My railroad needs several cattle cars, as it is set in the
southwestern part of the USA, in Arizona.
Athearn has scores of choices, Box, Reefers, Tanks, Flats, misc,
but not one single Cattle Car.
What happened to the industry? Any other company selling Cattle Cars?
Are they shipping cattle by truck, exclusively?
Thanks ,
Mike
Picture Rocks, AZ
Several stock cars out there, including Athearn
LifeLike has the Mather stock car
MDC has the 36 ft truss rod car
Central Valley has a kit for the NP stock car
Westerfield and Sunshine have resin kits for stock cars
There are others other there as well.
Howard
Virtually yes. In a nutshell - the meat packing industry has become
decentralized over the past few decades, meaning that instead of requiring
cattle to be shipped very long distances to packing houses it is accomplished
by much shorter hauls.
A good quality, modern shake-the-box stockcar is made by Accurail. I
don't own any, but have built some for a friend. They are quite simple
to build and make up into a nice looking car.
Lifelike make single and double-deck Mather Patent stockcars as part of
their Proto 2000 range. These have many separate detail parts, and so
require a little more effort to build. But they are by no means
difficult for a modeller of average skills, and build up into
beautifully delicate looking models.
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The model on the left is straight from the box, that on the right has
been converted to K brakes, vertical brake staff, and Andrews trucks.
Central Valley make a kit for a radial-roof Northern Pacific stockcar. I
have a couple of these, which I have yet to build. I'd say they'd
require the most work to complete, of the three. But even a quick glance
at the sprues tells you that they are high-quality products.
I was able to get one within the last 18 months. Probably old stock.
According to Rail and Wire, the publication of Illinois Railway Museum, the
last Santa Fe stock car was taken out of service in 1974, IIRC, and disposed of
before 1980. It now resides at IRM in restored condition I believe (I don't
have the issue of R&W at my fingertips just now.)
Jay
Americans have the best legislature money can buy. Unfortunately it's corporate
money.
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