# How much were trains mixed up between 1950-1970?



## Area57 (Nov 8, 2015)

By that I mean pulling different types of cars and different brands of cars. 

I am trying to design my first train. I could say pick BNSF at some time shortly after they formed. 

1. Would BNSF pull cars that were labeled only Santa Fe or Burlington northern? Or any other offshoots of their company from the past. Say a company merges or gets bought out. Do they immediately paint all the cars or will you find a mix?

2. How mixed use were trains from the period I mentioned? Let say it is just a random cross country freight train. Would they have just a mix of cars? Box cars, reefers, flat beds etcetera? Or would they mostly pull one type? Like all reefers?

Thanks. Seems like a pretty basic question, but looking through Walters website, if I don't know what to pick I won't make a good train.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Might be an idea to look here: http://www.railpictures.net/http://www.railpictures.net You can put in the railroad, year, loco and various other parameters so you should be able to see how the trains were made up.


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

Where my brother is last summer there were small GPs running trains with the old Blue and Yellow paint but the number was patched out with followed by the letters BNSF. Also have seen recent photos of Souther Pacific locomotives where just the number was patched.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

About 40% of the cars should be home road, the rest would be interchange with the bulk of them representing the particular area of the country you're modeling. The mix of types depends on you road's traffic needs, large blocks of cars for one particular industry (coal for a power plant, grain for regional shipping, etc.) are not unusual, probably a 50/50 mix as needs rise and fall.


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

shaygetz said:


> *About 40% of the cars should be home road,* the rest would be interchange with the bulk of them representing the particular area of the country you're modeling. The mix of types depends on you road's traffic needs, large blocks of cars for one particular industry (coal for a power plant, grain for regional shipping, etc.) are not unusual, probably a 50/50 mix as needs rise and fall.


That is probably correct for an average, but I have decided that on the particular day that I am modeling there will be the mix of cars that I like, so that is primarily home road. I simply fall back on the rule #1, It's my layout, I'll do what I want.

BTW, my layout will be extremely anachronistic, having features and buildings from several different era's that were not always existent at the same time.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Doc is right -- your layout, your rules.

A good rule of thumb is about 50% home road, 25% interchanging roads, 15% regional (but not directly interchanging), and 10% "other". Especially in mixed freights, cars could originate just about anywhere.


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## Florida RR (Oct 8, 2015)

This is good information. I asked a related question a few days ago. 

So, how far would the cars from other roads typically travel? I remember seeing a lot of cars from the nearby Southern Railroad on Florida's Seaboard Coast Line, but rarely anything from, say, the northwest US in Florida on SCL. What if I needed to ship something all the way across the country in 1970?

-Florida RR-


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Florida RR said:


> This is good information. I asked a related question a few days ago.
> 
> So, how far would the cars from other roads typically travel? I remember seeing a lot of cars from the nearby Southern Railroad on Florida's Seaboard Coast Line, but rarely anything from, say, the northwest US in Florida on SCL. What if I needed to ship something all the way across the country in 1970?
> 
> -Florida RR-


You would ship by a truck.:smokin::thumbsup:

Get it faster too.


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## Florida RR (Oct 8, 2015)

big ed said:


> You would ship by a truck.:smokin::thumbsup:
> 
> Get it faster too.


Noooooooooooooo! Blasphemy! 

This would explain why I don't remember seeing things from UP and ATSF on SCL. I do seem to remember a few cars from ATSF, but I was young then, and my memory may not be correct. So I guess I can sell my C&NW and Southern Pacific TOFC's now? 

-Florida RR-


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

On my model of the B&O I tried to indicate where the railroad connected with the foreign road cars that were running. For example I used ACL and other east coast RR's to indicate the eastern connection, and railroads with Chicago in the name to indicate the western connection. I also had some Canadian RR's because I liked the Maple leaf logo. Rule #1. 

BTW, trucks were all short haul on my layout.


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## milehighxr (Dec 22, 2012)

I've seen CSX cars being pulled by UP, and BNSF around here. I've also seen a CSX loco(I posted about it when I saw it) lashed up with a BNSF IIRC.


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## Area57 (Nov 8, 2015)

Ok. So I'm having trouble choosing a company. Are they called companies? My layout is somewhere in the great plain. So anywhere from Kansas at the south. To Iowa east. Nebraska north and up into Wyoming or Montana west. I haven't chosen a state. 

