MTL GN Wood box. With roof hatches?

[sirenwerks]

I can believe the car existed as described (but will confirm when home) but the pic shows just a red GN wood box car.  Am I missing the hatches?

[Kisatchie]

There is already a TRW thread on this car. See:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=34627.msg402224#msg402224

There is a photo of the car you posted a photo of, and below the car is a note that the issued car will have roof hatches.


Hmm... mystery solved...

[sirenwerks]

This is where the English language becomes important. The note reads "Actual car includes roof hatches". Isn't that an actual car pictured? Looks actual to me. But it actually doesn't have roof hatches.

BTW the post you linked to doesn't actually discuss the lack of hatches on the MTL car. Has anyone actually seem one of these models yet?

[Ike the BN Freak]

This is where the English language becomes important. The note reads "Actual car includes roof hatches". Isn't that an actual car pictured? Looks actual to me. But it actually doesn't have roof hatches.

Perhaps they mean the prototype, being actual, car has roof hatches.

[wcfn100]

Perhaps they mean the prototype, being actual, car has roof hatches.

Ya know, that hadn't crossed my mind, but appears to be the case.

Jason

[bbussey]

The picture of the model in the Micro-News has the roof hatches, including the electronic version that is linked on the MTL site.

[wcfn100]

The picture of the model in the Micro-News has the roof hatches, including the electronic version that is linked on the MTL site.

I had looked at this auction which has pictures of the actual model and I don't see hatches.   

http://www.ebay.com/itm/N-Great-Northern-40-Double-Sheathed-Red-Wood-Boxcar-Micro-Trains-04200150-/141498306203?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item20f1f4ce9b

Here's the pic from the auction.



I can't really believe that this is possible but MTL is well known for photoshopped pictures.   That's even too much for me.  There must be some other explanation I'm missing.

Okay, they're in the box.   



Jason

[nkalanaga]

That makes sense.  I was wondering of MT tooled an entire new roof to do one car, or even one series of cars.  That could get expensive.

Now, for the question, Jason:  Are they round hatches, or square hatches?  I've been trying to figure out which this car is supposed to have, and even the very few prototype photos don't help.  Depending on the lighting, some look round, some look square, and I doubt that the GN replaced the hatches in the few years it ran in red. 

[peteski]

Hmm...Not too long ago MT released a boxcar with a fancy mural on it. They added laser-cut hatches to the roof of a standard boxcar.

[Paradise275]

MTL did make 40' double-sheathed wood reefers with four roof hatches that opened. One was a Canadian Pacific and the other Canadian National MTL # 49570.
I don't have the CP one with me. (I lost one of the hatches for it)
Too bad they didn't come with express trucks for passenger service.

Rick

[nkalanaga]

MT's reefers have been around for many years, and the opening hatches were handy.  In the early years of the BN these cars were often used as ventilated boxcars, with the hatches open.  This use continued even after icing was discontinued, meaning that "iced" reefers could be seen for several years after the mechanical ones had taken over all refrigerated/frozen shipments.

[Spikre]

 
  would a 1920 Era USRA boxcar have lasted to get 1967 Style GN
  Big Sky paint ?
   MTL seems to be stretching reality a bit here.
  even a lot of the 40s GN Composite cars were in Rebuild programs
  getting Steel sides by the 60s.
       Spikre
         

[Puddington]

Well GN did repaint a lot of odd equipment into BSB... for instance:



They re-painted a number of older 1920's and 30's built heavyweights into BSB so I'll make a bit of an assumption and say that if passenger equipment could get the new image, why not a wooden side revenue car?

[nkalanaga]

Spikre:  NO, and yes.  As far as I know, GN's 1920s boxcars were all in MOW service, or scrapped, by 1967.  However, they built/bought 8,000 wood-sheathed boxcars using 1937 AAR frames between 1937 and 1942, as well as some with plywood sides.  The plywood cars in particular look like standard steel cars when the sides are in good condition, and all of them are standard steel cars, except for the side panels.   As you said, many received steel sides over the years.   There were about a thousand of the wood cars, and at least a few plywood ones, still in service in 1969, and many lasted until the 40 ft boxcar itself became obsolete in the late 70s and early 80s.  I don't know if any made it into BN paint, but I doubt it.  There may have been a few in BSB, but I haven't seen pictures of them.

The prototype for the MT car was one of these, not an older USRA car, and besides the roof hatches, is the only boxcar of any type known to have received BSB style lettering on a red car.

For an exhaustive discussion of this car, see https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=34627.0. 

So, the "wood car in modern paint" is prototypical, and lasted until at least 1974, when the prototype pictures currently available were taken.  However, the MT car is on the wrong body, and the correct body isn't available.  It wouldn't be hard to build one, starting with an IM 1937 AAR kit, and maybe someday IM will make one.  The NP, and probably other roads, had very similar cars, so they should be almost as popular as the 12-panel boxes they make, and were in interchange service as long.

According to Four Ways West's "GN Equipment Color Pictorial Vol 1", in 1969, there were 977 of the wood side 45000-52999 series boxcars still in service.  In July of 1969 the GN had 10,603 40 ft, single door, unequipped boxcars.  So, 9.2% of their "plain" 40 ft single door cars had wood sides, all basically identical.  GN modelers need these cars.  When I first saw the MT ad, I thought I'd buy a bunch, remove the roof hatches, and have common cars.  But on the wrong body that would be a waste of money.