tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post4745056864270730942..comments2024-03-26T22:06:26.337-04:00Comments on Trackside Treasure: CP's Magical MultimarkErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-8524251355657415112021-05-02T19:09:02.471-04:002021-05-02T19:09:02.471-04:00True, Eric. Perhaps if CP had kept its logo more u...True, Eric. Perhaps if CP had kept its logo more unchanged and consistent, as CN has, it would have had better recognition therefore fame.<br /><br />We're now actually closing in on 700 posts!<br />Thanks for being along for the ride!<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-91684261247411464752021-05-02T16:09:31.444-04:002021-05-02T16:09:31.444-04:00Congratulations on 250 posts. The multimark may no...Congratulations on 250 posts. The multimark may not have achieved the fame of CN's logo, but it sure stood out from the crowd at a distance.Eric Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03578468856332011093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-5874500876240170782018-05-27T09:09:59.290-04:002018-05-27T09:09:59.290-04:00Great question, Jamie. CP paint diagrams show the ...Great question, Jamie. CP paint diagrams show the stripes at 45 degrees. <br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-12841570710349434862018-05-27T08:18:30.407-04:002018-05-27T08:18:30.407-04:00Were the stripes at 45 degrees to the horizontal, ...Were the stripes at 45 degrees to the horizontal, or 40 like the multimark?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15748686315403994457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-28002350017826501622016-09-24T16:39:38.989-04:002016-09-24T16:39:38.989-04:00My guess is that the modifications to the floor le...My guess is that the modifications to the floor left the sides much the same. But that is only a guess.<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-60738537042442678192016-09-24T08:21:01.834-04:002016-09-24T08:21:01.834-04:00 My thanks Eric for the effort and information, mu... My thanks Eric for the effort and information, much appreciated. The interior photos are gems. You mentioned that in your rail fanning travel you never saw any of these rebuilt cars. In my comment I said these cars were single sheathed, but I may have misused the term. They look like an old school OSB boxcar prior to renumbering. My question is - was anything done to alter the exterior appearance of the cars or did they continue in their renumbered service still looking like OSB cars?William Carneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-43025846884661810572016-09-23T21:03:04.131-04:002016-09-23T21:03:04.131-04:00Never too busy to learn more, William. Here's ...Never too busy to learn more, William. Here's what I found: <br /><br />From BigBlueTrains...I did a little research on the CPR cars, and many, if not all of the 3,500 cars of this type were originally built with Burnett hoppers in the floors, to facilitate the unloading of bulk commodities, such as grain or coal. When not in use, there were fold-down covers, which made the floor of these cars like any other boxcar. In the 1930s, CP began to remove the hoppers and re-numbered those cars into the 234000-238999 series. At the same time those cars received AB brakes and Ajax "power" hand brakes, like the type shown below. The "power" referred to the gears within the brakewheel housing, which offered a mechanical advantage over the vertical-staff type.<br /><br />I'm sure these cars would have still required lots of shovelling, but before the advent of hydraulic 'car-tippers' at terminal elevators, such devices would likely have saved some labour.<br /><br />By most accounts, while some of these cars were still in service up to 1983 (according to Ian Cranstone's CPR rolling stock roster) I was railfanning in Manitoba in the 70s and 80s and did not see anything older than a 'minibox' in grain service.<br /><br />Thanks very much for your comments and questions. I'll keep up my (what I consider) conservative once-a-week blogging schedule and hope you enjoy what I churn out!<br /><br />Oh, and some interior photos here:<br />http://mrrminutiae.blogspot.ca/2013/03/grain-car-photos-1903.html<br />Hope this helps,<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-35612605531938590532016-09-23T11:05:35.630-04:002016-09-23T11:05:35.630-04:00Hi Eric,
Well.... (barely audible whisper requiri...Hi Eric,<br /><br />Well.... (barely audible whisper requiring hearing assistance - touche` sir, touche`). I do have an observation re 1960's grain collection. Apparently single sheathed boxcars were used for grain collection until 1964 and the rebuilt into "grain hoppers" (perhaps unloading hatches in the floor?) and used until 1983. I can't however find any description or photographs of what these rebuilt cars looked like. There is some reference to grain unloading doors in the floor?<br /><br />What I have that is concrete is that series 230000 - 233499 was rebuilt into series 234000 - 238999 at which point they are described as "grain hoppers". It's a mystery to me. Run with it if you like and if not (I know you are a busy guy judging by your phenomenal output on Trackside Treasures) maybe someone else might have an answer or an explanation. <br /><br />Wiliam Carneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-88430747935850900022016-09-22T19:41:45.592-04:002016-09-22T19:41:45.592-04:00Thanks for your kind comments, William.