So I have to pick a time period. The 1960's. 

Then I have to pick a railroad that runs this time period. I don think have any favorites so I am good with any. Haha I can be like a girl and pick their favorite football team based on colors! But seriously. If I go to the local hobby shops, which have a lot of trains. They are all over the place. So it's hard to pick a brand and be able to get the cars. Say I picked Santa Fe. They maybe have five Santa Fe cars. I was hoping I could mix in Burlington northern and BNSF all together but I think they would have repainted them all BNSF. 

I wish I could verbalized more what I am trying to ask. I hope you get the idea.


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## Florida RR (Oct 8, 2015)

thedoc said:


> On my model of the B&O ... I also had some Canadian RR's *because I liked the Maple leaf logo. Rule #1.*





thedoc said:


> Pretend like when we were kids and ran locomotives from all different railroads! :thumbsup:
> 
> BTW, trucks were all short haul on my layout.


My only trucks will be on flat cars* where they belong!* 

Now that I think back and do some research, there were a lot of Southern Pacific TOFC on SCL. I remember lots and lots of the "Golden Pig" trailers. Unfortunately, Golden Pig service didn't start until 1982, later than my layout. Maybe I will cheat and pretend because I love that great big doofus looking pig on the trailer! :thumbsup:

I don't know how the SP trailer in this picture ended up on a Florida East Coast flat car. It's a long way from home. Time for me to go shopping for a Golden Pig trailer. I already have a SP flat car to put it on with an older SP trailer. The surface of the flat car is all dinged up, but I can call that "weathering" right? 

I'll quit hijacking the thread into a detour now, even if it is a related question.

-Florida RR-


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

Area57 said:


> Ok. So I'm having trouble choosing a company. Are they called companies? My layout is somewhere in the great plain. So anywhere from Kansas at the south. To Iowa east. Nebraska north and up into Wyoming or Montana west. I haven't chosen a state.
> 
> *So I have to pick a time period. The 1960's*.
> 
> ...


In the 60's most engines would have stayed on the home road, now you can see almost anything anywhere. I believe they put the power on to haul the train and then add home road power as a pilot. Freight cars are another story, they were usually loaded on one RR, and shipped to the destination in that car. The home road would favor home road cars, but if they had a car on the destination road, they would use it. Might as well get something to compensate for the Demurrage. There was a period right after a merger when the parent cars and engines were much in evidence, till the RR got them repainted.


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

Florida RR said:


> My only trucks will be on flat cars* where they belong!*
> 
> Now that I think back and do some research, there were a lot of Southern Pacific TOFC on SCL. I remember lots and lots of the "Golden Pig" trailers. Unfortunately, Golden Pig service didn't start until 1982, later than my layout. Maybe I will cheat and pretend because I love that great big doofus looking pig on the trailer! :thumbsup:
> 
> ...


Rule #1, you run what you like, the way you like, on your RR. Be anachronistic, it's your layout.


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## Florida RR (Oct 8, 2015)

Area57 - One problem for the LHS (local hobby shop) always has been keeping everything that everyone wants in stock, which is impossible. Support your local hobby shop to the extent possible unless you want to end up like me with NO local hobby shop any more.

There will come a time though when you have to look online to get what you want. There are a number of nationally prominent and reputable "national" hobby shops online now, and then there is used stuff on FeeBay if you are looking for used bargains.

Your geographic area sounds like ATSF to me. That gives you a whole lot of options for buying stuff, since it is so popular. Choose a smaller railroad and your options decrease significantly. ATSF map attached from American-rails.com which is a good resource for fallen flag railroads.

-Florida RR-


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Area57 said:


> Ok. So I'm having trouble choosing a company. Are they called companies? My layout is somewhere in the great plain. So anywhere from Kansas at the south. To Iowa east. Nebraska north and up into Wyoming or Montana west. I haven't chosen a state.
> 
> So I have to pick a time period. The 1960's.
> 
> ...


It's gonna sound like the Doc and I are ganging up on you. We both said it before. He said it again. Now I'm gonna say it again. You don't HAVE to do anything. The purpose of this hobby is to have fun. Go down to your LHS (local hobby shop), buy one of everything they have, and run it, if that will make you happy. If not, do what will. If you're going to agonize this much, you're not having fun.

