Interchange Series
The Interchange series contains articles about railroads that interchanged with the Pennsy, including fleet statistics and paint schemes with era-appropriateness guidance. A few noteworthy or pertinent freelance model railroads are included.
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The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company (reporting mark CNW) was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s. Until 1972, when the employees purchased the company, it was named the Chicago and North Western Railway (or Chicago and North Western Railway Company).
The C&NW became one of the longest railroads in the United States as a result of mergers with other railroads, such as the Chicago Great Western Railway, Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway and others. By 1995, track sales and abandonment had reduced the total mileage to about 5,000. The majority of the abandoned and sold lines were lightly trafficked branches in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Large line sales, such as those that resulted in the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad further helped reduce the railroad to a mainline core with several regional feeders and branches. Union Pacific (UP) purchased the company in April 1995 and integrated it with its own operation.
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The Norfolk and Western Railway (reporting mark NW), was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precision Transportation"; it had a variety of nicknames, including "King Coal" and "British Railway of America" even though the N&W had mostly articulated steam on its roster. During the Civil War, the N&W was the biggest railroad in the south and moved most of the products with their steam locomotives to help the South the best way they could.
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The Great Northern Railway (reporting mark GN) was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, it was the creation of 19th-century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad. The Great Northern's (GN) route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U.S.
On March 2nd, 1970 the Great Northern, together with the Northern Pacific Railway, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway merged to form the Burlington Northern Railroad. The BN operated until 1996, when it merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.
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The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), also known formerly as CP Rail (reporting mark CP) between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railroad incorporated in 1881. The railroad is owned by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001. As of 1950, the CP owned the fourth largest fleet of box cars in North America.
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The Canadian National was formed in 1919, The railway was referred to as the Canadian National Railways (CNR) between 1918 and 1960, and as Canadian National/Canadien National (CN) from 1960 to the present. As of 1950, the CN owned the second largest fleet of box cars in North America.
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The Northern Pacific Railway (reporting mark NP) was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. The NP merged with other lines in 1970 to form the Burlington Northern Railroad, which became BNSF Railway in 1996.
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Pacific Fruit Express (reporting mark PFE) was an American railroad refrigerator car leasing company that at one point was the largest refrigerator car operator in the world.
The company was founded on December 7, 1906 as a joint venture between the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. It began operation on October 1, 1907, with a fleet of 6,600 refrigerator cars built by the American Car and Foundry Company (ACF). The company was founded on December 7, 1906 as a joint venture between the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. It began operation on October 1, 1907, with a fleet of 6,600 refrigerator cars built by the American Car and Foundry Company (ACF).
In 1923, the Western Pacific Railroad joined the venture by leasing its own new fleet of 2775 reefers to PFE. They were painted in standard PFE colors with only WP heralds on the cars instead of the paired UP-SP markings. The WP cars were all retired by the late 1950s, among the last wooden reefers in PFE's fleet. WP ended its partnership with PFE in late 1967 and joined Fruit Growers Express instead.
PFE's assets were divided between the UP and SP when the company was split on April 1, 1978. It is now a UP subsidiary.
Read more: Interchange: Pacific Fruit Express Express Reefers
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As of December 31, 1950, the following quantities of gondolas were rostered in North America, according to the Official Railway Equipment Register (ORER). These "Top 22" owners represented more than 80 percent of the total.
| Railroad | Gondola Cars | Models1 | |
| PRR | 38,327 | Bowser Tangent Scale Models |
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| NYC | 20,861 | InterMountain Walthers |
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| B&O | 14,016 | Walthers | |
| SP, T&NO | 12,347 | InterMountain | |
| MILW | 11,333 | Walthers | |
| L&N | 11,400 | ||
| ATSF | 10,596 | InterMountain Walthers |
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| P&LE | 10,096 | Walthers | |
| SOU | 9,180 | InterMountain | |
| CB&Q | 8,881 | InterMountain | |
| MP Lines | 7,225 | InterMountain | |
| C&O | 7,202 | InterMountain | |
| RDG | 6,857 | Walthers | |
| NKP, W&LE | 6,833 | Walthers | |
| IC | 6,740 | ||
| N&W | 6,360 | ||
| RI | 5,616 | Walthers | |
| EJ&E | 5,444 | Walthers | |
| UP | 5,434 | ||
| ACL | 5,308 | ||
| SLSF | 5,231 | ||
| D&RGW | 5,032 | Walthers | |
| 1Does not reflect "Craftsman" level models, which are available for almost any road. Such models are offered by Funaro & Camerlengo, Westerfield Models, and Sunshine. |
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As of December 31, 1950, the following quantities of hoppers were rostered in North America, according to the Official Railway Equipment Register (ORER). These "Top 20" owners represented 80 percent of the total.
| Railroad | Hopper Cars | Models1 | |
| PRR | 80,809 | Bowser | |
| C&O | 52,145 | InterMountain Walthers |
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| B&O | 47,887 | Broadway Limited Imports InterMountain Walthers |
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| NYC | 42,008 | ||
| N&W | 41,252 | ||
| L&N | 34,831 | Walthers | |
| IC | 21,727 | Walthers | |
| RDG | 17,115 | ||
| VGN | 13,962 | ||
| SOU | 13,615 | Walthers | |
| DM&IR | 13,084 | ||
| MP Lines | 11,652 | ||
| P&LE | 10,910 | ||
| WM | 9,603 | Walthers | |
| B&LE | 9,378 | ||
| CB&Q | 9,177 | ||
| NKP | 9,033 | InterMountain | |
| GN | 9,016 | ||
| Erie | 8,613 | InterMountain | |
| CNJ & CRP | 7,117 | ||
| 1Does not reflect "Craftsman" level models, which are available for almost any road. Such models are offered by Funaro & Camerlengo, Westerfield Models, and Sunshine. |
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As of December 31, 1950, the following quantities of flat cars were rostered in North America, according to the Official Railway Equipment Register (ORER). These "Top 16" owners represented more than 75 percent of the total.
| Railroad | Flat Cars | Models1 | |
| SP, T&NO | 8,439 | ||
| MILW | 5,296 | ||
| NP | 4,779 | Red Caboose (via InterMountain) | |
| SOU | 4,133 | ||
| C&NW | 3,560 | ||
| PRR | 3,381 | Bowser | |
| ACL | 2,861 | ||
| SAL | 2,789 | ||
| UP | 2,726 | Red Caboose (via InterMountain) Walthers |
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| GN | 2,576 | Red Caboose (via InterMountain) | |
| ATSF | 2,332 | InterMountain Red Caboose (via InterMountain) |
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| NYC | 1,901 | Red Caboose (via InterMountain) | |
| D&RGW | 1,705 | Red Caboose (via InterMountain) | |
| RI | 1,658 | Walthers | |
| L&N | 1,653 | ||
| CB&Q | 1,642 | ||
| 1Does not reflect "Craftsman" level models, which are available for almost any road. Such models are offered by Funaro & Camerlengo, Westerfield Models, and Sunshine. |
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As of December 31, 1950, the following quantities of box cars were rostered in North America, according to the Official Railway Equipment Register (ORER):
Read more: Interchange: Ownership of Box Cars by Class I Railroads in 1950