I was informed on another discussion page that the freight cars used in the great 1974 action picture EMPEROR OF THE NORTH were cut up after the production of the film. I feel that the drab, ordinary freight car has been sadly neglected by all but a few museums, and tourist railroads, with a couple of notable exceptions. I realise that money and manpower is often stretched very thin at these places, and that most operations can barely maintain the engines and passenger equipment that brings in money let alone "window dressing" such as this. My main regret is I don't live within driving distance of a place where I could work on some of this stuff when I had the time. Anyhow, to make up for this, I would like to compile a list or directory of preserved freight equipment around the USA. Please feel free to E-Mail me with any info any of you have of pre-all steel freight cars and cabooses in your locale either in museums, at tourist RR's or elsewhere; Such as carbodies sitting in industries etc. from this info. I will attempt to build a database of known cars, and perhaps get cars that are still "out there" placed in museums or at least make preservation groups in that area aware of their existence. Many Thanks in advance.<p>D. W. Bassett<br>



mollygray@soft-link.com

I think that D.W. Bassett's idea has merit but I don't thing it goes far enough. If you're going to do this, why not include ALL freight equipment and not just the wooden cars? And maintenance-of-way equipment too (much of which STARTED out as a freight car.) And don't just list the car and type but get as much info into it as possible. Such as when built; by whom; history of car (if it served more than one railroad) and current condition (restored, awaiting restoration, derelict, etc.) When a certain thing is not known (such as built date just show N/K). I do agree with D.W. that freight cars are an EXTREMELY neglected part of railroad preservation. At our museum in Indiana, we have a single sheathed (outside braced) wood bodied Wabash box car that has been very nicely restored but have an ex-N&W double sheathed wood bodied tool car (which began life as a Nickel Plate box car) that is in horrible shape. We KNOW we must work on this historic car (it was built in 1917) but always seem to find other things to do. The bane of most museums I guess. Anyway D.W., I'll send you the info on the wooden cars on your E-Mail. <br>



midlandblb@cs.com

There are a few pieces of the database already out there. The French Merci box car list, and Roger Kirkpatrick's captive caboose list. Rob Davis started on a "National Rolling Stock List"; he mostly had rolling stock in the NorthEast.<p>John Kirk Jr. has a list of Preserved Railroad Equipment and Structures in Oklahoma at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plai ... klist.html. I beleive the Canadian Trackside Guide lists all rolling stock in Canada. And of course, most major railroad museums have a website that include a list of rolling stock in their collection.<p>The below link is to a webpage I wrote many years ago. Much of the equipment is probably still where I list it; but some of the unprotected equipment is probably gone. (I never did see the Southern Pacific Combine Car remains on Gloria Switch Road in Lafayette, LA.)



Industrial Landmarks in the Mid-South Region
james1@pernet.net

We at the Niles Canyon Railway are very intimate about collecting old freight cars. Just about a year ago we saved two SP outside braced wooden boxcars and we are currently trying to get an old riveted 8,000 tank car. There are many old freight cars that have been long forgotten sitting in the back of scrap yards, business districts, and peoples back yards. Just look around, maybe you can spot on old wooden boxcar or something sitting in a back yard. You never know, maybe the owner is willing to donate or sell it to a museum!!<p>Johnathon Kruger<br>Steam Department<br>Niles Canyon Railway<br>



jkruger504@aol.com

There is quite a bit of wooden car building going on in California. In addition to the two box cars at PLA mentioned above...<p>The Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources (SPCRR) in Fremont CA has a collection of 11 wooden narrow gauge cars, 8 of which are freight cars. These are all wood cars which (except for two replicas) date from before the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. We have completely rebuilt two flatcars, a 1887 Carter Brothers car, and a circa 1900 car built in California, but the builder is still unknown. One of three 1880 Carter box cars has had its body completely rebuilt, but still needs grabs, correct trucks and brakes. We have built a 12', four wheel flat and a 18' wooden hopper, and completely restored a 1882 combine.<p>Last Spring we participated in Railfair 99 at CSRM in Sacramento, bringing our combine, and rebuilding a wooden standard gauge 34' flatcar for CSRM during railfair. (Sacramento Northern MW34.) Inside the museum are quite a few wooden cars, both standard and narrow gauge.<p>In Nevada City California the Nevada County Narrow Gauge museum has rebuilt several wooden freight cars, and are currently rebuilding a Florence and Cripple Creek boxcar.<p>Over the hill in Carson City, the Nevada State Railroad museum has quite a collection of early V&T equipment, several of which have been fully restored.<p><br>Randy Hees<br>



hees@ix.netcom.com

Mid-Continent Railway museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin has a superb collection of vintage wooden freight equipment. Check out their website.<p>Hope that this helps!<br>Paul Kattner<br>



paulkattner@hotmail.com