Modeling Freight Cars

Modeling the freight cars of the Danville & Western

Box Cars	Flat Cars	Gondolas	Stock Cars	Ventilated Box Cars

Without better information on the prototype cars, it is difficult to say what models might be best for D&W cars. There are, of course, no RTR cars or kits available painted for the D&W. The best I can do at this point is to suggest potentially suitable models. I have purposely included only models which are in production today. While there have been a wide variety of models made over the years, finding them may be difficult, and finding information about them before hand can be almost as difficult. This list is not all-inclusive, but it represents what I have been able to find. One notable exception is Funaro & Camerlengo, because I have been unable to use their web site to identify suitable cars. F&C may well make some suitable kits as well, and I have written them asking for the information.

Box Cars
Rio Grande Models makes a V&T box car, but the length is not listed.
Roundhouse makes 36' truss rod box cars.
Westerfield makes a handful of 36' cars, both steel underframe and truss rod.
Ye Olde Huff n' Puff makes a 36' steel underframe kit. They also sell 36' car kits in the Silver Streak line.

John sent this photo, along with a note saying that there are a variety of other box cars in the works.
Just for fun, I am including a couple D&W inspired cars that are not at all prototypical. Both are Athearn 40' steel box cars. The D&NR car has simply been re-painted, while the D&W car has a home-made paper car side with lettering based on the photo show in the prototype freight car section.

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Flat Cars
B.T.S. Car Shops makes a 34' truss rod flat car.
La Belle makes a wooden flat car, but I cannot tell what the length is.
Rem's Railroad Models makes 30' and 40' flat cars which might be kitbashed.
Ye Olde Huff n' Puff makes a 36' flat car, but whether it is apropriate for the D&W is difficult to say without a photo.
Ye Olde Huff n' Puff also lists a flat car in their "Truss Rod Oldies" line, elsewhere on the web stated to be 36'.

John built this model of a D&W flat car.

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Gondolas
Alkem Scale Models makes a 28' gondola which might be appropriate (with arch bar trucks) for #s 900-911.
Ye Olde Huff n' Puff makes a wooden gondola in their "Truss Rod Oldies" line.

Here's John's guess at what a D&W gondola would have looked like.

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Stock Cars
La Belle makes a couple 36' stock cars.
Rio Grande Models makes a stock car, but the length is not listed.
Roundhouse makes a 36' stock car.
Westerfield makes a few 36' stock cars.
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Ventilated Box Cars
Con-Cor makes, or made, a ventilated box car previously sold by AHM and others, but I cannot find it on their site.
I have been unable to find any other suitable ventilated box car kits. The best hope, aside from scratch building, would probably be to kitbash a standard 36' wooden box car, adding a ventilated door and additional door tracks. See this site for some idea how it might look.
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