Someone already pointed out the limitations of the local hobby shop for putting a fleet together. First, decide what you want (not need, not have, but want) to run. Forget about availability. Just make a list of what you want. Go down to the LHS. If they have something you want, buy it and cross it off your list. Go to train shows,swap meets, and search the internet. If you find something that fits your plan, buy it.

I already explained roadnames for freight cars above. Cars do not get repainted unless ownership is transferred, permanently. Even then, it is common practice to just paint over the registration markings, not repaint the whole car. Consider a consignment of apples bound for Boston from Washington state. That reefer might carry Union Pacific markings (hence ownership), get picked up by a BNSF train. Transfer to Norfolk Southern in Chicago, to CSX in Philly, thence to Boston. Ownership of the car (and consignment) never changes. CSXwould, as time and capacity allowed, start sending the empty reefer back to Union Pacific, or load it with a cargo of its own and send it westbound. MOST locomotives get painted in home road livery (and many modelers chose their prototype because they like a given paint scheme), although it can take months or even years. Railroads often share power, renting it to other railroads if they have excess capacity.

Consider this: I once saw a coal train outside of Pittsburgh (Norfolk Southern territory). Only one of the six locos was NS; one was BNSF, two CSX, and two shortline or leasing company. Maybe a third of the hoppers had NS markings. All of the major railroads were represented, and several non-railroad owned cars were present (owned by the mines, I would guess).

If DOBA (dead-on balls accurate -- and no, morderators, that does NOT refer to the male genetelia) realism is what you need to makeyou happy, you need to get your hands on some reference materials and do what the real guys did. For most of us, plausibility is close enough.


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## dinwitty (Oct 29, 2015)

Area57 said:


> By that I mean pulling different types of cars and different brands of cars.
> 
> I am trying to design my first train. I could say pick BNSF at some time shortly after they formed.
> 
> ...


BNSF did not exist before 1970. Railroads mostly in this time interchanged cars than thru train, swapping engines/caboose.
Today the habit is often the locomotives stay with the train, but crews change.

1. No, N&W cars ventured far off their home rails, true with other lines. 

2. NKP had a scheduled reefer train from Chicago fast freight, iced reefers, hadda move, and fast. Mechanical reefers allowed less timed freights, still priority cars. Point of note, the Vanderbilts who owned the NKP also owned the Michigan Central. They purposefully had the NKP be that fast freight line and it was kept open for those fast freights....in the mean time, all the non-volatail freight that could run slow was routed over the Michigan Central, full of slow trains and crowded yards. cute trick...


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## Area57 (Nov 8, 2015)

Ok. Plausibility works for me. I know I don't have to do anything. I just want it reasonabl my accurate. Otherwise it will turn into a clusterfuck of random cars I thought looked cool pulled by whatever loco I found on sale lol.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

One of the best sources for general info on railroad companies is Wikipedia. It is a great place to start searching for what railroad you might want to model. For any railroad, you can get it's history (when and how the railroad expanded, when its name was changed, when railroads were merged, etc), and usually a system map showing where its tracks went.

Many of the larger railroads (including those that have been sucked up by mergers) have historical societies that have websites with lots more info. Good for more details after you narrow your choices. 

P.S. If you want to pick a railroad or a locomotive because you like its colors, go for it. You would be surprised at how many of us have done the same thing --- well except for me -- I model the 1920s. I have all steamers -- which are all black -- well ALMOST all black. -- I do have one green one -- because I liked the color...........


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## Area57 (Nov 8, 2015)

I have chosen Santa Fe. ATSF. Wikipedia. What can't it do, lol.


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## ChessieSystem (Sep 17, 2015)

Do Chesapeake and Ohio! The Chessy System is the best 
I have mostly C&O stuff but the random Union Pacific and Norfolk & Western cars have found their way in...I keep telling myself to buy a Union Pacific train so I can take the random burgundy car out of my C&O stuff but I keep buying C&O trains...someday lol


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

My rail road is a 'mut'. I like the UP's big locomotives and the yellow scheme. Also like the SP. Have purchased some striking made up local roads that are for New York. Also have Pennsylvania and NYC in several trains. Then there are multiple misc other roads. I have come to decide that I run good looking stuff.


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

ChessieSystem said:


> Do Chesapeake and Ohio! The Chessy System is the best


i was at the C&O museum in Clifton Forge, Va. a few days ago.

