tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post554455797790636146..comments2024-03-26T22:06:26.337-04:00Comments on Trackside Treasure: Canada's Grain Fleet - BoxcarsErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-57999589296324113952021-08-18T18:41:05.843-04:002021-08-18T18:41:05.843-04:00Thanks for that additional information, Marc!
Eric...Thanks for that additional information, Marc!<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-2293546703821689912021-08-18T16:50:00.889-04:002021-08-18T16:50:00.889-04:00There is still (or at least was in late 2018) a fo...There is still (or at least was in late 2018) a former Buffalo boxcar in use on the Hudson Bay Railway running out of The Pas. HBRY 446574 has had the logos painted out but still has the original rebuilt road number. At least one is still earning its keep. <br /><br />Marc SimpsonMarc Simpsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15795305458064619625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-36726225416958621342020-05-12T08:52:45.975-04:002020-05-12T08:52:45.975-04:00Thanks, Jason! New! Improved! Boxier!
Glad to hear...Thanks, Jason! New! Improved! Boxier!<br />Glad to hear there are a few remnants out your way!<br />Thanks for your comment,<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-90660622441288789042020-05-12T01:10:16.091-04:002020-05-12T01:10:16.091-04:00Great post-Eric! I enjoyed the original boxcar pos...Great post-Eric! I enjoyed the original boxcar post, so this one was just as great! I will be using it as a reference when I start work on my modest grain boxcar collection.<br /><br />On a side note, there are a few grain boxcars in Alberta. Not many but a few sitting on the sidetracks.JasonPaulSailerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11877757626497333689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-9386889777921598972020-04-20T13:27:26.911-04:002020-04-20T13:27:26.911-04:00Ah yes, CN 445787. By all means, explore and share...Ah yes, CN 445787. By all means, explore and share, Chris and Connie! Several of the Buffalo boxcars were put into company service by deleting the first digit, therefore becoming CN 45xxx. It's a long way from its normal grain-hauling country, so one wonders if it will ever reach 'home rails' in Manitoba or Saskatchewan again!<br /><br />Thanks very much for your kind comments!<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-30684713618076863752020-04-20T12:38:45.272-04:002020-04-20T12:38:45.272-04:00Awesome piece! There's a Buffalo Boxcar sittin...Awesome piece! There's a Buffalo Boxcar sitting at the coal mine museum in Nordegg AB. We'll be going into to look at it soon - I believe it still carries the Buffalo logo but is due to be redone to represent a typical coal boxcar.Off the Beaten Path - with Chris & Conniehttps://www.bigdoer.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-25526280605703586422020-04-14T19:53:12.390-04:002020-04-14T19:53:12.390-04:00Great to have you aboard, Wes. Thanks for your com...Great to have you aboard, Wes. Thanks for your comment and would be nice to see your photos of the Buffalo boxcars. I believe the car in Winnipeg might be a composite wood/steel CN boxcar.<br /><br />It seems that the Buffalo boxcars were cut up fairly quickly! I don't know OTOH if any have been preserved.<br /><br />Stay tuned for covered hoppers!<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-18635109683806119962020-04-14T18:10:34.637-04:002020-04-14T18:10:34.637-04:00Thank you very much for this post, it was very inf...Thank you very much for this post, it was very informative! I'll have to look through my photo archives to see what I might have. I know that I took some pictures of Buffalo boxcars in Wabowden MB, and it would have been in autumn of 1995 or 1996 - little did I know it would be the waning days!<br /><br />Does the Winnipeg Railway Museum have a Buffalo car? It seems like something they would have wanted to preserve.<br /><br />Wes Cromwell<br />Winnipeg MBAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-82858678892193249292020-04-14T09:08:14.377-04:002020-04-14T09:08:14.377-04:00Yes, the buffalo boxcars were the last-ditch effor...Yes, the buffalo boxcars were the last-ditch effort for grain boxcar shipping in Canada.<br /><br />Thanks for your comment, Jeffrey.<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-40309327761827207002020-04-14T08:17:31.001-04:002020-04-14T08:17:31.001-04:00Very interesting post, Eric! You can't beat a ...Very interesting post, Eric! You can't beat a 40' boxcar. I had never heard of the Buffalo cars, so some new information there.<br /><br />Thank you!Jeffreyhttps://tecumsehjunction.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-51553422623425885782020-04-13T22:06:33.558-04:002020-04-13T22:06:33.558-04:00Thanks very much, Tim!
