PART II

CARS BUILT DURING WORLD WAR II

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61300 – 62299 . . . 1942 MAGOR ORDER

62300 – 62909 . . . 1944 MAGOR ORDER

62910 – 64409 . . . 1946 AC&F ORDER

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CARS ORDERED DURING WORLD WAR II . . .

In the early stages of World War II, the United States realized that Mexico could furnish key materials required for the war effort. But the Mexican government could not deliver the quantity of materials at the rate they were required with its railway system badly rundown and still trying to recover from the effects of the revolution. With negotiations between the two countries the United States Railway Mission to Mexico was developed.

Sponsored by the Institute of Inter-American Transportation, a subsidiary of the Office of Inter-American Affairs (OIAA) and headed by Nelson A. Rockefeller, the mission greatly increased the ability of the NdeM to safely carry large amounts of supplies, especially to the United States. By the end of 1942 this essential traffic north reached an estimated 1,300,000 tons.

Under the direction of the U.S. Railway Mission, the Magor Car Corporation of Clifton, New Jersey built one thousand state of the art 1937 (modified) boxcars for the Mexican government. Delivered in mid 1942 these cars when added to the twelve hundred 1932 ARA cars purchased between 1935 and 1937 enabled the NdeM to start to fulfill the needs of the United States. An additional six hundred boxcars of the 1937 design followed in 1944. Early in 1946 AC&F delivered fifteen hundred more boxcars of the revised 1944 AAR design.

By most accounts, the work of the U.S. Railway Mission achieved success. The National Railways of Mexico were physically rehabilitated, and thousands of its employees trained in U.S. railway practices. At the conclusion the war the NdeM boasted one of the more modern railway systems and freight car fleets in North America. Amongst other freight cars it included a fleet of sixty-two hundred modern style boxcars with forty-four hundred under ten-years of age. As a special note, the mission was the first massive American technical assistance program to a foreign country and as a measure of its success was instrumental in the development of the Marshall Plan of 1948.

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Last revised June 12, 2007

61300 – 62299

1937 AAR Boxcars (1942 Magor Order)

Over the last several years enough has been written about the 1937 AAR boxcar that there is really not much more to add. Basically this series built for the NdeM is the standard AAR car with the ‘W’ corner post.

Series 61300 – 62299 was built mid 1942 by Magor Car Corporation of Clifton, New Jersey (builder lot #P-10000) under the authority of ‘The United States Railway Mission to Mexico’.

SPECIFICATIONS

1937 AAR Standard Steel Boxcar

- 40’-6” IL, 9’-2” IW, 10’-0” IH with a capacity of 100,000 lbs, 3712 cu.ft

- 10-Panel riveted sides with straight side sills and an extra sill brace under the doors and extending the width of one panel on each side of the door.

- 5/4 Dreadnaught Ends with “W” corner section . . . counting from the bottom-up

- Murphy rectangular panel roof

- 6’ wide door opening with early Youngstown corrugated doors

- AB Brake system

- AAR Type E – Bottom operated couplers

- AAR 50-ton trucks, cast steel side frames with integral 5½” x 10” solid bearing journals

Cars in revenue service; 979 (1952), 900 (1962)

NdeM 9x289

Guanajuato, Guanajuato – 1968 – Toshihiko Yamada photo

MODELING SERIES 61300 – 62999

Start your project with Red Caboose 1937 AAR Boxcar, kit #RC-8002. For the sill modifications I used laminated Evergreen Styrene strip #103 and channel #261 for the additional brace under the door.

- Remove the sill tabs from the car shell and square the ends of the under doorsill.

- Then add the styrene strips to form the straight sills (Hint – Position the frame first; this will provide a backing for the addition of the sill modifications).

- Next glue on the additional under door brace. This should extend one scale foot (300 mm) beyond the first line of rivets on each side of the door. Refer to the ‘PHOTO GALLERY OF HO/P87 FREIGHT CAR MODELS’ for a photo of NdeM 61562.

- From this point, just assemble the kit as it comes from the box.

- The wood running boards should be changed to a steel safety-grip style.

- For the trucks use Accurail #100.

REFERENCES

- Railmodel Journal, July 1991 . . . AAR-style 40-foot Box Cars by Ed Hawkins

- Photos may be found on Juan Viladrosa’s site . . . HTTP://FERROCARRILMEXICANO1.tripod.com and are as follows:

1) NdeM 62105

2) NdeM 94x48

3) NdeM 95931

4) NdeM 96749

In all four photos note the extra brace under the doors – This is a spotting feature of this car series.

- An in service photograph from the early 1950’s of 62279 may be purchased from Bob’s Photo.

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Last revised December 18, 2007

62300 – 62909

1937 AAR Boxcars (1944 Magor Order)

NdeM 96402

Ahuacatlan, Nayarit – March 2005 – Alejandro Vazquez photo

The Magor Car Corporation built this group of cars for the NdeM (builder lot #W-179) in the spring of 1944 under the authority of ‘The United States Railway Mission to Mexico’. Again like the previous series, this group is a standard 1937 AAR Boxcar with the ‘W’ corner post and straight side sills. But unlike the previous group of ‘Magor’ built cars, an extra brace was not added under the doors.

