Mid 1990's Intermodal

[cfritschle]

Hey, I've read the archives multiple times and I still don't fully get it - the 40' UPS drop frame trailers around in the 1990's would have red or yellow STRIPES - and/or no stripes? 

- thanks, lou

Lou,

The yellow and red stripes on the UPS 40-foot drop frame trailers were generally gone by the mid-1990s.  The only photos that I have that show the yellow and red stripes are from the 1980s and early 1990s. 

However, the UPS 40-foot drop frame trailers that survived into the 21st Century had conspicuity stripes applied.  I sent Pat Sanders some photos of the conspicuity striped trailers, so we may see some of those in a future release, although they won't be appropriate for your era.

Carter

[daniel_leavitt2000]

So for late 1990's I should use the no stripes trailers?

[ljudice]

Thanks, Carter...

Were any of the RR owned drop frame trailers coming from Trainworx still around into the 1990's?

[lock4244]

- Atlas 85' trash flat --->  probably stand in for CN cars,  some roads probably ok for trash containers

Do you mean stand-in for the CP 81' cars? I was thinking the same thing until someone makes one.

[ljudice]

Do you mean stand-in for the CP 81' cars? I was thinking the same thing until someone makes one.

Forgot about those!!!   I was thinking of CN - in the early days of the trash trains I could swear I saw CN open deck flats like the Atlas cars used heavilly for the service.

Of course earlier than that we had the two unit spine cars (N-scale Kits) and before that TTX flush deck flats with six containers -   2-1-1-2  - the only "double stacks" that ran on the PRR/LV side of Conrail. These were the short 20' containers (EPIC) - NOT the ones Atlas is doing now.

Another 90's intermodal car is the IMRC 60' flat - set up for three 20' containers.

[Denver Road Doug]

Forgot about those!!!   I was thinking of CN - in the early days of the trash trains I could swear I saw CN open deck flats like the Atlas cars used heavilly for the service.

Of course earlier than that we had the two unit spine cars (N-scale Kits) and before that TTX flush deck flats with six containers -   2-1-1-2  - the only "double stacks" that ran on the PRR/LV side of Conrail. These were the short 20' containers (EPIC) - NOT the ones Atlas is doing now.

Another 90's intermodal car is the IMRC 60' flat - set up for three 20' containers.

I don't think the IMRC cars are necessarily correct, but the N-Scale Kits cars seems to be decent.   I will say I have seen farm implement flats (the IMRC 60's) with containers chained down to them in/around the 1996 time frame.   There was a huge surge in traffic and BN/ATSF then BNSF (and I assume others) were putting anything and everything in service.   I wasn't real active in railfanning/modeling at that time but I recall seeing some intermodals and thinking "what the..."   Looked like the Clampetts had gotten into intermodal.    Any time I see something that says "made it into the 90's" I figure I could make it work for that '96 timeframe....although pushing it out to my 98/99/00 timeframe is probably stretching things a bit too far since a lot of new intermodal equipment came online in those couple of years between.

I think Atlas will probably do a CP version of that trash flat.  It's close...and it's Trainman, and that's one of the reasons they do the Trainman designation is so they can run a few foobies without ruffling feathers.  I would probably buy one.  BNSF ran a lot of CP stuff in the late 90's/early 00's...most were the shorter 61ft? cars which I will represent with the MTL cars until I find or build something better.

[cv_acr]

I was thinking of CN - in the early days of the trash trains I could swear I saw CN open deck flats like the Atlas cars used heavilly for the service.

Yep, CN also had various open-deck cars:

http://canadianfreightcargallery.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=cn638080&o=cn
http://canadianfreightcargallery.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=cn639454&o=cn

[bbussey]

What's the timeframe for the CN and CP prototypes for which the Atlas trash flat can be a stand-in?  From the data with those pics, it appears they were around in 1980.

[lock4244]

Brian, CP's first 81' COFC flats were delivered in 1969, IIRC, and more came in 1974. They are largely gone now, victims of a slow economy, age, and CP's new wellcars, though they do show up on the Belleville Sub from time to time.

[cfritschle]

So for late 1990's I should use the no stripes trailers?

Daniel,

Yes, the no stripe UPS trailers would be the most appropriate for the late 1990s. 

UPS seemed to be in no hurry in applying the conspicuity stripes, because I have a photo of one without the conspicuity stripes that was taken not long before the mandated June 1, 2001 deadline for applying the reflective material to the trailers built before December 1, 1993 that were used in interstate service.

Carter

[cfritschle]

Thanks, Carter...

Were any of the RR owned drop frame trailers coming from Trainworx still around into the 1990's?

Lou,

I don't have any "evidence" of one in service in my collection of still photos , but a month or so ago I was looking at one of the videos I took in the late 1980s, and there was drop frame trailer similar to the Trainworx prototype in TOFC service.  However, I don't think it was in a paint scheme that is in the first release.

But I can say that at least one in the Xtra paint scheme survived into 2011!  I saw it while we were travelling to the N scale convention in Hershey last summer.  It was being pulled by a Freightliner Columbia on I-80 in Nebraska.  Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it as my wife was napping at the time, and the camera was in the back seat.  I should have pulled off at the next rest area and waited for it, but of course I did not think about doing that until the next day.

Carter

[ArtinCA]

Another container car for those lines in single level service were the Front Runners and Four Runners if I recall correctly.

Also the VTTX cars, which had both 60 foot cars that could haul 3 20ft containers or 1 40 foot and 1 20 ft and the 89foot cars that could haul 2 40's or 4 20's were in service at the time and good up till fairly recently.

Don't forget about the chopped down boxcars that NS & CNW had as well as the converted flats ATSF did for hauling pigs. Those were also still around as well. I think the M-T car is based on the CNW model. You could find at least 1 of those roaming around.

[ljudice]

Yes,  I have a small fleet of the 2 axle cars tucked away - always like to see them...

The VTTX 60' cars - did they have decks or were they removed?  Thought here is to make bunks for them using Shapeways or something. I think the N-scale Kits cars are a possibility here as well as maybe the Intermountain flat?

I think N-scale kits is planning to do the SOU/NS converted boxcars.

- Lou

[bbussey]

... Don't forget about the chopped down boxcars that NS & CNW had as well as the converted flats ATSF did for hauling pigs. Those were also still around as well. I think the M-T car is based on the CNW model. You could find at least 1 of those roaming around.

Actually, I think the MTL model is based on the ATSF prototype.  When the first CNW scheme on that bodystyle was released back in the day, I remember people complaining about it.

[ljudice]

Were the PS 85' flats from Trainworx repurposed after the 80's or scrapped?

Ie.  for containers, pipe, vehicles, etc...

thx