SLHTS Publications

Soo Line Freight Cars All artwork copyright 1996-1998 Rick Johnson/Soo Line Historical and Technical Society. All rights reserved. Artwork may be downloaded for personal use, but may not be distributed to others without permission. Click on any of the thumbnails to see the artwork in HO scale. Steel Boxcars (1936 & 1940) \| Steel Boxcars (1951-59) \| Insulated Boxcars (1956-58) \| RBL Insulated Boxcars (1967-76) \| XM/XML Boxcars (1964-1979) \| Covered Hoppers (4427 cu. ft. Pullman-Standard, 1964)
Steel Boxcars, 1936 and 1940
	This is the first series of steel boxcars on the Soo Line, 3465 cu. ft. cars built by Pullman-Standard in 1936.
	This is the 50-foot single-door version of the 1936 car
	More 40-foot cars came in 1937, 1940-41, and 1949-57, with the capacity gradually increased to 3713, 3743, 3883, and 3898 cu. ft. The 1940 cars were similar to the first cars purchased in 1936.
	50-foot cars purchased in 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1949 and 1953 were double-door cars. The 1940 cars are shown here.
Steel Boxcars, 1951-1959
	50-foot boxcars built between 1937 and 1953 had double 6-foot sliding doors centered on the car side. Beginning in 1950, they received the large billboard lettering.
	The first 40-foot cars to receive the new billboard lettering in 1950 had the large letters located near the door and slightly closer to the top of the car than usual.
	By 1953, the lettering was positioned further to the car's ends, a scheme that coul.d be seen on 40-foot cars for decades to come.
	Double-door 40-foot cars built in 1937 were later repainted into the billboard lettering scheme. Combination plug/sliding door cars were built in 1959.
	Also built in 1959 were some PS-1 cars with STB loaders. Note that the billboard lettering on these cars and the combination door cars was slightly different than the other cars of the 1950s.
	At least one 40-foot STB car from 1959 received a Colormark logo, presumably a test for a boxcar red version of the new red/white color scheme of the early 1960s.
Insulated Boxcars (1956-58) This group of insulated boxcars appeared in the summer 1997 issue of the SOO.
	This 50-foot insulated car was built in 1956.
	This is a 40-foot version of the car, built in 1958.
	The 50-foot car as repainted in 1973
RBL Insulated Boxcars (1962-65) This group of insulated boxcars appeared in the summer 1997 issue of the SOO.
	RBL and XM boxcars built by General American Transportation Corporation in 1963 resembled RBL cars built by Pacific Car and Foundry in 1962, with the stragiht side sill and "Custom Equipped for Custom Service" slogan.
	GATC RBL boxcars built in 1965 christened the Colormark slogan.
RBL Insulated Boxcars (1967-1976) This group of 50-foot insulated boxcars built by the Soo Line was featured in the summer 1996 issue of the SOO.
	This 1967 car was repainted in 1979
	This 1969 carried the Colormark slogan and advertised Evans Air Pak load protectors
	This flat-top car had 14-foot wide plug doors
XM/XML Boxcars (1964-1979) This group of 50-foot boxcars appeared in the spring 1999 issue of the SOO.
	1965 cars featured Superior grainloading plug doors
	1966 cars featured Youngstown grainloading plug doors
	1972 cars had adjustable bulkheads and carried the Colormark slogan
	1973 cars had fiberglass roof panels to allow light into the car
	1974 cars carried the "speedlettering" logo
	1977 cars had red billboard lettering
	1979 cars were the last of this kind built by the railroad
Covered Hoppers 4427 cu. ft. Pullman-Standard, 1964 This group of covered hoppers were featured in the fall 1995 issue of the SOO.
	These aluminum cars built in 1964 were among the first to wear the Colormark emblem
	This 1974 repaint was given the same treatment as new cars built by Thrall at this time
	This 1976 repaint is more typical of the simplified scheme applied to repainted cars
	This 1978 cars shows further simplification of the repainting process
	This 1985 repaint shows the simplification extended to black-only
This page, the SOO magazine and all of the art shown here was created with Adobe® Illustrator® and Adobe® Photoshop® on Macintosh® computers.

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