Railroad Forums
Auto rack traffic on the D&H
- Discussion relating to the D&H. For more information, please visit the Bridge Line Historical Society.
Moderator: MEC407
by D&HFan
NS is in negotiations with CP about running a regular rack train to Albany, this was the way I read it in Railpace. Lets hope so.
by NYC27
B&M racks were in the Ford pool, they wouldn't show up in the ORER because the flats were owned by Trailer Train. Fords went to the distribution center in Ayer, MA over a D&H route from 1974 to 1989 (?) when the switched to a Conrail routing via Worcester because new racks couldn't fit through the Hoosac Tunnel. Any B&M racks would have had side panels on them and open tops. There was at least one Guilford tri-level as well, it looks like a modern enclosed car, just without a roof.
by march hare
Good news for us 70s modelers!!!
Check your local Walmart--the newest additions to their HO scale vehicles are perfect for the auto racks we've been discussing here.
Marketed individually under the "Fresh Cherries" name are some 70s to 80's Ford vehicles.
a late 70s Pinto/Mercury Bobcat
a late 70s machine that looks to be a Pinto wagon--was unaware such a thing existed.
a mid 80s Tempo
an early (81 I think) Ford Escort
multiple paint schemes on all.
Combined with the Ford vans they did a few months back, we now have enough to do a couple of nice loaded auto racks headed for New England. Just choose your year. At 2 bucks a piece, they won't break your bank account either. But you will have a very heavy (and possibly top-heavy) auto rack, especially if you load a trilevel. Might be better to stick to bilevels.
ALSO, for a distinctive 70's street scene, they have released an AMC Gremlin and a AMC Pacer. I suppose you could load up some racks with those, too. Not sure how AMC's would have moved around the northeast in the mid 70s. I don't remember ever seeing them on the D&H, but I wasn't much of a car-hound back then, so I may not have been paying attention adequately.
Good luck finding them--don't bother with the Cobleskill Walmart (err, um, somebody bought'em out...) Doesn't look like they've arrived in the Capital District yet, who knows where else they've shown up.
Check your local Walmart--the newest additions to their HO scale vehicles are perfect for the auto racks we've been discussing here.
Marketed individually under the "Fresh Cherries" name are some 70s to 80's Ford vehicles.
a late 70s Pinto/Mercury Bobcat
a late 70s machine that looks to be a Pinto wagon--was unaware such a thing existed.
a mid 80s Tempo
an early (81 I think) Ford Escort
multiple paint schemes on all.
Combined with the Ford vans they did a few months back, we now have enough to do a couple of nice loaded auto racks headed for New England. Just choose your year. At 2 bucks a piece, they won't break your bank account either. But you will have a very heavy (and possibly top-heavy) auto rack, especially if you load a trilevel. Might be better to stick to bilevels.
ALSO, for a distinctive 70's street scene, they have released an AMC Gremlin and a AMC Pacer. I suppose you could load up some racks with those, too. Not sure how AMC's would have moved around the northeast in the mid 70s. I don't remember ever seeing them on the D&H, but I wasn't much of a car-hound back then, so I may not have been paying attention adequately.
Good luck finding them--don't bother with the Cobleskill Walmart (err, um, somebody bought'em out...) Doesn't look like they've arrived in the Capital District yet, who knows where else they've shown up.
by Mark R.
Yeah, those Fresh Cherries cars are a real blessing for us 70's era modellers. I managed to hunt down 60 of the cars and 50 vans .... that's probably why you can't find 'em !!! 
I built four tri-levels and four bi-levels all from Accu-rail kits. The big difference being I shortened them up to 74 foot cars which look and perform better on my less than ideal radii.
All eight cars weigh about 3-1/2 pounds. Two engines have no trouble walking all this up a 2-1/2 per cent grade. The decoders I use have BEMF so there is no bucking or running away even on the down-grades !!!
Here's a picture of one of my shortened autoracks which really is more accurate for the length of 70's eras racks anyway. Whadda ya think ???
Mark.
I built four tri-levels and four bi-levels all from Accu-rail kits. The big difference being I shortened them up to 74 foot cars which look and perform better on my less than ideal radii.
All eight cars weigh about 3-1/2 pounds. Two engines have no trouble walking all this up a 2-1/2 per cent grade. The decoders I use have BEMF so there is no bucking or running away even on the down-grades !!!
Here's a picture of one of my shortened autoracks which really is more accurate for the length of 70's eras racks anyway. Whadda ya think ???
Mark.
by march hare
Pretty good compromise for a layout with sharp curves...
Now for the next level of nerdhood:
When did cars on autoracks start carrying window stickers? You know, the EPA required ones with gas mileage, plus the ordinary ones that tell you how much extra you're paying for the factory air (in the tires).
I knwo the first car I bought new (an 82 Escort) had such a sticker, and I'm pretty sure that my Mom's 1970 VW squareback did not have one. So somewhere in there, cars on autoracks should start having window stickers. Anybody know when??
Now for the next level of nerdhood:
When did cars on autoracks start carrying window stickers? You know, the EPA required ones with gas mileage, plus the ordinary ones that tell you how much extra you're paying for the factory air (in the tires).
I knwo the first car I bought new (an 82 Escort) had such a sticker, and I'm pretty sure that my Mom's 1970 VW squareback did not have one. So somewhere in there, cars on autoracks should start having window stickers. Anybody know when??