep California Green" in small letters along the top. The box cars were box car brown with yellow WP initials and Western Pacific spelled out on the other side of the doors. There are decals for them out there from Microscale. The new WP logo didn't come about until 1979 or 1980. If you do paint some cars up, I would like to see some pictures.
Two recently seen WP box cars visiting our Ford Kentucky Truck Plant were the 3765 a 60 foot car and 86126 an 86' Thrall car built in 10/73. The 86126 is empty and leaving today.
Greg, Do you know which WP bovcar series has joined the IC fleet? Do you know what IC series to look for? I see ex-SP/SSW boxcars restenciled for IC, but am hoping to see an ex-WP. Of the gondolas, 5 from WP's 9051-9065 series are now GMRC 402-406.
Randy, I have seen the ex WP box cars with IC on them. I may even have a picture of one before it received the IC gray. I don't think a whole series got sold to IC, just a few cars. I also have some pictures of the gondolas before they were sold to GMRC. Some of WP's bulk head flat car leases expired and they were sent to CBRY in Arizona. It is surprising that WP is still well represented on the UP system. Greg