SPECIFICATIONS

1937 AAR Standard Steel Boxcar

- 40’-6” IL, 9’-2” IW, 10’-0” IH with a capacity of 100,000 lbs, 3712 cu.ft

- 10-Panel riveted sides with straight side sills

- 5/4 Dreadnaught ends with “W” corner section . . . counting from the bottom-up

- Murphy rectangular panel roof

- 6’ wide door opening with early Youngstown corrugated doors

- AB Brake system

- AAR Type E – Bottom operated couplers

- AAR 50-ton trucks, cast steel side frames with integral 5½” x 10” solid bearing journals

Cars in service; 597 (1952), 571 (1962)

MODELING SERIES 62300 – 62909

To model this series of cars, again start with the Red Caboose kit #RC-8002 and modify the sills with Evergreen Styrene strips following the same outline given to model the 1942 Magor cars except, no additional brace under the doors.

- Once the sills are installed, basically just assemble the kit following the instructions.

- The wood running boards should be changed to a steel safety-grip style.

- Again as with the 1942 ‘Magor’ cars use the Accurail #100 trucks.

REFERENCES

- Railmodel Journal, July 1991 . . . AAR-style 40-foot Box Cars by Ed Hawkins

- Additional photos may be found on Juan Viladrosa’s site . . . HTTP://FERROCARRILMEXICANO1.tripod.com and are as follows:

1) NdeM 96282 – photographed at the Huehuetoca scrap yard in April 1998

2) NdeM 96393

3) NdeM 96402

4) NdeM 96459

5) NdeM 96662

6) NdeM 97285

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Last revised August 29, 2007

62910 - 64409

1944 AAR Boxcars (1946 AC&F Order)

American Car and Foundry built series 62910 – 64409 in early 1946 at its St. Louis plant (builders lot #2824) under the authority of ‘The United States Railway Mission to Mexico’

NdeM 63004

ACF Industries – January 1946 – Hawkins/Wider/Long Collection

SPECIFICATIONS

AAR Style 40’ Steel Boxcar (also referred to as the Modified or 1944 AAR Steel Boxcar)

- 40’-6” IL, 9’-2” IW, 10’-0” IH with a capacity of 110,000 lbs, 3712 cu.ft

- 10-Panel riveted sides with straight side sills

- 4/3 Interim Improved Dreadnaught ends . . . rolling-pin style

- Ajax geared hand-brake with vertical wheel

- Murphy rectangular panel roof

- Apex-Trilok slotted steel running boards

- 6’ wide door opening and 4/5/5 Improved Youngstown doors (counting from the top-down)

- 8-Rung Ladders, sides and ends . . . the first of 2 groups of cars purchased by the NdeM with the 8-Rung ladders

- AB Brake system

- AAR Type E – Bottom operated couplers

- AAR 50-ton trucks, cast steel side frames with integral 5½” x 10” solid bearing journals

Cars in service; 1473 (1952), 1385 (1962)

MODELING SERIES 62910 – 64409

Models of this series can be easily constructed in HO starting with the 1937 AAR boxcar kit #40798 from InterMountain. In addition to the kit two after market parts are required. First is the 4/3 Dreadnaught ends also from InterMountain, part #_______ and an 8-rung ladder set from Des Plaines Hobbies, part #DPH 2003.

- The first step is to install the replacement ends as car frame per the kit instructions.

- Next modify the side sills with Evergreen Styrene strip #103 as instructed with the two previous series of cars.

- Once the sills are installed, assemble the kit as per instructions.

- The kit comes with wood running boards; these will have to be replaced with the steel safety grip style (my preference is Kadee #2000, APEX Style). In 1945 the AAR Safety Standards outlawed the use of wood running boards on new cars.

- For the trucks, the best match is the Barber S-2A from Branchline Trains.

NdeM 93654

Waiting for the cutting torch

La Junta, Chihuahua – August 2007 – Tony Pawley photo

REFERENCES

- Railmodel Journal, December 1989 . . .

AAR-Style 40-Foot Box Cars, Part IV: 10-foot Interior Height Cars . . .

by Richard Hendrickson

- Additional photos may be found on Juan Viladrosa’s site . . . HTTP://FERROCARRILMEXICANO1.tripod.com and are as follows:

1) NdeM 63551

2) NdeM 64197 – renumbered 97562

3) NdeM 96433

4) NdeM 96794 – Tapachula, Chipas – April 2000

5) NdeM 96812

6) NdeM 96814

7) NdeM 97422 – Matias Romero, Oaxaca – November 1999

8) NdeM 97460

9) NdeM 97799 – Queretaro – January 2001

- Pair of photos of boxcar #0-63021 photographed in Oaxaca de Juarez on September 24, 2005. These two photos can be viewed by entering the Photo Section of the MSN group Ferrocaficionado y Ferromodelists de Mexico, filed under Oaxaca on October 21, 2005.

- An in service photograph of 63671 may be purchased from Bob’s Photo.

NdeM 63362

San Luis Potosi, San Luis Potosi – March 7, 1975 – Matt Herson photo

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A NOTE OF INTEREST

For the modeler of the later eras (mid 1970’s through the mid 90’s), you will want to note most of the twenty-nine CONASUPO–FERRO TIENDA[i] boxcars came from the 1946 AC&F series of cars.

NdeM 63183

Puebla, Puebla – Feb 28, 1974 – Matt Herson photo

NdeM 63317

Chihuahua, Chihuahua – March 17, 1975 – Matt Herson photo