05-31-2015, 07:34 PM
Stephen,
The Oregon Trunk was interesting as it was served by two separate railroads. The majority of the traffic was Spokane Portland & Seattle, who was by the Northern Pacific and Great Northern jointly, but the line was also serviced by the Union Pacific. From what I gleaned the majority of the cars were cars from the Hill Lines, GN & NP, with lots of Western Fruit Express and NP reefers. I have seen a few Fruit Growers Express and some Pacific Fruit Express cars also in the mix. It kind of look like anything with plug doors were wrangled up and put into service. Lots of wood and steel 40' cars, but some new 57' cars in service also. Most of the spots were setup for the 40' cars, so they appeared to still be the preferred cars. I am still trying to figure out where and how they prepared the cars. I am figuring they were not iced, but were cleaned at some point. Also not sure if they sealed them up or ran them with the hatches open. Nothing like prototype modeling to create more questions than answers.
The Oregon Trunk was interesting as it was served by two separate railroads. The majority of the traffic was Spokane Portland & Seattle, who was by the Northern Pacific and Great Northern jointly, but the line was also serviced by the Union Pacific. From what I gleaned the majority of the cars were cars from the Hill Lines, GN & NP, with lots of Western Fruit Express and NP reefers. I have seen a few Fruit Growers Express and some Pacific Fruit Express cars also in the mix. It kind of look like anything with plug doors were wrangled up and put into service. Lots of wood and steel 40' cars, but some new 57' cars in service also. Most of the spots were setup for the 40' cars, so they appeared to still be the preferred cars. I am still trying to figure out where and how they prepared the cars. I am figuring they were not iced, but were cleaned at some point. Also not sure if they sealed them up or ran them with the hatches open. Nothing like prototype modeling to create more questions than answers.