RESERVE: Great Northern 1937-1942 wood sheathed 40-foot boxcars

Never before offered in plastic, developed with close cooperation between GNRHS and Rapido, these cars represented 35% of GN's boxcar fleet at one point. Price will be $59.95/car; we are taking reservations at $2 now (will be applied to your final purchase) and will contact you when the cars arrive. Rapido has not yet provided a schedule; watch this space or their website.

We offer six different paint schemes:

• 1940 as-built, #52078 and 52519, mineral red and black, front facing goat "See America First"
• 1941 as-built, #48573 and 48638, mineral red and black, side facing goat "See America First"
• Repaint early 1948 thru 5/31/56, #47069, 47158 and 47712 mineral red, side facing goat
• GNRHS EXCLUSIVE: Repaint 4/1/1956 thru 9/30/56, #48048 and 48376, mineral red, side facing goat; Great Northern in large Empire Builder lettering left of door
• GNRHS EXCLUSIVE: Repaint 10/1/56 thru November 1956, #48505 and 48670, vermillion red, side facing goat; Great Northern in large Empire Builder lettering left of door.
• Repaint beginning November 1956, #51080 and 51112, vermillion red, side facing goat; Great Northern in large Empire Builder lettering left of door; no horizontal bars above/below reporting marks and car number (as long required by AAR Interchange Rules, all prior paint schemes had them)

From 1937 to 1942 Great Northern bought 8,000 new double sheathed box cars. These cars had 10’ inside height and 3712 cubic foot capacity, dreadnaught 4-5 ends, and Murphy rectangular panel roofs. At first glance they appeared to be 1937 AAR boxcars but with wood siding. Actually, they were based on a 1920s ARA double sheathed design with an increase in height, rolled steel center sills with a riveted top cover plate and channel side sills. They were a design unique to the railroad industry. The wood sheathing was probably selected to support the lumber industry in the Pacific Northwest, an important shipper of eastbound lumber and shakes.  

The 6,000 cars on the GN roster at the end of 1941 were 28 percent of GN’s 40’ boxcar fleet at the time, and the 8,000 cars were about 35 percent at the end of 1942.  

These cars were bought in several lots:

YEAR          QTY             CAR NUMBERS            PAINT & HERALD       

1937            1000            50000 to 50999              red & black FFG/SAF

1939            1000            51000 to 51999              red & black FFG/SAF

1940            2000            52000 to 52999 and       red & black FFG/SAF
                                         49000 to 49999

1941            2000            47000 to 49999              red & black SFG/SAF

1942            2000            45000 to 46999              red & black SFG/SAF

FFG: front facing goat
SAF: See America First  / Glacier National Park text
SFG: side facing goat

The 1937 and 1939 cars had the front facing goat herald, all later cars had the side facing goat. Both heralds included the slogan “See America First - Glacier National Park” in the ring around the image. Beginning in 1948, cars were repainted with side facing goat “Great Northern Railway” heralds. Beginning April 1, 1956 cars were repainted in Vermillion Red, with the billboard style Great Northern name left of the door. Repainting freight cars was not a high priority item, so previous paint schemes remained in service for about a decade, but in ever decreasing numbers.

Cars built in 1937 had a vertical staff hand brake. All later cars came from the factory with the much safer and much more effective vertical wheel type “power” hand brake. All cars were equipped with then standard AB brakes, but with the control valve placed directly under the left side of the car on the A end near the door. All had a vertical perforated steel plate near the edge of the car body to protect the control valve. The protective plates were eventually removed.

These cars were repainted as follows:

• Early 1948 to May 31,1956 entire car including underframe and truck side frames mineral red. Side facing goat with Great Northern Railway text
• April 1, 1956 to September 30, 1956 entire car including underframe and truck side frames mineral red. ‘Great Northern’ above car number in large Empire Builder lettering. Side facing goat with Great Northern Railway text
• October 1, 1956 to November 1956 car body color changed to vermillion red. Underframe and truck side frames mineral red. ‘Great Northern’ above car number in large Empire Builder lettering. Side facing goat with Great Northern Railway text
• Beginning November 1956 vermillion with the horizontal white bars above and below GN initials and number eliminated. Underframe and truck side frames mineral red. ‘Great Northern’ above car number in large empire builder lettering. Side facing goat with Great Northern Railway text.

If you are modeling the GN in 1940 or later, you should have a few of these cars. If you are modeling WW II and after, you need a fleet. 

Later in life some of these cars were rebuilt with plywood exterior sheathing, some with steel sides, and some were converted to stock cars. As of 1965, 2800 of these cars were still in service as box cars, and some made it to the BN merger.

SHORT HISTORY OF GN 40 FOOT SINGLE DOOR BOX CARS

Boxcars dominated the Great Northern’s car fleet for decades. They were used to haul anything that had to be protected from the weather. Grain was the traffic that paid the GN’s bills and grain was hauled in boxcars. Grain originated from Montana east of the Rocky Mountains eastward along the entire railway to the Minneapolis, and from central Montana and Eastern Washington to export elevators on the Lower Columbia River and Puget Sound. Lumber moved eastward from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana in box cars. Lumber was long haul traffic that generated good revenue per carload. Less than Carload and carload merchandise was an important commodity group due to its high revenue. Boxcar loads of merchandise moved predominately westward on the GN.

Great Northern began to build its fleet of 40-foot box cars at the turn of the Twentieth Century. By 1917 the railway had purchased 22,666 40-foot wooden underframe box cars of 80,000 pound and 2,687 cubic feet capacity. Of these, 8,860 had drop bottoms for transportation of bulk coal. Side doors were 5’ 5” wide.

After the United States entered WW I in April 1917, American producers flooded the ports of New York and New Jersey with supplies for England and France much faster than water carriers could remove them. Up to 180,000 cars, including many tens of thousands of boxcars, plugged the ports and the rail lines leading to them as far west as Pittsburg and Buffalo, creating a car shortage in the rest of the country. Rather than help unclog the ports, the Federal Government took over the railroads on December 26, 1917 and created a new bureaucracy, the USRA, to operate them.

Great Northern received 1,500 USRA box cars in 1919, numbered 23494 to 24993 which were the GN’s first steel under fame box cars. Inside length was 40’ 6” compared to GN’s previous cars that were 40’ IL. Doors were 6’ wide rather than GN’s previous 5’ 5” standard. The 40’ 6” IL and six-foot-wide doors would become GN and industry standard dimensions until the end of production of 40-foot box cars.

In 1923 GN purchased 1,000 USRA clones, 24944 to 25993, from Pullman and in 1927 GN purchased 600 outside braced single sheathed boxcars from Pressed Steel Car, all built with steel underframes. As of 1937, The rest of the box car fleet, 11,285 cars, were 80,000-pound capacity 7’ 10” inside height cars dating as far back as 1901 rebuilt with steel center sills in the 1920s.

Beginning in 1937 and continuing through 1942, the Great Northern bought 8,000 cars of 10’ 0” inside height and 3712 cubic feet, 100,000 pound capacity with tongue and grove sides from commercial car builders that are the subject of this item. See Reference Sheet 419 for more information.