Mopac Containers being added to the company store

[peggyrothschild]

Gene Semon researched and funded a personal project to produce the Missouri Pacific containers that were introduced in 1956. He’s made his project now available to the MPHS so we can carry through the company store. These were loaded on both flatcars and gondolas. I should have these in a few weeks and Mask Island is working on the decals. Photos below show the model and prototype photos. I’ll post when these are in inventory.

History:MoPac built their own shipping containers that were 32’ long and 8’-6” high. Their reasoning for COFC was simple. Why increase the freight tonnage you had to haul by also shipping the trailer chassis, when it was only the container loaded with goods that needed to be moved. They designed their new contaIners so that they could be transported on flat cars or in gondolas with minimal or no special features needed on these cars. Each corner of the container had a reinforced pocket that contained a clevis that would be used to secure the container to the freight car decking with chains. Some of these containers were also fitted with air conditioning units to provide cooling inside of the container. Later in the mid 1960’s, the MoPac switched from building their own containers to purchasing 37’ long aluminum bodied units built by Trailvan.

The Missouri Pacific COFC service started on the route between St. Louis and Kansas City in the mid 1950’s, and quickly spread throughout their rail system. Each of their main freight hubs had LeTourneau Cranes purchased and installed to load / unload these containers. The COFC concept also migrated to their subsidiary, the Texas and Pacific. In 1956, the MoPac was invited to join Trailer Train operations along with SLSF, the PRR, and N&W. The MoPac containers were carried on TTX 85’ long flatcars. The containers were unloaded off the flatcars and gondolas, and placed on trailer chassis. These trailers were then trucked to regional and local markets. The empty containers were then brought back to the freight terminal and reloaded with mail and other LTL goods.

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[Mike Vana]

That’s great news!

Gene showed several of us the “beta version” of the container earlier and this fills a void in our needs from 1956-1962 or so. I understand Baltimore and Ohio also went for the same “Demounrable” concept as Mopac but the Pennsy and affiliates (N&W for example) started Trailer Train and were adamant that all use their standards. New York Central was going full steam ahead with Flexi-Van at that time.

Jim Ogden

[princessclyne69]

One thing I haven’t seen any details on is what happened to these containers, and whether there was a gradual unwinding of the on-line service as the Trailer Train concept started to take over.

RG7

[annisheyne3828]

This is not an official request yet, but just thinking ahead. Would anyone be willing to paint and decal one of these for me along with their own? I’m willing to pay a reasonable price.
Since becoming a priest and moving to London (England) to pastor a church, my MoPac modeling (which wasn’t much before) has ceased entirely. I had selected a small portion of my inventory to bring with us, but through some miscommunication even that didn’t make it. I would like to have a few pieces at least for a bookshelf display, and this is about as unique as it gets without spending more for motive power.
For now I’m just asking about willingness. We’ll see what the costs for materials are when all the components are ready, and then go from there. Thanks for considering my request.
You may email me directly if you’d prefer at frcolumcille – at – gmail.com

– Fr. Dana Jackson

[Bud Moss]

This is wonderful! Been waiting a long time for this model.I’d like to book two of them. Jerry Michels

[peggyrothschild]

Can a SME list what HO railcars models are good for moving a container? Sunshine Models did a couple gons and F&C has a panel gon. Who makes a flatcar that’s appropriate for these? Am sure these ran down the Bagnell Branch

I believe these only moved in local service. Were the T&P container facilities built to handle MP containers and vice versa?

[Thomas Hoback]

These look great. Presume they’re HO?

Pat Hiatte

[peggyrothschild]

Cost will be $28 members and $33 nonMembers plus shipping. This includes the container plus the decal set. Hubert Mask is working on the decals and I should have the containers in 2-3 weeks. I have no idea of the demand so am starting out with 18 containers and decals and see how they sell. I can order more once these are gone.

[princessclyne69]

The cars that these containers were carried on, based on photos, are among the following:

MP 8600-8999, 41′-3″ 40 ton flat, DeSoto 1938 (the ’13-stake’ flatcars),
MP 9000-9199, 41′-3″ 40 ton flat, DeSoto 1937 (the ’13-stake’ flatcars),
MP 8000-8099, 45′-0″ 50 ton flat, DeSoto 1938.

It’s certainly possible that MP 8100-8199, 50′-0″ 50 ton flat, Bethlehem 1942, or other flats, were occasionally used.