Link to pics

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=51162


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Area57 said:


> By that I mean pulling different types of cars and different brands of cars.
> 
> I am trying to design my first train. I could say pick BNSF at some time shortly after they formed.
> 
> 1. Would BNSF pull cars that were labeled only Santa Fe or Burlington northern?


Well, the original subject mentioned era of 1950-1970, and BNSF did not exist until 1995, so there's that little detail...

Burlington Northern was created in 1970 from merger of GN, NP, SPS, CBQ, etc.

_Edit: I see you're looking at ATSF in 1960 in a later post, but this is still relevant - don't run BN or BNSF in 1960._

However, to actually answer the question: no, their train would not be likely to only haul their own cars. (Of course specific trains and routes can be quite different. A minor grain branch is more likely to only be hauling home road cars. General freights on the mainline will be a mix of just about anything imaginable, from anywhere.)

However mergers do mean that cars from several different predecessor roads would now all be "home road".



Area57 said:


> Or any other offshoots of their company from the past. Say a company merges or gets bought out. Do they immediately paint all the cars or will you find a mix?


With a buyout or merger, the old reporting marks of the absorbed company are still owned by the buyer or new company. Cars may be repainted or renumbered, but that would take a long time. (As in, years or even decades.) Many may not ever get touched.

Locomotives are much more likely to be renumbered into the new company's numbering scheme faster.



Area57 said:


> 2. How mixed use were trains from the period I mentioned? Let say it is just a random cross country freight train. Would they have just a mix of cars? Box cars, reefers, flat beds etcetera? Or would they mostly pull one type? Like all reefers?


*Most* trains will be a mix. *Some* trains may be dedicated to particular commodity types. For example, reefers require special servicing (icing or fueling) so more likely to be handled in a dedicated block in a train, or even as a specific train just for perishable traffic if there's a lot of it. Intermodal (trailers or containers) is also more likely to be handled in dedicated trains, or in solid blocks within another train. Modern coal is also commonly handled in unit trains - a single solid train from one source (large mine) to a single destination (power plant).

Otherwise, most car load traffic will freely mixed, being sorted and grouped by *destination*, not type.




Florida RR said:


> So, how far would the cars from other roads typically travel?


As far as they need to. I see cars from Mexico in Canada.



Florida RR said:


> I remember seeing a lot of cars from the nearby Southern Railroad on Florida's Seaboard Coast Line, but rarely anything from, say, the northwest US in Florida on SCL. What if I needed to ship something all the way across the country in 1970?


The answer is pretty similar whether the era is 1900 or 2000.

Cars from direct connections or nearby railways will tend to be more common, but traffic interchanged as required from railroad to railroad. If you need to ship something from Florida to Washington, you basically load it up and send it out and it will get transferred from railroad to railroad as required until it gets there. In 1970 it might travel on up to ten different railways to get there. In 2015 it's more likely that some of those railroads have merged since then, and it might be down to 3 or 4, but it will still be travelling on at least a few different railroads to get there.

The cars you see in a particular area have a fair bit to do with where the contents came from, for the large part.


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Area57 said:


> Ok. Plausibility works for me. I know I don't have to do anything. I just want it reasonabl my accurate. Otherwise it will turn into a clusterfuck of random cars I thought looked cool pulled by whatever loco I found on sale lol.


It's reasonable to see cars from just about any area, but if you're going to focus on 1960, [and you're concerned about accurately modelling the *year*] you'll need to research that the *era* of the cars is appropriate.

BNSF, Burlington Northern, CSX, Norfolk Southern all did not exist in 1960 (OK, actually there was a Norfolk Southern, but not the same one you know today).

Also certain colour schemes or logos may not have been adopted until after that time period.

Or the model might represent a car type or design that is more modern, even if the particular railroad was around then.

Again, you don't HAVE to worry about any of this. If you're not concerned about historical accuracy to that level, that's fine. But if you do like to go for some era accuracy, there's some more information to research and the above may be a consideration. Unfortunately this can be a bit of a rabbit hole to run down, but can also be interesting to research, if you like that sort of thing. (I do, many don't.)


