05-25-2009, 06:04 PM
Well it's a good bet that any USRA prototype will fit the bill. If you search Walthers for N scale freightcars with USRA as a keyword, you'll get a good starting list.
Doing the same at Horizon Hobby (Athearn and Intermountain)will get you some more boxes and gons.
Really, all you need to do is look over the cars at the hobby shop (or if you can get a good pic online) and check the build-date (usually on the lower right side of the car, will say something like BLT: 5-25-49). Set a cutoff date for your era, and don't run anything with a later build date. Most manufacturers are pretty good about realistic decalling, so you don't need to worry about finding an 89' hi-cube with a built-date of 4-4-26.
Really, what you need to do is start reading up on freight car rosters of the '40s and '50s, find out when newer types were introduced, and when older ones were phased out.
DoctorWayne is a whiz at this sort of stuff, I'm sure he'll chime in here sometime with some good advice.
Doing the same at Horizon Hobby (Athearn and Intermountain)will get you some more boxes and gons.
Really, all you need to do is look over the cars at the hobby shop (or if you can get a good pic online) and check the build-date (usually on the lower right side of the car, will say something like BLT: 5-25-49). Set a cutoff date for your era, and don't run anything with a later build date. Most manufacturers are pretty good about realistic decalling, so you don't need to worry about finding an 89' hi-cube with a built-date of 4-4-26.
Really, what you need to do is start reading up on freight car rosters of the '40s and '50s, find out when newer types were introduced, and when older ones were phased out.
DoctorWayne is a whiz at this sort of stuff, I'm sure he'll chime in here sometime with some good advice.