March, 2009 Announcements...
It's back to the 70's with this trio of paint schemes although many remained in these schemes into the 80s, 90s and beyond. The Cotton Belt car can be backdated to the 60s by painting out the con-stencil. These runs are in stores now!
86141 Cotton Belt (big SP) single car, 86142 2-pack.
These are arguably the flashiest members of the Southern Pacific/Cotton Belt fleet ever! When originally delivered in 1967, this group was assigned for loading at a Ford stamping plant in Buffalo but these assignments changed over the years. A number of these cars are still in service today in their original paint!
86151 Southern single car, 86152 2-pack.
Southern Railway had a large fleet of 86' auto parts boxcars in a variety of paint schemes. 1969 saw the introduction of the "GIVES A GREEN LIGHT TO INNOVATIONS" motto. Usually, cars with cushion underframes such as these had SUPER CUSHION SERVICE to the right of the door but for some reason this group of cars came with SOUTHERN SERVES THE SOUTH instead.
87061 Conrail (large logo) Quad Door single car, 87062 2-pack.
The first months of the Conrail merger produced a number of cars lettered with stencils pieced together from former Penn Central and Erie Lackawanna stencils. But by the summer of 1976, proper Conrail stencils were in place at the major shops and cars like this began to appear. Later years would see a refinement in the look culminating in the Conrail Quality image in the 90s.
Products bearing Union Pacific, Rio Grande, Chicago & North Western, Cotton Belt, Western Pacific and Missouri Pacific marks
are made under trademark license from Union Pacific Railroad Company.
Bluford Shops products are not intended for children under 14.