Though I'm not much fo...Thanks very much, Tim!<br /><br />Though I'm not much for be-all-and-end-all devinitive documentary posts, but I had so many memorable opportunities to watch these steel breadboxes rolling by that it was time for a re-boot.<br /><br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-1046739993030922422020-04-13T10:20:35.049-04:002020-04-13T10:20:35.049-04:00What a great well-researched post. I had no idea t...What a great well-researched post. I had no idea they were still shipping grain in box cars so far into the 90s.<br /><br />Fascinating.TWForemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02652035881054315862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-47604442931005062512020-04-12T13:29:27.291-04:002020-04-12T13:29:27.291-04:00Rolly Martin Country is hosted by my older brother...Rolly Martin Country is hosted by my older brother Dave. Lots of good content there, Brian!<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-18036022908036873182020-04-12T13:21:04.018-04:002020-04-12T13:21:04.018-04:00I agree with your thoughts Eric. Trade patterns c...I agree with your thoughts Eric. Trade patterns change over time. Europe went from importing Canadian grain to being a competitor in export markets. Numerous Asian countries became important markets for Canadian grain. These volumes would move through the west coast. Under these circumstances, inventory turns and operational efficiency became even more important for Thunder Bay terminal elevators. If I remember correctly, some of the Thunder Bay elevators had 20 or fewer car spots and would have required a lot of switching, which slows operations and adds to operating costs. I suspect loadout rates at those terminals were similarly sized. This would become even more important as the high-throughput elevators on the prairies went from shipping single cars, to 25 car blocks, to 50 car blocks, and then to 100 car and larger blocks. The use of direct rail to Montreal or Quebec City would bypass Thunder Bay altogether, further impacting the Lakehead’s handle. <br /><br />To Steve’s point, I don’t know for certain, but I would seriously doubt if many (any?) of the grain boxcars were preserved. Nobody would have thought to keep an example of what was then seen as worn out old railway equipment. <br /><br />I’ll have to take a look at Rolly Martin’s blog.<br /><br />Briannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-8386938556356336482020-04-11T22:56:41.813-04:002020-04-11T22:56:41.813-04:00Nearly 40 photos between this and the covered hopp...Nearly 40 photos between this and the covered hopper post, Steve, so prepare for more sheaves!<br /><br />My understanding is that by the time the elevator preservation movement got moving, those grain boxcars were gone and few were available or the railways didn't want to look to hard to find any. I believe Inglis even has a 50-footer.<br /><br />Thanks for your comment,<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-30490099759078829412020-04-11T20:28:00.350-04:002020-04-11T20:28:00.350-04:00So many wheat sheaves! This is fantastic. I never ...So many wheat sheaves! This is fantastic. I never saw grain boxcars in action myself so it's great to see them here.<br /><br />It's too bad that they weren't preserved in any great number. Are any preserved at all? Even here in Winnipeg we have a 50' steel boxcar sitting in the Zoo pretending to be a Buffalo boxcar.Canadian Train Geekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05525092107895665275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-77816698216892953712020-04-10T22:01:50.805-04:002020-04-10T22:01:50.805-04:00Thanks for that valuable additional information an...Thanks for that valuable additional information and your comment, Brian.<br /><br />Reading through weekly issues of the Western Producer, there were always articles on the utilization of Churchill! Clearly, the selection of Churchill and construction of the rail line to the port were from an era when England, and Europe, were the big market. I suppose the same was true to some extent of the Lakehead. Many terminal elevators were eventually idled there, and loss of jobs and business were a huge issue in Thunder Bay.<br /><br />My brother has posted some excellent information on Churchill on his blog, Rolly Martin Country. Here's a sample: <br /><br />https://rollymartincountry.blogspot.com/2016/01/portage-1987-second-section-to-churchill.html<br /><br />Eric<br /><br />Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-46212900128158860542020-04-10T20:01:58.794-04:002020-04-10T20:01:58.794-04:00An excellent article about the end of shipping gra...An excellent article about the end of shipping grain by boxcar on the prairies Eric. Boxcars were essentially gone by the time I got involved in the grain trade. <br /><br />Your comments about the Port of Churchill bring some thoughts to mind. The utilization of Churchill, or the lack thereof depending on your perspective, has always been a contentious issue amongst western Canadian farmers. Churchill’s season runs from late July until sometime in October. Vessel insurance rates escalate as the risk of ice increases, which reduces the appeal of using the port into October. Using an ice class vessel increases the cost of shipping relative to using a non-ice class vessel. The depth of draft at the port limits the size of vessel that can call the port to handymax or smaller vessels. The port’s rail unloading and vessel loading capacities also work to limit the volume of grain that can be handled by the terminal during its short season. All of these factors, combined with the fact that the predominant volume of grain exports have shifted from the east coast to the west coast explain why Churchill’s handled volumes are rather small and variable year to year. <br /><br />I look forward to reading your second post. <br />Briannoreply@blogger.com