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Mystery Over 40 ft Grain Load Door Boxcars
Shane posted this question:
“I purchased a whole lot of old Athearn Blue Box kits off eBay. Got a bargain so can’t complain. Included were some 40 ft grain load door boxcars with the door molded on the body. There are hatches near the top of the side doors with no markings. I would like to know when cars of this type where most common – the decade? The railroads where they operated? If I know that I might be able to locate some decal sets?”
3 Responses to Mystery Over 40 ft Grain Load Door Boxcars
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You are definitely no later than transition era and even a little bit before then.By mid to later 1950’s they had moved to dedicated hoppers for grain transport.
During the mid 70’s they were used on the Union Pacific in the Pacific Northwest when the exported grain shipments exceeded the supply of available hoppers. They even used regular 40 ft boxcars with wooden grain door inserts.
A lot depends on what you are modeling. If you are modeling a main line what Hervey says may be true. I lived on a small branch line and into th 70s I never saw a hopper….everything was 40’ boxcars with grain load boxcar doors. In order to take advantage of hoppers you had to modify elevators to not only load, but unload hoppers…..not a cheap thing to do