I'm n...Thanks for your kind comments, William.<br /><br />I'm not a script hater. It's just that it was (almost imperceptibly quiet whisper) it was a little before my time. There were also some interesting variations of script placement on some CP cars - former passenger cars in MoW Service come to mind.<br /><br />Great to have you aboard,<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-26509331906801584492016-09-22T15:11:24.400-04:002016-09-22T15:11:24.400-04:00Well, call me square but, for me, the Canadian Pac...Well, call me square but, for me, the Canadian Pacific Script is still the classic. The (hushed whisper) pac man was a sad case of artistic design colliding head on with the perceptions of average folks. So be it. Love the blog - keep it up Eric. William Carneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-53888811356418208562016-08-26T22:14:37.144-04:002016-08-26T22:14:37.144-04:00Thanks, Drew. Comparing the slab side of a boxcar ...Thanks, Drew. Comparing the slab side of a boxcar to the raked, vertical tail of a jetliner - indeed little room to manoeuvre the multimark.<br />Now, about that lunchbox...<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-41795065094902776172016-08-26T19:00:20.101-04:002016-08-26T19:00:20.101-04:00Interesting blog post. I always thought the dist...Interesting blog post. I always thought the distorted airplane tail multimark looked kind of mis-proportioned, but perhaps there was no way around it.Drew Makepeacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01143676060591718311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-20165401793113409612013-11-05T21:58:43.338-05:002013-11-05T21:58:43.338-05:00Great to have you aboard, Jon. Thanks for the syno...Great to have you aboard, Jon. Thanks for the synopsis on the locomotive schemes.<br /><br />It's interesting that many associate the multimark with its application to locomotives, which was not without its challenges and changes. At the same time, I'm sure that the application to the myriad surfaces of various modes of the CP transportation network presented its own challenges as well. And I think that's what makes the multimark special.<br /><br />When it disappeared from locomotives, it signalled another change in CP's focus.<br /><br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-11126749039716608272013-11-05T21:44:20.163-05:002013-11-05T21:44:20.163-05:00With respect to the CP Multimark, the folks at the...With respect to the CP Multimark, the folks at the Ogden Shops can be credited for the first creation of the smaller multimark. They didn't want to paint over grilles and so forth, so just shortened the MM to the body that would support an easier masking job.<br /><br />Apparently it went unnoticed for a while until the CP brass from Montreal saw it and from what I understand, they were.... shall we say displeased with the change. But when they went back and saw the numbers, apparently they decided that it wasn't so bad after all and thus why we see small Multimarks on a lot of locomotives. It wasn't until late 1987 that the Multimark was given the official heave-ho and you saw no Multimarks or black stripes on the locomotive ends.<br /><br />So except for the Ogden oddballs, you had a Full Multimark and 5" striping applied across the entire face of the locomotive, then the small multimark with the 8" stripes on just the nose, then no multimark and 8" stripes on the nose and red/white rear, until the Candy Apple Red Dual Flags scheme appeared...Jon Calonhttp://www.calon.ca/Wordpressnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-87512461219555412502013-10-26T20:33:51.619-04:002013-10-26T20:33:51.619-04:00Hi Michael,
I believe it was around 1979 for the ...Hi Michael,<br /><br />I believe it was around 1979 for the first application of the small multimark. A small multimark was better than no multimark at all - that was just an expanse of red paint!<br /><br />Thanks for your comment,<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-19205395749526565602013-10-26T19:36:11.520-04:002013-10-26T19:36:11.520-04:00I remember the early multimarks at the rear of eng...I remember the early multimarks at the rear of engines and how they would be painted over the rear vents on the locomotives. Essentially, the logo went from top to bottom. I wonder when the decision was made to reduce the size of the multimark and fit it beneath the rear vents.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07917230984518214781noreply@blogger.com