After many years of successful 40-foot boxcar design and manufacturing at the Great Northern (St. Cloud) Shops in St. Cloud, MN, times were changing and that meant cars needed to get longer. After many years of experience with combination doored boxcars in the forty-foot length the St. Cloud Shops started to build one of their most successful group of 50-foot Combo door boxcar designs, 500 in total from St. Cloud of this specific design. With the retention of the 6-foot sliding door was a sign that GN was serious about a multi-purpose design for diverse loads, from grains to lumber. Being of Plate B clearance standard translated to unlimited service to all rail lines in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

These cars came in multiple paint schemes, but the initial orders came in Glacier Green with probably the first use of Rocky character on a series of boxcars. Along with a red Slanted GREAT NORTHERN lettering on the right side of the car body. GN was not shy about advertising! Later on they received variations of that scheme, as well as the Empire scheme in Glacier Green and later the Big Sky Blue scheme . Of course, in typical GN style there were a fwe one-offs like the Glacier Green Big Sky Scheme, as well as a BN painted car with GN reporting marks and number. The paint kept on rolling into the BN era, with several subtle variations in the railroad green scheme.

DESIGN FEATURES

• Differing lettering placements for individual car numbers for repainted cars

• Nailable Steel Floor (NSF) and high weight floor loading

• Accurately applied roofwalks or not with cut down ladders to match era specific schemes

• Car number specific handbrakes, Ajax, Ellcon-National, Equipco, Klasing or Universal

• Fixed frame design with manual brake wear controls

• St. Cloud designed ladders and other appliances

• Wire parts for ALL brake rods, air pipes, and stirrups in specific GN styles

• Durable rubber air hoses and metal corner stirrups

• 50t trucks with metal wheels and axles

• Highly detailed welded Stanray R3-4 ends uniquely used by the St. Cloud Shops

• Researched accurate lettering

• Kadee ”Scale” Whisker couplers

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