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

One thing to keep in mind is that if you model a particular era, older cars can be justified, but the older they are the fewer you should have on the layout. A newer car, than the era you are modeling, would look out of place.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

I watch a live feed at Chesterton,In. almost every day. Lots of trains go through there from Chicago. I see Amtrack passenger trains -all AT cars. I see container trains that are 150 to 200 cars all with two containers on each car. There are steel trains with only rolls of steel, usually four or five rolls per gondola car with no other cars of any kind. There are ethanol tanker trains and oil trains with 100 to 150 cars, all tankers only. Lots of auto racks with maybe 100 or so cars and nothing else. Closed hopper trains of grain with no other kinds of cars and last are the mixed trains with box cars,hoppers,tanks,flats ect. I can't tell what company all the cars are from but you can make up a train with anything on it and be prototypical. Youtube is great for watching all these different kinds of trains and there are many more too. Take your pick. Pete


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## ChessieSystem (Sep 17, 2015)

cole226 said:


> i was at the C&O museum in Clifton Forge, Va. a few days ago.
> 
> Link to pics
> 
> http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=51162


Awesome!!!


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

norgale said:


> I watch a live feed at Chesterton,In. almost every day. Lots of trains go through there from Chicago. I see Amtrack passenger trains -all AT cars. I see container trains that are 150 to 200 cars all with two containers on each car. There are steel trains with only rolls of steel, usually four or five rolls per gondola car with no other cars of any kind. There are ethanol tanker trains and oil trains with 100 to 150 cars, all tankers only. Lots of auto racks with maybe 100 or so cars and nothing else. Closed hopper trains of grain with no other kinds of cars and last are the mixed trains with box cars,hoppers,tanks,flats ect. I can't tell what company all the cars are from but you can make up a train with anything on it and be prototypical. Youtube is great for watching all these different kinds of trains and there are many more too. Take your pick. Pete


Mixed consists were much more the norm in the era the OP wants to model, especially the early part of it. (Not that watching the modern stuff isn't way cool). 

I just want to amplify cv-acr's comments. You really have a broad spectrum in front of you: at one end is being very faithful to a prototype, in which case you have to pick one railroad and one fairly short timeframe, then do a lot of research to find out what that railroad did and do your layout accordingly. At the other, you just run what you want to, because it's your layout. Neither approach is wrong, or better than the other, nor is any point in between.

If you want to stick faithfully to a prototype and era, though, there is no substitute for research. You will probably want to invest in some books (what the heck are those, right?) about your chosen railroad. Even though I don't stick faithfully to it, I have a book "New Haven Power", which lists every locomotive operated by the NH (and steamships, doodlebugs, and trolleys), and photos of every different configuration and most of the modifications. I also have three "coffee table" books, which are largely photos, so if you want to see what a train looked like, it's a great reference. And, of course, odd stuff like a dining car menu, an employee timetable, and a couple of histories. Even though there are a lot of experts here, that kind of stuff will serve you much better than a handful of opinions in the re-creation of a prototype road.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

thedoc said:


> A newer car, than the era you are modeling, would look out of place


More than just "out of place"........the newer car would not exist yet.....in the real world, of course.....


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

Old_Hobo said:


> More than just "out of place"........the newer car would not exist yet.....in the real world, of course.....


Agreed, but then Rule #1.


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

CTValleyRR said:


> Mixed consists were much more the norm in the era the OP wants to model, especially the early part of it. (Not that watching the modern stuff isn't way cool).
> 
> I just want to amplify cv-acr's comments. You really have a broad spectrum in front of you: at one end is being very faithful to a prototype, in which case you have to pick one railroad and one fairly short timeframe, then do a lot of research to find out what that railroad did and do your layout accordingly. At the other, you just run what you want to, because it's your layout. Neither approach is wrong, or better than the other, nor is any point in between.
> 
> *If you want to stick faithfully to a prototype and era, though, there is no substitute for research. You will probably want to invest in some books (what the heck are those, right?) about your chosen railroad. Even though I don't stick faithfully to it, I have a book "New Haven Power", which lists every locomotive operated by the NH (and steamships, doodlebugs, and trolleys), and photos of every different configuration and most of the modifications. I also have three "coffee table" books, which are largely photos, so if you want to see what a train looked like, it's a great reference. And, of course, odd stuff like a dining car menu, an employee timetable, and a couple of histories.* Even though there are a lot of experts here, that kind of stuff will serve you much better than a handful of opinions in the re-creation of a prototype road.


You need to be careful of which "experts" you believe, Just because someone wrote a book, does not mean they know what they are writing about. Here is a review I wrote on one book about the B&O, and I would suspect this authors books on other RR's would be just as inaccurate. 