There are photos of the 45′ gondolas being used. It’s possible that the gons were considered so as need less tying down. These include:

MP 23000-23774, 50-ton 12-panel pressed side gon, PSC / MVC 1937-1942, plus subsidiary owners,
MP 23775-24614, 50 ton 12-panel flat side gon, DeSoto 1948, plus similar subsidiary owners.

One photo exists of a similar T&P container on the first series of TTX 75′ pig flats that had been built by PRR.

Other photos may surface.

RG7

[Mike Vana]

@cduckworth wrote:

Can a SME list what HO railcars models are good for moving a container? Sunshine Models did a couple gons and F&C has a panel gon. Who makes a flatcar that’s appropriate for these? Am sure these ran down the Bagnell Branch

I believe these only moved in local service. Were the T&P container facilities built to handle MP containers and vice versa?

The MoPac had some 50 flatcars that had an odd number of stake pockets (same as the Athearn car) but the side sill was tapered wrong that show up in some photos. Maybe the F&C gons are better.

TP also had their own Swamp Holly Orange smooth side containers and I’ve seen photos of the MoPac containers being unloaded near the large T&P warehouse in Fort Worth circa 1959. I also remember a mention in a Railway Age article that B&O was accepting MoPac containers and vice versa about 1958 but that was the only off line use I know of. PRR and Trailer Train pretty much ran nationwide.

Jim Ogden

[princessclyne69]

There was an article in the Eagle (written by me, with photos from Ed Hawkins and at least one that I shot, still in MoW service) on the 13 stake flatcars. They can be modified from the Red Caboose car without too much effort, since there are extra stake pockets in each kit.

At least one of these 1937-38 cars survived long enough to be painted yellow (!) by somebody’s MoW forces. I’ll try to resist the impulse to post the photo of that one.

The 50′ flats, which are really rare in the prototype world, I need to look into. Besides the MP 8100s, there were also StLB&M 8350-8399 also shown on the same diagram. I think I did one, many years ago when the Athearn car was just about the only game in town. Carving off the side brake mounting isn’t that difficult, either.

The diagram for this car is silent on the number of stake pockets.

RG7

[alexortiz25]

Chad Boas offers resin kits for the following;

MP 8000 series 45’ fish belly side sill
MP 8100 series 50’ fish belly side sill

http://resincarworks.com/boas_kitlist_201506.pdf

@cduckworth wrote:

Can a SME list what HO railcars models are good for moving a container? Sunshine Models did a couple gons and F&C has a panel gon. Who makes a flatcar that’s appropriate for these? Am sure these ran down the Bagnell Branch

[benjamintickell53]

This early container effort would make a most interesting article. I’ve learned a lot just reading the responses on this thread. The loading crane sat unused (?) at NLR at the edge of the hump yard for years after this service had been replaced by more standard TOFC services. Given the popularity of stack trains today, it could be argued that this was a good idea ahead of its time.

The concept was featured prominently in advertising for a few years, as seen with these 1957 and 1958 pocket calendars (in both reproduction and original versions.)

Bill Pollard

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[Mike Vana]

About 15 years ago, Interurban Films (now defunct?) had a color VHS tape on the MoPac container operations circa 1956.. MoPac was really ahead of the curve with the idea of using unmodified gons and containers. The formation of Trailer Train orphaned this idea and others.

I think Dick Ryker did a PowerPoint talk at Naperville maybe ten years ago on this operation and also brought up McLeans “container on ship” concept.

The scuttlebutt that I heard is that the Pennsy invested a lot of money in their TrucTrain concept and was able to get a massive influx of cash from Trailer Train when it was formed since the number of specialty flatcars PRR contributed to TTX was more than all the other companies’ TOFC flatcars combined. TTX even standardized on the PRR hitch and tie down concepts. The PRR was ALWAYS looking for other people’s money from the late 50s until the Penn Central Merger and some even say Amtrak circa 1971 injected more money into buying decrepit PC equipment to prevent their bankruptcy the but that’s another discussion.

New York Central had tunnel issues so they worked with the FlexiVan concept also favored by Santa Fe and had a lot of mail contracts which kept it afloat. One has to think PRR wanted to leave the NYC out in the cold up until the merger.

Jim Ogden

[peggyrothschild]

If I can get prototype photos of the two MP flatcars at Chad Boas makes I will ask Hubert Mask to make up decals. Same with the F&C gondolas as the ones in the kits are pretty bad.

Bill Pollard’s posting of the calendar cards confirms the roofs were painted blue.

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