The annual "train fair" (more like, "swap meet") was this weekend and I went for the first time in a few years. Unsurprisingly and a bit disappointingly it was the exact same vendors in the exact same locations selling the exact same stuff they always had. There was a bit of comfort to be found by this however. I might have stepped away from the hobby for a bit, but I've come back to find everything perfectly in it's place.
Among the items I picked up were a few old magazines and a couple of cheap cars to practice weathering on. There was very little there that really caught my interest. Perhaps this is a result of having already collected just about everything I'd ever need for my railroad years ago.
I also pick up this really lovely Oregon Pacific and Eastern boxcar from a vendor. I really adore the deep blue color and especially the lovely goose on the side, however I did a bit of research after bringing it home and it turns out that the OPE appears to have been a shortline tourist road for much of the 80s and is all but shutdown today with the hopes of opening again soon for tourism. These box cars were a result of a collaboration with the Current CEO and model manufactures. They apparently did exist in real life at some point though as evidenced by this single image I've found online:
UPDATE: I just discovered this image below of a POVA boxcar in the exact same scheme. The significance here being of course that the POVA is the REAL shortline that operates on the trackage I'm modeling my freelance railroad on deep in the Pend Oreille Valley. Ok, so I'm feeling much better about my purchase but the question remains, why the same scheme? The plot thickens...
More likely a per diem boxcar. It was when there was a shortage of boxcars on the rails in the late 1970's (build date looks to be 78) and every little short line had boxcars made that ran on other railroads earning their keep. Of course this made a over abundance of them and some had to eat them and store them on their lines or lease to other RR's. Worth a Google.
ReplyDeleteHey thanks Shannon! I must admit that these kind of details concerning cars and locomotives is one part of the hobby I know absolutely nothing about. When it comes to box cars my knowledge extends little further than "Running boards on top = Old. High Cubes = New. Everything else = Somewhere inbetween."
DeleteThe Canadian goose emblem was placed on box cars owned by shortline conglomerate ‘Kyle Railways’. Mr. Kyle owned, or partly owned, the POVA (above), The Oregon Pacific & Eastern, The Yreka Western, The Oregon California & Eastern and probably more. The Prototype OPE will never run again on its original route (Cottage Grove, OR and then eastward for 17 miles) because the rails have been pulled up and paved over for a bike path all the way to Culp Creek . I would use modelers license and run them anyway! I own three of those cars and plan to run them on my modern themed layout... just because I like them!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your insight! This helps greatly. I do think I'm going to weather it up and run it anyway!
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