"This is a very nice photo album of the grade at Sand Patch, however Robert's fictional history does not relate to the actual history of the railroad. He starts the book by disproving several non-myths that no-one believes, in an effort to establish some credibility, unfortunately this fails, as no-one believes the non-myths he proposes. Buy the book for the photos, not for the history. Be careful, the captions of the photos have sometimes been "adjusted" to reflect Robert's fictional history."


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Point well made, doc. But indeed I was referring to the photographic content of the book, not the text.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

thedoc said:


> You need to be careful of which "experts" you believe, Just because someone wrote a book *(or reviewed one)*, does not mean they know what they are writing about


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## dave1905 (Jul 7, 2013)

Starting after the Civil War the US roads operated by interchange, that is a shipment would go from road to road. 

So any time after 1900 one would expect the majority of general traffic trains to have cars from any railroad in them. There are exceptions.

Hopper cars tended to stay on the home roads. A coal train on the N&W in 1955 is most likely to be 95-100% N&W hoppers.

Blocks of reefers on the home road. A SFRD car is more likely to be on an ATSF train and a PFE car is more likely to be on the SP or UP.

Maintenance equipment will be on the home road. A Ballast train on the MP will most likely all be MP cars.

Unit coal trains will most likely be cars owned by the road with the majority haul or the utility.

The mix of cars varies by era, commodity and location. The earlier the era, the more home road cars. The more open top or bulk commodity cars the more home road cars.
The more modern the era the more private owner cars (initials end in "X").

For a general service area 1960's or earlier a 50% home, 25% connection and 25% other mix is pretty good. For a coal, ore or grain oriented layout, the mix is probably more like 70% home, 15% connection, 15% other. For a 1980's era layout a mix might be 30% home, 25% connection, 25% private, 20% other. For a 2000 era layout, its more like 50% private 30% home, 10% connections 10% other.

The specific area also has a bearing. If you model the UP in Ft Worth, you can have 2 distinct fleets. If you are modeling the N-S route it will be heavily home road, heavily bulk cars with a few auto racks and virtually no intermodal. If you are modeling the E-W route it will be heavily intermodal and automotive, lots of auto parts cars, mostly privates and heavily connection roads. Same railroad, same city, two different traffic mixes and car fleets.


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## dave1905 (Jul 7, 2013)

The OP has already been told a half dozen times he can buy one of everything and he has said he doesn't want to do that. So we don't need to keep telling him that.

If you are looking at the upper plains in the 1960's the big players are:

MP - Kansas City to Pueblo, CO. grain, mixed freight and auto parts.
UP - Big kahuna, KC and Omaha to N Platte to Cheyenne and Salt Lake City. Huge engines N Platte west, lots of traffic, reefer blocks, lots of general freight.
CB&Q - also big player all through this area.
ATSF - mostly KC SW towards the OK panhandle. Passenger trains, reefer blocks.

When you get Dakotas north you have the CNW (cowboy line, 2 streaks of rust thru the prairie), then the GN and Milwaukee Road.

If you want variety, choose a larger city near the Missouri River (Omaha, KC, St Joe) or Lincoln, NE or Topeka, KS. The Missouri River cities will each have 5-10 railroads coming into them and the capitols 3-5.

The major local loadings in the area in which you expressed interest will be grain with some manufacturing in the larger cities. Depending on the area and road you pick you can have anything from an industrial branch, an auto assembly plant, a lonesome one job branch to heavy duty, high speed, 50 trains a day main line.

Lots of variety. Just have to decide what you want.


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

Old_Hobo said:


> Originally Posted by thedoc View Post
> You need to be careful of which "experts" you believe, Just because someone wrote a book (or reviewed one), does not mean they know what they are writing about


Potentially true, but given that I grew up in Rockwood Pa. and have studied history and traffic patterns on the B&O in that area, I would suggest that I know more about the B&O in that area than Roberts ever will. He tried to claim that most of the traffic from that branch went west, but I have photographic, and Eye witness accounts, that the bulk of the traffic from that branch went east, not west as he claims. 

The "Myths" he claims to bust are not believed by anyone that I know, Roberts just made them up to disprove them and give himself an air of authority. He claims that people believe that the Industrial revolution and railroading started in America, and then goes on to state that they really started in England, except that no-one believes they started in America. In short Roberts is a phony and not to be believed in anything he writes. 

BTW, I had copy of the Book "Sandpatch, Clash of Titans" and studied the photo's and text very carefully.


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