Day 3 of 180 Days of A/P Cars - Prep Data, Photos, Drawings

We have a plan, so now we need information, data, photos, drawings and anything else that we can get our hands on.

Here are the cars we are building:

#     Car Description

1     Logging Flat Car – loaded with large log

2     Logging Flat Car – loaded with large log

3     Gondola Slab Car – loaded #10

4     Gondola Slab Car – loaded #12

5     Box Car – standard with interior load #21

6     Box Car – standard with interior detail #19

7     Crew Passenger Car – regular (Argent) #13

8     Crew Passenger Car – Jim Crowe (Argent) #14

I have been building files for this for quite some time.  They are kept by project in files on the computer.

Luckily I'm good for most of these project, but I do have a new book here at the house that may add some more information.  So let's look at the files and see what we have and what we are missing.

1     Logging Flat Car – loaded with large log

2     Logging Flat Car – loaded with large log

This is a combination of a prototype flat car from the Ohio River & Western, and a prototype logging car from the Hebard Cypress Operation.  I've got the plans from a OR&W book, as well as some sketchy photographs.

I don't have the Hebard Cypress photos in the files, so I'll have to go look for them.  They are in the computer, just need to copy them to this file.  A quick glance didn't turn them up so I'll have to dig.  My collection probably has several thousand swamp and swamp logging photos in it.

3     Gondola Slab Car – loaded #10

4     Gondola Slab Car – loaded #12

A slab car carriers the unwanted wood slabs or pieces cut from the lumber process to an area where they can be used for fuel, which could be a boiler or a locomotive.  The Argent Lumber Company had such cars.  The photo below was scanned from Mallory Hope Ferrell's priceless book Argent, Last of the Swamp Rats.  If you like logging you MUST buy this book!

 The book comes with tons of photos and drawings, so they will be easy to construct.

5     Box Car – standard with interior load #21

6     Box Car – standard with interior detail #19

There are no pictures of Hebard Cypress Box Cars that I can find, but I do have a combine called the "dog house" that can give us some clues as to how the looked.  We'll use the Chicago & North Western's narrow gauge boxcar for the model and there are ample photos and plans.

I've got to research where I got the drawing.  Probably from the Gazette.  I've got a ton of photos from a friend to use for the modeling part.

7     Crew Passenger Car – regular (Argent) #13

8     Crew Passenger Car – Jim Crowe (Argent) #14

The crew car is an Argent prototype and again we'll depend on master narrow gauger Mal Ferrell and his Argent book for the prototype data.

 I love this photo!  To me it is more art than train stuff.  The ignorance of the Jim Crow laws shine through in how "colord" men is written.  The old and weather beaten car next to the much newer car for the whites.  This just has to be modeled.

Next step, plan for construction after we get the flat car photos.