Southern Pacific Lines B-50-15 and -16 Box Cars

 

several members of the B-50-15/-16 classes, early 1950s, ebay "grab" image, photographer not known

Recently, there has been considerable discussion in forums and social media about the forthcoming Rapido SP Lines HO scale B-50-15 and -16 box cars. I thought it a good time to post some information about the prototypes. I am also including recent photos of the models, while avoiding any conjecture about the accuracy of what Rapido may or may not have produced until I actually have the two models that I ordered in my possession.

B-50-16 SP 37352 in Los Angeles ca. 1936-7, Michael Urac Collection

The design of the cars was a derivative of the American Railway Association's ARA 4D design for a single sheathed box car. The SP (as well as the Santa Fe in the Bx-11/-12/-13 classes) constructed cars that were taller than the ARA design. The SP modified the ARA underframe, as well. One other important feature is that the cars used 3-1/4" sheathing boards, which was not unheard of, but was far less common than 5-1/8" or 5-1/4" boards.

B-50-15 T&NO 53395 in Los Angeles ca. 1936-7, Michael Urac Collection. Note the different Camel-Allen door hardware, common to the T&NO cars

I have included a table herein that I created using the excellent Southern Pacific Freight Cars Volume 4: Box Cars (revised edition) by Anthony Thompson (2006, 2014, Signature Press, although Signature ceased operations at the end of 2022; copies can be found on the secondary markets.) Also, there are many photos, including detailed images, from the Michael Urac Collection on Focus on Freight Cars, Volumes One and Nine from Speedwitch Media (note: Vol. Nine is being reprinted and will be available again by July 1, 2023.)

	Series	Qty.	Blt.	Builder	Class	Roof	Trucks	Doors
SP	14480-15229	750	1925	Standard Steel Car	B-50-15	Murphy Radial	Bettendorf T-section	Camel no. 32
SP	15230-15979	750				Chicago-Cleveland Viking
ML&T	36210-36509	300	1925-6	T&NO	B-50-15	Murphy Radial	Arch bar	Camel-Allen
ML&T	53060-53559	500	1925	Standard Steel Car	B-50-15	Hutchins Dry Lading	Bettendorf T-section	Camel-Allen
SP	20000-20499	500	1926	SP - Sacramento	B-50-15	Hutchins Dry Lading	Columbia Steel T-section	Camel no. 32
SP	31560-32659	600	1926	Pullman Car Mfg	B-50-15	Chicago-Cleveland Viking	ASF T-section	Camel no. 32
SP	32160-32659	500				Hutchins Dry Lading
SP	37340-37839	500	1927-8	SP - Sacramento	B-50-16	Chicago-Cleveland Viking	Columbia Steel T-section	Camel no. 32
SD&A	7000-7002	3	1927	SP - Sacramento	B-50-16	Chicago-Cleveland Viking	Columbia Steel T-section	Camel no. 32
T&NO	53560-53959	400	1927-8	SP - Sacramento	B-50-16	Murphy Radial	TCI&R Co. T-section	Camel-Allen
T&NO	53960-54059	100						Youngstown steel with Camel-Allen no. 35 fixtures

Notes:

• all B-50-15 were built with Murphy corrugated ends, 7 corrugations in the top panel and 9 in the bottom
• all B-50-16 were built with Dreadnaught ends, 3 main corrugations in the top panel and 5 in the bottom
• some, but not all of the B-50-15s, were equipped with small lumber doors in the A end of the cars
• Kingpin-to-striker distance on the B-50-15 was 5'0" vs. the B-50-16 distance of 5'6". The structural members on the sides were relocated and adjusted to accommodate this difference
• edit: notes about the Murphy radial roof

B-50-15 SP 14721 displays the postwar Overnight scheme of black car with yellow & black SP medallion above the reporting marks and red, yellow & black Overnight logo on the right side of the car. Note the power hand brake and ASF A-3 trucks. The stencil to the left of the door reads, "RETURN TO NWP"

These cars also enjoyed a period of notoriety due to rebuilding and special paint schemes for use in head end and "Overnight" LCL (in conjunction with SP subsidiary Pacific Motor Trucking [PMT]) services. Beginning in late 1935 through early 1936 and continuing through late 1941, 472 cars were modified. This included specialties for passenger service, as well as steel sheathing in place of the wood for most cars. Head end cars were painted dark olive with gold lettering while the "Overnight" cars were painted black with Daylight orange lettering and trim. The story continued including suspension of the Overnight LCL service during the war as well as postwar repaintings once Overnight LCL service resumed, but more detail is best left to the excellent Thompson book.

Steel sheathed B-50-15 SP 15294, ca. 1940, Charles Winters Collection

Steel sheathed B-50-16 SP 37356, ca. 1950, Paul Koehler Collection

In addition to the cars that were steel sheathed as referenced above, 930 class B-50-15 and 200 class B-50-16 box cars in general freight service were steel sheathed. Between 1950 and 1956, 775 more cars from these two classes were steel sheathed and also received replacement Murphy panel or diagonal panel roofs.

B-50-15 SP 20197 in cement service (note small hatch near left end on roof) ca. 1954, Col. Chet McCoid photo, Bob's Photo. The bulkheads fitted in these cars are illustrated in the Thompson book

San Diego & Arizona Eastern 7000 was one of three B-50-16s on their roster, San Diego, CA, Oct. 2, 1954, Will Whittaker photo

ebay "grab" of right side of an SP B-50-16

Sunshine Models offered an extensive line of SP and T&NO B-50-15 class HO scale kits that covered almost all known variations of the cars. These still appear on the secondary markets and have become (relatively) affordable in light of the Rapido announcement. Westerfield has also re-released many of these in one-piece body castings. Bill Welch authored an article about using the Sunshine Models kits to replicate T&NO B-50-13A and B-50-15 box cars in Prototype Railroad Modeling, Volume Three.

Photos of the Rapido models recorded at the 2023 NERPM are included below. These should still be considered test shots and not "final" models.