CN 503552
Ted Culotta Photo
Between 1929 and 1931, the Canadian National took delivery of 9,653 single sheathed box cars from three builders (Canadian Car & Foundry, Eastern Car Co. and National Steel Car) in nine lots. The cars bore a passing resemblance to the 1924 ARA single sheathed design, but actually had Howe truss strurtures for the sides rather than the Pratt truss design of the ARA cars. The prototypes ran well into the 1960s with many running into the 1970s. From 1961 to 1966, 551 were converted to stock cars. For a more detailed look at the prototypes, please see Stafford Swain's article in the June 1994 issue of Railmodel Journal.
The model was built from a Funaro & Camerlengo kit with Eastern Car Works Dalman two level trucks. The ladders are Des Plaines Hobbies Canadian ladders with the integral stirrup steps. The route card tack boards are spares from a Red Caboose X29/1923 ARA box car kit. The decals are from the kit except for the "This car for Clean Lading Only" stencil which is from a Westerfield Canadian National "Fowler" (Dominion) decal set, the reweigh and repack stencils are from Champ reweigh/repack sets and the 'C.N.' stencil on the door is from a Canadian National road name set from Champ. Please note that in a fit of absentmindedness, I stenciled the car with the incorrect build date. The car was weathered with Bragdon weathering powders.
Modeler: Ted Culotta